Chandigarh, June 7
The Land Acquisition Collector (LAC) today sealed a 66-room three-storeyed building allegedly raised in violation of the Periphery Act in Hallo Majra village here.

An official of the Land Acquisition Office said the three-storeyed building was being used to house labourers. Apart from the three storeys, the owners of the property had constructed a basement to create additional space.

Before sealing the building, the officials issued a notice to the owners. A team of officials of the Land Acquisition Office and the Estate Office, led by Tehsildar Amarinder Singh and SDO (Building) Suresh Kumar asked the occupants to evacuated the building before sealing the premises.

The Land Acquisition Office had earlier sealed similar buildings in other villages that had been allegedly raised in violation of the Periphery Act.

Meanwhile, a team of the Estate Office seized five diesel-run generator sets from shops in Sector 17, which were being run in violation of the Air and Noise (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. Directions in this regard had recently been issued by the National Green Tribunal. 

Chandigarh, June 7
There is good news for city residents as the weekend is likely to be pleasant, according to the forecast of the Met Department. The city is likely to see a dip of two to three degrees Celsius, both in the maximum and minimum temperatures, in the coming days.

A Met Dept official said the heavy showers yesterday resulted in a dip in the mercury today. The maximum temperature recorded today was 36.6°C, two degrees below normal and the lowest since 2003 in June. The minimum temperature recorded today was 24.4°C, three degrees below normal.

The official said a western disturbance had resulted in rain in the city yesterday, which brought the much-needed respite for residents of the tricity from the sweltering heat.

According to the forecast, there will be a partly cloudy sky with the possibility of thundershowers tomorrow. The maximum temperature is expected to be around 38°C and the minimum around 28°C.

Chandigarh, June 7
City residents continued to suffer due to power cuts on the second day today after high-velocity winds snapped power supply lines in various parts of the city yesterday. The worst affected was Mani Majra, where residents were without power for around 28 hours. Several pockets of the township were still without power at the time of the filing of this report.

The power situation in the city during the past two days can be gauged from the fact that the UT Electricity Department received as many as 2,150 complaints during this period.

Yesterday, the department had received 1,550 complaints, while today it received 600 complaints from various parts of the city.

In Mani Majra, there was no power supply from 4 pm yesterday till this evening. In some parts, the supply was restored around 8 pm today.

Besides Mani Majra, in several areas such as Sectors 22, 23, 28, 29, 30 and 43, and Dhanas and Maloya village, the power supply was restored this morning between 4 am to 8 am. In Sector 20, the power supply was restored at 3 am today, but again a power cut was imposed at 9 am, which continued till 1 pm.

Employees of the Power Department were busy restoring the power supply by removing heavy trees, which had fallen on power supply lines in the city.

In the Industrial Area, Phase I, an employee of the department, Suresh Pal, got seriously injured last night while trying to restore the power supply. He has been admitted to the PGI. His condition is stated to be critical.

As there was no power supply in various parts of the city today, traffic signals at various spots were non-functional, giving motorists a tough time.

Brig KS Kahlon, a resident of Mani Majra, said there was no power supply in his area till 8 pm. People, who were using "kundi" connections, were enjoying power supply, while people who were paying regular bills, were deprived of electricity, he said.

UT Superintending Engineer (Electricity) MP Singh said the staff were on their toes to restore the power supply in the city today. In several parts of the city, heavy trees had fallen on power supply lines and it took time to remove these trees to restore the supply, he said. Normally, during this season, they received around 300 complaints on an average in a day, but during the past two days, the complaint centre was flooded with calls from residents, he said.

Chandigarh, June 7
The UT Administration and states of Punjab and Haryana have agreed to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the Metro rail project. In a meeting between the officials of UT Administration, Punjab and Haryana, it was also decided that the SPV be named Chandigarh Tricity Multi-Modal Transport Corporation (CTMTC).

