Panchkula, September 8
The decomposed maggot-infested body of a man was found near North Park Hotel on the road leading to Chowk village early this morning. Doctors who conducted the postmortem said it appeared to be a case of murder as serious injury marks were found on the victim's body. The victim is yet to be identified.

According to the police, the clothes of the victim (believed to be in his late thirties) had been removed in a bid to destroy evidence.

The Station House Officer of the Chandimandir police station, Inspector Arvind Kumar, said, “Investigations are under way. It appears to be a case of murder.”

He said, “The accused removed the clothes of the victim in a bid to destroy evidence.” Due to rain, the body had got badly decomposed. Messages have been flashed across the tricity to check if any missing report has been lodged in any police station.

A passerby saw the body in bushes and informed the police. A forensic expert at the General Hospital, Sector 6, Dr Sunil Gambhir, said, “There are serious injury marks on the chest. A blunt weapon has been used. The death appears to be have occurred around 10 days old. I have told the police that it seems to be a case of murder.”

Panchkula, September 8
A Class IV employee allegedly gave medication on her own to an expectant woman who was in labour pains, leading to the baby’s death in the womb at the General Hospital, Sector 6, here last month. The fact came to light today when a probe was marked by the Principal Medical Officer, Dr Usha Gupta, to Dr Sunil Gambhir, a senior doctor, into the incident.

The condition of the victim is still serious and she is admitted to the hospital.

The victim’s husband approached several doctors seeking action against the Class IV employee. However, when he failed to get justice, he submitted a complaint to the Principal Medical Officer, who ordered a probe against the employee.

According to the complaint, Neha, a resident of Dadu Majra, was admitted to the General Hospital on August 15 after she got labour pains. A Class IV employee asked her to take a tablet for the "time being".

“We were asked to get an ultrasound done before the delivery. We were shocked to know that our baby was dead. The baby was fine when an ultrasound was done earlier at the hospital. That was before my wife was given the medicine by the Class IV employee,” said Monu, the victim's husband.

The nurse and the doctor concerned were not present there when the employee gave the medicine without prescription.

Dr Sunil Gambhir said, “I have been handed over the probe. We will question all those present on duty at that time.”

Chandigarh, September 8
Teachers have become vendors now. The teaching profession is no longer considered respectable. Good teachers are no longer in this profession. Learned people prefer working as clerks rather than teaching.

This was stated by Prof Debashis Chatterjee, Director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kozhikode, during an interactive session at Chitkara International School here today.

Conducting the session based on his latest book, “Can You Teach a Zebra Some Algebra”, Chatterjee said: “The present education system focuses on mediocrity, not excellence. Competitive exams build a spirit of rivalry, not sharing. 

Nearly 50 per cent students in the IITs are not happy. The failure rate there is also high.”

The Director of the IIM, who has taught leadership traits at Harvard University and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), Calcutta, Lucknow and Kozhikode, for nearly two decades, said the role of the private sector in education was inevitable. However, it should not be commercialised.

Emphasising on the need for governance in the education system, he said: “There are too many rules to regulate the education system. We need simple rules and good governance to apply regulations.” He also highlighted the need for conducting learning programmes for faculty members.

“The basic curiosity of teachers to teach and learn is now missing due to which teaching has become boring. Teachers need to attend learning programmes. They need to have openness for learning and love for students,” he said.

On the no-detention policy till Class VIII, he said: “The fear of failure does not let one grow and the ability to take risk decreases. Focus on just passing makes the students only mediocre. Our system is not sensitive enough to bring out the best in a child. More than passing or failing, the idea of excellence should be promoted.”Speaking on the occasion, Dr Niyati Chitkara, Principal, Chitkara International School, said: “Prof Chatterjee’s workshop has helped us understand how the current education scenario is perceived, where it is headed and how we can steer it on the right path”.

Chandigarh, September 8
Collector rates are not being reviewed for the moment. A meeting of the UT officials on the issue has remained inconclusive.

Sources said officials were not keen on reducing the rates. Recently, the UT Finance Department has asked the DC-cum-EstateOfficer to consider reduction in rates. Recently, the Mohali administration has reduced the collector rate in new sectors in the district by nearly 20 per cent to encourage the realty market.Only last year, the Chandigarh Administration had enhanced the collector rates up to 50 per cent, which resulted in the increase in the rates of the property — both commercial and residential. Different trade organisations have been demanding reduction in the collector rates.

