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Mohali dist all set to vote today
688 polling booths set up; 2,752 officials deputed; polling to begin at 7 am and end at 6 pm
Tribune News Service

Mohali, April 29
The district administration is all set to hold free and fair Lok Sabha elections in the Mohali, Kharar and Dera Bassi segments of two parliamentary constituencies tomorrow. The voting will start at 7 am and end at 6 pm. To ensure smooth polling, 688 polling booths have been set up in the district, where 2,752 poll officials have been deputed.

The Mohali and Kharar segments fall under the Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituency, while Dera Bassi comes under the Patiala parliamentary constituency.

The election staff, along with poll-related material, including electronic voting machines (EVMs), were sent to their respective booths under tight security this afternoon.

Mohali District Electoral Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu said all staff members had reached their respective destinations safely. He said the poll staff included polling officers, supervisors, sector officers and micro observers.

“All necessary arrangements have been made to ensure free, fair and transparent polling tomorrow. The poll staff have been instructed to remain at their respective booths till 6 pm tomorrow,” said Sidhu.

During the last parliamentary elections, the district saw 67 per cent polling.

“This time, we have set a target of 85 per cent polling,” said Sidhu, adding that he was hopeful that the target would be met.

6,16,854 voters in dist

With an addition of 20,000 voters this time, the total number of voters in the district has reached 6,16,854, of which 3,26,22 are male and 2,90,632 female. The number of voters in the 18-19 age group is 9,109.

‘Super model’ and 'model’ booths

“For the convenience of the voters, we have set up 'super model' and ‘model’ polling booths, where facilities such as drinking water, medical aid, clean toilets and seating arrangements have been made available,” said Sidhu, adding that special care would be provided to female voters and the elderly at the polling booths. The elderly, patients and women will be assisted by NSS and NCC volunteers at the booths. The administration will give appreciation certificates to first-time voters to encourage them.

All establishments closed today

All government and non-government establishments, including offices, boards, corporations, banks and industries, here will remain closed tomorrow. The DC said even shops in all markets and the malls in the area would remain closed till 6 pm.

21 booths declared 'critical sensitive'

Twenty-one polling booths have been declared "critical sensitive booths" where monitoring will be done through live web casting and micro observers (they are Central Government employees and report directly to the observers). Besides, 122 booths have been declared "hypersensitive" and 231 "sensitive" ones.

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Security up for polling in Mohali
Our Correspondent

Mohali, April 29
As many as 61 patrolling parties have been deployed in Mohali district for the Lok Sabha elections being held tomorrow. District Electoral Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu today said in addition to the patrolling parties, 25 other teams had been formed which would be headed by police officers. Besides, 40 persons were part of area domination teams which had been formed in view of elections. Close monitoring of each and every polling booth would be done during the elections, the DC added.

He said the district had got two companies of the CRPF and three companies of the IRB in addition to the state police force.

Sidhu said three to five police personnel would be deployed at each polling booth, depending on the location of the booth.

He added that 45 inter-state nakas besides 10 district nakas would be set up on the polling day.

Special leave for voters working in UT depts

The Chandigarh Administration has announced to grant a special casual leave to its employees, who are registered as voters in Punjab, so as to enable them to exercise their franchise on April 30.

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Multi-crore fraud case
Court staff in dock for misplacing police report
Aneesha Sareen
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29
Alleging that the police cancellation report in a high-profile fraud case involving Congress MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh as the accused was misplaced for three months by the court staff, the complainant in the case, Raman Uppal, has filed a complaint in the court in this regard. It has been alleged that one of the accused in the case managed to get access to the cancellation report, with the court remaining oblivious to the entire happenings.

The complainant has sought appropriate legal and disciplinary action against the court staff of JMIC Anil Kaushik, including the ahlmad, Sikander Singh, and a naib court, Balraj, who has already been arrested in a corruption case by the CBI last month.

The complainant has alleged that the staff deliberately misplaced the cancellation report filed by the Chandigarh Police in January this year. A copy of the cancellation report was given to one of the accused in the said FIR with the sole objective of subverting the judicial process, it has been alleged in the complaint, a copy of which is with Chandigarh Tribune.

The complainant had filed an application on April 26 before the court of Anil Kaushik, JMIC, Chandigarh, requesting for directions to trace the file regarding the cancellation report filed by the Chandigarh Police in January 2014. It was only then that the file was "mysteriously" traced by the same staff who all these months had been denying that any such report was there in that court.

