14-day judicial custody

He was produced in a local court on Thursday, which remanded him in 14-day judicial custody.

Mahavir, the accused

Ashram houses fully equipped gym

• The ashram has a high-tech gym with a wall-sized mirror and latest machines. A number of swords were also found lying in a corner of the gym
• A heavy growth of marijuana plants was found in the backyard of the ashram
• His 35-year-old nephew used to frequent the ashram. Residents of the area said his nephew, who stayed at a village in Haryana, used to visit his ashram quite often
• A copy of the Bhagavad Gita and a set of "chura" were found lying in his room. 

Panchkula, May 16
The lure of a lavish lifestyle and making a quick buck led four girls to plan and execute the dacoity that took place at Sector 4, Panchkula, on Monday. The police today claimed to have cracked the case with the arrest of three of the eight accused. Those arrested today are Sujata and Tabassum, who live in Zirakpur, and Gokul of Orissa. The police is on the lookout for the remaining accused.

To give shape to their plan, Sujata and Tabassum decided to involve their friends, including two other girls. Tabassum, who was in contact with Gokul on the phone, planned the dacoity during a meeting at Yavnika Park in Sector 5, Panchkula.

Interestingly, the robbery was to be committed in some other house. Rajiv Garg’s house became a target due to a communication gap.

The dacoity idea first struck Sujata after one of her friends, a property dealer and one of the accused in the case, reportedly told her that a Panchkula-based businessman had got a payment of Rs 4 crore. She discussed it with Tabassum, who called Gokul from Orissa.

Gokul and Tabassum were phone friends for the past six months.

The miscreants had to strike at another businessman’s house in Sector 4, who had received a payment of Rs 4 crore for a property deal. The robbers, however, committed the robbery in Garg’s house by mistake.

The police has sent teams to Delhi to arrest the remaining accused, including the property dealer. The accused had decided to meet in Delhi and then leave for Orissa.

“A property dealer (name withheld by the police), who knew the businessman who had received a payment of Rs 4 crore, was in contact with Sujata and informed her about the payment. Sujata discussed it with Tabassum, who decided to meet Gokul,” said Commissioner of Police Rajbir Deswal.

The accused purchased weapons from the Industrial Area, Panchkula. They had decided that after executing the crime, they would divide the booty and lead a lavish life.

The police has recovered some gold and silver jewellery. A laptop and some weapons have also been recovered.

Chandigarh, May 16
Following Hollywood star Angelina Jolie's gene test and her subsequent double mastectomy (removal of breast cancerous cells), experts at the PGI have been receiving a number of queries from women across the country for the prevention of breast cancer.

Women coming in for mammography at the PGI have shown curiosity about the procedure and have been posing queries to experts about its significance. Experts said awareness of breast cancer would get a boost with the famous star going in for such a procedure.

The experts said the technology, however, was not of much significance for a majority of the population since genetic inheritance was found to be a cause of breast cancer in merely 5 per cent women.

“There are few women who genetically inherit breast cancer cells and the gene test is recommended only when we see a history of breast cancer in the patient’s family. The gene test is not very significant for a majority of the cancer patients as the cause of a lump inside the breast varies among women and genes are responsible for it only in one in 10 women in India,” said Prof Gurpreet Singh of the Department of General Surgery, PGI.

“The gene test involves a huge cost as well as screening of all cancer survivors or patients in the respective families of patients to identify the cancerous gene. Hence, we do not recommend the gene test until we see a possibility of inheritance of genetic cells.”

On an average, the test costs between Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,000 and the facility for screening is not available in government-run institutions in the country.

The experts pointed out that the genes varied between patients and the cancerous genes were rarely the same in different individuals. “Detecting the cancerous genes is a complicated process. The cancerous genes are rarely the same in two individuals. The entire process involves the screening of all women in the family who have had a history of breast cancer and then the common genes are identified. Even then, it cannot be easily ensured whether the common genes are cancerous or not,” said Prof Malcolm Reed, head of the Department of Surgical Oncology, University of Sheffield, UK.

The experts had gathered at the PGI for a conference hosted by the Association of Breast Surgeons of India.

Oscar-winning star Jolie had undergone mastectomy in February this year after undergoing a gene test where doctors detected the presence of cancerous genes in her breast.

Chandigarh, May 16
The status of Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB) is in a fix following the decision of the Union Government to withdraw major programmes which are being run under its purview in the country. The issue rocked the annual meeting of the board, being held in Andaman and Nicobar today.

