Chandigarh, August 5
Former railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal flagged off the extended Madgaon Express from the Chandigarh railway station, at 1.30 am today. The Madgaon-Chandigarh train is among the first trains that were announced in the last Railway Budget.

The train that was already running from Nizamuddin (Delhi) to Madgaon, has been extended up to Chandigarh. The train will run twice a week and will take around 38 hours to reach Madgaon from Chandigarh.

On the first day of its journey, a total of 30 passengers opted for the reserved compartments and around 40 families preferred to travel in the general category. “This train is a gift for city residents and an effort to connect Chandigarh with other major cities. The train will run twice a week,” said Bansal.

“We are excited as we are among the first batch of passengers travelling by this train,” said Ajay Singh, a city resident. “This is out maiden trip to Goa,” said Mayank and Abhinav, youngsters from the city. “We are looking forward to a comfortable journey,” said Shagun and Khush.

The fare of the train is divided into four categories, including 1st AC (Rs 4,585), 2nd AC (Rs 2,650), 3rd AC (Rs 1,800) and sleeper class (Rs 695).

Chandigarh, august 5
When asked about Former Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal’s view on the security arrangements on the local platform, the minister said that before introducing new security equipment at the railway station, but before introducing it the public should be made aware of the entire security process.

Chandigarh, August 5
Coming down heavily on Sindhi Sweets, Sector 17, for the misuse of premises, the UT Estate Officer has held the owner and occupier of the property liable to pay Rs 14 crore as misuse charges.

The charges, calculated for the misuse of the premises in violation of the terms and conditions of the allotment, are up to October 16, 2012.

Since the misuse of the premises continued till April 16, 2013, as per the site inspection report of the tehsildar (misuse), the misuse charges from October 16, 2012, to April 16, 2013, are being calculated separately.

While passing a speaking order in the case of misuse that was referred back to the Estate Officer by the court of Special Secretary, Finance, the Estate Officer said a fresh inspection of the site revealed that terms and conditions of the allotment were violated.

The appeal was filed in the court of Special Secretary, Finance, exercising the powers of the Chief Administrator, against the show-cause notice issued in 2008 and 2009 under Section 8-A of the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952, read with the Chandigarh Estate Rules, 2007.

The Site No. 108-109 was allotted as a bay shop-cum-office in 1962. As per the terms and conditions of allotment, the site was to be used only for general trade.

Hardit Singh Bassi and others purchased the site in 1975. Accordingly, the site was transferred in the name of Hardit Singh Bassi and others.

In 2008, the Estate Office found that the basement of the site was being used for sale of sweets in the name of Sindhi Sweets. First floor of the building was being used for sale of readymade garments in the name of Docjer and the second floor was being used as a restaurant. Subsequently, the site was resumed due to building violations on April 4, 2011.

However, the owners/occupants continued to misuse the resumed site and when the misuse was not stopped despite repeated opportunities, a show-cause notice was issued in January 2013 to the owner to pay the misuse charges amounting to Rs 14 crore, calculated up to October 16. In compliance to the order passed by the appellate authority, a fresh inspection of the site was carried out on April 16, 2013.

The appellants through their counsel pleaded that there was no misuse at the site as the basement and upper floors of the site could be used for commercial purposes as the site in question was allotted in 1962 and the same is governed by the terms and conditions of the allotment letter issued under the Capital Act, 1952, and the Chandigarh Sale of Sites and Building Rules, 1960. They argued that the show-cause notice issued under the Chandigarh Estate Rules, 2007, was illegal as the said rules were not applicable to the site in question which stands allotted under the Chandigarh sale of sites and building Rules, 1952. 

Chandigarh, August 5
The hike in vehicle registration fee in Chandigarh is telling on the financial health of the Chandigarh Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA).

Ever since the fee was hiked in April this year, the number of vehicles being registered in the city has dropped by 10 per cent.

