Chandigarh, January 8
Five more cases of swine flu have been reported at the PGI from neighbouring states, taking the total number of cases at the institute to 11. A Patiala-based patient had died of swine flu at the PGI two days ago.

Of the 11 cases, four are from Chandigarh, including the first case that was reported in September last year. Three cases were reported from the city last week. The other seven patients are from Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. Three of the patients are currently on ventilator.

To strengthen surveillance further, a meeting of public health experts from the three hospitals, the PGI, the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, and Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, was convened today.

The sample collection facility for H1N1 influenza A is available in all three government hospitals. Besides, a number of private hospitals have also got the sample collection facility, according to an official of the UT Health Department.

The three hospitals have also made provision for setting up isolated clinics for housing infected patients. The clinics help in protecting other patients, staff and visitors from contracting the disease. The PGI is the apex referral lab for testing H1N1 cases. Tamiflu vaccine is available with the UT Health Department for the management of H1N1 cases.

Experts advise that in case of flu, self-medication should be avoided and one must visit a doctor in case of finding any of the major symptoms of swine flu.

According to the experts, use of antibiotics should be avoided during flu as the antibiotics do more harm than good when taken during flu. Antibiotics do not cure viral infection and instead make the body more susceptible to other infections if taken when not required.

Doon MLA RK Chaudhary, an accused in the Jyoti murder case

Panchkula, January 8
Doon MLA Ram Kumar Chaudhary’s surrender has left many guessing whether it was a "forced surrender or voluntary".

Sources said it was a mistake of the MLA’s brother which landed him in trouble. Trouble for the MLA started after his brother Harbhajan, who was granted bail on Sunday, went to meet him at a high profile leader’s house on the Kharar-Landran road. The high profile leader had given shelter to the MLA. While proceeding towards Kharar, the MLA's brother did not realise that the police was following him.

Doon MLA RK Chaudhary comes out of the General Hospital, Sector 6, after a medical examination

Though Chaudhary managed to escape from that place at around 3 am last night, when he came to know that the police was about to nab him, he got trapped when he reached Panchkula this morning thinking that the police force would be looking for him at the oath-taking ceremony venue in Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh.

“Chaudhary’s brother was not aware that he was being followed by us. After he was granted bail, he headed towards Kharar without knowing that the police was following him. He straightway went to meet a high profile political leader of Punjab near Kharar in whose second house Chaudhary was hiding,” said a senior Panchkula police official on condition of anonymity.

He said, “From there, we got a lead about Chaudhary’s whereabouts, but he managed to escape at around 3 am. We were informed that he would attend the oath ceremony in Dharamsala.”

A large police force, comprising Haryana and Baddi policemen, had reached Dharamsala.

Thinking that the police would head towards Himachal Pradesh, Chaudhary reached Panchkula. It was here that he got to know that here too he was being followed by the police. The police was near Shakti Bhawan Chowk, Sector 6, Panchkula, when it got to know about his surrender in court.

Chandigarh, January 8
The city will get its third Shatabdi from January 14. The third Shatabdi will start from the Chandigarh railway station at 11.40 am and reach New Delhi at 3.00 pm. The train will return from New Delhi at 7.15 pm and reach Chandigarh at 10.35 pm.

The Shatabdi will comprise 12 coaches, including nine chair cars, one executive chair car and two power cars. An official said the fare would be Rs 1,000 for the executive class and Rs 505 per person for the chair car. The train numbers of the Shatabdi will be 12046 and 12045.

Railway Senior Divisional Commercial Manager GM Singh said Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal would flag off the third Shatabdi from the Chandigarh railway station on January 14.

Records of the city railway station reveal that the morning Shatabdi runs to near full capacity and in the evening there is a waiting list of close to 700 passengers.

The official said the proposal for starting the third Shatabdi was lying pending for a long time. The need for the third Shatabdi arose as the two other Shatabdi Express trains run at almost full capacity throughout the year.

City residents said it was the best Lohri gift they could have got from the Union Railway Minister.

Chandigarh, January 8
The Chandigarh Administration and the municipal corporation are at loggerheads over the issue of imposing house tax on city residents.

After an assurance given by nominated councillors to UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil about placing the issue of house tax in the agenda of the coming meeting of the House, the Administration has given directions to MC officials that in case the nominated councillors do not place the issue in the agenda of the House meeting, MC officials should do so.