The chairperson of the CSWB, Prema Cariappa informed all the 33 chairpersons attending the meeting that the ministry had decided that the condensed course for the dropouts of the schools and the crèches, being run in the villages, would be discontinued from the current financial year. While condemning the decision, a resolution was passed in the meeting that the representatives of the board would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to request him to continue these programmes under the aegis of the board.

In a communication by the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare to the CSWB, it had been stated that the board should discontinue the condensed course for the dropouts of the school in the age group of 15 to 35 years and shut down all the crèches run in the villages as the ministry was not going to release any grant for these projects in the current financial year.

In fact, the ministry has so far not even released the funds for the awareness camp programmes, under which the board of the respective states and Union Territories sensitise the public on various issues related to health, hygiene and education. The Chairperson of the Chandigarh Social Welfare Board, Kamlesh, stated that the board had rejected its proposal of increasing 50 per cent annual grant to the city for various welfare projects, after the instruction of the ministry to discontinue them. She revealed that as the board was clueless about its status, so no major agenda was discussed.

In the meeting, the chairpersons complained that the states and the Union Territories were not taking the constitution of the boards seriously and delayed notifying them which added to the woes of the Central Government in axing or withdrawing the major projects from the jurisdiction of the board. 

Chandigarh, May 16
The priority of the Central Club, Sector 9, will be to sort out the lease issue with the UT Administration and making the club financially sound.Thes new body of the Central Club has been elected unopposed, following the withdrawal of nominations from the opposite group.

Major (retd) JS Sekhri, who has been elected as the president of the club, stated that the major concern would be giving a new begining to the club. "We will sort out the lease issue with the Administration by requesting them to fix some reasonable rent. The club has occupied only one acre of land and most members of the club are senior citizens,” Sekhri said.

He further stated that the club would try to get the bar licence renewed, in order to generate the revenue, which can be spent on the upkeep of the club and introducing new facilities for the members. "The renewing of the bar licence will also help in generating more revenue through the kitchen,” Sekhri said.

The elected office-bearers stated that the club members would also be asked to clear their dues.

The office-bearers also aimed at giving a facelift to the club, to attract more members.

Meanwhile, others who have been elected unopposed include RL Arora as vice-president, Vinod Khanna as secretary, Ashok Malhotra as joint secretary and RK Bansal as treasurer. While the office-bearers have been elected unopposed, the elections for the five posts of executives, that have eight candidates in the fray, will be held on May 19. A formal announcement on those elected will be made the same day.

Chandigarh, May 16
UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil has directed the Chandigarh MC not to sell off its commercial pockets to make for the loss in revenue from the projected sources and instead generate its resources.

While approving the MC budget of Rs 627 crore, the Administrator has given the directions in light of the move by the MC to withdraw money by breaking its fixed deposits.

The MC has been demanding permission from the Chandigarh Administration to auction prime properties in Mani Majra.

UT officials pointed out that the MC has not been able to recover the projected revenue from the property tax and other resources. In the past two years, the MC has withdrawn money from its fixed deposits for salaries and administrative expenditures.

The Local Bodies’ Secretary-cum-Home Secretary has also been asked to ensure that the Administration should not approve any proposal for the sale of land by the MC. The officials reveal that since 2009, the MC has not sold off any major commercial property, though it has prime commercial plots in Mani Majra, Sectors 9, 32, 36, 38 and 39, apart from properties in nine UT villages.

Between 1995 and 2009, the MC has earned over Rs 440 crore from the sale of commercial properties.

In the past few days, MC officials have been crying foul over the delay in the approval of MC budget for the current financial year. MC officials said the financial budget of Rs 637 crore was approved by the General House on February 28, but was pending for approval with UT Administration authorities.

There has been a problem in paying the salaries of over 5,000 employees working with the MC, for which a sum of Rs 10 to Rs 12 crore is required. For electricity bill payments, the MC needs around Rs 5 crore. For the past three months, 5,000 employees are being given salaries from the MC's fixed deposits kept for emergency use.

Moreover, the move to encash a few of its fixed deposits in the past would cost the MC a loss of a few crore in the financial year 2013-14 on account of decreased interest. The MC would likely earn only Rs 132 crore in 2013-14 as compared to Rs 141 crore in the last fiscal.

Chandigarh, May 16
After checking the previous report card of the sub-committees of the Municipal Corporation, UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil has approved the names of new committee members.

A few days ago, Mayor Subhash Chawla had forwarded the names of committee members for the Administrator’s approval, but the Administrator had directed the MC to provide the last year’s performance report of these committees.