“I first became aware of the cancellation report having been filed when the bail application of one of the accused (Itinderjit Singh) was being argued before the court in February. We ran from pillar to post (from one court to the other) for the past three months looking for the report, but to no avail,” said Uppal.

“As observed by Anil Kaushik, JMIC, in the court, officials of his court have not even brought this file on record and placed it before the court for the issuance of a notice to the complainant.”

The complaint filed before the District and Sessions Judge today has sought action against the court staff and one of the accused who got access to the report. A senior court official said they had received the complaint and it was being examined.

Complainant’s take

“It was only after the JMIC’s personal intervention on April 26 that ahlmad Sikander Singh started to look for the file. All cancellation report files were sought. The file was not found in the stack of files that were personally examined by the JMIC. After over two hours of wait, I was directed by the court to come back again at 3 pm and a stern direction was issued by the JMIC to Sikander Singh for tracing the file. At about 3.15 pm the ahlmad mysteriously produced the file which he had been claiming had never been filed before the court,” said Uppal.

The case

n September 16 last year, the Chandigarh Police had booked Congress MLA from Talwandi Sabo Jeet Mohinder Singh and seven others, including Sukhbir Singh Shergill, a trustee of the Adesh Foundation, which runs a number of educational institutes in the state, and Gurdeep Singh, managing director of Fastway Transmissions and partner in Jujhar Travels, in a multi-crore fraud case. The FIR, registered on the directions of Illaqa Magistrate, Chandigarh, states that the accused were booked for "forgery of valuable security, creating false/fraudulent documents, money laundering, harbouring absconders in a scam of Rs 60 crore and cheating the complainant, Raman Uppal, of International Customer Related Management Services Private Limited.

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Health notes
Honour for PGI cardiologist

Dr Shiv Bagga, assistant professor with the Department of Cardiology at the Advance Cardiac Centre, PGIMER, won the Best Case Award during the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Asia Pacific (TCTAP) conference held in Seoul, South Korea. Dr Bagga’s case was selected as the best challenging case. The case involved an unusual complication following angioplasty with medicated stents, which was successfully managed surgically.

Knee surgery

A team of doctors led by Dr Mohinder Kaushal conducted a total-knee replacement on a 59-year-old patient at Trinity Hospital. Surinder Kaur, who had stiffness and pain in knees due to osteoarthritis, was restricted to wheelchair before the surgery. She underwent replacement of both the knees and was discharged after one week on Saturday.

Symposium held

A symposium on the 'Role of IT in medicine and health care' by the computer section of the PGIMER was organised on Tuesday. Experts delivered talks on wide range of topics, including mobile applications for health care delivery, electronic medical record to bioinformatics.

Dental awareness

A dental awareness workshop was organised by Avence Dental Clinic for the students of Classes VIII to X at AKSIPS-65 Smart School in Mohali. Dr Mohit and Dr Rosy told students how to maintain dental hygiene.

CME on haemovigilance

The departments of transfusion medicine at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, and the PGIMER in collaboration with the Pharmacovigilance Centre, PGIMER, organised a CME (continuing medical education) on haemovigilance at the GMCH on Saturday. — TNS

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Parking boost for P’kula to end traffic woes
Hina Rohtaki
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, April 29
Various parking and multi-level parking lots will be constructed in the city to ease congestion on roads. The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has allocated a budget of Rs 180 crore for construction and repair of parking lots besides development of markets and roads in the district.

Parking problem in city markets has been causing inconvenience to the visitors besides affecting the business of traders. Haphazard parking and vehicles parked on road are a common sight here.

In the budget, a multi-level parking lot has been proposed for Sector 5-B of the Mansa Devi Complex (MDC). Three parking areas in the shopping centre of Sector 28 have also been proposed.

Besides, an extension of parking near showrooms 1 and 68 in the commercial belt of Sector 11 have been mooted and will come up at the cost of Rs 5 lakh.

There is also a proposal to construct four new parking lots in Sector 5 at an estimated cost of Rs 50 lakh.

Further, construction of parking lots in Sector 5 at a cost of Rs 49.6 lakh is under way. Construction of an additional parking lot in Sector 12A is also on at the cost of Rs 21.50 lakh.