The Estate Office has already studied the existing trend and made a comparison of the rates with the neighbouring towns of Mohali and Panchkula.“No decision has been taken so far”, said a senior official.Due to high collector rates, the UT has not been able to auction its property after 2007. 

Chandigarh, September 8
Trainees of the North East Police Academy (NEPA), Umsaw, Meghalaya institute under MHA, Government of India, were on a visit to Chandigarh on a study tour (Bharat Darshan) as a part of their training.

A total of 23 trainees (newly recruited sub inspectors) accompanied by one Inspector and one Deputy Assistant Director reached Chandigarh on September 6 at about 7 pm. On Sunday they visited the Sector 17 police station and Traffic Lines, Sector 29, as an exposure to police working. They also visited Rock Garden, Sukhna Lake and Rose Garden to know the culture in general and to develop their professional skills.

Today, the trainees visited the Sector 9 Police Headquarters, where Inspector General of Police (IGP) RP Upadhaya, interacted with them. The DIG (UT) addressed them about the working of police.

The trainees presented memento to the Chandigarh Police. Then they visited the police control room to know the functioning and working of the dial-100 system based on automatic call distribution and the GPS-based vehicle tracking system. After that they visited the Police Training Centre in Sector 26 where a lecture on the Chandigarh Police training and their response and preparedness was given to the NEPA trainees.

At noon, the trainees visited CFSL training institute in Sector 36 and got some useful tips there. NEPA trainees appreciated the cooperation given by the Chandigarh Police.

Chandigarh, September 8
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. to pay Rs 1.5 lakh compensation for increasing interest on a loan availed by a complainant in the middle of the loan period without explaining the reason. The forum has also directed the company to pay Rs 10,000 as cost of litigation.

Raj Kumar, the complainant, had availed a loan of Rs.6.47 lakh from the opposite party. The complainant claimed that he was assured that no hidden charges would be imposed at any time.

He alleged that the opposite party started charging increased rate from 2010 onwards.

The complainant requested for justification in the increased calculation of interest but to no avail. The opposite party while admitting the issuance of loan stated that it was sanctioned at variable rate of interest as per the National Housing Bank guidelines and not the RBI guidelines.

The opposite party also denied that it refused to give detail of the complainant’s account.

“We do not find any mention in the loan agreement about the governance of the loan being subject to terms and conditions of National Housing Bank. The complainant is not expected to know the same unless specifically provided in the agreement and will naturally presume that the loan will be subject to RBI Guidelines. The change/increase in the rate of interest should have been explained to the complainant. Not having done so, to our mind, amounts to deficiency in service and unfair trade practice by the opposite party,” the forum ruled. 

Chandigarh, September 8
Despite finding a wide variety of swanky frames of eye-wears, youngsters in the city and the region seem to be tired of carrying the bespectacled look. Evidently, more than 3,500 youngsters have undergone lasik surgery, for correction of vision and done away with the spectacles, at the PGIMER in the past three years.

Youth below the age of 30 are ready to shell out money for the surgery, after having researched well on the subject, said Dr Amit Gupta, associate professor, Advanced Eye Centre, PGIMER.

The technology had long been into existence at the institution (over two decades) and over 15,000 patients underwent lasik surgery over the years.The trend has picked up among the youth in the past couple of years.

The PGIMER introduced blade-less lasik surgery about four years ago. Since then, a total of 6,000 patients have opted for the surgery which includes 3,500 youths.

Arun Sharma (name changed), a 30-year-old patient, who underwent lasik surgery, last month, at the PGI said, “I have four types of sunglasses, but I could not wear any of them as my vision was poor. And carrying spectacles all the time was a baggage.”

The demand is high at the private centres, including Dr Grewal Eye Institute, Sector 9, and Dr Mirchia’s Hospital in Sector 22. Dr Rajiv Mirchia, who heads Mirchia’s Hospital, Sector 22, said, “We conduct 60 to 100 lasik surgeries every month. Interestingly, more than 80 per cent of these patients comprise the youth and they walk in with a clear demand for lasik. The awareness levels among them are so high.” 

