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PU loses answer-sheets Chandigarh, March 9 Sources said that the answer-sheets of M.Sc-I first semester exam held in December 2002 have probably been misplaced during stocking after their evaluation and declaration of result. However, in the absence of proper cataloguing of these answer-sheets, the branch concerned is unable to locate them in the pile of papers and is, consequently, not declaring the result. For the students running from pillar to post for a response from the Examination Branch, it has been a nightmare. Rupinder Kaur, now a final year student of the department, says she applied for revaluation in August 2003 in the paper of Introductory Biology after securing 17 out of 80 marks. Since then she has also taken a re-appear examination in the paper in December last year. “I have gone on my own and in a group with all students affected by the non-declaration of result. We were initially told that the award list containing our marks was missing. Subsequently, one of us was told that the answer sheets were nowhere to be found because of which our result has been withheld,” she rued. Her batchmates, 10 in all, of which eight have applied
Concerned over the delay, the students add that they would lose out on one academic year if the university fails to declare the result before the final semester examinations are held in May this year. While they would miss a reappear chance in May, the paper would have to be cleared in December only. Officialspeak Controller of Examination, Dr Sodhi Ram: “I know nothing of the matter. I will check this out. You can get back to me in the afternoon.” Despite repeated calls and leaving of messages at his office and residence, he remained elusive throughout afternoon and all evening. Joint Controller of Examination, Mr Virender Kapoor: “I have made queries and there appears to be some problem somewhere. I really don’t know anything about this. You will have to speak to the Controller of Examination.” Prof R.K. Kohli, Co-ordinator of the course:
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Chautala hoardings likely to be pulled down Panchkula, March 9 The hoardings, violative of various directives of the Supreme Court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court, will be pulled down once the district administration receives the commission orders, official sources confirmed. The sources conceded that the hoardings gave undue advantage to the ruling party and did not provide a level-playing field to all political The Chandigarh Tribune had carried a front-page story headlined “Opposition cries foul over Chautala hoardings” in its issue dated March 9. Various government departments, boards and corporations had put up hundreds of hoardings all over the state to highlight the works done under the
current government. The DCs had been were reportedly appointed nodal officers for deciding the number and place
of the putting up the hoardings. It fact, the orders to install hundreds of huge hoardings costing crores were passed at a meeting presided over by Mr B.D. Dhalia, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, last year. It would be an irony when the DCs concerned, who had supervised the installing of the hoardings last year, would now have to remove these as part of their responsibility as District Electoral Officers. |
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No check on signboard defacement Panchkula, March 9 In fact, the Chautala-led INLD seems to be leading the way as a random survey of the township revealed today. The posters of the recent INLD Jhajjar rally have been pasted over a majority of the signboards. The Congress and some religious organisations are not far behind. What to talk of the signboards, the bus-queue shelters have virtually been covered by posters, including film posters. An amusement park near Ramgarh, which organised a Holi bash, seems to be another violator. Even the roundabouts have not been spared. The defacing, besides distracting the motorists, violated various laws enacted from time to time. The council president, Ms Seema Chaudhary, and the council Executive Officer, Mr O.P. Sihag, had assured a meeting of the House on March 4 that the posters would be removed immediately. However, even after six days of the announcement, nothing seems to have been done by the council. Sources said the INLD-controlled council was caught in a Catch-22
situation. How can the INLD, whose workers had allegedly pasted the posters on important signboards in the first place, can now remove the posters, the sources asked. In the normal course, the authorities send a notice to the violators to remove the posters. However, the INLD was unlikely to get any notice from the council, the source added. |
