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The big catch: 146 in a day
Chandigarh, August 23 Reason behind the efficiency: Three deaths due to stray cattle and flak from the public. The civic body today launched a special cattle catching drive that started at 3.30 and was over by 1.30 pm. The MC's serious effort, which was lacking earlier, gained momentum when Joint Commissioner Rajiv Gupta, Additional Commissioner Sunil Bhatia, Medical Officer, Health, Dr BK Salwan, superintendent, slaughter house, Dr MS Kamboj, superintendent, enforcement, Kashmira Singh, joined the drive to catch stray cattle from various parts of the city. A team led by the Joint Commissioner took charge of Bapu Dham and Mauli Jagran while another team led by Additional Commissioner chose Sectors 48, 49 and 50, Nehru Colony and Kajheri village. Around 140 workers of the Municipal Corporation, including the staff of Medical Officer, health, enforcement wing and road wing, along with 100 police personnel, carried out the drive and impounded 146 cattle, 93 from Bapu Dham Colony and adjoining areas, 15 from Mauli Jagran and 38 from Sectors 48, 49 and 50, Nehru Colony and areas adjoining Kajheri
village.
Drive kept secret Before the drive, the MC had bought 200 bamboo sticks and 150 kg of rope for the tedious task. Later, they shifted the cattle to the cattle pond in Industrial Area, Phase I, Gaushalas in Sector 45 and Maloya. MC Commissioner Vivek Partap Singh said they had kept the drive secret and only senior officials were aware of it. They had videographed the entire drive.
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Councillors for special meeting
Chandigarh, August 23 They said how could the MC release 132 animals when it was against the policy.
MC Commissioner Vivek Partap Singh held a special meeting on Friday and asked officials to give a feedback on the cattle catching drive. Leader of opposition Arun Sood said as per the MC Act, the Mayor was bound to convene a special meeting if one-fourth of the councillors demanded the same. — TNS
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MC officials defend themselves
Chandigarh, August 23 Earlier, the court of Civil Judge TPS Randhawa had issued notice to the Deputy Commissioner, MC Commissioner, Mayor, SP (Traffic), Additional Commissioner-II of MC and the Superintending Engineer (Roads) of the MC, asking them as to why action should not be taken against them for their failure to ensure the safety of commuters from stray cattle. The court had passed interim orders in the public interest litigation filed by advocate Pankaj Chandgothia against the Chandigarh Administration and the MC for checking the stray cattle menace. Allowing the application to treat the case in public interest under Section 91 of the Civil Procedure Code, the court had issued directions on September 21, 2012, to the defendants to do the needful as per rules so the safety of commuters was ensured”. The immediate cause for filing the contempt petition was the death of a motorcyclist, Harpreet Singh, on the night of April 6, involving stray cattle. The petitioner said his apprehensions expressed in the PIL had come true. He filed a contempt petition against the officials of the Administration, MC, DC office and traffic police, stating that the incident had proved that the authorities failed to comply with court orders. The reply filed on behalf of the Mayor, MC Commissioner, Additional Commissioner-II and SE (Roads), contending that from January 2010 to July 2013, a total of 9,105 stray cattle have been impounded and a sum of Rs 57,35,981 have been realised as fine and feeding charges. The drive was hampered by shortage of space and therefore 520 cattle were sent to Dabur Hare Krishna Gaushala in Delhi while 100 cattle were sent to Sita Gaushala Mubarakpur, Punajb. The MC contended that several raids were conducted against illegal dairies and owners of cattle. In reply, the officials said it was denied that the inaction on the part of the defendant was solely responsible for the plight of residents on account of the stray cattle menace. People who are rearing cattle have also a bounden duty to avoid grazing their cattle in public." Chandgothia pointed out that the MC had repeatedly issued public notices that impounded cattle would not be released after April 2012, but still its was releasing the impounded cattle after taking fine, which was encouraging the offenders. The case has been adjourned to October 4 for reply by the Deputy Commissioner and the SP (Traffic).
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Police party zeroes in on accused, attacked in UP
Panchkula, August 23 The remaining four accused are yet to be arrested.
Hailing from Gonda village in Bihar, the accused came to Panchkula to commit the robbery, stated the police.
On Thursday, two robbers looted cash and jewellery worth Rs 9 lakh by holding Madhurmalti Gupta (70) hostage. Her husband Jagannath Gupta was not at home when the robbers struck at the house. “Ram Bilas and Jagram entered the house while Jhaanga stood guard. The other accused were standing the house to keep a watch. Raju was waiting for them at the Chandigarh railway station,” said Commissioner of Police Rajbir Deswal. The way the robbery was committed, it was clear that it was the handiwork of an insider. "Jagram approached Raju asking him a place where they could commit a robbery," said Deswal. Except two bangles and Rs 74,000 in cash, all ornaments have been recovered.
