Chandigarh, April 8
Check this. One patient gets two minutes in the skin OPD. Reason: Only one skin specialist for 200-300 patients that turn up during the six-hour OPD at the General Multi-Specialty Hospital in Sector 16 here.

The department had a single doctor for the past few months. The patients have to wait more for their turn in a long queue as there is no alternative except to visit the hospital. One of the patients told TNS that it’s a normal exercise here as there was only doctor in this department.

A visit to the skin OPD showed that the OPD was fully occupied and there was no space inside or outside. When enquired about the waiting time, a patient told TNS that her token number is 72 at 9.30 in the morning.

She said, “I came to know that my number would come after an hour because there were 20 more patients in a queue.”

A resident here, who brought her 17-year-old daughter, complained that her turn would come only at 11 am despite reaching the hospital at 9 am.

Skin specialist Dr Swamidas said, “My patient never go back untreated.” Their subordinates admitted that they received heavy rush and sometime doctor has to sit here beyond six hours due to heavy rush of patients.

Dr S.K. Bhandari, joint medical superintendent, said, “We are supposed to solve the problem of heavy rush in skin department here as another skin specialist has been appointed in the nearby polyclinic of Sector 22.” But if needed then we will definitely make some arrangement, he added.

Chandigarh, April 8
The North Zone Broiler and Breeder Association made an appeal to the Union Government to announce financial aid for poultry farmers who were adversely affected by the recent outbreak of bird flu.

The associations of six states of the country have given a one-week notice to the government to take necessary steps, otherwise they will be forced to stage a dharna at Delhi to press their demands.

Addressing a press conference, Balraj Singh, president, North Zone Broiler and Breeder Association, said there was a growth of 15 to 18 per cent per annum in this industry for the last three decades without any budgetary support by central or state governments.

He expressed his anguish that the government was not extending any support to this industry during crisis. He said due to frequent outbreak of the bird flu in the last three years, the industry suffered a loss of over Rs 11,000 crore owing to fall in prices, suspension of exports and closing of several small and marginal farms.

Singh appealed to the government to waive loans and interest of the poultry farmers who had at least small and marginal poultry business up to 50,000 birds.

He said the government should give liberal financial support to enable the industry to tide over the crisis.

He further demanded a ban on the export of maize and soya to control the
prices in the country.

He said under the cumulative impact of bird flu and the unprecedented increase in cost of maize and soya, the financial position of lakhs of small poultry farmers had been crippled and the entire industry was bleeding.

At this critical juncture, when the poultry farmers were facing the worst crisis in history, the government should come to their rescue.

He revealed that a delegation of poultry farmers recently met the union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar to request him about announcing relief for the hapless farmers of the poultry industry whose back had been broken by repeated outbreaks of bird flu and rising prices of maize and soyabean due to forward trading.

Chandigarh, April 8
To avoid cutting trees in City Beautiful, known internationally for its greenery, the Chandigarh forest department is adopting an innovative method of uprooting and transplanting trees to make land available for various development works and also preserve the greenery of the town.

In this process, the department uprooted trees from the land that had been earmarked for taking up development work in the city.

About 250 trees from three places, which were earmarked for different developmental works, have been uprooted and transplanted at other places in the city.

Out of these 50 per cent trees have survived, which is a good result. The forest department could thus save many grown-up trees and add to the beauty of the city.

The department uprooted trees from the land earmarked for the Sector 43 bus stand, Rajiv Gandhi IT park and from some parts in Sharanpur in February this year.

About 100 trees each have been successfully transplanted in Sector 51 and behind Sukhna lake on the land of Kambwala and 50 in the surrounding area of IT park.

The trees, which were transplanted, are Shisham, Amla, Neem, Poplar, Shahtut, Guava and Toot.

While talking to The Tribune, deputy conservator of forests Ishwar Singh stated that the department had taken this step to have instant green belt in and around the area, which is allocated for developmental and commercial work. He said this would also help in providing a temporary green belt, which was supportive for the city.

Ishwar Singh stated that this besides maintaining environment, would also help in preventing encroachment of the land in and around the city by slum dwellers.

He said this year the forest department was going to provide green cover to the vacant land from Sectors 52 to 56 by planting the trees that would be uprooted for taking up some project in the town.

He disclosed that the concept of transplantation of trees had been adopted long time back by the Delhi administration during the construction of metro there.

He said in the first phase of the construction of the metro, the issue was raised that around 12,000 trees would have to be chopped off to clear the path for construction, which was a big environmental loss.

He said the forest department there decided to experiment with the transplantation of trees. He revealed that after the research conducted by the forest department, it was found that some of the species could be up transplanted and would survive.

He said that about five thousand trees were transplanted out of the eight thousand trees cut on that occasion.

Chandigarh, April 8
Fitness seems to be the mantra this season, with the Panjab University waking up to the need of a separate gymnasium for girls.