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Akshay has stopover in city Chandigarh, March 9 It was sharp 2.30 pm, when Akshay zoomed in a white Scorpio into the parking area of the city airport. The initial programme of visiting the Mohali residence of the Bajwa’s was changed due to lack of time. Both Akshay and Raj Kanwar ate lunch in the car itself at the parking lot. Clad in a light pink shirt with grey jeans, Akshay even advised Chandigarh Tribune cameraman not to click pictures while they were eating. He said in a lighter vein in chaste Punjabi, “‘Yaar khande hoye na khichna, ganda jeha chehra aa jaanda hai” (Dear friend, please do not click picture while eating, as it might give a shabby look). Later in a brief interaction with Chandigarh Tribune, Akshay said he felt happy the way people conveyed their admiration for his role in “Khakhee”. He said in Manali he shooted for film “Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo”, by Anil Sharma. He performed the role of an Army man, while the basic theme of the movie was about harmonious reunion with Pakistan. It will be another “desh bhakti” venture of the same director after the success of “Gaddar”. About actress, he said she would be a new find. Asked about the recent trend of joining
political parties by various Bollywood stars, Akshay said it was their personal decision. But he categorically said, he was not going to take any such decision. Akshay whose name was earlier
rechristened from Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia to Akshay Kumar, later proved lucky as an actor. When he joined the film industry, he had nothing to show besides skills in martial arts. Akshay standing six feet one inch tall was all praise for the city. He said in just a 15- minute drive within city to the airport, he could judge the pollution-free
environment here in the city. He wished that very soon he would be visiting
the city. He also expressed desire to visit Shemrock School in Mohali. He even termed Chandigarh to be better planned than Bangalore or Pune. On his forthcoming films, he said it was “Waqt” with Amitabh Bachchan in lead. A product of Don Besco School, Mumbai, Akshay married Twinkle Khanna, daughter of Rajesh- Dimple Khanna in 2001 and now has one -and-a-half-year-old son, Araav. It may be recalled that Pramod Chakravarthy’s “Deedar” opposite Karisma Kapoor was the first film he signed. Only recently he was directed to fight with Alsatian dogs in a shooting held in Mumbai. His first release was “Saugandh” with Shanti Priya, then “Dancer”, “Mr Bond” and later “Khiladi” which was a success. Khiladi became synonymous with Akshay. He also
performed a successful role of a comedian in “Hera Pheri” with Paresh Rawal and Sunil Shetty. This stuntman-turned serious actor will return to Manali tomorrow evening after
performing in a show in Mumbai this evening. |
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Tax survey at Rama Stores Chandigarh, March 9 Surveys was also carried out at a production unit owned by the company in Industrial Area, Phase II, and another place in the city. Till the filing of this report, the surveys were in progress. An officer of the IT Department said it was a routine survey conducted to meet the targets of tax collection. It could not be ascertained whether the proprietors of the store had surrendered any unaccounted income or not. The survey carried out on suspicion of discrepancy in the stocks of the store. It was conducted by Range III of the IT Department, North-West Region, under the charge of an Additional Commissioner. A senior official said surveys and raids were being conducted to boost the revenue collections. While the details of evasion of income tax, if any, would be revealed only after the survey was completed, sources said IT officers were physically checking the stock position and studying the accounts books. The department conducted the surveys after it detected that the sale and stock books were not tallying. |
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Training teachers through satellite Edusat network The satellite, being built at a cost of Rs 120 crore, would have five spot beams in KU band, one national bean in KU band and one national beam in Ext C band (6 channels). To receive or transmit data on the available bandwidth, low cost ground hardware, including the ground station would be required. Dr K.N.Shankara said the receiving terminal would cost anything between Rs 20,000 and Rs 1 lakh. The configurations allowed would be received only terminal, interactive terminal for low date rates and interactive terminal for high date rates. Chandigarh, March 9 To be put in to the geo-stationary orbit by GSLV -3, the satellite with free bandwidth would link schools, colleges, universities and educational institutions through block resource centers and the district information centers throughout the country. Different bandwidth of the satellite would cater to the needs of education, right from the primary level to the professional colleges, said Dr Shankara, recipient of the PadmaShree. A central advisory body was being constituted by the government to ensure that the course content was of quality. The programme content would be generated from various government bodies like NCERT, he added. In the town to inaugurate a two-day meeting with representatives of education boards , educationists and policy makers at the National Institute of Technical Teacher’s Training and Research (NITTTR), Dr Shankara said each user group would have a sub-hub for connectivity and interaction with the receive terminals. Stating that Edusat would