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Shopkeepers storm GMADA office
Mohali, January 23 The furious shopkeepers, including several women, closed down the market and marched to the GMADA office where they forced their way inside. The police was called and a group of shopkeepers allowed to meet chief administrator of GMADA Vivek Pratap Singh. The shopkeepers were promised pucca shops near their market by PUDA in the late nineties after a survey that listed 377 owners who were told they would be allotted shops at subsidised rates. Before the draw of lots for allotment could take place, the entire market was gutted in a fire on June 1 last year. GMADA called for fresh claims to the pucca shops. Over 450 claims were scrutinised by a committee that recommended rejection of claims by 106 shopkeepers who had “bought” shops from those whose name figured in the 1998 survey. The committee pointed out that since the shopowner in 1998 had no right to sell his shop, the “buyers’ claim” was illegal. Trashing the argument, the shopkeepers today told the GMADA chief when the shops were sold and bought they had paid a transfer fee to the municipal council, which also collected ground rent from the shopkeepers. “How can the sale of rights be illegal now,”asked a shopkeeper. Other than rejecting the claim of these 106 buyers, the GMADA committee also rejected the claims of another 55 shopkeepers who had
The shopkeepers were told that a final decision in the matter would be taken by the executive committee of GMADA. The shopkeepers unhappy at the outcome of the meeting, have decided to close down the market and stage a dharna outside the GMADA building and also meet the CM. “We have been sitting outside in the open ever since our shops were burnt down in June. None is bothered about us. We will take to the streets ,” said a shopkeepers.
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5 school kids hurt as Zen hits rickshaw
Chandigarh, January 23
The children were returning home after school when the mishap occurred at 2.30 pm. The Zen car (CH-03-K-2481) driven by Vimal Kumar hit the rickshaw from the rear. The children fell on the road and were rushed to the Sector 16 hospital, where they were administered first-aid. All pupils of St. Joseph High School in Sector 44, they were identified as Gaurav, Simran, Taranjot, Parnit and Japnit. One of the injured girls got three stitches in her left foot.While Gaurav had a nasty cut on his face, the rest had deep bruises on their knees and arms. SHO Devinder Sharma, calling it a minor accident, said no one was seriously injured and no written complaint from parents was received. A majority of rickshaws in the city are not registered. Most carrying school children are overloaded. They are often seen being driven on main roads instead of parrellel lanes especially meant from them, thus endangering children’s lives.
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Four-day film fest from February 1
Chandigarh, January 23 For some reality bytes, cinema lovers can look forward to “Bhumika”, “Junoon” and “Zubeida” by the legendary Shyam Benegal. “Garam Hawa” by renowned director M.S. Sathyu will also be screened. Among the new film directors, Madhur Bhandarkar has been chosen, primarily because he will be shooting in the city for his next film “Fashion” at the time the festival is on. “Corporate”, “Traffic Signal” and “Page 3” from Bhandarkar’s oeuvre will be screened. Another category comprises films shot in the vicinity of Chandigarh. These include Dharmendra’s “Apne”, Pammy Somal’s “Mummyji” and “Mitti Wajan Mardi”. For child audiences, “Gilli Gilli Atta”, “Heda Hoda”, “Chutkan Ki Mahabharata” and “Chakkad Bakkad Bumbi Bo” will be screened. The international films to be screened at the festival include Hungarian films “Relatives”, “The Eighth Day of the Week” and “Guarded Secrets” ; Iranian films “Twilight” and “Avinar”; French film “By the Pricking of My Thumb”; Croatian film “What is a Man without a Moustache” and Austrian film “Other Side of the Bridge”. A retrospective of a famous Italian actress will be part of the four-day festival. Films will be shown at the PGI Auditorium, Fun Republic, Kiran Cinema and the Government Museum auditorium. The celebrity list is long with Shyam Benegal, M.S. Sathyu, Madhur Bhandarkar, Hema Malini, Nafisa Ali, Pammy Somal, Anil Sharma and Sohail Khan confirming their attendance. The festival is being organised in collaboration with the Children's Film Society of India, National Film Development CCI.