Meanwhile, development of shopping centres in Sector 6 MDC and Sectors 28 and 32 have also been proposed.

However, there is no proposal to extend the parking space in Sector 7, the main market of the town. The market witnesses traffic snarls during festivals.

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Free flow of liquor to woo voters
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service

Mohali, April 29
The much-acclaimed strictness by the district election authorities, the local administration and the police seems to have failed to deter political parties from distributing liquor among voters free of cost. According to sources in both the Congress and the SAD, liquor is being supplied in the district, particularly in rural and slum pockets, by party workers.

“No doubt the authorities have been strict this time, which resulted in a delay in the supply of liquor.

However, now the supply has started clandestinely. The parties are mainly catering to the rural folk and slums,” said a worker of the SAD on condition of anonymity.

The sources said liquor was being supplied to Jagatpura, Sohana, Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, Jujhar Nagar, Kumbhra, Kharar, Padidala, Khanpur, Khizrabad and several other villages and slums.

A Congress worker said cases of liquor had been stocked in houses of workers and supporters.

“Special teams have been constituted to distribute the liquor at particular places. Local leaders of slums and villages also send their men to lift their share from the designated place,” said the worker.

Liquor parties are also being organised in hotels on the periphery in the garb of celebrating birthdays or marriage anniversaries of party workers or their kin.

The brands that are being distributed among middle-class voters include Royal Arm, Officer’s Choice and Director’s Special. Local leaders and persons having some influence are being given better brands such as Blenders Pride and Royal Challenge.

The Mohali police confiscated six cases of liquor of the Officer’s Choice brand from Tangori village last night. Sources said the liquor was seized from the house of Manjit Singh, former sarpanch of the village, and was allegedly meant for distribution to woo voters in favour of the Congress.

Mohali Additional Deputy Commissioner Puneet Goel said there was only one complaint regarding the distribution of liquor at Lalru today. “When we went to the spot, we found nothing,” said Goel.

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Khuda Lahora case
Court dismisses rape victim’s plea
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29
A local court today dismissed an application moved by the victim in the Khuda Lahora rape case in which she had alleged that she turned hostile under pressure. The victim had moved an application on April 2 stating that her last statement given on March 21 was made under pressure and she wanted to give a fresh statement. While she was present in the court today, she did not appear before the Judge as a result of which her application was dismissed and disposed of.

The case was registered in December last year and involves five UT constables as the accused. The victim had earlier turned hostile on March 21 when she refused to recognise four of the accused.

She told the court that she had lodged the complaint under pressure from politicians and NGOs. However on April 2, the prosecutrix said she gave the statement on March 21 under pressure and her statement given to the magistrate under Section 164 and in the FIR were true and she wishes to record her statements again.

The defence counsel had also stated in the application that this type of move should not be allowed. “Her application was not moved by the public prosecutor or her own counsel and this shows that nobody has faith in what she is saying. She was in the court since morning but did not appear before the Judge to pursue her application," said the counsel.

The case was registered on December 19, 2013, against five constables on a complaint of a 17-year-old girl who alleged that she was raped by the accused several times at gunpoint.

The victim had stated that one of the accused, Akshay, visited her house after a call was made to the police regarding an incident of domestic violence. Later, Akshay, along with his four friends, started stalking her in a PCR van. A month later, the accused forcibly took her to a rented room at Khuda Lahora, where they allegedly raped her at gunpoint. She was subsequently raped many times over the next two months, she alleged.

‘Statement made under pressure’

The victim had moved an application on April 2 stating that her last statement given on March 21 was made under pressure and she wanted to give a fresh statement.

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High drama at Jagatpura village
Cong MLA accuses SAD workers of misbehaviour; Soni, Chandumajra visit spot
Tribune News Service


SAD candidate for the Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha seat Prem Singh Chandumajra speaks to party leader Balwant Singh Ramoowalia at Jagatpura village. Tribune photo: Vicky Gharu

Mohali, April 29
High drama was witnessed at Jagatpura village when some activists of the SAD allegedly misbehaved with local Congress MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu and his younger brother Amarjit Singh Sidhu, aka Jeeti, here this evening.

Congress candidate for the Anandpur Sahib constituency Ambika Soni and former Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal reached the spot after learning about the incident. Akali Dal candidate Prem Singh Chandumajra, along with his son Simran Singh Chandumajra and several other supporters, also reached there.