Official records of vehicle registration from April to July this year reveal that 15,122 vehicles were registered in the city in the past four months. A total of 16,445 vehicles were registered in the city in the corresponding period last year.

For registering a four-wheeler costing up to Rs 20 lakh, one now has to shell out 6 per cent of the cost of the vehicle as the registration fee, for registering a four-wheeler costing above Rs 20 lakh, one has to pay 8 per cent of the cost of the vehicle.

Similarly, for two-wheelers costing up to Rs 1 lakh, one has to pay 3 per cent, for two-wheelers costing between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 4 lakh, one has to pay 4 per cent, and for those costing above Rs 4 lakh, one pays 5 per cent of the cost of the vehicle as the road tax.

Officials at the RLA said not only the hike in the road tax, strictness in checking the residence proof of vehicle owners had also brought down the number of vehicles being registered in the city.

As per the revised checklist, the applicants are now asked to furnish income tax returns of the past three years as one of proofs of residence. 

Chandigarh, August 5
A 40-year-old woman’s noble gesture to donate organs of her brain dead husband at the PGI has saved five lives.

“Though he is no more with us, but his contribution to society has made him immortal, said Kashmir Kaur, the deceased’s wife.

Lauding the courage and contribution of the family, the PGI authorities waived the ICU fee of brain dead Kashmir Singh.

Kashmir Singh worked as a head constable with the Punjab Police and was posted at Nawanshahr.

Five patients, including one with heart failure, two others with renal failure (kidney) and another two with damaged cornea, have benefited from the transplant.

Kashmir Kaur, the donor’s wife, met the medical board of doctors at the PGI on Sunday and gave her consent for the donation.

“The doctors asked Kashmir Kaur if she was aware of the procedure and was convinced with harvesting of the organs. To which, she replied that being a public servant, her husband had seen the fate of several patients who could not survive due to organ failure and the lack of a suitable donor,” said Kashmir’s brother-in-law Satpal Saloh.

A native of Garhshankar in Hoshiaprur, Kashmir Singh was admitted to the PGI on July 31 after he met with an accident on July 30. He was referred from Ivy Hospital, Nawanshahr, to the PGI. He is survived by his wife and two children, a 17-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son.

“The institute acknowledges the spirit of Kashmir Singh’s family,” stated a PGI communiqué to the media. We must appreciate the doctors for motivating us,” said Kashmir’s brother-in-law Satpal.

The PGI has conducted more than 2,500 kidney transplants since the facility was first introduced in the 80s. The facility of liver transplant was introduced two years ago and six liver transplants had been conducted at the PGI so far. The first heart transplant was conducted at the PGIMER on Sunday after Kashmir Singh’s wife agreed to donate her husband’s organs. 

Chandigarh, August 5
The morning showers washed away the tall claims of the Municipal Corporation as all main roads, internal roads and adjoining areas were flooded with water.

Motorists had a tough time commuting on the waterlogged roads.

Situation was no better in residential areas.

As the Municipal Corporation has failed to get the road gullies cleaned, things turned from bad to worse.

Shiv Kumar, who works in a factory in Industrial Area, Phase I, said the underpass near the CTU workshop in Industrial Area, Phase I, was flooded with water. "I had to take another route to get to the factory," he said.

Echoing a similar view, Ramesh Sharma, a resident of Sector 29, said during rainy season, water got accumulated on the road separating Sector 29 C and D, but to date the MC had done nothing to solve the problem.

The worst-affected areas were Sectors 17, 19, 21, 22, 29, 30, 33, 40, 41, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 and 51.

Residents said the MC’s sanitation wing claimed that regular sanitation drives were carried out in the city which was not the case. Power supply was also disrupted resulting in outages in various parts of the city.

Traffic jams were witnessed on the roads.

Mohali, August 5
Heavy rain resulted in waterlogging in several parts of the town. Chaos remained the order of the day as traffic jams were witnessed at various places.

