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MHA shirks responsibility
Chandigarh, March 2 In a recent meeting between MHA officials and officials of the Chandigarh Administration, the MHA told the Administration that in the court cases filed against it, they should try not to make the MHA as respondent. Besides, the MHA has advised to the Administration that in cases where the ministry and the Administration both were respondents, the reply filed by the MHA and the Administration should not be contradictory to each other. In the case pertaining to the land acquisition for IT Park, Phase III, the UT Administration was justifying the land acquisition whereas the MHA was not in favour of acquisition. The UT Administration and the MHA were filing replies in the court, which were contradictory to each other. In the cases like land acquisition and fixing of lease of the various clubs of the city, it was the MHA which finalised each and everything. Recently, the MHA had told the Administration that for land acquisition, even for smaller projects, it would have to submit its cases before the ministry, which will take a decision on a case-to-case basis. The Administration had recently written to the ministry, urging it to grant permission or relaxation in the ban to enable it to acquire the land for important projects hanging fire for the past many years. Similarly, the renewed lease amount of Chandigarh Golf Club and Chandigarh Club will be subject to the approval of the
MHA.
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Education dept errs again
Chandigarh, March 2 As if the serious grammatical flaws in the Punjabi language paper were not enough, the department committed yet another blunder by repeating the syllabus of semester I in the paper. A critical review of the question paper, held on last Thursday, revealed that it was full of spelling and grammatical errors, showing causal approach of the UT Education Department officials.
Question number 10 on page 13 was incomplete. “Hun amrik tabar” should have been “Hun amriki tabar”. Suman Sharma, assistant director, vocational education, and head of the examination wing, stated that these were printing mistakes. “We will take care in the future,” she said. Dr Sukhdev Singh, head of the Punjabi department, Panjab University, said the mistakes in the question paper showed the non-serious approach of the academia towards the language. On the issue of repeating the syllabus of the first semester in, a teacher said after the semester system was introduced by the CBSE, the syllabus of all subjects was divided into two semesters. “In the second-term exam, the grammar portion carrying 20 marks was from the first semester syllabus, which was a gross technical error and against CBSE’s guidelines,” he said. CBSE regional director RJ Khanderao said the syllabus of the first semester should not be repeated in the second semester. “But I have not received any
specific complaint regarding the Class IX Punjabi exam,” he said. “We were surprised to questions from the first semester syllabus in
the question paper,” said a student. “A detailed inquiry should be ordered ad and responsibility should be fixed,” said a government teacher.
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CTU not keen to buy Volvo buses
Chandigarh, March 2 Against relatively cheaper buses, buying expensive Volvo buses is now giving jitters to the officials who are reluctant to go ahead with the purchase of buses as it could attract unwanted queries from the MHA or other Central agencies. For purchasing 98 buses for local routes of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU), the UT has been sanctioned a budget of Rs 45 crore. But due to stringent condition of the annual maintenance contract, only Volvo could qualify the financial bid. On the other hand, the CTU urgently requires around 100 buses to supplement its ageing fleet of buses. There is urgent need to replace the fleet as a number of buses have been condemned. To bridge the shortage, the CTU is forced to withdraw long route buses
and divert the same on local routes. Officials said as per the terms and condition in the tender and the price quoted by Volvo, only 50 buses against the requirement of 100 could be purchased. Presently, 98 buses have been off the road after being declared condemned.
Tinted windowpanes
Seventeen long route buses with tinted windowpanes are parked at the CTU depot. A CTU official said transparent glasses would be arranged shortly.
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UID card not required for RC, DL
Chandigarh, March 2 A formal affidavit on the Chandigarh Administration's move to withdraw the order was submitted before the Punjab and Haryana High Court this morning by UT Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Shayin. "The office order issued on December 5, 2012, making the UID card mandatory for vehicle registration and driving licence has been reviewed by the Administration and the UID is now no more mandatory for these purposes," the DC submitted before the court.
The development is significant as public interest litigation was filed in the court by one Sanjeev Pandey. He was seeking directions to quash the executive order passed by the DC on December 5, 2012, which has made the UID card mandatory for registration of vehicles and grant of learner/ regular driving licence. The petitioner had argued that UID cards were unconstitutional and have no legal sanctity as the National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010, was pending in Parliament. He also argued that the application form for the registration of UID cards clearly states that Aadhaar enrolment was free and voluntary and that there was no ground for the government to be forcing the public to enrol by making its requirement in essential public services.