Chandumajra alleged that his supporters had seen Jeeti distributing money among village voters in a bid to woo them following which they gheraoed Jeeti. On the other hand, Sidhu alleged that his brother went to the village for door-to-door canvassing when some SAD activists started misbehaving with him. "When I reached to save my brother, they (SAD activists) also misbehaved with me," alleged Sidhu. Tension prevailed in the village when senior leaders of both parties, along with their supporters, reached there.

Mohali SP (City I) Swarndeep Singh, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Lakhmir Singh and other senior functionaries reached there to control the situation.

Soni said the Akalis had an inkling that they were going to lose as a result of which they were venting their frustration in this manner.

Chandumajra alleged that Congress workers had started distributing liquor and money to lure voters.

Following an assurance from the SP that proper security would be deputed in the village to check anti-social activities, leaders and supporters of both parties left the village.

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COMMUNITY

BUSINESS NEWS
Grasim unveils its spring-summer collection

Chandigarh: Grasim has conjured up a daringly different eclectic mix through its spring-summer 2014 collection for men, comprising of relaxed clothing, leisure look and new pastel tones. The season’s collection focuses on easy dressing designed for men on natural material and blends as 100 per cent mercerised cotton for greater comfort, elegance and a relaxed look. The exclusive collection is available at Grasim showrooms and at leading retail outlets at a price range between Rs 795-Rs 1595.

Eureka Forbes launches Aquaguard-on-the-Go

Eureka Forbes has launched the world’s first personal purifier named Aquaguard-on-the-Go. This portable water purifier is uniquely designed and equipped to decontaminate water filled into it, making it an envious must have for travellers, hikers, sports/fitness enthusiasts and children.

ICICI Prudential announces equity fund

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company announced the launch of ICICI Prudential Dividend Yield Equity Fund, an open ended equity fund that aims to provide medium to long term capital gains and/or dividend distribution by investing in a well-diversified portfolio of predominantly equity and equity related instruments, which offer attractive dividend yield.

Wills Classic comes up with new collection

Wills Classic presents the refreshing new spring-summer 2014 collection. Available in a wide variety of premium collections for men featuring bold colours, slim cuts and fine detailing. Lead the change with the modernist collection of shirts for men- styled with uber cut collars and clever internal details that are sure to elevate you right to the top of the new style hierarchy. The Wills Classic range also offers Regalia shirts in ultra fine fabrics, Wonderpress wrinkle-free shirts, and the eco style range in linen and organic cotton blends. Wills Classic garments are priced at Rs 1,499 onwards and are available at all exclusive Wills Lifestyle stores across the country.

Lifestyle opens new store in Mohali

Mohali: Lifestyle has launched its first store in Mohali at North Country Mall on the Mohali-Kharar Road. The store which is spread across 2 floors spanning 60,000 sq ft offers customers the trendiest fashion. Renowned for its widespread collection, fashionable product portfolio, youthful and vibrant interiors, Lifestyle provides its customers a seamless shopping experience. Bringing four concepts under one roof- apparel, footwear and bags, children’s wear along with beauty and accessories, Lifestyle promises a one-stop shopping destination. — TNS

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PGI chemist fails to keep promise
Unable to provide prescribed medicines to patients
Ritika Jha Palial
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29
The chemist at the PGIMER that quoted highest discount in the country on all medicines and procured a shop at minimal per -month rent (against lakhs paid by others), has virtually failed to either provide medicines or bills.

Two patients have given complaints (copies of which are with the Chandigarh Tribune) to the PGIMER Director citing unavailability of even single medicine out of all the prescribed ones despite paying more than three visits in the last month at the shop.

The Area Inspection Committee has been directed to probe the matter and explanation was also sought from the chemist, as per records available with the PGIMER Estate Branch.

A Panchkula-based patient visited Shivangee Medicos on three different days - March 15, March 20 and April 2 to buy medicines on discount. Themedicines include Telma, T. Loxof, T. Soliten, Uro Tone and Systone. “None of the medicines were available on all the three visits to the shop,” stated the patient in his complaint given to the PGIMER authorities.

Another complaint received against the chemist from a Nayagaon resident last week mentioned, “it is not possible that out of the four prescribed medicines all would be out of stock.