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Officials busy playing blame game
Mohali, August 23 "The work is being carried out at a snail's pace," said a senior official of GMADA. RP Gupta,
executive engineer, Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation Department, refuted the allegations. He said GMADA contractor should rectify the fault as the pipeline was damaged while carrying out digging work. The water supply was suspended following leakage in Phase III and Phase IV pipeline of the Kajauli Water Works on Tuesday. Both the pipelines, having a capacity of 2.5 MGD each, carry five MGD water being supplied to Chandigarh and Mohali. The Chandigarh Administration is responsible for the maintenance of Phase III pipeline while Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation Department takes care of Phase IV pipeline. GMADA executive engineer Ashok Virdi, who was at the site today, said the Chandigarh Administration had got the pipeline repaired. When asked about the Phase IV pipeline, he said the work was in its initial stages.
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UT officers’ roster approved
Chandigarh, August 23 In 2012-13, 14 UT PCS and HCS officers, who were appointed to conduct mid-day inspection in government schools on a monthly basis, were rarely seen performing their duty on ground. If one examines the roster, it has been made in such a way that an officer appointed ends up carrying out inspection in all the government schools by the end of a session. However, UT “babus” have not yet been taken this seriously despite the fact that the inspection aims at keeping a regular check on the quality of food served to schoolchildren besides highlighting the weak areas of the Mid-day Meal Scheme, which lately has attracted a lot of negative publicity in the city. An officer seeking anonymity said that the incidents like dead flies found in the mid-day meal at GHS, Colony No. 4, could be avoided if officials carried out their inspections as per the schedule. He said that only a few officials took the inspection seriously last year. “I performed my duty diligently in the beginning, but lost interest in the exercise later, as nobody took notice of it,” he said This year, 13 PCS and HCS officials have been appointed and each one of them has been told to inspect eight to10 schools in a month till March next year. Even as the circular about their duties has been sent to them in the first week of August, no major mid-day meal inspection has been carried out in government schools so far. A school principal said that mid-day meal was an important scheme of the Government of India and directly monitored by the Supreme Court. “The officers concerned must inspect the schools since their feedback will certainly help further streamlining the system and work would be carried out in a transparent manner,” he stated.
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Delay a roller coaster ride for candidates
Chandigarh, August 23 A parent, Ranjit Singh from Panchkula, said the hard work put in by the selected students had gone futile since the legal battle over the selection process of the additional MBBS seats had halted the final admission process and brought down their morale. “The major problem is that the new session in the college has already begun from August 1 and nearly a month of classes and training has been missed by the students for no fault of theirs, said another parent, Rajinder Nagpal from Zirakpur. The GMCH-32 held the first round of counselling for the MBBS course for its original strength of 50 seats on July 29. On July 31, the college received the approval of the Medical Council of India (MCI) for the enhancement of 50 more seats, for which the college authorities issued a notification on August 1 and invited fresh applications for the admission to the enhanced 50 seats. However, the decision backfired on the college. The Punjab and Haryana High Court vide its order dated August 8 quashed the GMCH-32’s notification dated August 1, where in, the fresh applications were invited for enhanced seats after an old applicant filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the same. After the order, the counselling of the 50 increased seats, which were scheduled for August 8 was postponed to August 13. Meanwhile an applicant, who applied as per the August 1 notification of the GMCH notification filed a separate appeal before the Division Bench challenging the order of the Single Bench. The cases were heard on August 13 and under the court’s direction, the GMCH authorities held the counselling of all the students, but withheld the result till the decision of the court. The matter was heard on August 21, which was later postponed to August 27. Another appeal by an old candidate regarding the incomplete registration forms of eligible students is also pending. A parent, Sanjay Kansal, a resident of Sector 28 said, “Parents are eagerly waiting for the next hearing of the case on August 27 and we appeal to all the authorities concerned to take humanitarian viewpoint of the affected students who despite featuring in the merit list, continue to suffer because of the legal tussle”. Another parent, Sunil Kumar, from Ram Darbar, said that though the parents could not meet GMCH principal Dr Atul Sachdeva, but we request him to help us so that our wards can start their much awaited and deserved MBBS course. Another parent, Afshan, said that any further deferring of the decision would add to the anxiety of parents and eligible students, therefore the matter should be sorted out at the earliest. A parent said those who had moved a petition on the issue were the ones who would not get the admission even if the eligibility of the new applicants were nullified.A city based biology teacher, Arvind Goyal, said that the whole scenario was simply delaying the process of admission and playing with the careers of deserving students, he said. Dr Atul Sachdeva, principal of the GMCH-32 could not be contacted for comment.