Chandigarh, September 8
After demolition of the Colony No.5 and another five colonies in Sector 52, the UT is gearing itself for another drive to demolish structures in Madrasi Colony, Sector 26, the third largest slum in the city.

Though planned for September 12, the drivecould be rescheduled in the wake of inclement weather.

UT officials said about 30 acre of land would be freed from encroachment after pulling down 3,000 structures. Around 2,500 families of the total 3,000 families have been identified under the rehabilitation scheme in the one-room tenements in Dhanas.

The UT Estate Office has already served 21-day notice to the jhuggi dwellers to vacate the land or face demolition.

The drive being carried out in a phased manner is part of the UT’s plan to make the city slum free.

Five more colonies are to be removed in the next phase of the drive planned in November and December.

Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Shayin said arrangements for carrying out the drive were being made.

After Madrasi Colony, the UT plans to bring down another big slum, Colony No. 4 that is spread over 40 acre. More than 5,000 families from the colony will be displaced. Those displaced earlier from Colony No. 5 had been rehabilitatedunder the rehabilitation scheme at Dhanas. 

Mohali, September 8
Alleging police inaction on his complaint against certain shopkeepers while performing his duty, an official of the Mohali Municipal Corporation (MMC) has approached Akal Takht and the Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, to seek justice.

The in charge of the anti-encroachment team of the MMC, Kesar Singh, has written a letter to Akal Takht Jathedar and the Punjab Chief Minister, requesting them to take action against certain shopkeepers. The in charge was performing his duty of removing encroachments at Phase IX market on September 2 when certain shopkeepers, allegedly, misbehaved with him and his team. “They also hurt my religious sentiments by saying bad words about my religion. I lodged a complaint to the Mohali Police as well, but nothing has been done so far,” alleged Kesar Singh. He alleged that even the MC authorities did not come to his rescue. Inspector Gurdip Singh, Station House Officer , said investigations were on in the matter.

Meanwhile, the Mohali Municipal Corporation Employees Union gave an ultimatum of two days to the MMC Commissioner for taking an action. “If no action is taken, we will protest,” said the union leaders.

Zirakpur, September 8
Heavy downpour led to flooding of residential areas, internal roads and the busy Chandigarh-Ambala and Panchkula-Patiala highways here this morning.

Rainwater accumulated on the national highways disrupted traffic. Long queues of vehicles were seen on these highways.

Although Zirakpur witnessed heavy rain, there was no rain in Dera Bassi and Lalru. Unaware of the heavy rain in Zirakpur, those heading towards the town from Dera Bassi, Panchkula, Patiala and Chandigarh got trapped in traffic snarl-ups.

“The flooded stretch from the Patiala light point to Panchkula Chowk was the worst-affected, with vehicles moving bumper-to-bumper at a snail’s pace,” said Jaswant Singh of Baltana village.

“The Patiala road was virtually converted into a canal. Rainwater entered into shops located on both sides of the highway. The water also submerged goods inside the shops, causing huge losses to us,” said Ramesh Chopra, a shopkeeper.

The VIP road having a number of business establishments, housing societies and corporate offices was flooded too.

The worst-affected was the Godown Area in Bhabhat village, where muddy water affected transportation of goods of a number of multi-national companies housing their offices and stores there.

“Although the civic body is getting a huge revenue from companies having their godowns here, the authorities have never thought of providing basic facilities, such as roads, street lights, water and sewage disposal, to the area,” said FS Nagra, a former president of the Commercial Welfare Association, Godown Area.

Panchkula, September 8
Even as the Five Degrees, an eating joint where a gunman of a senior IAS officer sustained gunshot injuries, has opened with a whole new look, the mystery surrounding what happened there on the New Year eve still remains a mystery.

It’s been nine months, but the Panchkula police have failed to take the statement of the gunman, Jaipal. The eating joint situated at Nirjhar Vatika, Sector 5, meanwhile, has started its business once again.

According to the police, the gunman is still not fit to give any statement. After getting discharged from the PGI, his condition deteriorated and he was admitted to Fortis Hospital, Mohali.

“Although the Five Degrees has been unsealed, we will be imposing a penalty on its owners for certain violations such as modifications that they have done on their own,” said the estate officer of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), Gurmeet Singh.