After going through the detailed performance report of the committee members during the last year, the Administrator approved the names of a few committee members.

In the past, poor performance of a majority of these committees had been pointed out. These committees were constituted to pass and execute developmental projects.

As many as 12 municipal sub-committees were constituted to oversee developmental projects involving a finance of less than Rs 15 lakh. This was done to lessen the burden on the General House and bigger committees, such as the finance and contract committee, so that these could handle other major issues.

Out of these 12 committees, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation had already constituted three committees - road committee, water supply and sewerage disposal committee and house tax committee. For the constitution of the remaining nine committees - sanitation committee, environment and city beautification committee, electricity committee, fire and emergency services committee, women empowerment committee, apni mandi and day market committee, enforcement committee, slum colonies and village development committee, and arts, culture and sports committee - names of members were forwarded to the UT Administration.

While these committees are required to meet at least once in a month, most of the committees met only twice or thrice in the past one year.

Chandigarh, May 16
After increasing the fares of AC, non-AC taxis and radio autos, the State Transport Authority (STA) has geared up to ensure that the operators do not fleece on account of faulty metres.

Now, the taxis and auto operators would have to ensure that their reading metres function properly to the satisfaction of the commuters.

State Transport Secretary, Balbir Singh, said surprise checking would be conducted. Apart from booking the operators under the Motor Vehicle Act, they would also be booked under the Weights and Measures Act.

The new rates would be put up on display boards at different places so that commuters are not taken for a ride.

Recently, the administration has increased the fares of AC taxis, non-AC taxis, radio autos and ordinary autos in the city by 15 per cent. The fare of AC taxis from Rs 20 per km to Rs 23 per km. For non-AC taxis, the fare has been increased from Rs 15 (for the first km) to Rs 17 and from Rs 11 per km to Rs 13 per km subsequently. For radio autos, the fare has been increased from Rs 13 (for the first km) to Rs 15 and from Rs 8 per km to Rs 10 per km subsequently. For ordinary autorickshaws, the administration has increased the fare from Rs 12 (for the first km) to Rs 14 and from Rs 6 per km to to Rs 7 per km subsequently.

Chandigarh, May 16
UT Administrator-cum-Governor of Punjab Shivraj V. Patil today expressed concern over the delay in finalising the master plan as it was resulting in delay in implementation of various projects.

The issue was raised during a meeting chaired by the Administrator to discuss various projects being undertaken by the Chandigarh Administration during the current financial year. Physical and financial progress of various departments during the last financial year, 2012-13, was also discussed.

The Administrator also expressed concern over the delay in the implementation of education and health projects. The Adviser to the Administrator, chairman, Chandigarh Housing Board, Home Secretary, Finance Secretary, Commissioner Municipal Corporation, MD CITCO, Special Secretary Finance, Secretary IT and all HoDs attended the meeting.

A presentation was made with regard to the performance of various departments during 2012-13 and the proposed plan schemes for the current financial year, 2013-14, under various heads of development. He asked the HODs to make efforts to ensure full utilisation of funds during the current financial year.

He said all departments, especially Education and Health Departments, should be proactive in planning their projects keeping in mind the long-term requirements in these sectors. The Education Department must plan in advance the construction of new schools and new classrooms taking into account the future growth in enrolment. More girls’ hostels must be planned to cater to the needs of girl students who come to Chandigarh from different parts of the country. Stress was also laid to provide better public transport facility in the tricity area.

Chandigarh, May 16
The wife of a UT police constable, who had levelled allegations of murder attempt on her husband and his girlfriend, also a constable, turned hostile in the court today and said she had accidentally “slipped” into the Ganges and was never pushed into it.

Taking a U-turn from her statements given to the police, Santosh Devi told the court, while recording her statements, that it was all a misunderstanding and no attempt to murder her was ever made. The case has now been adjourned to May 23.

Constable Rajesh Kumar and his girlfriend Niharika, also a constable, were booked on the charges of murder attempt under Section 307 of the IPC last year on the complaint of Santosh Devi, Rajesh’s wife.

The incident was reported in August 2012 and the case was registered in October after a detailed inquiry by the police found the two constables guilty.

Santosh turned hostile in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Preeti Sahni.