Also cash memos were not being issued to other patients.”

The chemist, meanwhile, justified his stance, by stating in his reply to the Estate Branch that despite embargo on supply of drugs by the Chandigarh Chemist Association, he ensured rebate of 57.2 per cent to patients and over one month after it was launched on March 8, he provided discount of Rs 32 lakh on medicines.

He also stated that he was committed to carrying forward the “noble policy” of the PGIMER in providing high discounts to patients.

The shop was launched with much fanfare after the PGIMER institute body approved the proposal for auction of chemist shops on the basis of highest discounts and not on highest rents.

The practice of bidding on the basis of highest rents has taken the threshold of monthly rents to above 50 lakh across the PGIMER campus.

Shivangee Medicos, meanwhile, was allotted the shop on a minimal rent of about Rs 5,000 per month on the condition that it would provide 57.2 per cent discount on all medicines.

The chemist, however, has been facing criticism from patients for not stocking medicines.

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Excise policy gets poor response
22 vends unsold even after extension of one month
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29
Of the total 104 liquor vends, IMFL and countrymade, there are no takers for 22 vends even after the Chandigarh Administration extended the existing policy for another one month, indicating poor response to the policy. Since the existing Excise Policy 2013-2014 comes to end on April 30, the Administration had decoded to extend the policy for another one month, ie. till May 31.

An official in the Excise and Taxation Department said today was the last date to apply for the one month. The licencees had been given the option of one month to extend the period of their licence for one more month. All the wholesale and retail sale licencees will be required to submit their consent for extension by today. The licence fee for the extended period will be calculated on pro rata (proportionate) basis by calculating it on an annual fee charged for 2013-14.

The basic quota allotted for 2013-14 will not be allowed to carry forward and the fresh quota allotted will also be on a pro rata (proportionate) basis.

The officials said the reason for poor response was that the existing liquor quota for the period ending April 30 was yet to be lifted. Those opting for extension of one month will have to lift 1,690 cartons per shop.

They admit the existing policy got a poor response due to increased excise duty and assessment fee.

The existing quota is 2 lakh proof litre and till date, around 3 lakh proof litre is yet to be lifted.

This year, of the total 256 vends, 96 unsold vends remained unsold. Of these, 19 vends had failed to attract even a single bid in the past five attempts.

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Estate Office begins secret probe into illegal sale of booths in markets
Rajmeet Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29
The UT Estate Office has started a secret probe into the illegal sale of booths in different booth markets across the city. The booths sold in violation of the allotment rules are under the radar of the Estate Office. Acting on specific information, a secret survey was being done to ascertain the credentials of those occupying the properties.

Sources said a number of complaints had been verified and the action could follow in the coming week. Against the bar of 15 years on the sale of the booths, many beneficiaries had sold their properties. Estate Officer Mohammed Shayin said that an action would certainly be taken against the erring persons. “There have been complaints about the beneficiaries selling off their property for a premium”, he added.Apart from the allottees, the staff in the Estate Office who deal with the allotment was likely to face action. The booth markets in Sectors 15, 18, 19, 22, 40, 42 and 43 were under the scanner. A majority of such properties have been sold. The sale and purchase of the properties was allegedly being done in connivance with the officials of the Estate Office.The issue had remained untouched in the infamous booth allotment scam in the in Krishna Market, Sector 41.

Even in Shergill report on the booth allotment scam, the issue of sale and purchase of booth had been highlighted.

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RLA to buy another UPS to tide over crisis
Amit Sharma
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29
In a bid to ensure that the work at the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA) is not affected in case the lone uninterrupted power supply (UPS) develops a snag, the RLA has decided to purchase another UPS, which will act as a backup during crisis.

Earlier this month, the UPS at the RLA in Sector 17 had developed a snag due to voltage fluctuation that led to harassment to several hundreds of visitors after the computers had to be shut down. Services remained crippled for almost two days, which could have been avoided in case the RLA had a backup UPS system.

In 2011also, the residents were inconvenienced when the UPS at the RLA crashed due to excessive load and burning of wires. At that time the services remained suspended for two days.

Official sources stated that soon a new UPS would be purchased which would act as backup in case the other one developed some problem. “There is a risk running the systems on a single UPS without any backup. To avoid a similar situation, we will purchase another UPS”, the sources said. Hundreds of people visit RLA every day for different works, including submitting of files for driving licenses.