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P’kula cabbie robbed of SUV
Panchkula, March 2 The accused told the driver, Gurdeep, that they had to pick some Army officers up from the Saharanpur railway station. He offered the driver sweets laced with sedatives. Following which, Gurdeep, fell unconscious and the accused dumped him at an isolated place near the Muzaffarnagar railway station. The police said Gurdeep and the accused left for Saharanpur at 3 pm from
Panchkula. When they reached the Saharanpur railway station at 7 pm, the accused told the victim that he wanted to go to a nearby temple. When he came back he gave sweets to the driver. The two had tea later on. The driver said after sipping tea, the accused asked him to take a nap and he fell unconscious. On gaining consciousness, Gurdeep found himself at an isolated place near the Muzaffarnagar railway station which is about 60 kilometres from Saharanpur. The accused took away his vehicle and his mobile phone. On reaching Panchkula, the victim went to the Sector 20 police station. The police is suspecting it to be the handiwork of Zehar Khurani gang. The Saharanpur police is on a lookout for the accused. The Panchkula police has also started a probe.
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No public darbar tomorrow
Chandigarh, march 2 It is learnt that the IT department of the Chandigarh Administration has received only two complaints for the hearing
session. This year, out of the four scheduled hearing sessions, Patil attended only one. The session, which was held on February 4, had received a lukewarm response as only eight complainants had turned up. The session on November 19, 2012, had also witnessed a poor response as only three complainants had turned up. Since January 2012, Patil has only attended 11 public hearing sessions, out of the scheduled 28 sessions. Patil assumed office as the Punjab Governor-cum-UT Administrator on January 22, 2010. As per precedent, there should have been 74 public hearing sessions to date. However, Patil has managed to hold only
32 such sessions so far, which is less than one session a month. The sessions are usually held on the first and third Mondays of every month. Also, with the passage of time, the number of complaints has also reduced, as in the past, residents in large numbers used to show up, but for the past one year, only a few complainants have been attending the sessions. Former administrator SF Rodrigues had started the sessions, and the number of complainants was much higher in the sessions held by him. Besides, there is no record with the UT Administration about the present status of the complaints, which were heard by Patil during his three-year tenure. In a majority of cases, the officials of the UT Administration do not know whether the complainant, who had met Patil during public darbars, got justice or not.
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Demolition drive: Over 30 structures razed
Mohali, March 2 According to a GMADA official, a dealer of Bharat Gas Company had constructed a godown on the land of GMADA here. He further said, “The dealer had also lost the court case in connection with this and we had served him notice under the rule to remove his illegal
structure. As he did not respond to the notice, today we demolished the structure after removing over 500 gas cylinders, stored in it”, said
the official. About 30 hutments, which were constructed on GMADA land, were also removed.
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Technology for early diagnosis of cancer
Chandigarh, March 2 The technology, which effectively identifies the location of the tumour ahead of the treatment, has been put to use in seven major institutions of the country, including PGIMER. "Early diagnosis of cancer is the most significant feature of the technology," said experts from different countries as they gathered at the PGIMER for the second World Congress on Ga-68. The department of nuclear medicine, PGI is hosting the congress on Ga-68, molecular imaging (PET/CT), targeted radionuclide therapy and dosimetry (SWC-2013) starting Thursday. Dr Baljinder Singh, president of the World Congress Association, said, “After Germany, India ranks second as far as the use of Ga-68 for cancer diagnosis is concerned.”About 500 delegates from 40 countries are here for the congress. The first congress was held in Bad Berka, Germany. Radiochemists, radiopharmacists, physicists, dosimeterists and clinicians attended the congress. Scientific sessions on nanomedicine, preclinical molecular imaging as a tool for development of new pharmaceuticals and radiopharmaceuticals for PET oncology/psychiatry/neurology and the emerging role of PET in stem cell therapy were held in the past two days. The congress ended today with a session on nano-medicine and its approaches to molecular targeting. Prof Marion de Jong (Rotterdam, Netherlands), Prof Manoj Bhasin (Boston, USA), Prof George Loudos (Athens, Greece) and Prof Rao VL Papineni were the speakers. Experts dwelt on the role of PET/MR in nano-medicine and use of gallium-68 metalloprobes as molecular imaging agents for monitoring biomedical pathways in vivo.