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3 workers faint while cleaning manhole
Chandigarh, August 23 The other two labourers who were with them at the site immediately pulled them out after they cried for help and fainted inside the manhole. All three were immediately rushed to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32. Till the filing of the report Shubham and Sanjeev were on oxygen and Harjeet was declared out of danger.An eyewitness said that three of them did wear any protection kit while cleaning the manhole which is mandatory as per the norms of the MC. Rahul Vaid, president, Employees Contractor Association, said as per the norms every worker should wear mask, gloves and gumboots while cleaning the manhole . The issue had been taken up with the contractor and the MC authorities many times but all in vain. Despite attempts, RC Diwan, MC Public Health Superintending Engineer, was not available for comments.
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Proclaimed offender arrested
Mohali, August 23 Kevin was arrested by Vijay Kumar, SHO of the Kharar city police station, following a tip-off.
Lawyer Amarpreet Singh was murdered on February 27 in Phase III-A after a dispute over the parking of vehicles. Some youths living in the PG accommodation had allegedly fired gunshots at him. Two more persons, Gaganjot Singh and Simarjit Singh, were injured in the incident. The other accused in the case had already been arrested. A challan against them had been presented in the court.
Body found
Panchkula: A man was found dead in the Panchkula police lines this morning. The police said the man might have died five-six days ago. The identity of the deceased is yet to be ascertained. The body bore no injury mark.
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GMCH starts service for mentally ill patients
Chandigarh, August 22 An initiative of the department of psychiatry, the service will cater to families of psychiatry patients in case the patient is in life-threatening situation and also to those who wish to report about any destitute person. The crisis intervention services are handled by a team of faculty from psychiatry nursing, a psychiatry social worker and a driver, who is trained to assist the staff in providing first aid.
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Seminar on embedded systems
Chandigarh, August 23 Experts from diverse disciplines presented papers on the latest technological developments taking place in this field and discussed its applications in the industry, communication and automation, security and safety sectors. In his keynote address, Dr MP Poonia, Director, National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, gave an overview of the technical education scenario in the country and the challenges and constraints faced by this sector. He also gave a comparative analysis of the state of technical education in various countries. He also talked about various issues affecting the state of affairs of private technical institutes, faculty and students. In his inaugural address, president of the IETE Dr S Pal traced the growth and genesis of the society and highlighted its activities. He revealed that the IETE was establishing a university to promote technical education in the country. A souvenir was also released on the occasion.
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A day after, schools become alert
Chandigarh, August 23 Ambedker Institute of Hotel Management (AIHM), Sector 42, which had allegedly supplied the contaminated food to GHS, Colony No. 4 yesterday, too adopted extra caution, due to which its mid-day meal supply was delayed by over an hour in several schools. Ajit Singh Negi, mid-day meal inspector, appointed at AIHM said that the department as well as the AIHM officials thoroughly inspected the cooking and distribution of the supply today. After a visit to Government High School, Hallo Majra, it was found that the mid-day meal workers were properly dressed with gloves and headgears and the utensils were neatly covered. A school official said that there was a strict guideline from the Education Department not to adopt any laxity while receiving the mid-day meal. Though Government High School in Karsan did not have a separate room for the mid-day meal, but all the utensils were well cleaned. In Chandigarh, four centralised Kitchens, including Ambedkar Institute of Hotel Management, Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management, CITCO and Rajiv Associates prepare and supply the mid-day meal to all the government city schools. Many schools were of the opinion that the department should become more alert and interim storage and transportation should be taken care of. The department should see that all schools should have separate mid-day meal room. Upkar Singh, DPI (s), said that after yesterday’s incident, the department had become extra cautious to avoid such incidents in the near future and all the officials hadbeen asked to be extra vigilant.
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Orientation programme
Mohali, August 23 Information on cross-cultural exchange programmes was also given by an Ethiopian delegate. Practical models and different interactive activities were demonstrated by students.
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City colleges in election mode
Chandigarh, August 23 “As the elections are round the corner, we wanted to show our strength to the newly admitted students,” said a SOPU leader. A rally was also organised by Himachal Student Union (HIMSU) on the DAV college campus. “HIMSU is one of the dominant parties on the DAV College campus and we want this tradition
to continue further,” said Kapish Chauhan, a HIMSU leader. Chauhan said the party had also launched a wing in SD College, Sector 32, this year, and will be contesting the elections there. “We will be fielding our candidate in the elections in alliance with the party which matches our ideology,” said Chauhan. SGGS College, Sector 26, is also witnessing class-to-class campaigning by various parties. Although the UT Administration is yet to declare the final date for elections, the student parties are not taking any chances keeping in mind the date proposed by the university: September 4.