redefine the concept of distant education, he said the programme of the Ministry of Human Resource Development would benefit the receivers in the rural areas. It was aimed at providing effective teacher training, supplementing the curriculum-based teaching, greater community participation, access to quality resource persons and taking education to all parts of the country. The centralised data bank which could be accessed through the satellite -when configured with technological combinations - could be used for video conferencing, voice chat as internet, radio and TV broadcast, night time loading at receiving end, online education through internet, telephone and internet as return link, said Mr B.S. Bhatia, Director Development and Educational Communication Unit (DECU), ISRO. Once operational the state open universities, IGNOU, the UGC, the NCERT, AIMA and other educational institutions - using bandwidth on other satellites - would be asked to use the free bandwidth on Edusat, said Dr Shankara. Giving details of the project, he said the basic focus would be on training of teachers and upgrading the skills of the teachers in the primary and secondary schools. But he said the success of the Edusat depended on the coordination and interest at the receiver level. He said the government was thinking of allowing private agencies to run management courses. On being asked about the proper utilisation of funds released by the MHRD to the state government for setting up the ground facilities at the district and block levels, he said it would ensure that the funds were not diverted for other purposes. Earlier, Dr Shankara delivered the inaugural address at the third consultation titled “ Northern Regional Consultation of Edusat utilization” at the NITTTR. Dr O.P. Bajpai, Director of the NITTTR, who was the main force behind organising the consultation, also spoke on the occasion. A large number of officials from different state government offices, experts and representatives of NGOs are participating in the two-day event.
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Which side local SAD unit? Chandigarh, March 9 The answer can tilt the local election results. Sikh voters in the capital of Punjab can have a big impact on poll results. Though all Sikhs are not Akali voters, the total can still be a decisive factor. The BJP-SAD pact at the national level is intact. Things have taken a curious turn at the local level because Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, son of Mr Parkash Singh Badal, SAD President, recently attended a rally of the INLD at Jhajjar in Haryana. The INLD had reportedly claimed the support of the SAD, saying the state alliance was different from the one at the national level. This development has sent indications of a possible change in local party positions. Mr Harmohan Dhawan, former Member of Parliament and Chandigarh Vikas Manch chief, is said to have contacted the local unit of the SAD. He has been doing this in anticipation of getting a ticket from the INLD. The SAD did not announce any tie-up with the BJP in the beginning. It had insisted on a Sikh candidate. A joint press conference had been organised later, which was attended by Mr Gurpratap Singh Riar, president of the local SAD unit, along with Mr Yashpal Mahajan, president of the local unit of the BJP. Akali workers continued to be missing from a majority of election rallies in different parts of the city after the announcement of the pact. Capt Kanwaljit Singh, General Secretary of the SAD and in charge of the Chandigarh unit, said he was away to Punjab in connection with the poll campaign and so was not in knowledge of the developments in Chandigarh. “The matter will soon be sorted out,” he added. Mr Dhawan, having chances of getting an INLD ticket, agreed that parleys had been held with the local unit of the SAD. He said the details of his being given a ticket by the INLD had not been finalised. “Everything is at the planning stage. The political sky will be clear by next week,” he added. Mr Riar said, “I am a committed party worker and will do exactly what told to me by Mr Parkash Singh Badal”. When pointed out that he had recently attended a press conference along with local BJP leaders, he said “Earlier I believed that the instructions had come from the high command. Now with the Badals sending new signals, I have decided to wait and watch for formal instructions from the party high command”. |
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Dhillon bats for Preneet Lalru, March 9 Addressing the gathering, Mr Dhillon appealed to workers and residents of the area to vote for Ms Preneet Kaur. He denied infighting and groupism in the Congress and claimed that party workers would work for the betterment of the Congress under one banner. The workers assured Mr Dhillon of making the best possible efforts to ensure the victor of Ms Preneet Kaur. Others who attended the meeting included Mr Sukhdev Sharma and Mr Gurcharan Singh, senior vice-president and general secretary, respectively, of the district Congress committee, Mr Jaswant Singh Waba, former municipal councillor, Dera Bassi, and Mr Karan Bhanot, general secretary of the district Youth Congress.