For the first time, after receiving a special grant from the UGC of Rs 15 lakh the university has set up a gymnasium exclusively for females.

“Basic equipment has been kept and more equipment would be purchased and put up very soon. We will see how well it caters to the needs and then will upgrade it accordingly,” said Prof R.C. Sobti, vice-chancellor.

The gym would be free of cost and a very nominal fee may be charged for the cards, which will be decided later.

This is a part of the initiative to streamline and strengthen sports and sports’ facilities in the university. During the past one year the university has improved it’s ranking after the sports students were given better facilities and diets.

Nevertheless, opening of a new gym exclusively for women has brought cheers to sportswomen, teaching and non-teaching employees.

“It’s a good initiative to start a separate fitness centre for women. Many times, when we want to exercise in the morning machines are pre-occupied but now that problem will be taken care of,” said Sunita, a basketball player.

“Even if there are less machines at least we can do yoga in our own area which we could not do earlier in the presence of males. Moreover, machines are roughly handled by the boys but a separate gym would ensure proper wear and tear of the equipment,” said Rupali, another sportsperson.

“Whenever we will have free time we can avail the facilities of a gymnasium, which we could not do earlier as I was not comfortable with the idea of exercising in the presence of males,” said Renu.

Chandigarh, April 8
Putting a lid on all rumours to sell or lease out the Sector 17 Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) building, a prime property, to a big private player, the UT administration has decided that the site will be used to create infrastructure for the proposed Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) in the coming years.

“All speculations about leasing out or selling the place to a big company are totally false,” a senior officer said, while confirming the development. A consultant would be appointed to work out the space utilisation as the authorities had decided to ultimately shift the ISBT to Sector 43.

The UT Adviser, Pradip Mehra, said it was premature to comment on the issue. “We will see as to how to use the space”, he added.

Sources in the administration denied the possibility of leasing out the commercial space to private players.

“The building is governed by a set of rules. It is not possible to immediately change the land use. It has to be approved at the highest level and a lot of alterations will have to be done to make the building fit for the MRTS”, said another senior official.

The official said in the light of the projected transit load and future needs, the committee on MRTS had suggested light rail-based system on two surface corridors-Sarangpur-Khuda Lahora-Maheshpur on the East-West access and the other one from Motor Market to Sector 105, Mohali, via IT park, Purv Marg. The detailed project report is yet to be prepared.

Most probably, the remaining inter-states routes (Delhi, Patiala and Shimla) will be shifted from the ISBT-17 to ISBT-43 by the end of this year, added the official.

Meanwhile, the transport authorities have sent a proposal to the UT Engineering Department to build 14 more bus counters at ISBT, Sector 43, so that more buses could be adjusted.

Chandigarh, April 8
A call made to the police control room about the kidnapping of two girls near Sindhi Sweets in Sector 8 here this afternoon sent the local police in a tizzy.

The PCR received a message at around 3:15pm regarding a scuffle between two girls and a man, which the police team believed was a kidnapping bid. Reacting to the incident, the police immediately reached the spot.

The team searched the entire area and inquired from the people present about the incident. Ram Gopal, SHO, Police Station, Sector 3, intimated the control room that the call was a prank and asked the officer to give the details of the caller.

The caller told that SHO that he just told the control room that there was a scuffle and not a kidnapping. Surinderpal Singh Chinna, the caller, gave the SHO the car registration number in which the youth came.

According to Chinna, the man came in a Honda Civic (CH-03-C-0052). The police immediately flashed the message to the control room about the number of the car.

The Licensing and Registration Authority, too, was contacted. When the police got the actual details of the person, both came out to be as husband and wife.

According to SHO Ram Gopal there was a confusion about the registration
number of the car.

Chandigarh, April 8
With the Chandigarh administration mulling the formation of the tourist police, select police officials today got some tourism tips to turn them into “goodwill ambassadors” to make the stay of the domestic and international tourists comfortable.

In the backdrop of about seven lakh domestic and 40,000 international tourists visiting Chandigarh annually, an advisory to the police and the tourism department to work in tandem was the highlight of an interface on the role of the police in tourism promotion as part of the 15th anniversary celebrations of the Institute of Tourism and Future Management Trends (ITFT) here today.

On his part, UT SSP SS Srivastava tried hard to emphasise that the police personnel, who were many a time the first contact persons with the visitors, could be goodwill ambassadors for the city and the country so that the visitors could take back happy memories of their visit with them.

This would also go a long way in enhancing the number of the visitors with increased business opportunities and revenue for the local residents, he hoped.

With the role of the police regarding interaction with the visitors coming under the scanner, the police specially deputed around 20 probationary ASIs to attend the interface to sensitise them to the aspirations and needs of the tourists.