Long queues of vehicles were seen on the Cremation Ground road, one of the busiest roads of the town, the road separating Phases VII, IIIB2, Phases IV and V.

"The showers exposed the ill-preparedness of the civic body.

The worst hit were those riding two-wheelers. Roads were inundated and vehicular movement was not possible," said Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Phase V, who was stuck on the Cremation Ground road.

Shalini Sehgal, a resident of Phase XI, said she could not step out of her house.

"Choked drains have worsend the situation. Every street is flooded with water. I have filed a number of complaints, but to no avail. The authorities have failed to find a solution. It has been happening for years, we are fed up now," said Shalini Sehgal.

Another resident of the area, Sukhminder Singh Barnala, former councillor, said rainwater entered houses in the area. "We have taken up our problems with the authorities, but it seems they are not interested in tiding over the issues," said 
Barnala.

Chandigarh, August 5
Seeking more funds for the facelift of the Chandigarh railway station, the Railways is in the process of drafting a proposal.

The budget allocated for the renovation of the paid parking lot at the railway station was around Rs.1.5 crore, but the contractor concerned needs Rs 2 crore to complete the project. The contractor outsourced the work of installing escalators at platform number 2 and 3 said he would not be able to complete the work as the funds allocated for the project was inadequate. Budget negotiations are on with the contractor.

Sources in the Railways said the project reports prepared by the officials during the tenure of the former railway minister were inaccurate.The officials admitted that the reports were not up to mark as they did not get ample time to get to know the ground reality.Ambala Divisional Railway Manager Anil Kumar Kathapal said he had inspected the works at the railway station and the contractors had been instructed to meet the deadlines.

He said the Railways was preparing a proposal for a supplementary budget.

Chandigarh, August 5
In a new turn in the sensational Tanishq robbery case in which armed dacoits had looted Rs 10 crore of gold and diamond jewellery in January 2011, the complainant in the case today failed to identify the accused in court. The owner of the showroom, Anil Goel, told the court that he did not recognises any of the nine accused as they were masked and had seen them only in the CCTV footage.

Earlier, the security guard of the showroom had also failed to identify the accused in court.

There are a total of nine accused in the case. The incident occurred in January 2011, when the armed dacoits had barged into the Tanishq showroom in Mani Majra and fled with jewellery worth 10 crore within a span of 10 minutes.

The UT police cracked the case on the basis of technical surveillance and managed to arrest all the accused within a week after the incident. The entire stolen jewellery was recovered from the possession of the accused.

The dacoits had come wearing police uniforms. The arrested include Paras Soni, his brother Manav Soni, Bhura Qureshi, Upendra Singh, Anuj Kumar, Bhura Tomar, Ajay Singh, Sonu and Raghav.

A police official however said they had sufficient evidence to nail the accused as they were traced on the basis of technical surveillance and the entire jewellery was recovered from them.

Panchkula, July 30
Efforts of elderly councillor Sangat Singh Nanda bore fruits today when he was elected as the first Senior Deputy Mayor of Panchkula defeating INLD councillor Satinder Singh Tony by a margin of three votes.

Congress-backed Nanda had fallen unconscious during the Mayoral polls when at the 11th hour he came to know that he was not being fielded for the post of the Mayor. Since then he was trying hard to grab one of the key posts.

Chaired by Mayor Upinder Ahluwalia and addressed by Deputy Commissioner Dr SS Phulia, the elections for the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor were held at the Mini-Secretariat, Sector 1, here, this morning. Panchkula has already got its first woman Mayor in Upinder Ahluwalia.

While Sunil Talwar won the post of the Deputy Mayor defeating Congress-backed Surinder Singh Shinda by just one vote. Talwar who won the elections as a BJP councillor was recently suspended by his party for not following party directions during the Mayoral elections.

Adequate security arrangements were made by the Panchkula police. Barricading and nakas were laid and the vehicles of the supporters were not allowed to enter from near the District Courts. Supporters thronged the premises and were seen waiting outside the conference hall for the winners’ name to be announced.