During the meeting, representatives of the UT Administration and the two state governments shared viewpoints on the memorandum of understanding (MoU) of the Union Ministry of the Urban Development.

A senior official of the UT Administration said the MoU was on the lines of the Delhi-Gurgaon Metro rail project. The states and the local administration have agreed to go ahead with the project, but financial model is yet to be finalised by all the parties. In the next meeting, the three parties would submit their viewpoints on the financial model of the metro project. “The exact equity structure of the SPV will be finalised shortly,” said the official.

After the modalities have been formally agreed upon among the three parties, the UT Administration would write to the Ministry of Urban Development to obtain the approval from the Government of India.

In today’s meeting, UT Adviser KK Sharma told the participants that as per his discussions held with senior officials of the Ministry of Urban Development, the Ministry was keenly awaiting the formal acceptance of the proposed MoU by the three parties for processing the matter further.

There will be two corridors of the Metro rail, with a total length of 37.57 kilometres. A substantial part of the Metro line is in Chandigarh. The east-west corridor will extend from Transport Terminal in Mohali to grain market in Panchkula. The north-east corridor will extend from Capitol Complex to Gurdwara Singh Shaheeda in Mohali.

The total cost of the project is Rs 10,900 crore. This will be shared between Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana. It is proposed that within the sectoral grid of Chandigarh, the Metro line will be underground, keeping in view the heritage of the city. The cost of construction of underground Metro is almost three times the cost of elevated metro lines. Punjab and Haryana have already given their consent for sharing the cost of construction.

Chandigarh, June 7
Experts from various fields discussed the issues related to the disposal of waste, surplus or life expired ammunition and high energy materials at a two-day workshop, organised by the High Energy Material Society of India (HEMSI), in collaboration with Terminal Ballistic Research Laboratory (TBRL), that concluded at Ramgarh near here today.

The workshop was attended by the academicians, scientists from research and development organisations, representatives from civilian explosive industries, armed forces, ordnance factories, paramilitary forces, Quality Assurance of Military Explosives, ISRO and DRDO laboratories.

Dr Satish Kumar, Director DRDO and Chairman of the HEMSI, Chandigarh-Delhi Chapter, spoke about the major concerns associated with the disposal of ammunition and explosives, while Dr Manjit Singh, Director, TBRL highlighted the various activities and achievements of HEMSI in spreading awareness of high energy materials and related issues. — TNS

Chandigarh, June 7
Hundreds of passengers commuting to Chandigarh in the morning trains were at the receiving end due to the delay in arrival and departure of trains at the city railway station.

Three trains were delayed in the morning: Himalayan Queen, Kalka Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi.

Himalayan Queen which was scheduled to arrive at 10.25 am, reached at 12.28 pm. Kalka Shatabdi reached at 11.14 am, nearly 10 minutes behind the scheduled time. Jan Shatabdi left the station at 7.47 am, nearly half an hour after the scheduled time of 7.23 am.

The Ambala divisional railway manager PK Sanghi attributed the delay to technical problems arising from yesterday’s thunderstorm.

Around seven trains were delayed yesterday evening as the overhead wire between Ghagger and Dhapar had snapped.

Chandigarh, June 7
Employees of the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) took part in a protest march to the Raj Bhawan for submitting a memorandum to UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil, seeking implementation of Pension Scheme to the employees of Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) who joined prior to 2004.

The employees have been sitting on dharna at the CHB office, under the banner of Chandigarh Housing Board Employees Co-ordination Committee peacefully.

The leaders of Federation of UT Employees and Workers, UT Subordinate Services Federation, Chandigarh Subordinate Services Federation, joint action committee of Chandigarh and MC employees and workers, CTU workers union, CITCO employees and workers union, Punjab and UT Employees' Joint Action Committee, Chandigarh, Punjab State Board and Corporation Mahasangh, joint action committee of resident welfare Association Sector 56, joined the protest march.