As per the FIR, the incident was reported on August 20 when Santosh Devi, wife of constable Rajesh, managed to survive the murder attempt on her and returned to her house in Police Lines, Sector 26. She had then confronted her husband, who had by then cooked up a story of his wife’s death. He had told his family that Santosh died after falling in the Ganges in Haridwar “accidentally”. High drama was witnessed when Santosh returned and narrated the story of her murder attempt to her family. She told the police that her husband pushed her into the Ganges.

In her statement to the police, Santosh said Rajesh made Niharika sit in the car while they were on their way to Haridwar and told her that Niharika had asked for a lift. Till then, he had not disclosed her real name to her.

However, in the court today the wife of the constable retracted from the statements given to the police and stated that her husband never intended to kill her. She stated that she suspected him of having illicit relations with the woman constable, however she accidentally slipped into the Ganges.

Chandigarh, May 16
As many as 20 guest faculty teachers held a protest march from Sector 17 to Matka Chowk to further stir their demand for their re-employment. These teachers have been holding the protest for the last two weeks, against the recent decision of the Education Department to relieve them from their jobs.

Ironically, around 100 guest faculty teachers and 13 contract teachers were relieved following the recent promotion of the permanent government teachers as lecturers. A teacher said that despite assurance given to them, the department had still not taken any decision regarding readjusting the teachers. Others said that they had been working in the department for several years and served the department well. They added that it was against the natural justice to throw them away. Another teacher said that," The department began the process to regularise us, but did not take up forward." Meanwhile their case is also pending before the Chandigarh Administrative Tribunal. 

Chandigarh, May 16
The Municipal Corporation has impounded 228 stray cattle from the municipal limits of Chandigarh during a special stray cattle catching drive, which started on April 10. A fine of Rs 1,23,200 has also been realised from the owners of these cattle.

Now, the Municipal Corporation will file a complaint with the police against the owners of cattle in the municipal limits as keeping of animals within the MC limits is not permissible.

As many as 301 cows were shifted to gaushalas to decongest the overcrowded cattle pound. These impounded cattle will not be released as rearing of animals within the municipal limits is not permissible. MC Commissioner VP Singh said four teams were entrusted with the task of catching cattle on roads to control the menace caused by them. — TNS

Chandigarh, May 16
The Chandigarh police has sent the viscera sample and the brain of the resident of Panjab University hostel number VI, who died under mysterious circumstances yesterday, for tests to the CFSL, Sector 36.

The autopsy of the deceased was conducted today at Government Multi Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, in the presence of his sister.

V Thurhil Sanga, a fourth-semester student of MA (economics), was found lying motionless on a chair with his legs folded in his hostel room on Wednesday.

Sanga’s sister Sawmveli, who is working as assistant professor in the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati campus, reached the city to take the body.

PU officials and hostel warden Gaurav Gaur accompanied Sawmveli to the PGI, from where the body was sent to the GMSH-16 for autopsy. They also assisted Sawmveli in getting the body released.

Gaur said the belongings of the hostel resident were handed over to his sister in the presence of the police.

Gurmukh Singh, SHO, Sector 11 Police Station, said though nothing suspicious had been found in the autopsy, the report had been kept reserved by the hospital. Meanwhile, the viscera sample and the brain had been sent for tests to ascertain the exact cause of death.

The body was handed over to the deceased’s sister. She, along with five other students from Mizoram, left for Delhi by road from where she will be taking a flight to her hometown.

Source said the university also paid for the ambulance charges and other expenses incurred for transporting the body till Delhi.

Mohali, May 16
A delegation of parents of students of National Public School (NPS) at Kurali met Mohali Deputy Commissioner, Tajinder Pal Singh Sidhu, to complain against the school management here today.

The delegation alleged that the school management was giving two hoots to rules and regulations laid under Right to Education Act as well as the CBSE, with which it has been affiliated. Their main issue was an alleged unreasonable increase in the school fee and misbehaviour of the management with the parents, who were raising their voice against them.

The parents alleged that they have raised the issues with the school management several times but in vain. — TNS

Chandigarh, May 16
A play "Parsai Ki Duniya" directed by Chakresh Kumar brought alive several nuances of human existence. Based on the short stories of prolific writer Hari Shankar Parsai, the play comprised several stories, including "Vaishnav Ki Fislan", "Chuha Aur Main" and "Pitne Pitne Main Fark", well adapted into short plays.

The greed to make more money at the cost of moral values was the central theme of "Vaishnav Ki Fislan", which was based on a character Vaishnav, a typical Brahman who in a bid to earn extra profit, started serving non-vegetarian food, then hard drinks and started prostitution in his restaurant which was boringly meant the vegetarian people only. However, 'Common Man' was a silent observer of happenings in other stories.