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Women hockey hopes tumble
Chandigarh, January 23 In the North Zone hockey championship at Bathinda in December last, the city team, which won the championship in 2005 at Nahan, had no representation. Teams which win the top two slots in zonal championships make it to the national championship. Owing to alleged inefficiency on the part of the Chandigarh Women’s Hockey Association, six local players - Jaspreet, Raj Rani, Geeta, Poonam, Parkash and Sarita-will now represent Pepsu team in the coming nationals. According to sources, during the North Zone championship, players were asked by association to bear in part the fare to Bathinda, but the players refused to do so. “The association said it did not have sufficient funds to send the team for the championship. The players did not agree to pay the fare, resulting in non-participation of the team in the championship,” said a coach pleading anonymity. Association president Chanchal Randhawa said there was no paucity of funds. “ No player was available at that time as most were away to participate in the All-India Inter-Varsity Hockey Championship. We had even prepared kits for the team,” he said. “All is not well with the association as it has been running without a general secretary for the past six months. Four days after the newly elected body of the association in July last year, general secretary Jasbir Bajwa resigned from his post. “Till date the association’s office-bearers have not submitted documents required for financial grant from the Chandigarh sports department,” said another coach.
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NHAI breaching security norms, says Army
Mohali, January 23 In a written complaint to the Lalru police, the Army authorities have alleged that the NHAI and its construction company GMR Expressways have breached national security norms by clicking pictures of the depot at places where photography was categorically banned. While the police states that it is ‘investigating’ the allegations of the Army authorities, a copy of the reply filed by the NHAI and the construction company before the Punjab and Haryana High Court contains these pictures. The pictures show accommodation of the Army men within the depot and were reportedly clicked to strengthen the court case the NHAI and its construction company is fighting with the depot authorities. The NHAI, GMR and the ammunition depot are at loggerheads over the construction of the toll plaza on the highway. The Army is protesting against the setting up of the toll plaza within the restricted area around the depot. The NHAI however is insisting on the construction of the toll plaza where it was planned. In a notification issued in 2004, the Ministry of Defence had laid down that no construction would be allowed within a distance of 1,097.28 metres (1,200 yards) of the Dappar Ammunition depot. Following directions of the court, the deputy commissioner SAS Nagar H.I.S Grewal had on December 28, 2007, undertaken the measurement of the distance between the toll plaza and the depot and found that the toll plaza was 830 metres of the ammunition depot. This report was submitted to the court. “During subsequent hearings the court referred the matter to the Attorney General of India adding that he could pass interim orders in the case,” said Nirmaljit Kaur assistant solicitor general of India, representing the Dappar Depot. The Punjab government, which is also a party in the case has taken a stand in favour of the NHAI. The advocate general Punjab H.S. Mattewal pointed out that the NHAI has already spent crores on their work which is equally important. “The two departments should amicably settle the issue,” he said. The fact that the toll plaza was being planned near the ammunition depot was brought to the notice of the NHAI more than a year ago but the authority did not seek any clearance from the depot till a week ago when it was immediately rejected. The depot had reportedly complained repeatedly to the DC’s office and the Dera Bassi SDM but no action was taken to stop the violation of the Union Ministry of Defence norm. Even after the site measurement proved without doubt that the toll plaza was falling within the restricted area, the construction at the site has continued. “I have never received any complaint,” said the DC H.I.S. Grewal adding that he had even met the sub-area commander of the depot. When contacted the NHAI project in charge Col K.P. Sharma said no photographs have been attached to the reply file by the NHAI. “I am from an Army background and would not make such a mistake,” he said adding that some pictures of the toll plaza had been attached. Col Sanjiv Puri of GMR Expressways refused to comment on the issue.
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Water blues in Mohali
Mohali, January 23 This has adversely affected residents living at the first floor as water is available only for a few hours. Even overhead tanks cannot be filled. Manjeet Singh Sethi, a former municipal councillor living in Phase III-A, said water shortage was also felt at the ground floor. Water was being supplied at low pressure for the past about one week in Phase VII, said another former municipal councillor Manmohan Singh Lang. Executive Engineer of the Public Health Department A.S. Kalsi said he was told that the water level in the Bhakra mainline had gone down and as such normal pumping of water could not be done. Moreover, Chandigarh was not lifting the usual quantity of water from the Kajauli waterworks as the department concerned was carrying out maintenance work in the union territory. The Department of Public Health supplies canal water to Phases I to VII, IX to XI, Sector 48-C, 70 and 71 and industrial phases I to V.