Chandigarh, June 7
The UT State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commssion, today served a show-cause notice on the PGI, asking the respondent to explain why the compensation of Rs 7 lakh had not been provided to Anupama’s parents yet.

The commission, on April 1, had directed the premier institute to pay a sum of Rs 7 lakh to Anupama’s parents as compensation for medical negligence that led to her death.

The PGI, however, maintained that it had filed an appeal with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission against the orders of the state commission, and was not liable to issue the compensation amount till a final order was announced.

Anupama, a 15-year-old girl, died at the PGI in July, last year, after struggling for her life for over three weeks. Her left leg was crushed under a rear tyre of a CTU bus, following which she was admitted to the PGI.

In August, last year, her parents had filed a complaint against the PGI and CTU alleging negligence on their part.

Counsel for Anupama's parents, Pankaj Chandgothia, informed the court that the stay order granted by the national commission was not absolute but conditional. The operation of the order could be considered for stay only upon depositing 50 per cent of the amount within one month, he argued.

The period ended on June 3. The PGI has to reply to the show-cause notice by June 27.

Mohali , June 7
The Mohali Municipal Corporation is in a fix over the delimitation of wards for the long-overdue civic body elections, as the Department of Local Government is going at a snail's pace for taking a decision on a proposal to extend the municipal limits.

The corporation has been waiting for more than two months for the department to respond to their proposal to include 21 villages and other areas in the jurisdiction of the civic body.

It is only after a decision is taken by the government on its proposal, will it be possible for the corporation authorities to go ahead with exercise of delimitation. The Local Government authorities had written a letter to the corporation, seeking details about the delimitation work undertaken by it.

The Commissioner of the corporation had, however, decided on March 22 to extend the limits of the civic body. On the same day, all the relevant documents in this regard were sent to the Additional Secretary, Department of Local Government, for further approval.

On May 30, the civic body authorities had written a letter to the Director, Local Government, stating that it was not possible to undertake delimitation without getting to know about the decision taken by the higher authorities on the corporation's proposal on extending the limits.

However, the department authorities have so far maintained an intriguing silence on the matter. As many as 21 villages have consented for their inclusion in the extended limits of the Mohali Corporation, increasing by nearly three times the area within its jurisdiction.

The villages includes Raipur, Badmajra, Sihanpur, Daon, Ballomajra, Balongi, Baliali, Lakhnour, Sohana, Nanumajra, Pati Sohana, Mauli Baidwan, Kumbra, Raipur Khurd, Chilla, Manouli, Papri, Chachumajra , Kambala, Kambali and Jagatpura. Apart from these 21 villages about 24 new sectors of Mohali will also come within the extended jurisdiction of the corporation. It is learnt that the existing area under corporation measures 22.83 sq km. The additional area that will come within its jurisdiction would be about 50.99 sq km. 

Chandigarh, June 7
A 29-member parliamentary committee will visit various departments and patient wards at the PGI tomorrow to assess developments at the premier institute.

The team will visit primarily the New OPD Block and the Advanced Trauma Centre, where the patient footfall remains the highest. The MPs will visit the institute at around 10 am and will proceed with its tour to Kasauli after afew hours.

Ahead of the visit, the PGI staff was seen busy making arrangements and doing makeover exercise at most of the locations, including the New OPD Block today.

More than 6,000 patients visit the New OPD Block everyday, and cleanliness of waiting areas and toilets remains a challenge for the PGI staff. The staff cleaned waiting areas, devoting extra hours today.

The committee, headed by Brijesh Pathak, will also visit institutes in Himachal Pradesh on this study tour.

Chandigarh, June 7
For running the “fully equipped” cath lab, which was scheduled for completion in March this year, no posts of staff have been sanctioned by Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, till date.

Despite the fact that the hospital has been reeling under severe staff shortage, it has failed to even initiate the process of sanctioning of posts for the cath lab, which consumes considerable amount of time as per the protocol. Information sought under the RTI Act revealed that “no posts have been sanctioned for the cath lab as on date”.