He said the file regarding the same had been sent to senior officials.

The eating joint remained in news after Jaipal, a gunman of senior Punjab-cadre IAS officer KBS Sidhu, suffered gunshot injuries on the New Year eve, when he was accompanying Sidhu’s son, Sehaj Sidhu. After the incident, the Punjab Police had ordered a probe and had withdrawn Sidhu’s security.

HUDA, meanwhile, sealed the eating joint on January 10, stating that it was being run illegally. A three-member committee had been constituted under the supervision of superintending engineer NK Verma to carry out a fresh inspection and submit a report to the seniors.

However, the owner, Sandeep, had stated that an inquiry conducted by the vigilance department gave him a clean chit. 

Chandigarh, September 8
Soil excavated from the construction site of a multi-level parking coming up at Sector 17 has turned into an eyesore for people visiting the commercial hub.

Heaps of soil can be seen dumped near the Circus Ground, football stadium, opposite Taj Hotel and near a petrol pump on the Madhya Marg, dumped there for the past eight months. The soil was excavated during the digging carried out at the site.

Manipal Singh, a resident, said: “Instead of beautifying the sector, soil has been dumped in the open here.”

Area councillor Pardeep Chabbra had recently taken up the issue with the MC officials, asking them to shift the soil.

MC Chief Engineer Mukesh Anand said a major part of the soil excavated from the site had been shifted to a dumping ground in Sector 25 and a green belt in Sector 50.

“Some soil, however, was dumped in Sector 17, to be later used for refilling at the construction site,” he said.

The soil would be removed from all places in a few months, he said.

A trader in Sector 17 said the authorities should block the view by installing iron sheets around the spots where the soil had been dumped. The multi-level parking project in Sector 17 began in 2013. Coming up at a cost of over Rs 46 crore, the parking lot will accommodate 931 vehicles.

Mohali, September 8
The residents continue to wait for the Municipal Corporation elections here. Surprisingly, even the Directorate of Local Government, Punjab, has no clue as to when the poll will be held.

The chairman of the RTI cell of the PPCC, Dr Jasdeepak Singh, had sought information under the RTI Act on the status of elections and had also sought the reasons for the delay in the poll. He drew a blank when the Directorate, Local Government (Municipal Election Office), stated in a reply (September 2) that the required information in connection with the Mohali poll was not available with the department.

In January 2011, the Municipal Council of the town was upgraded to the level of corporation, following which the elected body was dissolved. There have been no elections even after more than three years of the dissolution.

A former Municipal councillor, Sukhminder Singh Barnala, said the elections should be held at the earliest as people were facing problems. About 50 per cent of the former Municipal councillors were still active in their wards and were addressing the grievances of residents. But getting the problems solved when there was an elected body was much easier than making repeated requests to officials working in the civic body.

He said residents living in areas which had recently come within the jurisdiction of the civic body faced major difficulties as they had to go personally to the corporation office to find a solution to their problems.

Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation Uma Shankar Gupta said a Delimitation Board had been set up recently.

A survey of the town has already been done in connection with the municipal elections. The work of rough marking of the 50 wards to be created for the poll was also in progress.

It was being done by the election cell of the directorate. The rough sketch of the municipal wards would be presented before the Delimitation Board to make changes, if required, he added.

Chandigarh September 8
Former MP Satya Pal Jain has urged the Chandigarh Administration not to vacate the CGHS dispensary being run at Sector 45 to provide medical facilities to Central government pensioners in and around the city.

The UT had served a notice on the dispensary in-charge to vacate it for the purpose of setting up a polyclinic in the area, a year ago. Another notice was received recently.

In a letter to UT Adviser KK Sharma, Jain stated that there was only one dispensary for pensioners of the Central government in Chandigarh, which was opened by him when he was the MP. Nearly 30,000 pensioners were getting medical facilities from the dispensary for the past many years, he stated.

Chandigarh, September 8
Panjab University today launched a website for online submission of examination forms for undergraduate courses under the semester system for its 188 affiliated colleges.

The website, ugexam.puchd.ac.in, will save students the ordeal of visiting the PU Administrative Block ahead of semester exams every six months for obtaining examination forms.

The website allows online downloading of form. For outstation students, the fee can be submitted in post offices now. The site was inaugurated by Panjab University Vice-Chancellor Prof Arun Kumar Grover here today.