Aditya, a resident, welcoming the move stated that the backup for the UPS is need of the hour to save the visitors from getting harassed. “The RLA earns in lakhs from the open auction of vanity numbers so it is the duty of the authorities to provide better services to the visitors”, he stated.

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Maintenance of 80 public toilets
New tender to be scrapped: UT Admn
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29
Nearly four weeks after the CBI registered a preliminary inquiry into a case hovering around the allotment of tender to a private firm for the operation and maintenance of 80 public toilets in Chandigarh, the UT Administration today made it clear that the new tender was sought to be scrapped.

Counsel for the Chandigarh Administration also told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the decision had so far not been communicated to the company, Selvel Media. Taking a note of the assertions, the High Court fixed May 6 as the next date of hearing.

The company is seeking directions for quashing orders directing the company to hand over the possession of the toilet blocks along with the passages.Taking up the plea, the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Arun Palli issued notice of motion to the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh for April 29.

In its plea, Selvel pleaded that the respondents have started removing the company’s advertisements installed on toilets and the connecting passages. It added that the ad-hoc arrangements existing presently should be allowed to continue till the issuance of formal letters of allotment.

It also sought directions to the corporation to issue formal letters of allotment in favour of Selvel Media in pursuance to tenders dated June 24, 2013, for operation and maintenance of toilets blocks inside markets in Chandigarh. The company further pleaded that the public toilets were allotted in its favour after the general house of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation approved it.

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Skin cancer cases on the rise: Expert
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29
Dr Susanta K Pandhy, assistant professor of psychiatry, PGI, was the chief guest at the seminar on Earth Day organised by the meteorological department. He said children and elders are at high risk of heart attack and skin cancer due to climate change.

During his address to the students he said there is an increase in cases of skin cancer in past few years due to climate change. He recommended that those who are suffering from heart disease should avoid going out in scorching heat. He further said direct impact of the sun rays also results into stress. Besides this other delegates also shared their views on the climate change and the importance of the Earth Day.

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CMA issues directory

Chandigarh, April 29
Chandigarh Management Association (CMA) directory was released today. Dr Zora Singh, chancellor, Desh Bhagat University was the chief guest. Dr Zora Singh launched the CMA member’s directory-2014, which was published after a gap of eight years. The directory includes the updated and compiled particulars of each and every member of CMA.

A seminar on challenges in higher education was also organised on the occasion. While speaking on the topic, Dr Zora Singh described the challenges being faced by the educationists of private sector as compared to the public sector. He said the facilities being provided by the educational institutions such as digitalisation of study material, WiFi campuses equipped with all other modern facilities, smart classrooms and availability of quality faculty involves huge funding. But no financial support is being provided to the private educationists. — TNS

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EDUCATION

PEC students develop night solar cooker
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29
Open House, an annual exhibition of the projects and innovative designs made by students, begin today at the Punjab Engineering College (PEC). This year more than 400 students from 30 schools of the Tricity including 16 government schools and 14 private schools attended the event.

The event was inaugurated by director Dr Manoj K Arora who inspired the students to work hard to achieve their goals. Night solar cooker was the main attraction especially among the female faculty and teachers of schools who visited the exhibition.

Four students of the fourth year mechanical engineering of PEC have come up with this project. The team is headed by Karanpreet Singh along with Upkar Singh, Ajay Rana and Anirudh Kochhar

Talking about the functioning of the cooker Karanpreet Singh said the solar cooker will be functional during night with the latent heat which the equipment absorbs during day time. The solar cooker which costed Rs 20,000 to the team is designed keeping in view the major drawback of the existing solar cooker which does not function in the evening. For demo the team has decided to install the solar cooker in the college premises so as to know the accurate result of the product.

Another project which attracted attention was the moon rover designed by the team of six students of mechanical engineering department. The team in the month of December had visited NASA where they were asked to design this cart with some specifications.

The project costs around Rs 2.50 lakh to the team was funded by the college and the UT administration. Anirudh Koccher who heads the team said they have already discussed the designs of the cart with the NASA and have submitted the project. Other team members include Akshi Bhambri, Mayank Galgat, Jasmeet Kaur, Karam Jindal and Gayatri.