The Chandigarh Tribune had earlier reported claims made by the previous director that sufficient staff was available with the hospital for being deputed at the lab.

The fact that Dr S Reddy from the department of cardiology, PGI, had been chosen for heading the cardiac centre at GMCH, further, poses a question mark over the availability of staff for running the centre (or the cath lab).

Director-Principal Dr Atul Sachdev, however, said the process is progressing at a good pace and the lab would be ready soon. “Post creation consumes time since appointments are to be finalised in New Delhi. We are hopeful that very soon the lab will be operational,” he said.

While the hospital has already been running behind schedule in setting up the Rs 11 crore cath lab, the delay in appointment of staff may cast its shadow on the inauguration.

For running round-the-clock services at the lab, the hospital needs a total of six staff members, including a consultant, two senior residents, a nurse and two technicians, at any given time.

Sources in the GMCH administration said the previous director of the institute had decided to depute the staff from department of internal medicine at the cath lab.

The department of medicine, however, has only two senior residents against the sanctioned strength of 12. Sources say the department has seven consultants, but they are not specialised in cardiology.

A total of 168 posts of doctors and 61 paramedics and nurses are lying vacant at the hospital. For more than 3,000 patients visiting the OPDs daily, the hospital has 264 doctors and 184 paramedics. The staff also attends more than 200 indoor patients in the emergency. 

Chandigarh, June 7
The electricity department staff under the banner of UT Powermen Union Chandigarh today staged a protest at Sector 17.

They were objecting to the decision of Chandigarh Administration of appointing a consultant for the purpose of ‘corporatisation’ of the department. The leaders while addressing the rally strongly criticised the decision.

The protestors also burned an effigy of the Chandigarh Administration.

Chandigarh, June 7
Chandigarh Social Welfare Board is facing an acute financial crunch as the Union Government is yet to release the first installment of the annual budget, which is needed to continue running its projects in the city. Adding to the woes of the board, the UT Administration is yet to notify the board, which is delaying the release of grant-in-aid.

Records of the board revealed that it was running counselling centres, creches and short-stay homes, for which funds are released by the Centre. The board chairperson Kamlesh said the authorities received a communication from the Central Government, directing them to continue operating the creches being run by the board, but the budget for the project was not yet received. She said the board had not received any communication about initiating new projects.

There are also six NGOs in the city, which are fully funded by the Central Government, for providing family counselling services. The board also runs short-stay homes, with the help of Central funds. Due to paucity of funds, however, the short-stay home in Sector 43 is in shambles. The home was set up to provide temporary shelter to women and children in dire need of a permanent infrastructure for their proper rehabilitation. The home has old and dilapidated furniture, shabby rooms and unsafe premises.

The condition of 32 creches being run under the Rajiv Gandhi National Creche scheme in the city is also similar.

The UT Administration, too, has failed to release the grant-in-aid of Rs 17 lakh to the board, as the last installment of the previous financial year. Sources in the department said even if the social welfare department released the funds to the board, it would not be able to utilise it, as the board has not been constituted by the administration yet. A number of reminders had been sent to the UT Administration for the release of grant, but no action has been taken till date, said board members.

Mohali, June 7
The office of the District Transport Authority earned a revenue of Rs 19.72 lakh against the reserve price of Rs 3.42 lakh at an auction of the registration numbers of the PB 65-V series held here today.

The registration number that attracted the maximum bid amount of Rs 1.45 lakh was PB 65 V 0009 against the reserve price of Rs 10,000. It was purchased by Sumeet Bedi.

Number PB 65 V 0005 was sold for Rs 1.26 lakh, while PB 65 V 0003 fetched Rs 95,000. PB 65 V 0002 was sold for Rs 85,000 and PB 65 V 0004 could fetch Rs 70,000. The reserve price in all these cases was Rs 10,000.