The voting of the nineteen councillors (one absent) was held through secret ballot. Before the elections, Nanda and Tony were seen seeking support from all the councillors.

Nanda won 11 out of 19 votes against Tony while Talwar won 10 out of 19 votes.

When Talwar won, slogans of former Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan were raised. Chander Mohan had supported Talwar in the MC elections against Ravinder Rawal, who was once his right hand.

Chandigarh, August 5
UT SSP Naunihal Singh today deposed in the CBI court to record his statements in the case involving arrest of a UT police Sub Inspector. The SSP had accorded prosecution sanction in the case and thus his witness was necessary for the prosecution case.

SI Hansraj Singh was arrested in October 2010 in a trap case.

The CBI had filed a chargesheet against the UT police Sub Inspector and two others in the graft case. The investigating agency had dropped the name of Inspector Dilsher Singh Chandel, the then SHO of Industrial Area police station from the

chargesheet, as no evidence was found against him. The Inspector has already been reinstated into the police as his suspension was revoked after the CBI gave him a clean chit.

The CBI had arrested Sub-Inspector Hans Raj and two civilians Satwant Singh Sethi and Jujhar Singh Sethi on the complaint of Gagan Gupta, a resident of Panchkula. The four were accused of demanding illegal gratification of Rs 40,000.

The CBI had laid a trap after receiving a complaint from Gagan Gupta. As per the chargesheet, Satwant and Jujhar Singh are brothers and ran a tea stall, but they allegedly used to collect bribe on behalf of Hans Raj. SI Hans Raj had demanded a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from Gagan to favour him in a case of cheating in which he was granted anticipatory bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The SSP told the court that he had given sanction to prosecute the SI in the case.

Panchkula, August 5
Despite the fact that elections to the post of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor were in progress, most of the councillors and officials were found busy talking on their mobile phones. The elections were held at the Mini- Secretariat, Sector 1, here, this morning.

There was no check on the use of mobile phones and the councillors were seen carrying them inside. No efforts were made to check whether they had taken the same near the ballot box while casting their vote or not.

(Clockwise from top left) Deputy Mayor Sunil Talwar talks on the mobile phone as the election process was on at Mini-Secretariat in Panchkula on Monday. Tribune Photos:Nitin Mittal; Councillor Satinder Singh; RK Singh, SDM; Councillor Ravi Kant Swami (right).

After results, Tony leaves meeting abruptly

When councillor Satinder Singh Tony heard about his defeat, he staged a walkout in the middle of the MC meeting. After Nanda’s name was announced, Tony initially congratulated him, but left soon after. Tony had tried hard to grab the two key posts and was sure of his win. Sources said that the votes by INLD councillors were cast for the Mayor in the mayoral polls on the condition that one of these two posts would go to their councillor.

Talwar is Chander Mohan’s candidate

Former Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan's candidate Sunil Talwar won the post of Deputy Mayor on Monday. Talwar was recently suspended from the BJP. Chander Mohan had supported Talwar in the MC elections against Ravinder Rawal, who was once his key man.

Chandigarh, August 5
To develop Chandigarh into a solar city, UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil today directed UT officials to install solar photovoltaic power plant on the rooftops of all government schools, colleges, community centres, dispensaries, fire stations etc.

At a high-level meeting of senior officers of the UT Administration presided by Patil here today to review the Solar Energy Programme of Chandigarh, Patil directed the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) to install solar photovoltaic power plant in houses already constructed under the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme and provision for same be kept for all new houses being constructed by the CHB.

Patil also pulled up the municipal corporation and directed it to take up solar photovoltaic power plant installation at their offices, all community centres, dispensaries, fire stations, etc. in a time bound manner. He also desired that streetlights be solar powered to save conventional electricity. Besides, he wanted that solar photovoltaic power plant installed at more government residential houses, in a time bound manner.