Earlier, the facility was launched for postgraduate courses. The new system is already effective and was officially launched today.

PU Controller of Examination Dr Parvinder Singh said: “We have launched the facility of online fee submission for college students in concurrence with the introduction of the semester system in colleges to ensure that the students do not face difficulty.”

Also, the access to PUPIN - unique registration number for students studying at the PU and its affiliated colleges - is available online now. While announcing this, the team of programmers from the computer section of the university said this online access would bring all affiliated colleges and regional centres of the PU in Punjab into the domain, making it convenient to issue the PUPIN to new students for all kind of formalities. 

Mohali, September 8
To save associated/affiliated school students, who intend to change their schools after Class IX or Class XI, from harassment at the hands of the school authorities, the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) has asked the schools to upload the results of both classes on the board’s website.

According to sources, the school authorities used to demand between Rs 20,000 and Rs 50,000 from the students, who intend to change their schools after Class IX or Class XI.

“The ‘passed’ certificate to the students in question was given only after receiving the cash. Otherwise, the school authorities used to give ‘failed’ certificate to them. We have received several complaints in this regard,” said Gurinderpal Singh Batth, secretary of the board.

He said after seeing the growing number of complaints in this regard, the board had issued direction to all schools under its jurisdiction to upload the results of Class IX and Class XI on the board’s website before September 15.

“This way, the students in question will be able to procure their ‘passed’ certificates of Class IX or Class XI from the website. Then, the school authorities cannot harass or fleece students,” said Batth.

“We have made it mandatory for the schools to upload the results of these classes every year,” said Batth.

On being asked if the board was taking any action against the schools against which it had received complaints from students in this regard, Batth said they had cautioned the schools.

Chandigarh, September 8
Gulshan Kumar Vohra, PGT (English) of Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV), Sector 47, here, was honoured with the national award for teachers for his exemplary service and innovative teaching practices by President Pranab Mukherjee on Teacher’s Day in Delhi.

Vohra, who joined Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan in 1979, said: “Teaching is not a profession. It’s a passion for me. I believe to make teaching effective. It’s important that a teacher teaches from his soul and puts his heart into it.”

On the reforms needed in the education system, the awardee teacher, who has taught in KV Tehran in Iran as well, said: “The teacher-student ratio in the country needs to be balanced. We have overcrowded classes here and the time slot allotted to a teacher is less. It’s very difficult to give personal attention to all students.”

Vohra, who has over 57 years of teaching experience, said in schools overseas there were hardly 20 students in a class whereas in India there were more than 50 students.

Stressing on the need for teachers to put more hard work, he said: “A teacher needs to exert himself in order to produce effective results.”

He dedicated his award to his students, family, his own teachers and his school administration.

He said: “It’s not a one-man show. Everybody supported me right from my school authorities to my family members and students.”

Vohra’s other credits include the KVS Incentive Award in 1994. 

Chandigarh, September 8
Chandigarh-based social worker Vivek Trivedi has been selected by UNESCO to participate in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Youth Conference and UNESCO World Conference to be held in Japan in November.

Trivedi has been chosen from among 5,000 applicants from across the world. This is his second major achievement in 2014.

Earlier this year on the Republic Day, he was given the state award for meritorious work in public service by the Chandigarh Administration.

The UNESCO ESD Youth Conference in Japan’s Okayama City will provide a forum to 52 young practitioners who are engaged in Education for Sustainable Development in their respective countries. Here, the public service professionals will share ideas and experiences to promote the ESD movement.

Vivek Trivedi, who is pursuing his PhD in social work, is a Social Development Officer with the city’s Municipal Corporation.

Chandigarh, September 8
The list of vacant seats for MEd Regular, 2014, in respective departments/ institutions/colleges has been put on website www.medadmisions.puchd.ac.in.

The reported vacant seats will be filled out of the waiting list on September 9 at 10 am at the Department of Education, Arts Block No. II, Panjab University.

The candidates are required to report to the Coordinator, MEd Admissions - 2014.

Only two calls will be given to the candidates according to merit on the waiting list prepared at the venue of the second counselling.

In case of non-reporting by a candidate, the vacant seat will be offered to the next candidate in waiting.