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Man, woman elope with eight children in tow Chandigarh, March 9 While the husband of the eloping woman could not be contacted, the wife of her lover narrated her woes. The distraught wife Shanno did not immediately realise that her husband Shakil had disappeared along with their children. Struggling hard to hold back her tears, 29-year-old Shanno said Shakil had taken away the “lights of her life” without making her suspicious. A housewife, she was aware of the affair, but never expected her husband to take such a step. “About 10.30 am on Saturday, Shakil came to me carrying our eight-month-old daughter
Khusboo. He told me that he was taking her to a doctor as she was suffering from a mild fever,” she says. “Shakil said he would also be taking four-year-old Anju and six-year-old Sahana along with him to the market. I did not suspect anything. After all, he was my husband. “I grew anxious only after I was told that he had also taken the other three children - Shabnam (8), Shaira (11) and Bablu (13) - along with him. Still, I did not suspect that Shakil had left me.” The three were studying for their ongoing examinations. According to Shanno,
Shakil, a cook with a catering company, used to earn between Rs 10,000 and 12,000 per month. She was worried that her husband did not even take Khusboo’s feeding bottle or any warm clothes. Shanno claimed that her husband had started going around with the other woman ever since they were tenants in a house where the woman lived. “I even told the woman’s husband about my suspicion. But the two lovers kept denying the allegations.” When asked why would Shakil have taken the children along with him, Shanno said: “Probably he did not want the blame that he left his five daughters behind,” and added, “he was very fond of the children”. Shanno, along with relatives and neighbours, is making frantic efforts to track down her husband and the children. |
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Chhat Bir zoo gets rare pheasants Chhat Bir (Patiala), March 9 Mr Kuldeep Kumar, Zoo Director, said the birds had been shifted from Sarahn Pheasantry under an animal exchange programme. The birds were transported under the care of two zoo staffers. Apart from an ornamental plumage, the male birds have red eyes and a white crest on their heads while their partners are light brown with a small brown crest on the head. The natural habitat of these pheasants is wetlands in Punjab, south Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Nepal. They nest in thickets and, according to wildlife experts, lay six or nine eggs, for which the incubation period is 25 days. Kalij pheasants live in flocks of 10 or 15. A rare bird, it falls under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act. At present their number in captivity is around 250 in the country. The zoo authorities expect successful breeding of the bird in captivity. The zoo has already acquired a pair of swamp deer from Kanpur Zoo in exchange for a pair of panthers and a sars crane. It also has plans to acquire chausingas and chinkaras in exchange for Royal Bengal tigers from Junagarh Zoo in Gujarat.