A senior official of the UT Administration said as MC officials could place an agenda in the House meeting, they had been asked to do so if the need arose.

On January 1, after the mayoral elections, Mayor Subhash Chawla had announced that the MC would not impose house tax on city residents this year.

Mohali, January 8
With Mohali having burgeoned over the years and illegal taxi stands dotting the town, it probably came as a shock to the Municipal Corporation when it found that only five authorised stands existed in its records over the past more than 25 years, forcing it to wake up and order a survey.

Persons running illegal taxi stands here are having a gala time with the civic body not bothering to update its records of such stands since 1986. The civic body also not cared to revise the fee for decades. The owners of such stands have not paid a single penny to the civic body as rent and parking fee.

Besides, sources say the rent and parking fee has also not been collected for the past two years from the owners of authorised taxi stands.

Sources further say even as the civic body has been losing revenue for decades, the possibility of corrupt officials having made money on the side from the owners of the illegal taxi stands cannot be ruled out.

When Dilraj Singh, Joint Commissioner of the corporation, was asked about the loss of revenue and the failure to update the records, he said the civic body was now engaged in an exercise to find out how many taxi stands existed in the town, the area occupied and the number of vehicles at each stand. There was also a proposal to enhance the rent and parking fee and to streamline the whole system of granting permission to run taxi stands.

The Joint Commissioner admitted that no revenue had been collected from the authorised taxi stands over the past two years. Efforts were being made to bring about transparency in the system, Dilraj Singh added.

It is learnt that seven taxi stands were allowed to function by the then civic body in 1986. The owners of these stands were asked to pay a fee of Rs 100 per month to the civic body. Two of these stands were later scrapped by the authorities concerned. The taxi stands were allotted in accordance with Section 173 of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911.

Sources say the fee of the five authorised taxi stands was hiked to Rs 150 per month in 1989. Later, in 1990 it was decided that the owners of the taxi stands should pay Rs 30 per taxi per month as parking fee. Since then, the civic body has forgotten to revise the fee.

Panchkula, January 8
Resident of the Mansa Devi Complex saved an injured fawn early morning here today. They spotted an injured fawn outside their locality.

The residents provided first aid treatment to the animal.

The fawn was reportedly injured after bitten by dogs. It was later handed over to officials of Wildlife Department.

“We served hot milk to the animal. We also lit bonfire to keep his body temperature normal. It went to unconscious state and was later taken away by officials of the department. When we came to know about the incident, we informed the police and the Pinjore Wildlife Department,” said Renu Khanna, a resident. 

Chandigarh, January 8
As part of its 'Safe City Campaign' and in support of the global movement "One Billion Rising", the Chandigarh police and the Post Graduate Government College for 
Girls, Sector 42, Chandigarh, are bringing to the students and the public “Women with Broken Wings”, an emotive musical performance by renowned dancer Mallika Sarabhai and pianist Elizabeth Sombart.

“One Billion Rising” is a worldwide campaign to stand up against the subjugation of women and girls and the violence they endure. It is a call for solidarity and strength across borders, a call for a billion voices to declare “Enough is enough! No more!”

Officials said the over one-hour musical performance, which would be held on January 10 at the Tagore Theatre, mirrors the condition of women around the world and their unspeakable pain. Art and music speak the language of the heart, a language that breaks through all barriers of nations, religions, cultures and creeds.

Dr Mallika Sarabhai and Dr Elizabeth Sombart have specially conceptualised and created this performance in aid of “One Billion Rising” and are reaching out through the power of their art to audience in the cities of India and major world capitals to sensitise people on rising up against all forms of violence against women and girls.

UT police officials said the event was part of the campaign initiated by the police and educational institutes to boost the self-esteem and confidence of girl students and send a strong message of zero tolerance for any kind of harassment.

Chandigarh, January 8
The Municipal Corporation (MC) has decided to celebrate ‘Lohri’ on January 12. The theme of this year’s festival would be “say no to violence against women and girl child”.

This decision was taken in a meeting chaired by City Mayor Subhash Chawla and attended by senior concerned officers of the MC.

During the meeting, the Mayor suggested that this time Lohri would be celebrated in any village or colony of the city. The MC has yet not decided the venue of the celebration.

He said lighting of the “Lohri bonfire” would be followed by a cultural programme.