Mohali, May 16
The Sajjan Kumar issue is working in favour of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which the local leaders of the party too do not hesitate to cash on it during their block samiti and zila parishad campaign here.

“It’s not we, but the people of rural areas who are talking about the ‘injustice’ in Sajjan Kumar case. Otherwise, we have several development issues to talk about in our campaign,” said Amanjot Kaur Ramoowalia, district in charge of the party here and daughter of Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, the former Union Minister.

On the other hand, the Congress is banking upon exposing the false promises and statements made by the SAD leaders during last elections. “They (SAD) made big promises but on the ground, they did nothing. We are exposing them (SAD leaders) and mobilising people to wake up for their rights,” said Mohali MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu.

The senior leaders of both the key parties, the main contestants in the fray, are busy in holding nukkad meetings, door-to-door campaigning and small rallies by making whirlwind tours of villages in the area.

“We are getting tremendous response,” is the common statement of the leaders of both the parties.

PPP and BSP already out of fray: The Punjab People Party and Bahujan Samaj Party are already out of fray as both the political outfits did not field their contestant on any of the seat in the forthcoming elections. Earlier, the parties had announced that their candidates would run for the elections. Later no candidate was fielded by these parties.

SAD already bagged six seats in Dera Bassi: As many as six candidates of the ruling party for block samiti seats have already elected unopposed in Dera Bassi zone.

Congress doubtful of fair elections: Congress senior leader of the area, Balbir Singh Sidhu today raised doubts that the ruling party would do wrongdoings during the elections. “Last time also, they had adopted wrong tactics and made some of their candidates win. Unfair practices were being used during counting of votes also. I am doubtful of fair elections this time also,” said the MLA.

Security arrangements: Special focus of the Mohali police would be on Dera Bassi where as many as 30 polling booths have been declared as ‘highly sensitive’.

A total of 37 polling booths have been put in to ‘highly sensitive’ category in the district and the rest seven booths located in the Kharar area.

Giving information, Mohali SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that a total of 444 polling booths would be set up in various zones in the district for the purpose.

“As many as 37 polling booths have been identified as ‘highly sensitive’ while a total of 92 booths have been placed in ‘sensitive’ category. The rest have been declared as normal,” said SSP Bhullar.

He added that special security arrangements would be made at the highly sensitive booths. “Apart from one non gazetted officer and four policemen (which would be deputed at every polling booth) extra force would be deployed at these 37 booths. Similarly, we would also give extra force in the area where the sensitive booths have been located,” said SSP Bhullar.

In Kharar, as many as 181 booths would be set up out of which 18 booths have been declared as ‘sensitive’ ones while in Derabassi, out of total 144 polling booths, 43 booths fall in ‘sensitive’ category.

In the Majri block, where a total of 119 polling booths would be set up, no booth comes under ‘highly sensitive’ category whereas as many as 30 booths have been declared as ‘sensitive’.

In the district, a total of 21 candidates are in fray for 10 zila parishad seats while the number of block samiti candidates is 121 for 63 seats.

On the other hand, the district administration would depute as many as 3335 government employees would be deputed on election duty.

Mohali Deputy Commissioner, Tajinder Pal Singh Sidhu, said special training has been given to these employees. “The elections would be held fairly under tight security cover,” said Sidhu.

Panchkula, May 16
The first day of filing nominations for the Municipal Corporation elections saw an independent candidate filing his papers. The other candidates had also come to file their nominations but could not file it since it took them long.

Rajnish Sharma, an independent candidate from ward 18, submitted his nomination form. Sharma, a resident of Sector 20, submitted the details to the administration.

Though the other independent candidates could be witnessed lining up to file the nomination papers, decided to submit the forms tomorrow because of the delay. The nominations for the elections would be filed from May 16 to May 21.

Also, with the election scene hotting up, Deputy Commissioner Ashima Brar has appointed seven AROs to keep a check on all irregularities. The Returning Officer would be the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Panchkula, RK Sharma, who would be supervising the overall work.

Sharma said regarding the declaration of sensitive and hyper sensitive booths, the administration has sought the assistance of the police and a list would be declared soon. Not only this, supervisors have also been appointed ward-wise.