Keeping in view the cost effective factor, the students of electrical department have developed e-braille equipment which will assist the blind students in learning the symbols of the Braille. A team of four students including Payal Singla, Karan Bhatia, Anshul Jain and Gayatri have developed costing around Rs 2,500. They are working to make it battery operated and provision is also being made for attaching memory card through which the students can read books also.

The event included the performances by the music and dramatics club of PEC. The event concluded with the distribution of prizes to the team members of the winning projects. First prize was bagged by students of electrical department for their project - video summarisation and line-video processing. Second prize was awarded to object transportation task by a mobile robot of electronics department. Third award was given to natural user interface using Microsoft kinect of computer science department. In addition to these four consolation prizes were also awarded.

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PU IAS coaching centre starts weekend batches
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29
Panjab University centre for IAS and other competitive examinations has introduced weekend batches for the civil services aspirants. Honorary director Dr RK Mahajan said these batches were specially designed for the aspirants who cannot attend regular classes.

During media interaction he said the center will conduct weekend test-based lecture series during this programme. The fee for the course will be Rs 1,000 per month. In order to encourage on-roll students of Panjab University campus, 25 seats will be reserved for them and 50 per cent discount will be given to them.

The enrollment will be on first-come-first-serve basis and classes are scheduled to start from the first week of May.

The center plans to unfold the innovative weekend programme on soft skills including development of personality and expression apart from enriching knowledge of the students.

The center also plans to provide coaching guidance for specific subjects for UGC-NET if students demand for it. The classes for the forthcoming one-month batch of 50 students will commence from May 5.

Further as per the mandate of the advisory council, the center also plans to conduct mock test once in a month.

Successful students: Three students of the centre — Rajiv Kumar Garg, Jasveer Singh and Ambika Sharma — qualified for the PCS (Judicial). Shaid, Dilshad Singh, Rupinder Singh, Gagandeep Singh and some others have qualified for the PCS preliminary examination

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From Schools
Earth Day

Chandigarh: The ambitious spirit to create a sustainable and healthy earth caught the students of St. Xavier’s Senior Secondary Schoool. Simran Saini, Class XII- B, shared her thoughts on the necessity to leave behind a green earth. Yashika Nayyar and Simarpreet Kaur of Class XII- B highlighted the effects of pollutants, fuel burning, littering and burning of waste.

World Dance Day

Stepping Stones Senior Secondary School celebrated World Dance Day. Movement and rhythm as expressed through dance have long been at the heart of all cultures. Children embraced the fun and joy of dancing to the beat of music. Students had a great time while competing.

Turban-tying competition

An inter-school turban-tying competition was held at Guru Nanak Khalsa Senior Secondary, School 30, in order to celebrate golden jubilee year of the school.

School parliament elected

Mohali: DC Montessori Senior Secondary School held an Investiture ceremony to elect the school parliament through democratic procedures. Head boy, head girl, vice-captain (boy) and vice-captain (girl) were elected by students from classes V to X.

Welcome party

Panchkula: It was a day of great joy and enthusiasm for freshers of Shishu Niketan School, Sector 5, organised a welcome party for them. Their wing was decorated with frills, balloons, buntings, flowers. Nursery and KG students welcomed pre-nursery kids by applying ‘tilak’ on their forehead. — TNS

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PU prof bags UGC Fellowship
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29
Assistant professor Dr Gaurav Verma of the Dr SS Bhatnagar University Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology (SSB UICET), Panjab University (PU) has bagged the prestigious Raman Fellowship for carrying out post-doctoral research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA. Dr Verma was awarded by the UGC, New Delhi. Dr Verma will be researching on nanotechnology at MIT for a period of one year.

Lecture on library science

The AC Joshi library, Panjab University (PU), today organised Dr. JS Sharma memorial seminar-cum-lecture on the eve of 90th birth anniversary of Prof Jagdish Saran Sharma.

A blood donation camp was also organized on the occasion, in which about 59 persons donated the blood. The seminar was inaugurated by Dean, College Development Council, Professor Naval Kishore. In his inaugural address, he highlighted the importance of library science in the present age of literature explosion of technological changes.

Prof. HR Chopra, former head, Department of Library and Information Science, PU, delivered the keynote address on the topic ‘University Libraries in 2020’. He discussed the latest developments in the field and also the expectations of the library users.

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