He also instructed the officers concerned to make advance arrangements of the function. — TNS

Mohali, January 8
A water supply scheme costing Rs 40.83 lakh was inaugurated at Nada village here today. It was inaugurated by Chaudhary Nand Lal, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Forests, Wildlife and Labour Department.

While addressing the gathering, Nand Lal said shortage of water for drinking and irrigation in the kandi area would be solved on a priority basis. Every possible effort would be made for development in this part of the state.

He also inaugurated school buildings at Nada, Jayanti Majra, Kasauli and Karonde Wala villages.

Ujagar Singh Badali, in charge of the Kharar Constituency, said Mullanpur Garibdas would soon be given the status of a Nagar Panchayat and nearby villages would be included in it. This was a long-pending demand of residents, which would accelerate the pace of the development in the area.

Chandigarh, January 8
The enforcement wing of the Municipal Corporation today removed encroachments from Shastri Market and other areas in Sector 22.

During the drive, 105 challans were issued against the violators. The enforcement team removed and seized beds, chairs, generators, readymade garments, shoes and gas cylinders.

The drive was carried peacefully under the supervision of Additional Commissioner Lalit Siwach. He was assisted by Superintendent Kashmira Singh and other staff of the enforcement wing.

Chandigarh, January 8
The UT Administration has removed Dinesh Mahajan from the post of chairman, Market Committee, Chandigarh. Orders in this regard were sent to the office of the committee this evening.

Sources said, during a surprise inspection of his shop on November 26, last year, the team of the market committee, upon going through the records for the current financial year, found that the firm had evaded a market fee of Rs 25.59 lakh. The firm allegedly violated the Punjab Agricultural Market Act, 1961, and Rules and Bye Laws made their under, attracting action against the guilty.

After the inspection, Mahajan had alleged that it was a conspiracy to oust him from the post of chairman.

Irked over the removal of Mahajan from the post, some directors today threatened to move court against the action of the UT Administration.

Chandigarh, January 8
Around 24,000 posts are lying vacant in the Railway Protection Force (RPF) since 2006, as the Railway Board has failed to call a meeting of the permanent negotiation machinery (PNM). On the concluding day of the RPF convention, the delegates resolved to take up the issue with the Union railway minister and the Railway Board for consideration.

During the convention, which is being attended by around 3,000 delegates from all over the country, delegates pointed out that due to the shortage of staff, the working hours of the existing staff had increased from eight hours to 12 hours. Members expressed concern on the delay in the convening of the PNM meeting which was last held in 2006. As no vacancy had been filled since then, the burden of work on the available staff had increased manifold, they said.

The RPF National President, SR Reddy, said that the Union railway minister had assured the association that the board will be convening the PNM meeting to resolve the recruitment issue soon.

The members also pointed out that the authorities had failed to clarify the jurisdiction of the force, due to which the GRPF and RPF kept on passing the buck to each other for solving various crimes. The members demanded that as the RPF was responsible for the protection of the railway property and passengers, it should be given the power to take necessary action against the accused.

Taking up the issue of promotion of the RPF personnel, the members said that due to various lacunas in the promotion police, a majority of the personnel were still waiting for their turn to get the promotion.

The delegates also pointed out that the uniform issued to them by the department was of a sub-standard quality. They said despite raising the issue in a number of forums, no action had been taken. They also brought to the notice of the authorities the absence of proper rest rooms for the RPF staff, in case they wanted to rest at any station during their journey.

Chandigarh, January 8
The Education Department has put itself in a tight spot over the termination of government teacher Arpana Mahajan. It did not have a strong justification for her removal when her termination petition came up for hearing at the Chandigarh Tribunal Administration today.

Arpana was removed last month to make way for candidate Shalu Chawla, who managed to secure her permanent appointment from the tribunal against the alleged faulty recruitment procedure followed in 2009.

However, Arpana’s petition seems to have cornered the Education Department as it can neither completely patronise the teachers’ recruitment criteria it advertised in August 2007 nor can it endorse the recruitment procedure it followed under which Arpana and 535 others were appointed.

The department has so far been unable to explain the basis of the petitioner’s termination even as the petitioner has argued that she should not be considered the last candidate in her category.

In the hearing today, the court observed that the petitioner deserved a fair chance but many said the department did not have many choices in such a situation. Either it will have to absorb the petitioner against a vacant sanctioned post or it will have to revise the whole list.