The AROs would also be scrutinising the details given by the candidates in the nomination papers. The State Election Commissioner, Dharam Vir, had recently announced that Municipal Corporation elections in Panchkula would be held on June 2. The counting of the same would be held on June 4. The voting time this year has been increased by an hour, that is from 8 am to 5 pm. Meanwhiloe, the BJP released its list of candidates of elections this evening. — TNS

Chandigarh, May 16
In a recent issue regarding the fee hike, the Education Department has finally dispatched the pro forma, having a set of questions, to all the private unaided schools in the city for gathering their financial details, which will be closely scrutinised by committee appointed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. It has also been uploaded on the website of the Chandigarh Education Department.

It is learnt that this move will bring the overall fee structures and financial matters of the schools under scanner and pave the way for the committee, headed by Justice (retd.) RS Mongia, to start its proceedings. The committee will further determine whether or not the schools here are indulged in profiteering.

In that pro forma, the schools have been asked to submit the details of their total income and expenditure for the session 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 besides their total sanctioned strength of students and actual enrolment for each class. Specific details have also been asked for readmission charges of the school. The schools have been given two weeks of time to submit the requisite information within next two weeks.

An official said that the co-operation of the school authorities was necessary for completing the task assigned by the High Court.

In future also whenever the education department asks for any information for and on behalf of the committee, the schools should supply it within the stipulated period, he said.

The committee's overall scope of enquiry, as directed by the court, is to check the fairness and reasonableness of the fee hiked by the schools vis-à-vis facilities provided by them. The scope of work undertaken by them would be for the academic year 2012-2013 and in case it finds that fee hiked by schools is more than warranted, then direction can be issued to those schools, to refund the same to the parents.

The officials said that after the reply from the schools, the committee will start holding its hearing session and is expected to hold 10-15 meetings before finalising its report. The representatives of the schools would be given an opportunity of putting their viewpoints, if considered necessary by the committee, before submitting the report to the High Court. 

Some of the questions in the pro forma

Details of sanctioned strength for each class and actual enrollment of schools for 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 (As on April 30)

Details of sanctioned staff strength and in position (teaching, non-teaching and other staff) for 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14

Details of fees and other charges charged from students- Information is required from entry level class till last class for 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14

Admission fee, registration fee charged from the student who is promoted in the school from one class to the next class

Details of their income and expenditure for 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Chandigarh, May 16
Even as the semester exams of postgraduate courses under the University School of Open Learning (USOL) are set to begin from next week, many students have yet not received their roll numbers sent through the registered post by the university. Resultantly, the UOSL's examination branch has decided to remain open on Saturday and Sunday to deal with such cases, so that the students get their roll numbers before the exam.

There are over 8,000 students appearing in various PG courses, through correspondence, from Chandigarh and various neighbouring states. Ironically a number of students are yet to receive the roll numbers.

Though the PU authorities claim that the roll numbers have already been sent through registered posts and will be delivered in a day or two, the students are in a fix as their exams are approaching.

Panjab University officials stated that the USOL examination branch would be open on the weekends for issuing the duplicate roll numbers to the students, who were yet receive their roll numbers on time. "The staff will be available on Saturday and Sunday for the students so that they don't face any problem", said an official.

Officials said that, "The roll numbers will be uploaded on the website on Friday. The students can even download the duplicate roll number cards and get them 
registered from the department."

Sahil an MCom student hailing from Himachal Pradesh, who was yet not received the roll number stated that he would have to download the roll number from the website.

Interestingly, some of students from Chandigarh have also not received their roll numbers. Rajat a student at Univesity School of Open Learning, resident of Sector 15 Chandigarh, stated that despite being a local resident he was still waiting for the roll number. 

Chandigarh, May 16
Even after one and half months of new session, students of elementary classes of the government schools are still waiting for the different NCERT textbooks. Nearly 50% of the text books of various elementary classes have yet not been delivered in government high and middle schools, both in urban and suburb areas. A head of government high school said, “We have written to the DEO office to expedite the delivery of the books since the session has already begun."

“It is same story every year. Students do not get the books on time and then at the end of the session, the department expects good results from schools," said a school official.

A school official stated,"To avoid inconvenience to the students, they had tried to arrange some old books from the students of the immediate passing class. More over teachers had been instructed to start with the easy lessons."

There are different opinions behind the delays in delivery of the books. Though some blame the NCERT for the delay, an official said that the schools were equally responsible for the same. “In November last year, schools were asked to submit the requirement of their books for the next session with-in two weeks but most of schools took nearly two months to do the same. This delayed the placement of the order and there DEO office also did not expedite the matter,” he added. Several city-based schools said that situation was much comfortable compared to last year but students should get all the books with in time. It affects the morale of the students as well as the faculty.—TNS