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Cricket aspirant asked for Rs 13 lakh to change statement: Coach’s wife
Panchkula, March 2 This was stated by the victim's wife. RP Chopra was arrested by a Vigilance team on May 22, 2012, for accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a cricket aspirant, Krishan Kumar, at Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Sector 3, Panchkula. He was found hanging from a door grill. "The complainant was pressurising my husband. He told him that he would change his statement, if he was paid Rs 13 lakh," said Chopra's wife. The police is probing the case and no arrests have been made so far.No suicide note was recovered from the spot. Chopra is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. After Chopra's arrest it was learnt that he used to ask for hefty sums in order to give players a chance in state and national-level competitions. The officials are also investigating the sale and purchase record of sports equipment, including cricket kits, rackets and shuttles.
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lease amount case
Chandigarh, March 2 They discussed ways and means to solve the issue with the Chandigarh Golf Club. The issue pertaining to reducing the renewed lease amount was also discussed. Recently, Justice Kuldeep Singh (retd) had held a meeting with the UT officials and Golf Club representatives. Kuldeep Singh has been appointed by the High Court as the mediator in the case. In a letter issued by the Administration, the club was asked to deposit Rs 9.27 crore by January 16, 2012. The lease period was proposed for five years only with an annual enhancement of 7 per cent in the rent. The lease was to become effective from March 16, 2008. Presently, the matter is pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
— TNS
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Army, Air Command chiefs discuss operational synergy
Chandigarh, March 2 The visiting WAC chief was presented an operational update by his Army counterpart on doctrinal, operational, training and logistics aspects covering the spectrum of conflict the two services are expected to operate. Synergy in the application of ground and air combat power is of paramount importance in all joint operational discussions and exercises at the two commands. Such interactions are a platform to provide impetus to achieve inter-service cooperation, jointness in planning, optimisation in resource allocation and application of force through seamless integration. His visit to Chandimandir was in reciprocity to an earlier visit of by Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra to Headquarters, Western Air Command, at New Delhi last year.
— TNS
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Anti-encroachment drive: 205 violators challaned
Chandigarh, March 2
The drives were carried out in Sectors 15, 19, 22, 42 and 43 and issued 205 challans to the violators. The officials confiscated counters set up by shopkeepers in corridors, readymade garments, cylinders and
other items.
— TNS
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"Dharam Ki Jeet" staged on Day 2
Chandigarh, March 2 Another Saang, "Chap Singh", written by famous Haryanavi poet Pandit Lakhmi Chand would be staged on March 3. Performance based on Saang "Raja Amb" directed by Kuldeep would be staged on March 4. The famous Saang "Puranmall" written by Pandit Lakhmichand would be staged on March 5.
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Appointed
DL Sharma, Managing Director, Vardhman Textiles Limited, has been appointed the chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Punjab State Council, while Sanjeev Pahwa, Managing Director, Ralson (India) Limited, has been elected as the vice-chairman of the CII Punjab State Council for 2013-14. While outlining the agenda for the CII Punjab Council for the year, they shared that in Punjab, CII endeavours would focus on strengthening engagement with the government, reviving the manufacturing sector and achieving manufacturing excellence, enhancing competitiveness of Punjab SMEs.
Branch inaugurated
MK Singh, regional director, RBI, inaugurated a branch of the State Branch of Patiala (SBOP) at Sector 20-D in Chandigarh on Saturday. It is the 1110th branch of the bank all over the country. MK Singh said the SBOP was providing efficient core banking solutions and services to the people of the country. Vijay Kumar, chief general manager, Gurnam Singh, general manager, RK Arora, deputy general manager, and Parveen Sharma and Bir Singh, both
AGMs, were present on the occasion.
Shoes distributed
OP Longia, president of the Omnipotent Global Trust, an NGO in help of disdained section of Society, distributed shoes among 51 poor students of class I to class VIII of Government High School, Sector 46 C, Chandigarh. All these students are from Colony No. 5, Jagat Pura and Faida villages.