Chandigarh, August 5
There can’t be a better example of teamwork, time management and operational efficiency than that of Mumabi’s world-famous dabbawalas who have in their list of admirers people like Prince Charles and Richard Branson.

Every day 2 lakh people in Mumbai enjoy their home cooked food during the lunchtime and this mammoth task is being made possible “flawlessly” by this 120-year-old unique community of 5,000 dabbawalas.

They collect tiffins from people's homes, deliver them before 1 pm at every nook and corner of Mumbai and then starts the reverse operation of picking up the empty lunch boxes and deliver them back to their respective homes by 6 pm on the same day. They charge Rs 500-600 per month per household.

A live session by two members of the community at Chitkara International School, Sector 25, here today revealed the very spirit and sense of ownership behind their unique operational and logistic system.

The session started with the entry of Kiran Gawande, a ‘mukadam' (group leader) on bicycle carrying dabbas. Then Subodh B Sangle, coordinator and speaker of Mumbai dabbawala gave a presentation, which took the audience to a virtual journey, which every dabbawala undertakes on a routine basis.

“The city has been divided into several zones and every zone has a team of dabbawalas headed by a supervisor who collect the lunch boxes from their customers before 10 am, sort them out at a sorting point according to their destinations and then embark on the mission of distributing them with the help of the local trains. A single lunch box ends up changing hands three to four times daily before reaching the final destination," he said.

"At the heart of the system there is a coloured code system written on every lunch box that guides semi-literate dabbawalas,” he said “We run on honesty, sincerity, team effort and faith, which works as a central guiding force for the system," he said.

Subodh highlighted how dabbawalas once saved a trouble marriage and how they did not mind delivering things like mobile phones.

What awed the audience was how these dabbawalas carry a load of up to 50-70 kg, travel nearly 60-70 km every day on crowded local trains and produce zero error rate without using any technology.

Many in the audience, especially children, asked why the system was not working to other cities. He replied that it was not possible to follow such a vast system in other cities because no city in India has such a vast arrangement of the local railway network. “The local railway network in Mumabi is the backbone of our logistic and delivery system. Delhi has metro now, but there are practical problems and security issues," he said

“Discipline is of a paramount importance to us,” said Kiran Gawande. He said the community did not tolerate delay on the part of customer as well as delay in their service. The customer’s service is stopped after 4-5 warnings. 

• The service began in 1880 at the behest of some Englishmen who liked to eat home-made food.
• The service has remained always uninterrupted, even on the days of severe waterlogging in Mumbai. They wade through the water and deliver the boxes on time.
• In 2005, Harvard Business Review found its reliability to be that of a six sigma standard. This implies that dabbawalas make less than one mistake in every six million deliveries. It is despite the fact that 80 per cent of these dabbawalas are illiterate.

chandigarh, August 5
The local audience witnessed a fine adaptation of Munshi Prem Chand's acclaimed story "Riyasat Ka Deewan" on the third day of the ongoing Munshi Prem Chand Theatre Festival here at the Tagore Theatre today.

Presented by the Theatre Arts Chandigarh, the play underlined how people in their bid to have important positions in society comprise with their consciousness. Directed by Rajiv Mehta, the highlight of the play was the presence of "Sutradhar" who sat near the stage and helped in progression of the play with his narrative.

The performance of the actors came out well but could have been more dramatic. The play depicted the story of a deewan of Satia Riyasat who fulfilled his desire to reach to an important position but made a comprise for it. His son rebelled against the king of Satia as he saw the harassment of people through taxes. On the order of his highness, the deewan had no option but to throw his son out of the town. Next came the turn of his wife, who insulted the King. In the end, he lost the support, love and affection of his family members and left all alone. — TNS

Chandigarh, August 5
In a move to cut-down the travel time of forensic experts who need to testify their statements before the courts in medico-legal cases, the UT Health Department has proposed to start the facility of video-conferencing at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, and Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16.

The facility will enable the forensic experts to record their statement before the Judges through video-conferencing.