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Rs 6 cr for Bhima Devi temple
Panchkula, January 23 The minister who was interacting with the mediapersons after a meeting of Grievances Committee at Indradhanush Auditorium at Sector 5 said the ancient artefacts of the ninth century temple would be displayed outside the temple. The Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on his visit to the temple on July 4 last year had reflected keen interest in the stone-carved sculptures made between ninth to eleventh centuries and directed the tourism department to develop it on the pattern of Sri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine complex to attract pilgrims and tourists. Commenting on the failure of Haryana Urban Development Authority in attracting buyers for a 5-star hotel site in the city, the tourism minister said Panchkula was emerging as a prominent destination among tourists with four lane roads in the district along with setting up of Nano city, international airport, development of tourist spots in Pinjore.
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The elected want more money
Mohali, January 23 Prabhjot Kaur Sodhi said each councillor was getting only Rs 2,500 per month as honorarium which was inadequate. Councillors had to make several calls for getting various works done and had to serve refreshments to voters whenever approached. She also demanded that councillors who had won the civic elections three times in a row be given pension.
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3 injured as earth caves in
Chandigarh, January 23 The incident occurred when the labourers were laying the foundation of a factory. Vibrations from the concrete mixture machine caused the earth to sink in. The police carried out the rescue operations. The victims were rushed to the GMCH, Sector 32.
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Workshop on gender budgeting for councillors
Chandigarh, January 23 Dr Pam Rajput has been nominated chairperson, while Kamlesh, Anu Chatrath, Harjinder Kaur, Anju Beniwal, Amrit Bolaria, Dr Neelam Malik, Rita Sharma, Sheela Devi, Sarita Devi, Sunita and Raj Kumari have been nominated members. The committee will focus on issues of women’s concerns and dwell on policy making and strategy planning, including earmarking specific gender budgets for the overall development and betterment of women. The scope of the committee will include, among other activities, enhancing infrastructure, facilities and activities to be undertaken under the aegis of the Chandigarh Mahila Bhawan. Dr Pam Rajput has been authorised to associate other prominent women from various walks of life. A sub-committee will be constituted for planning various types of activities, central government welfare schemes for women/girls and reservation for women in ward committees, community centre memberships and free training programmes, etc. The committee also decided that more budgets will be created for Mahila Bhawan. Workshops on domestic violence/sexual harassment will also be organised.
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Hybrid maize developed
Chandigarh, January 23 The new variety has been accepted for release for commercial cultivation, according to a statement issued by the ministry of science and technology. The crop would benefit the underprivileged sections of society. Earlier, a high quality maize variety, called Vivek Hybrid 9, was developed. It is being cultivated in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Its disadvantage was that it matured late and thus did not fit into the cropping pattern of the hilly states.
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PSHRC seeks report on torture
Chandigarh, January 23 The news relates to Gurdeep Kumar of Nawanpind Shaunkian village. On January 20, he was called to the police station at Bilga where he was reportedly subjected to third degree methods by the SHO in order to compel him to confess to a crime which he had not committed. The victim is being treated at the civil hospital, Nurmahal. According to a doctor attending to him, the victim has fresh marks of beating on his body. The doctor said internal injuries, if any, would be known only after receiving an x-ray report.
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Letters
The MC’s drive to widen roads is causing a lot of inconvenience to the city residents. I am a resident of Sector 41-B. Road in front of our house has been dug up since December 6. At some places, it is 1-foot deep and 5-foot wide. After the recent rains, the dug-up road has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Residents of the area have themselves made temporary arrangement to cover the dug-up road with concrete slabs. My daughter is disabled and cannot cross the road due to this obstruction. Senior citizens and other children of the area are also facing problems. It seems the MC is waiting for a tragedy to happen. I have come to know that no tenders for premix carpeting have been called so far. The authorities concerned should wake up and do the needful at the earliest. Sanjiv Malhotra,
Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at news@tribuneindia.com or, write in, at: Letters, Chandigarh Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh – 160 030
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CBSE directive to schools G.S. Paul Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 23 A part of chapter 10 'Struggle for Swaraj' of social science textbook ‘Modern India’, Part 1, reads: “The most prominent among these new leaders were Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chander Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai and Aurobindo Gosh. They came to be known as extremists." The advisory board of the CBSE has written to all schools, which prescribe the NCERT textbooks in Class VIII, to neither transact the sentence nor examine the students under this portion. The CBSE has further cautioned the schools not prescribing this particular textbook to review their textbooks for such objectionable portions and follow the same advice. Confirming the orders CBSE officials said, “Yes, all associated schools have to comply with these orders strictly with immediate effect.” The local experts have held the human resource development ministry, CBSE and NCERT responsible for the serious lapses in printing of the books. Condemning the ‘irresponsible’ attitude of the curriculum designers, the subject experts feel that extra care should have been taken while finalising the subject matter. “This is not for the first time that such serious lapse has occurred,” they resented. While reacting, the CBSE officials maintained that time and again, during the orientation or training programmes of principals and teachers, the board had discussed the need for exercising utmost caution while transacting school curriculum. “Still there remain discrepancies, which need to be removed instantly when noticed, without wasting any time,” the officials maintained. Earlier, insulting remarks for Dalits and Jats and a poem referring to prostitutes and pimps were included in the Class-XI Hindi textbooks, but were removed after a petition against it was filed in the Supreme Court.