Award function
An NGO, Sarv Mangal Jyoti, organised an award function titled "Miss Youth Icon 2012" at Plaza, Sector 17, Chandigarh, to honour the meritorious girls of the tricity colleges. Kamalpreet Kaur from Khalsa College, Mohali, was awarded the Miss Youth Icon 2012 and Ruchi Arora from Government College for Girls, Sector 42, and Shivani from SVIET remained the
runners-up. MOHALI SCAN Strike on March 4, 5
The Punjab State DC Office Employees Union has decided to proceed on two-day pen-down strike on March 4 and March 5 and take mass casual leave on March 6. Gurnam Singh Virk, general secretary of the union, said all employees would participate in the Moga convention to be held on March 6. He said the employees were being forced to resort to the harsh step due to the indifferent attitude of the state government. He said the main demands were filling up posts, creating promotional avenues for the employees and creation of legal cell in offices.
Awarded
The National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) has awarded Rayat Bahra Group with the National Champions Runners-Up and National Champions in Public Awareness Awards for organising the National Entrepreneurship Week - 2013. The award was given at a ceremony held at Dayanda College, Bengaluru. President and CEO Wadwani Foundation Ajay Kela, former founder & CEO Crossword R. Shriram, executive director NEN Sri Krishna and co-founder and senior director NEN Sunita Singh conferred the award.
Interactive session
Students of the Doaba Women Institute of Engineering & Technology (DWIET), Kharar, had a session of interaction with Naunihal Singh, IPS, Senior Superintendent of Police, Chandigarh, on eve-teasing and other related aspects. He said girls faced eve-teasing at markets, buses and other crowded places. Domestic violence and dowry were two major issues that degrade the respect of women. While addressing engineering students of DWIET, he said they were among the 2 per cent of the women who were getting engineering education.
— TNS
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School uniforms
Chandigarh, March 2 Even as several schools have issued tender notices on the Education Department’s website and got their notices published in newspapers, most of them have yet not got any positive response from the local or outside suppliers. Sukhneer Sekhon, principal, GMSSS-19, said: “Despite public tender notice and special dispatches to the local suppliers, response is not good. We are still hopeful as there are three-four days left before the last date of applying for the tender”. Vinod Kumar, principal of Government High School, said their job was to abide by the specifications and guidelines issued by the department. “We will convey to the department whether we are able to buy the dresses or not,” he said. Till last year, the Education Department used to buy dresses for all schoolchildren on its own. But a series of goof-ups and corruption allegations led the department to decentralise the whole process. Hence, it was finally decided to empower the school management committees, working in each government school, to buy school uniforms separately for their own students. The new system is also not bearing fruit as several uniform suppliers have remained away from bidding so far. Jasneet Singh, one of the suppliers from Sector 22, said the rigid specifications asked by the Education Department were keeping them away from applying for tender notices of various schools. According to him, the department was asking for blend composition of polyester and viscose at just 2 per cent variation, which was not possible by anyone in the city. “I will manage a sample with the specifications laid by the department but will not be able to give the entire order based on these specifications. In that case, it is better to stay away than facing allegations and problem of payment in future,” said Jasneet. Yogesh Kumar, another Mani Majra-based supplier, said the upper ceiling of the uniform price announced by the department was also less and in consonance with the market price. “It should have been between Rs 450-Rs 500 per set of uniform against Rs 300 per set of uniform set for class I to class V students and Rs 375 per set of uniform for class VI to class VIII students,” he said. Swarm Singh Kamboj, president of the UT Cadre Teachers Welfare Association, said the present guidelines issued by the department were uncalled for. When it purchased school uniforms on its own in 2011, it quoted much more higher price. “The department can’t have double set of policies,” he said. Over 100 government schools are issuing their tender for the purchase of uniforms for their students. Guidelines to schools for buying dresses
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Teachers get heads-up on new syllabi
Chandigarh, March 2 The workshop was necessary as the college teachers were facing problems in teaching specialised courses introduced by the department under the Semester Programme, non-availability of readings and evaluation of answer scripts. This exercise was an ongoing process that aims at sensitising the practitioners about their common problems and making a collective effort to find solutions. The central focus of this workshop was to apprise the teachers of the courses being offered by the Department of History under the Semester Programme, familiarise them with relevant readings and discussion on the evaluation of answer scripts of the students. Professor Veena Sachdeva, coordinator of the workshop, addressed the delegates and introduced them to the idea and the necessity of the workshop. Dr BS Ghuman, professor of the Department of Public Administration, and former Dean of Faculty of Arts, delivered the inaugural address. He hammered upon the idea that the syllabi should be decided by the mutual consent of students, teachers and potential employers as only 10 per cent of the students are getting suitable employment.