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‘Umeed’ helps earn livelihood Chandigarh, March 9 The institute has added two major projects - bakery and masala grinding and packaging under the parent Umeed project. “We started bread making and masala packaging units to involve our students in something creative and both activities have become popular among them,” says Dr B.S. Chavan, Joint Director of the institute who is also the over all in charge of “Umeed”. The children are producing about 20 to 25 loaves of bread and small-sized cakes, which are being supplied to the canteens of Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32. “There is a demand for more breads but due to lack of infrastructure we are not able to meet the demand. Even CITCO has promised to take the masala packets manufactured by our students,” says Dr. Chavan. Talking about the children who are involved in both projects Dr Chavan says “we are taking mild to border line cases of retardation for both projects.” The institute has also taken care of the fact that the works involved are simple, repetitive and risk free. The main project, “Umeed”, which was awarded by the President on World Disable Day last year as the ‘most innovative project for children with special needs’, has become a major success in the city. This project which is now two and a half years’ old involves about 24 children from the institute and 12 parents in various activities. “We have already spread across the town by opening “Umeed” kiosks at Sector 34, Sukhna lake, Rose Garden, Manimajra, the Central Housing Board Office in Sector 9 and Central Library, Sector 17, and planning to open one in Rock Garden, District Court area and one at the DC office in Sector 17,” informs Dr Chavan. Though initially the project started with the sole aim to provide confidence to the children by generating employment for them, it has proved to be monetarily rewarding for all those involved with “Umeed”. The total money collected through various outlets is being divided to parents and children, keeping 20 per cent of the total earnings as the project expenditure. “Each family involved gets about Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 per month but we are hoping to increase the amount up to Rs 3,000 in future,” says Dr. Chavan. The institute also insists that the 40 per cent of total profit which is given to each child goes straight to their accounts. |
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20 prison officers attend interaction course Chandigarh, March 9 The course, which will continue till March 13, is aimed at bringing prison officials of different ranks at a common platform for improving “human resources” in Indian prisons. Organised by the central Institute of Correctional Administration (ICA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the course would also sensitise participants about various issues of national concern. According to Deputy Director of the ICA, Dr Upneet Lalli, the course would also make the participants more responsive towards their organisational goals and responsibilities. It would also help them in the process of reformation and rehabilitation of jail inmates “in the light of the modern correctional policies, including the upgradation of vocational programmes in jails”. Inaugurating the course on Monday, Director-General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development, Mr Sarabjit Singh, stated that the two-day All-India Prison Conference, for discussing relevant issues concerning prison reforms and the problems faced by authorities concerned, would be held from March 22.
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Residents
protest against octroi Mohali, March 9 The protesters said that they were getting inflated power bills from the office of the Punjab State Electricity Board, which was not only illegal but also amounted to gross negligence on the part of the civic body authorities. They demanded that the excess amount charged from them in the form of octroi on power should be refunded along with interest. They said if no action was taken in this regard, they would be compelled to intensify their agitation. The affected persons also lamented that octroi was being charged by the civic body on items that were transported from Chandigarh and other areas into these sectors. The protesters met the council president, Mr Kulwant Singha and presented him a request letter for refunding the excess amount charged. Mr Kulwant Singh said that the council could take no decision in the matter on its own as it was not the deciding authority. He said the case would be sent to the law officer, who could give legal opinion in the matter after going through the rules. If the rules allowed the excess amount would be refunded to the affected persons. The president said that octroi could not be charged on other items being transported to these sectors. He said the employee on duty should be told clearly where the goods were being transported to. Refund, in case of a mistake, could be given only within a week. |
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21 sites attract bidders Panchkula, March 9 According to sources, HUDA netted Rs 10.76 crore through the auction with the maximum price of Rs 1.91 crore being fetched by an SCO site in Sector 14. The reserve price for this site was Rs 1.07 crore. Another site in the same sector was auctioned for Rs 1.82 crore against a reserve price of Rs 95.85 lakh. Four nursing home sites were auctioned, with the maximum price of Rs 62.5 lakh being fetched for a Sector 14 site.A clinic site in Sector 2 was auctioned for Rs 20.10 lakh and in Sector 15 for Rs 41 lakh. The booth site in Sector 2 fetched Rs 53.5 lakh and another site in Sector 23 got Rs 16.19 lakh as against a reserve price of Rs 14 lakh. Frequent auctions by HUDA had an adverse affect on the auction of commercial property. The lack of interest on the part of the bidders today showed that HUDA had not done its homework properly. |
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Probe ordered into park
maintenance Panchkula, March 9 According to sources, a vigilance team has already visited the MC office in connection with the inquiry. The president of the People’s Voice God’s Voice(PVGV), Dr B.L. Tandon, had earlier written to the Haryana Chief Secretary alleging misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 1 crore. It may be recalled that the PVGV had alleged that sub-standard material was used for the maintenance of the parks, including the laying of tiles. It also alleged that contractors employed for sanitation and the removal of the congress grass had been made payments, though their work was not satisfactory.