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Observers deputed to check copying
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 23
Around 12,598 students are expected to appear for the examination, including 5,277 students from model schools and 7,321 students from non-model schools. A meeting in this regard was held today at Government Model Senior Secondary School-19 under the chairmanship of DPI (Schools) S.K. Setia. Around 16 inspectors of the principal cadre would monitor around 49 examination centres earmarked for the exams. Setia said that in order to check copying, one full-time observer would be deputed in each centre besides the centre superintendents. There will be one control room at Government Model Senior Secondary School-21. The other nine sub-centres, from where the question papers and other exam-related material could be collected, included GGSSS-8, GMSSS-16, GMSSS-22, GMSSS-27, GMSSS-33, GMSSS-35, GMSSS-40, GMSSS-45 and GMSSS-Modern Complex, Mani Majra.
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INSCOL ties up with Australian varsity
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 23 Announcing the pact, M.P. Singh, consultant, INSCOL, said there would be no age bar on applying for this course. However, the eligibility score for the application would have to be six bands. The fee for this course would be $240 which will include advanced clinical sittings and medical lab experimentation. Two delegates from Australia Lindsay Yates, director, international marketing and pathways and Mary Therese Cruickshank, head of nursing, UNE, were also present. Lindsay emphasised that this programme would give Indian nurses a chance to upgrade their qualification and employability in the global market. Mary Therese Cruickshank said it was a handsome opportunity for Indian nurses to study and stay overseas. M.P. Singh further said to enhance the understanding and cement the ties, a team from the UNE would be visiting INSCOL Academy for the next few days. The UNE team would also conduct on-the-spot enrolment of candidates.
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Ramesh first in debate
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 23 Results Ad-mad show: 1 SGGS College; 2 MCM DAV College; individual prize: 1 Ramesh Kumar (GGDSD College), 2 Yogita (MCM DAV College). Debate competition: Best team: SGGS College; best debater: Kritika (SGGS College); best speaker for the motion: Tarun (DAV College); best speaker against the motion: Kritika. Competitions:Rachna of Government College of Education-20 bagged the first prize in poetry recitation while Suneet of Government College for Boys-11 won the first place in patriotic songs during the inter-college competitions organised on the Government College-11 premises today. As many as nine teams from different city colleges participated in the contests. College principal Dr A.L. Gauba inaugurated the function. Dr D.S. Gupt, a senior journalist and one of the judges, recited a self-composed poem on Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Results: Poetry recitation: 1 Rachna (Government College of Education-20), 2 Aarti (GCG-42), 3 Navjot Kaur (SD College-32); patriotic songs: 1 Suneet (GC-11); 2 Amanpreet Singh (GCG-42); 3 Chhaya Sharma (GCG-11).
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Symposium on girl child tomorrow
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 23 Celebrations
The Akhil Bhartiya Vidya Parishad (ABVP) today celebrated the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and also of Swami Vivekananda which falls on January 12. As per the ABVP tradition, the celebrations start from January 12 and culminate on January 23. A bookstall was also put up in the memory of the two great visionaries. Professors from various departments and dean, students’ welfare, offered floral tributes to the luminaries.