“GMSH-16 already has the setup for the purpose and GMCH-32 is soon going to make the arrangements. The interconnectivity and other aspects of the process are being looked into,” said an official from the Health Department. — TNS

Panchkula, August 5
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has got a major breakthrough in the case of mysterious disappearance of a 54-year-old property dealer, Deepak Rai Sagar. CBI officials said there is a possibility that Deepak’s son, Sameer, and son-in-law, SS Monga, are aware about the property dealer’s whereabouts. The officials alleged that during Sagar’s missing period, Sameer has used 21 mobile handsets and 48 mobile numbers.

The case dates back to June 15, 2009, when Deepak Rai Sagar went missing along with his Skoda car, from his friend’s residence in Maheshpur village, Sector 21, Panchkula.

Following a case of kidnapping, the Panchkula police had registered a case of murder after they failed to trace him. The case was transferred to the CBI on September 6 last year and the latter submitted a closure report in the case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The report stated the findings of the Forensic Science Laboratory, Gandhinagar, after they conducted a psychological test on his son and son-in-law. “Sameer and Monga’s business working pattern gives a signal that there is a possibility that both know about Deepak’s whereabouts and his belongings (car, mobile and SIM card). Sameer gives a disguised image by projecting himself as a distressed son who is worried and depressed about his father’s disappearance.”

They alleged that Deepak’s family members avoided speaking over phone and try to limit their conversations as they are aware that their phone may be under surveillance. Investigation had also revealed strange post-kidnapping conduct of the family members.

Sameer and Monga had reportedly agreed before the court for the narco test. However, when they reached Gandhinagar, they backed out at the last moment. On earlier occasions too, permission for the narco test of his son, wife and son-in-law was sought by the Panchkula police. But the court had turned down the plea after the three refused before the court due to some medical problems. Before the property dealer went missing over 85 lakh was due as his income tax.

Chandigarh, August 5
Around 40,000 income tax returns have been filed by the residents of the city from July 1 to August 5, 2013 at the office of the Income Tax Department. Official of the IT Department revealed that on the last day, around 2,200 residents filed their returns.

In the last five days, around 5,000 returns had been filed in the department. Officials said that at present, they do not have the data of e-filing of tax return of the city.

A senior official said the department had not extended the last date of the filing the returns as the target fixed by the Union Finance Ministry had been achieved. An official said as majority of the residents file their IT returns on time so there was not much rush in the extended last five days.

On July 31, the IT department had extended the last date of filing the returns by five days for the convenience of those who had failed to file their return till then.

Chandigarh, August 5
A three-member committee appointed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the issue of fee hike in private schools will start its inspection soon.

To start with, it will visit Bhavan Vidyalaya School, Sector 27, on August 8 followed by a visit to DAV School, Sector 8, on August 9 to corroborate whether the hike for sessions 2012-12 and 2013-14 was reasonable or not. The committee members said these two schools had been asked to keep their accounts and other staff ready on the day of the visit.

During their visit, the schools would be asked to justify the hike. “Besides, the information submitted by the schools to the committee in response to its proforma will be crosschecked through the physical inspection," said a member of the committee.

The committee headed by Justice (retd) RS Mongia will visit all private schools in the next one or two month to probe the justification behind the hike. So far there are 30 private schools who have not furnished the complete information of their financial and academic details to the committee.

The committee had sent a questionnaire to all the schools on May 16 followed by a second reminder on June 6 and then another reminder on July 2. Despite repeated attempts, the information sent by several private schools to the committee was incomplete, making it difficult for the committee to visit the schools for inspection.

The panel had sent reminder to 11 private schools, including Kids R Kids-42, AKIPS-41, Stepping Stones, Sector 37, Bal Niketan-37, St Annes’-32, Saupin's-32, New Public Schoo-18, St Kabir-26, St John's-26, GNPS-36, and Vivek High School-38, to furnish their financial and academic details. Other schools who failed to submbit the information will get notices soon.