Registration number PB 65 V 0011 was sold for Rs 61,000, PB 65 V 0037 for Rs 55,000, PB 65 V 0053 for Rs 40,000 and PB 65 V 0010 was sold for Rs 36,000. The reserve price for these numbers was Rs 3,000.

Registration number PB 65 V 0999 was sold for Rs 1.25 lakh against the reserve price of Rs 1,000. It was purchased by Kuldeep Singh.

Similarly, PB 65 V 7171 fetched Rs 60,000 and PB 65 V 1111 was sold for Rs 49,000. The reserve price in these cases was Rs 1,000.

Mohali, June 7
The GMADA authorities removed encroachments from 10 developed parks in Sector 71 here today.

A team of GMADA staff removed the encroachments done by persons occupying houses adjoining the parks. The house owners had encroached upon up to 15ft of the park area, turning it into kitchen gardens or using it to grow hedges.

A GMADA official said notices had earlier been issued to the encroachers.

He said these parks had been handed over to the residents’ welfare bodies for maintenance. Complaints had been received about the encroachments, but as neighbours were involved, the welfare bodies were reluctant to act against the offenders and had requested the GMADA to take action.

It is learnt that the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority also plans to take action in other areas from which similar complaints have been received.

Mohali, June 7
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal yesterday visited a hospital here to enquire about SAD general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra's health, who had sustained a fracture in his leg.

Chandumajra, a former MP, had slipped in a bathroom at his residence here and sustained a fracture. He was admitted to Ivy Hospital, where he underwent a surgery.

The Chief Minister spent about half an hour with Chandumajra at the hospital. — OC

The college, named after the immortal luminary and the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, was established by Sikh Educational Society in 1966 as a tercentennial memorial to the Guru. SGGS College is among the prominent colleges in the city. Students from different across the country and other parts of the world take admission to the college. After the establishment, the college has produced great academics, administrators and sportspersons of international repute.

Hostel facility

The college has boys’ and girls’ hostels within the campus.

Seats in different courses

Course Seats

BA General 1,000

BA (ITE) 40

BCom 280

BCA 120

BSc (Med, Non-Med) Open

BSc Computer Science 80

MA Economics 60

MA Punjabi 60

MA English 60

MSc Maths 60

MSc Bio-Tech 15

PGDCA 60

The college has an infrastructural network equipped with the latest amenities. The rapidly expanding academic programmes and growing staff strength of the college have necessitated the development of additional infrastructure to the existing four-storeyed arts, science and postgraduate blocks. An impressive student centre building with facilities like a canteen, a cyber café, a stationery shop and an alumni office add to the pride of the college.

The Centre for Sikh Studies was established by Sikh Educational Society in the college with the vision of facilitating research studies in Sri Guru Granth Sahib and other illuminating Sikh religio-culture literature so that it may fruitfully turn up as a humanitarian effort to contribute towards achieving the ideal of universal brotherhood and an enlightened world. While the centre provides teachers and researchers with an up-to-date library containing a large collection of religious writings, it also makes efforts to enlighten the young students about their rich socio-culture and religious heritage.

Chandigarh, June 7
Panjab University today launched the website for centralised admissions to BCom first-year at 12 institutions in Chandigarh. There will be 1,120 seats in co-educational colleges, 770 seats in women’s colleges and 140 seats in the men’s college.

There are 210 BCom seats at DAV College, Sector 10, 70 seats at Department of Evening Studies, PU, 280 seats at SD College, Sector 32, 140 seats at Government College of Commerce and Business Administration, Sector 42, 140 seats at Post Graduate Government College, Sector 46, and 280 seats at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College - 26.

There are 140 seats at Dev Samaj College for Women, Sector 45, 210 seats at MCM DAV College for Women, Sector 36, 140 seats at Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, 140 seats at Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 11, and 140 seats at Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 42.

Boys can apply for the 140 seats at Post Graduate Government College, Sector 11, which is a men’s college only. Admission seekers can submit online registration from June 8 to June 23. — TNS