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Kashish, Aman are school captains
Tribune News Service
Panchkula, January 23 Students from V to X class exercised their right to vote to elect head girl, head boy, captain and vice-captain. Votes were casted through secret ballot paper. The principal of the school acted as a Returning Officer, whereas, teachers acted as presiding officers. In fact, this process was followed to educate students about the procedure of electing their representatives, said the principal. Others elected include Mehak Bedi (boy’s captain), Pooja (girl’s captain), Ishu Golan (boy’s vice-captain) and Mehak Singla (girl’s vice-captain). Placements
ICICI Prudential held joint campus placement interviews at GGSCMT, Kharar. Thirty students from MBA from different colleges of Punjab attended these interviews. These students were earlier selected by the company in their respective college after written tests. The three-member team included Himanshu, HR manager, Anirudh, branch manager and Maweer from 2coms Delhi. The team was given a warm welcome by the college students and presented them with bouquets. After final interviews 17 students were selected. The company team informed that they would receive appointment letters after 15 days. The college chairman Surinderpal Sachdeva and group director Dr. Baljit Kapoor congratulated the students for these achievements. Seminar
A seminar on “HR initiatives for new challenges” was held yesterday in Dr. I.T. Business School, Banur, presided by J.R. Kundal, financial commissioner (Appeals). The director of the institute Prof. P.P. Arya emphasised on skill development, more of training processes and integration of employees with the organisation so as to face competitive environment and generate more cost effectiveness. He wanted HR managers to generate an environment of life-long commitment of employees. News magazine
Swami Vivekanand College of Pharmacy (SVCP) released its news magazine on its campus yesterday. The news magazine was released amongst a gathering of over 200 persons comprising of management members, students, staff members and guests. The chief guest for the function was Prof. K.K. Bhutani, dean, NIPER, Mohali. Prof. Bhutani released the eight-page news magazine by unveiling the sample of the front page of the news magazine. Copies of the news magazine Pharm-I were also released and distributed to all the students and guests. Dr. Sanjay Bajaj, principal and Editor-in-Chief of the news magazine Pharma-I, informed that the magazine will be published bimonthly and will also contain the contributions of the students and the faculty members besides covering the news items.
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Life term for Attri killer Chandigarh, January 23 Holding him guilty under Sections 302 and 307 of the IPC, the court directed Jatinder Mohan Singh to pay a fine of Rs 75,000 to Harjit Kaur, mother of the deceased. Counsel for the defendant said: “We have faith in the judiciary and will appeal before the High Court.” The six acquitted in this case were also present in the courtroom when the sentence was pronounced. The father of the accused, Davinder Singh said: "Jatinder has a 10-year-old son and it will be difficult to explain all this to him." Counsel and father of the deceased, Ishwar Pal Attri, had appealed for death sentence. Taking to the Tribune, parents of the deceased said:“The crime committed by the accused was barbaric. We will definitely appeal in the higher court.” It was probably for the first time in the District Courts that a video conference was held. The cost for arranging the conference was more than Rs 1 lakh. This was done to establish that it was a case of murder and the accident was an intentional act. The brother of the deceased, Bhuvnendu Pal, was present in the court today.“The sentence pronounced is far less for the crime committed.” Advocate Attri said: “My daughter was a capable lawyer. She used to handle cases in courts at Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.” Manisha Attri met with an accident on February 25, 1996, when she was hit by a speeding Esteem car carrying six youths.The car was driven by Jatinder Mohan Singh, awarded life sentence.
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Information officers appointed Chandigarh, January 23 Joint secretary, home, Bhupinder Singh, has been designated as the appellate authority. The secretary, house allotment committee, Ashwani Kumar, will be the central public information officer, and superintendent, house allotment committee, Surjit Singh, will be the assistant public information officer. |
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Registration of births, deaths Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 23 The medical superintendent of the PGI, GMCH-32, GMSH-16 and CHC, Sector 22, have been appointed sub-registrar of births and deaths in their respective hospitals. The medical officer in charge of the primary health centres or civil dispensaries would also be appointed sub-registrars. Home secretary Krishan Mohan said anganwadi workers and ANMs would submit forms for registration from the health centres during their visits and distribute certificates to the family concerned during field visits. However, with regard to private hospitals and nursing homes, the existing system of daily courier would continue. Online registration would also be introduced by allotting passwords to private hospitals after upgrading the computerised system.
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Limit for BPL families hiked to Rs 432
Chandigarh, January 23 The director, food and supplies and consumer affairs, R.K. Rao, said this had been done for better implementation of public distribution scheme. These families are entitled to draw 25 kg of subsidised wheat or rice, levy sugar and kerosene. The families can apply for BPL ration cards, provided they are not in possession of a colour TV set, fridge, scooter and motorcycle. The eligible families can apply by submitting an application form attested by the respective area councilor or sarpanch with two passport size family photographs and an affidavit. |
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