Justice (retd) RS Mongia, chairman of the committee, said many schools mentioned in their reply to the committee that they had filed an SLP in the Supreme Court against the High Court’s judgement that appointed these committees and since the matter had become the subjudice, they could not submit the information to the committee. Justice Mongia said, “The mere appeal to a court does not make the matter sub judice unless the law takes congnizance of it. We are sending the last reminders to all the schools who have not furnished the complete information and in if they did not cooperate with the committee, the panelwould place their status report before the High Court.” 

Panchkula, August 5
The fire safety mock drill at a local school left schoolchildren suffocated as dense smoke enveloped them completely. A team of fire officials of the Panchkula was called at Hallmark Public School, Sector 15, to conduct a mock drill as learning experience of the students. However, when the officials lit the fire, the junior students were found suffocating and covering their faces.

Panchkula fire officer SS Malik said his men used dry chemical powder in the fire for the drill, which may have caused suffocation to the children. "The dry chemical powder(DCP) causes irritation in eyes and results in suffocation. I agree that it should have been used in a limited way," said Malik.

"The smoke was so dense that was causing irritation in eyes. I was pushed backwards as it was intolerable," said a student. A parent on the condition of anonymity said the mock drill should have been conducted only for the senior students and not the junior ones. The principal of the school, Kavita Wadhwa said, " The arrangements were done and the students were made well aware of it in advance. They were far from the fire and were told to cover their faces. No such incident of suffocation took place as the children stayed there for long time to learn about the drill."

According to the school officials, It was a very well coordinated drill. A mock fire was lit in an open ground with all safety measures in place.

During the drill, a student called the fire brigade and after the emergency call, the team reached the spot in 10 minutes.The fire was then put off by the experts. and the students watched it in awe. 

The dry chemical powder causes irritation in eyes and results in suffocation. I agree that it should have been used in a limited way.
— ss malik, fire officer, Panchkula 

The arrangements were made and the students told of it in advance. They were far from the fire and were told to cover their faces. No such incident of suffocation took place as the children stayed there for a long time 
— kavita wadhwa, principal , hallmark public school

Chandigarh, August 5
Panjab University (PU) Vice- Chancellor, Arun Kumar Grover expressed hope that PU would figure in the annual non-plan and plan budget allocations of the Union Government, which would enable the PU to accelerate its research programmes and improve the quality of education.

Prof Grover said this while addressing faculty members of PU departments, institutes and centres at the university auditorium today. Prof Grover said the University might get budget from the Union Government under the plan and non-plan heads.

He said many more opportunities were knocking at the door of PU and we need to equip ourselves to achieve the bigger goals. In view of the status of PU, the Union Government is considering to locate new offices accreditation agencies like NAAC and NBA at Chandigarh. So far these offices are in Bangalore only.The Vice-Chancellor said the Central Government was interested that more foreign students study at PU. "The Union Government is willing to providing funds and assistance for modern facilities and international students' hostel at PU," he added.

Prof Grover called upon the faculty members to guide the research scholars to write, at least, one very high-quality paper for a reputed journal. He said as many as 350 students completed their PhD every year and this was going to increase to 500 in next two to three years. He asked chairpersons and Deans to provide information about high-quality research work to the Director Public Relations.

Chandigarh, August 5
Students seeking admission to engineering colleges had to face inconvenience as the admission process was temporarily interrupted due to the heavy rainfall. The officials were scrutinising the documents sitting under the temporary tents near the Gymnasium Hall. Due to lack of alternative measures, chaos prevailed as the officials and students were seen running around to protect the documents from the rain.

Later on the officials shifted the desk inside the halls and resumed with the process. Over 100 students had gathered at the venue for the scrutiny of documents by the Joint Admission Committee (JAC).

While the seats had already been allotted to the students via the online allotment system, the scrutiny for verification of documents was pending. —TNS