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Poohla booked under NDPS Act Chandigarh, March 9 Acting on a secret information, the Sector 39 police raided the land adjacent to Gurdwara Nanak Sagar and found poppy crop on two plots totalling around four acres. The preliminary investigations reveal that opium was being grown by Nihnags for personal consumption. However, the police was investigating whether opium was also sold. The standing crop (it has started flowering) on the land was about two and a half months old, said the police. It is worth mentioning here that the land on which the poppy crop was being grown is near Sector 39 police station. It is being alleged that poppy was being cultivated there for quite some time. Interestingly, there is no boundary wall around the land, yet no one ‘‘dared’’ to come near it. A team of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) has taken a sample of the opium crop. A team of Narcotic Control Bureau will also be visiting the fields tomorrow. The police has seized the entire crop. On a complaint by Sub-Inspector Harsh, a case under Section 18 of the NDPS Act has been registered. Harjinder Singh was today produced in a local court, which remanded him in police custody till March 11. |
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Two arrested for stealing Chandigarh, March 9 Yesterday, the police arrested Narinder Singh of Maloya Colony and Varun of Dadu Majra Colony allegedly with a stolen motor cycle and a car stereo. The two were today remanded in judicial custody by a local court. In a separate incident, Mr Parmod Kumar of Sector 22 reported to the police that two unidentified occupants of a Maruti car (PB-04-H-9045) snatched his mobile phone (Nokia - 3315) in a Sector 22 market and sped away yesterday. A case under Sections 356 and 379 of the IPC was registered. Meanwhile, the police registered at least four cases of theft from different parts of the city in the past 24 hours. Mr Jasbir Singh, a resident of Sector 8, reported to the police that his LML Vespa scooter (CH03-K-5724) was stolen from Sector 38 on March 8. A resident of Sector 38 (West), Dr Varun Gupta, reported to the police that his Maruti car (HR-03A-8232) was stolen from Sector 34 on March 4. Thieves reportedly broke into the house of Mr Hari Shankar Babu in Dadu Majra Colony and took away a television and a music system on the night of March 7. Ms Inderjit Kaur of the colony also reported an almost similar theft in her house. This theft took place on the night of March 7. The thieves took away Rs 1,200 and a television. Mr Malkiat Singh, a resident of Mator village, near Mohali, sustained injuries when a Bullet motor cycle (PB-65-B-4043) was allegedly hit by a CTU bus on the road separating Sectors 16 and 17 (near the Rose Garden) here today. According to him the bus driver sped away in the bus. He could not note down the registration or route number of the bus. An employee at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, he was later admitted to the General Hospital, Sector 16. His condition was said to be stable. |
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One nabbed for bid to
molest eight-year-old Panchkula, March 9 The youths and the mother raised the alarm. This forced the accused to flee. A case has been registered. |
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Biz clips Gynae camp: VLCC centres in Chandigarh and Panchkula organised a free gynaecological camp here on Monday. Ultrasound tests were conducted, calcium and iron tablets distributed, dietary counselling given and a talk on health and beauty alerts organised. — TNS Cardiac diseases: India will have the highest number of persons suffering from cardiac diseases by 2020, said Dr G.S. Wander, chief cardiologist, Hero DMC Heart Institute, Ludhiana, while addressing members of the Chandigarh Management Association here on Sunday. He said this at a symposium on “Your heart and you” organised by the association in association with Saffola. — TNS NIKE SHOWROOM: A Nike showroom was inaugurated in Sector 17 here on Tuesday. It houses sportswear, shoes, accessories and sports equipment. OC
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