However, an official says, both the choices are tricky. According to him, creating posts for this purpose is legally questionable and even if the department does that, other candidates who failed to get appointment during the recruitment process might prove their eligibility as per the original criteria of 2007, as legally pursued by two candidates- Raminderjeet Kaur and Shalu Chawla.

Sources say the option of revising the whole list, too, seems tedious and risky since it can put the overall recruitment of 536 teachers under scanner. Moreover, this option also renders the whole exercise of coming up with the new recruitment rules futile.

“This is really a tight spot for the department. It will have to do a lot of brainstorming before the next hearing of Arpana Mahajan’s case,” said a teacher.

The hearing in the case has been deferred till January 14 and no senior official of the department is making any comment citing that the petition is subjudice.

Chandigarh, January 8
The seven-day-long NSS camp organised at Panjab University concluded today with a cultural function. Over 100 volunteers participated throughout the camp, which was organised on the theme, “youth for sustainable development”.

During the seven-day camp students visited Jayanti Majri village, where volunteers participated in the construction of Jayanti Devi temple. The NSS volunteers also distributed copies, pencils and other stationary items among children at the village.

The NSS unit also held a cleanliness drive on the PU campus apart from attending various lectures on following traffic rules, personal hygiene and moral values.

During the concluding function Rajmani was adjudged as the best NSS volunteer among boys, while Jyotsna was adjudged the best among the girls.

Chandigarh, January 8
The admission process began on a controversial note in the city with parents alleging that Ankur school, which was the first private school to conduct the draw of lots, adopted wrongful means during the process.

They said instead of considering the application forms as ballots for the draw of lots, the school authorities announced just before the beginning of the procedure that the acknowledgement slips, which were given to the parents during the submission of forms, would be dropped in the ballot box for the draw.

Several parents who reached late protested against the move. However, Gautam Diwan, a parent, alleged that the move by the school was arbitrary since there were several parents who came late and the authorities assumed they would not turn up. As a result, he said, their acknowledgement slips were not put in the ballot box.

"It is a wrong practice. The school should have made a secret ballot box on the basis of the total number of applications received and then proceeded with the draw of lots irrespective of whether parents bring acknowledgement slips or not," he said.

Another parent, Narinder Singh, said these acknowledgement slips were given to them for their reference. "We never heard or saw anywhere that these slips were used for draw of lots," he said.

Following the criticism of the move, the school accepted these parents' acknowledgement slips and assured them that they would get a fair chance. However, many parents still demanded cancellation of today's draw of lots and called for a fresh draw. Some parents also submitted a written complaint in this regard to DPI (S).

On the other hand, Principal Rupinder Kaur said the school had informed about the process of the lucky draw to parents at the time of submission of forms. "The whole issue has been settled down now," she claimed.

The school had received around 240 application forms against 150 seats.

Chandigarh, January 8
Anxious moments for parents begin as the final stage of admission for entry-level classes has come closer.

Draw of lots will be conducted in several popular private schools in Chandigarh in the next few days. These schools have received thousands of applications but only a few will be lucky to get enrolled.

Rajesh, a parent, said he has his fingers crossed for the draw of lots at a convent school here. Many said that though the demand for seats was increasing each year, there had not been a considerable increase in the number of seats in a majority of city schools. Another parent, Swati, said the admission process was giving them sleepless nights.

As per the UT’s common admission schedule, the draw of lots in private as well as government schools will be held till January 20.

Saupin’s School in sector 32 has scheduled the draw of lots for 90 seats on January 10. Strawberry Fields will conduct the draw of lots for 100 seats for KG classes on January 12 . Gurukul Global in Manimajra, too, has the draw scheduled on the same day. It has 75 seats for its pre-nursery section.

RIMT in Manimajra will conduct the draw on January 14 followed by Manav Mangal High School on January 15.

The most sought-after schools are the four convent schools in the city --- St John’s High School, Sacred Heart School, Carmel Convent and St Anne’s. The draw of lots in these schools is scheduled on January 17 at 3.30 pm. More than 5,700 applications have been received against a total of 710 seats in these schools.

Bhawan Vidalya in sector 33 will conduct the draw on January 19 at 9.30 am whereas DAV-15 will conduct the draw of lots on January 20.