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It’s all about making an impression, say leaders
Chandigarh, August 23
Leaving behind the old mode of campaigning, i.e. walking across the campus, student leaders are making sure that supporters drum up support for their party in their high-end cars. Range Rover, Audi, Mercedes and BMW are just a few of these posh cars that can be seen on the university campus these days. Supporters believe the brand of the vehicle showcases the strength of the party, which helps in wooing voters. Driving his Audi A7 to PU campus every day, Panjab University Students’ Union (PUSU) supporter Udey Dogra believes that it’s about making an impression on the students. “Students remember the parties and their leaders through the cars they drive,” says Dogra. Jaspreet Chahal, a Students’ Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) supporter who drives a Volkswagen Touareg, says moving in a swanky car helps in getting recognised by the voters. The high-end cars are showstoppers during the student council elections, says Bindu Grewal, a National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) leader who is campaigning for the elections in his Audi. “The flashy cars make one standout from the masses; it also garners more support and respect,” says Grewal. For PUSU leader Simranjit Singh Dhillon, however, campaigning in high-end cars is more about comfort. “We need comfortable cars to drive around on the campus the whole day,” says Dhillon. Some student leaders have also borrowed their relatives’ cars to make their presence felt. The parties have ensured that posters bearing its details are pasted on these vehicles.
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UIET student to enter the fray on his own
Chandigarh, August 23 Priya Ranjan will be contesting the elections with the support of his friends from departments offering professional courses. The aspiring engineer said getting a single-window redressal system started for students will be on the top of his agenda. “The single-window redressal system will end the students’ dependency on political parties and leaders. Any student who has a problem will have the facility of getting it redressed at the window,” said Priya Ranjan. Accusing the Panjab University authorities of discrimination, he said he had sought space for pasting posters as made available to all the student parties; however, the university did not pay any heed to his demand. “Being a student of PU, it’s my right to get some space for pasting posters carrying my election manifesto just like any student body,” said Priya Ranjan.
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ABVP threatens to move HC over voting time
Chandigarh, August 23 Presently, students need to reach the university before 10 am for polling, after which they are not allowed to enter the department. The ABVP leaders want this time to be extended till 2 pm. A delegation led by ABVP leader Dinesh Chauhan submitted a memorandum to the university authorities demanding that students should have the freedom of casting their votes any time between 9 am and 2 pm. "The university expects students to reach the department before 10 am, after which the department gets locked,” he said. Giving the example of other varsities, the students said Delhi University and Himachal University allowed students to vote till 2 pm.
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PU gets Rs 35 cr grant
Chandigarh, August 23 In India, 14 universities have been shortlisted under the scheme. In a communique, secretary of the department Dr T Ramasami stated the programme aimed at improving research and development in the Indian institutes. Spokesperson of the university said the varsity was among the top three universities in terms of the quality of research. The programme is based on h-index, which is
used to assess the performance of researchers and institutions. From 1996 to 2006, Panjab University maintained a 50-plus h-index, which gave it a place among the top-three institutes in the country. The university which has 75 teaching and research departments, besides 15 centres and chairs for teaching and research, has more than 192 affiliated or constituent colleges across the city and the state.
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Tech fiesta
Chandigarh: The Computer Science and Applications Department of MCM DAV College, Sector 36, organised the iTech Fiesta today. The unique endeavor showcasing the evolution of technology and preparing the students for working in the IT industry was filled with activities based on the theme of technology. The amusing tech news, a comic tech-themed portrayal of the famous Devdas, tech quiz, and tech giddha on the tune of tech boliyan enthralled all. Club installation
The installation ceremony of the Interact Club of Bhavan Vidyalaya was held on the school premises. The outgoing president, Kanishka Sangwan, highlighted various projects undertaken by the club in the year 2012-13. Incoming president Tanisha Garg introduced her team and promised to work harder this year. Motivational talk
A talk on ‘Value Education and Motivation’ was organised at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 46-D. Swami Anupamanandaji of Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Chandigarh, was the chief speaker. He said there was a decline in values among students. He blamed parents, teachers and the society for the same. Human chain
The students of Nishulk Vidyalaya, a school for slum children run by an NGO, were invited for an interactive session with the students of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sector 31. The session aimed at developing communal harmony among different sections of the society. The students formed a human chain. Staff training
Panchkula: A staff training session was held at Satluj Public School, Sector 4. A CBSE empanelled staff training agency of Delhi led by speaker Neenu Puri conducted the session. The workshop commenced with he welcome address by principal Krit Serai. The workshop informed the teachers about the comprehensive and continuous evaluation (CCE) system. —
TNS
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