Director, Tourism and Public Relations, Vivek Atray, highlighted the symbiotic relationship between tourism and the police, who could create a favourable impression of the city and its people by being helpful to the visitors.

Earlier, ITFT executive director Gulshan Sharma made a multi-media presentation on the subject. He also offered 10 scholarships to the wards of police personnel for one-month training in personality development and airlines management.

Meanwhile, Srivastava also released a concept paper prepared by the ITFT. The paper made a number of suggestions, including close coordination between the tourism department and the police to promote tourism, to set up a special wing of the tourist police with distinctive uniform and insignia and setting up information kiosks by the police at important places of tourist interest.

Tourist police should have recognisable vehicles with first aid facilities, workshops should be held to sensitise the police towards requirements of tourists regularly.

Mohali, April 8
Estimates for development works worth around Rs three crore were cleared at the general house meeting of the municipal council held here today, even as an inquiry was marked into the alleged misbehaviour of a civic body clerk with a municipal councillor.

Many of the estimates had been prepared to provide a premix carpet in the parking areas of the markets which were handed over to the council by GMADA and other areas of the town, and also for developing green belts.

Rajinder Sharma told the house that a ‘tehbazari’ clerk had misbehaved with him and also threatened him over some dispute involving sanitation in Phase X. He said the same clerk had allegedly misbehaved earlier with a former councillor Harbans Kaur.

Taking a serious view in this regard Kharar MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu ordered an inquiry into the matter and also suggested that the clerk should not be given any such charge where public dealing was required.

Mohan Bir Singh Shergill said employees of the civic body quite often misbehaved with municipal councillors.

He said whenever he had tried to contact the sanitary inspector of his area he always felt humiliated because his requests in connection with sanitation work were many times not entertained. Shergill felt that council employees were running the civic body where councillors had no say.

At one stage, municipal councillors belonging to the opposition group threatened to stage a walk out when B.B. Maini was not allowed to express his views in connection with advertisement boards being put up in green belts.

The issue of handing over green belts to various private organisations for development, by allowing them to put up advertisement boards, also drew arguments from councillors.

They pointed out that too many boards were being put up in the town which hampered its beauty.

However, the president Rajinder Singh Rana justified the move saying that 19 such sites would fetch a revenue of Rs 90 lakh for the council.

Surinder stated that the insurance firm didn’t return a single penny of the proceeds of the FDRs although nine months had elapsed.

The insurance firm stated that they were not under any obligation to pay any amount to the petitioner.

Mohali, April 8
Members of the market welfare committee, Phase 3B2, are up in arms against the allotment of space for a liquor vend in the market by the Punjab government.

While the shopkeepers sat on a dharna here this evening to mark their anger, the contractor who has been allotted space here in accordance with the new excise policy went to the extent of alleging that they had ‘attacked’ his brother last night.

The contractor Jatinder Singh Jassi was allotted space in the market by Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) for this financial year beginning April 1.

Jassi alleged that he tried to erect his shed on Sunday but shopkeepers did not allow him to do so. He shifted the space to another corner of the market yesterday night, but shopkeepers attacked his brother Parwinder with swords and cut his thumb.

Members of the market association, however, denied these allegations. They staged a protest in the evening against the Punjab government for allowing liquor vend in the proximity of a gurdwara and many schools.

They said they would not resort to violent means, but continue their stir against the setting up of the liquor vend till the decision is revoked.

Tirlochan Singh of the committee said there was no liquor vend in the market as it is close to the Sacha Dhan Gurdwara and two government schools.

Notably, the minimum distance between a liquor vend and educational and religious institutions has been reduced in the new policy.

Mohali, April 8
Invoking his authority to declare a holiday in a district, the Punjab cabinet minister for cooperation Captain Kanwaljit Singh today declared May 5 as a holiday in district SAS Nagar to celebrate the birth centenary of Jassa Singh Ramgarhia.

The minister was presiding over a meeting here to plan various activities that would form a part of the celebrations.

The celebrations would be held at the Dasshera ground here and all government offices, schools and colleges would remain closed on May 5 so that people can participate in the celebrations.

Officials of the district administration and the municipal council would be on duty during the celebrations.

Zirakpur, April 8
Chattbir Zoo’s most loved inmate - Gullu - a white tiger cub, turned one today. While Gullu remained oblivious of the importance of the day, for the zoo authorities it was a special occasion.

Various celebrations, including a cake cutting ceremony, were held to mark the day. “He was on display and that gave him a lot of time to enjoy the sun and stay outdoors,” said Dharminder Sharma, the Zoo Director.

The white tiger was bred in captivity and born to normal (orange colour) tigers. Gullu’s mother ‘Shanbti’ abandoned him at birth and refused to feed him.

Fearing an attack on Gullu by his father, he was taken away from the mother after a few hours and reared by humans.