— TNS
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Direct recruitments held at PEC
Chandigarh, March 2 The bulk of the offers have been for reserved category candidates i.e. 17 with the remaining 12 for general category candidates. The process for the approval of reservation roster was initiated in 2010 and was completed in the second half of 2012. A special drive for filling of backlog posts was launched followed by regular recruitments in October 2012. The process for scrutiny, shortlisting and selection in all 9 departments was completed by February-end 2013.
— TNS
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CBSE Class X exams begin
Chandigarh, March 2 CBSE's regional officer RJ Khanderao said all precautions were put in place for the board exams. Today’s class X exam went fine to the best of expectations of students and parents, he said. Vijay Kumar, a student, said he was tensed before the exam, but he had hardly any problem attempting it, since it was within the syllabus.
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Annual athletics meet concludes
Yadavindra Public School, Mohali, concluded its annual athletics meet - 2013 here on Saturday. Mohali SSP GPS Bhullar was the chief guest on the occasion. The Punjab Armed Police Band played in the background adding fervour and strength to the marching contingent of students. While addressing the students, Bhullar said three key aspects to achieve success in life were hard work, concentration and perseverance. Bhullar appealed to the children to not only be aware of their rights but also their duties in life. He gave away medals and trophies to the winners. Street play
Students of Government Middle School, Maloya Colony, organised a street play on the prevailing superstitions and social evils in society. The students demonstrated how the so-called “babas” and “sadhus” befool the common man by using scientific logics and dramatising them into demonic spirits. The students explained various chemical reactions and laws to the people that these “babas” use to produce fire, blood and blast for terrorising people. Performance Day Shemrock Smiles Preparatory School, MDC, and Shemrock Bliss Preparatory School, Pinjore, held their Performance Day “SCRIPT” at Sector 1, Panchkula. Over 350 students in the age group of 2-6 years participated in the event. The function began with the Saraswati vandana. It was followed by a wide array of performances and acts comprising all aspects of arts. Children showcased the rich culture of India through various folk dances like “Chirmi Dance”, “Punjabi Dance”, Nepalese Dance”, “Rajasthani Dance”, etc. They also danced to various foot-tapping western numbers. Tales of wit & wisdom of “Tenali Raman”, and “prudent Birbal” were also presented through role play. Orientation programme
Around 200 parents of students of nursery class, The British School, Sector 8 and Sector 12, Panchkula, attended the orientation programme. Their children are going to nursery class in the session 2013-14, which starts on March 6. The parents were apprised of the pre-primary formal educational phase where children will learn to work at tasks, investigate concepts through innate curiosity and to build positive relationship with others through sharing, playing and working together. They were introduced to books and notebooks, which would be used in the class for these children. An open question-answer round was also held after the programme. World Safety Day
The Pre-Primary Wing of Saupin’s School, Sector 70, Mohali, organised a visit to the Traffic Park, Sector 23, Chandigarh, to observe the World Safety Day. Tiny tots of LKG and UKG were looking forward to learn safety rules on roads. The inspector in charge discussed the importance of following traffic rules and familiarised the tiny tots with various road signs. He also told them about the use of subways, footpaths, over bridges and zebra crossings. He encouraged the children to speak to their parents to avoid the use of cell phones while driving. They were shown video clippings on traffic rules, crossing roads, etc. The tiny tins marched holding placards with messages like “drive as if every child on the street is your own”, “Stay Alive, Drive at 55”, etc. Career counselling workshop
Dikshant International School, Zirakpur, organised a career counselling workshop for students and parents. The event targeted the senior section of the school. More than 60 students from class IX and class X attended the session. The school has tied up with ICS, a career counselling consultant, an organisation holding experience of over two decades, in providing career guidance and counselling services in India and overseas. Two senior counsellors and consultants, Vinita Bhattacharji and Nupur Wali, having vast experience in the field of career queries visited the school campus. The workshop was based on a seminar “There are no Ideal Careers, only Ideal Choices” and an interactive group session. The session covered the options available in different streams, upcoming careers that students are not aware of and subject requirements at different levels.
— TNS
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