Mohali, April 8
A delegation of Milk Union Association, including various chairmen elected by milk producers of different Milk Unions associated with the Punjab State Milk Cooperative Movement, met Prof Laxmi Kanta Chawla, health and family welfare minister, Punjab, here today.

The delegation presented a letter of honour along with a symbol as token of respect to Prof Chawla for her contribution towards checking the sale of synthetic milk, ‘paneer’ and ‘khoa’, and also launching a campaign against sale of substandard milk products.

The delegation also brought to the notice of health minister the problems faced by them due to sale of substandard milk products, as there was a huge difference in the rates of original and fake milk products due to which their business suffers.

The members also highlighted the ill-effects of substandard milk items on the health of people.

They urged the health minister to initiate a special campaign with the involvement of representatives of cooperative milk producers to check the quality of milk at different levels.

Prof Chawla assured the delegation that she would soon hold a high-level meeting of officers of health department.

“To create great armies is one thing; to lead them and to handle them is another”, said Winston Churchill.

By giving a three-fold hike in their pay packages to service chiefs, a raw deal to the middle-rung officers and personnel below the officer rank (PBOR), the Sixth Pay Commission has embarrassed them. For, it has made the service chiefs’ job “to lead and handle” their respective services difficult.

The pay panels composed of civilian functionaries cannot conceive the basic point that to order his officers and men into war where they sacrifice their lives, a service chief has to put their welfare before his own.

No wonder, that the service chiefs are unhappy about the low pay packages recommended by the pay panel for the middle-rung officers and PBOR.

Thus, the Chiefs of Staff Committee comprising the three chiefs has started examining the pay panel’s proposals before taking up the issue with the Central government.

Chandigarh, April 8
A batch of five persons, including Prof Rajan Gaur, vice-president, PUTA, Dr E Nahar, and Dr Jatinder Grover from DCS, Dr Ashok Kumar, Department of Hindi and Ravi Shankar Chaube from Geology department sat on the fast on the second day of the chain fast at a call given by joint action committee.

A large number of teachers and students visited the venue of chain fast in front of the university guest house. Addressing the assembly of teachers and students Prof. Manjit Singh, secretary PUTA said, that PU was established in 1882 as one among the four federal universities of India and Panjab University was the only university to have been assigned the job of teaching and research; the rest three were of examining nature only.

Punjab Government should take pride in demanding the status of “institute of national importance” for PU from the MHRD at par with Aligarh Muslim University, Benaras Hindu University and Delhi University instead of creating fuss by linking higher education with the political status of the U.T.

The Central university status for PU would elevate the status of all the affiliated colleges in Punjab and Chandigarh, whose number has gone up to 175, clarified Prof. Singh.

Prof Rajan Gaur, vice-president of PUTA , said if the Central university status was not accorded to PU at this juncture, this institute of national importance would soon become a history for want of desired funds.

It would be a matter of national shame if the PU, that has produced Nobel laureates Hargovind Khurana, and has two Prime Ministers, Inder Kumar Gujral and Manmohan Singh, as its alumni, was allowed to die a slow death.

It has also been resolved that JAC will intensify the struggle till the demand for the Central status is conceded.

Panchkula, April 8
Satluj Public School, Sector 4, here, organised an events today for middle and secondary classes on first activity day of the new session.

Fine Arts Department organised cartoon-making competition for middle classes and best-out-of-waste competition for secondary classes. The winners of the competition were-

Cartoon-making competition: Class VI - Ritu Daman (first) and Sahil Bhatti (second); Class VII - Amandeep (first) and Gurleen Bedi (second); Class VIII- Honey (first) and Gurvinder yadav (second).

Best-out-of-waste competition Shyam, Lubhit, Komal, Shubham (first); Ekta, Ranjana, Deepali, Pranav (second).

Anand Mohan Sharma, deputy director of the Sansthan, said that global warming is being accelerated by human actions.

Chandigarh, April 8
The eyewitness in the sensational murder of chartered accountant Rajesh Goyal on May 22, 2007, today retracted from his statement in the court of district and sessions judge K.K. Garg.

The witness, Kamlesh, worked as a peon in the Sector 42 office of the deceased. In his statement before the court, he said that the police had got his signatures on a blank paper. He added that on the date of the incident, he was not in the town.

Kamlesh had stated before the police that the four accused, Kanav Arora, Shiv Kumar, Mandeep Singh and Ishwinder Singh, had come to the office of the deceased. He stated that he had seen Ishwinder stabbing in the neck of the deceased.

The other witness, Arvinder Bedi, supported his statement. Deposing before the court, Arvinder stated that he had seen the four accused walking down the office. On reaching the office of Rajesh Goyal, he found him murdered.

The father-in-law of the deceased, K.K. Aggarwal, said that Kamlesh and his relatives had made telephone calls to him in which they confessed that the family members of the accused are threatening him against giving statements before the police.