Chandigarh, May 28
Mayor Pardeep Chhabra and his predecessor Subash Chawla were granted bail today after they surrendered before a local court that had issued non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against them in an 11-year-old case.

The court had issued the warrants on May 5 against them after they failed to depose before the court. It was alleged that the duo, along with 35 others, forcibly entered a general house meeting of the MC and raised slogans in May 1997. Today, they were made to sit in the court for about two hours. The mayor claimed that they were “humiliated”.

A case of rioting, obstructing a government servant from discharging his duty, assaulting/using criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty etc. under various provisions of the IPC had been registered against them.

When the mayor and the former mayor appeared before the court, they were told not to leave the premises as the NBWs had been issued against them.

A drama ensued after mediapersons were informed that the mayor had been arrested. Within minutes, supporters of the mayor thronged the courtroom.

The proceedings lasted for about two hours, with the court directing the counsel of the accused to furnish bail bonds of Rs 15,000 each.

Outside the court, the mayor said he was treated like an accused and it was a political case as he was opposing water tariff and the system of paid parking.

He said Chawla and he had been regularly appearing in court, but the police had failed to submit a chargesheet.

The case had taken a long time and two of the accused had died, they said.

Chhabra clarified that he came to the court on May 5, but not finding any of the accused there he went back.

Sources said so far four judges had conducted the trail and the case was recently transferred from the court of the chief judicial magistrate to the trial court of Mahesh Kumar. 

Chandigarh, May 28
Even after two years of the formation of a committee to probe the illegal sale of medical consumables like omnipaque non-ionic contrast, trazograf injection and scalp van cannula used for CT scan at the GMCH-32, the practice still continues.

Not only does the CT scan unit, outsourced to a private company, continues to sell these without a license, it is overcharging customers for the services.

The hospital’s CT scan centre, run by S.S.S. Diagnostic and Research Centre, charges Rs 3,075 for a full abdomen scan. The amount includes consumables worth Rs 1,275. In contrast, the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital charges Rs 2,600 for the same scan. This centre is also outsourced to a private company.

When asked, attendants failed to give a satisfactory reply why higher rates were being charged at the GMCH.

However, the centre’s director, when contacted later, said, “We have been allotted the place by the GMCH and we do not sell consumables, but use it for referred patients, for which we do not require a drug license.” Asked if he had procured a license for their sale, he said he did not have a drug license.

The issue had cropped up in 2006, too. A committee was formed to look into the matter and it reported unauthorised sale of consumables.

Based on panel findings, the centre was asked to furnish a drug license or stop the sale of consumables with immediate effect, said a senior doctor at the GMCH. But even now the centre is flouting rules.

Director principal Raj Bahadur said he did not have any idea about the committee regarding the illegal sale of consumables.

According to doctors, the committee failed to implement the order. Repeated checks were mandatory to ensure proper compliance of orders, they said.

Chandigarh, May 28
The Chandigarh administration has increased the basic daily and monthly rates of minimum wages for daily and monthly rated employees under the Consumer Price Index Number of Chandigarh centre for the half year ending March 2008.

According to a press note, the monthly minimum wages for unskilled workers have been increased from Rs 3,481.50 to Rs 3,546.50. For semi-skilled-II, these have been increased from Rs 3,631.50 to Rs 3,696.50.

For semi-skilled-I, minimum monthly wages have been hiked from Rs 3,731.50 to Rs 3,796.50, for skilled-II from Rs 3,931.50 to Rs 3,996.50, for skilled-I from Rs 4,156.50 to Rs 4,221.50 and for highly skilled from Rs 4,556.50 to Rs 4,621.50.

Similarly for class III (staff), minimum monthly wages have been increased from Rs 3,756.50 to Rs 3,821.50, for class-II (staff) from Rs 3,906.50 to Rs 3,971.50 and for class I (staff) from Rs 4,267.50 to Rs 4,332.50.

Also, daily minimum wages for daily rated employees have also been revised. The daily minimum wages for unskilled workers have been increased from Rs 133.46 to Rs 136.40. For semi-skilled-II, it has been increased from Rs 139.26 to Rs 142.17 for the same period.

For semi-skilled-I, the minimum daily wages have been hiked from Rs 143.06 to Rs 146.00, for skilled-II from Rs 150.76 to Rs 153.71, for skilled-I from Rs 159.46 to Rs 162.36 and for highly skilled from Rs 174.86 to Rs 177.75.

Similarly for class III (staff), the minimum daily wages have been increased from Rs 143.46 to Rs 146.98, for class-II (staff) from Rs 149.86 to Rs 152.75 and for class I (staff), it has been hiked from Rs 163.26 to Rs 166.63, the press note added.

Chandigarh, May 28
The Indian farmer will soon be better equipped to deal with the vagaries of nature. With the Indian meteorological department (IMD) increasing the concentration of its observatories in all district headquarters, farmers will now be able to get a weather forecast for five to seven days.

Stating this here today, Dr N. Chattopadhaya, director of agrimet division of IMD, Pune, said the agromet advisory service (AAS) would soon be available across the country.

During a programme on the implementation of district AAS for Haryana here today, he said there had been a growing demand from the farming community for weather forecasts at least at district level for five to seven days.

“The IMD now plans to scale down these forecasts under the AAS scheme by using a set of high-resolution numerical weather prediction models with effect from June 1, 2008. It has been providing weather forecast for next two days for a state as a whole in qualitative terms,” he added.

Since timely dissemination of farm advisories up to village level was of utmost importance, the extension machinery of the state government or state agricultural university like the district/block agricultural officers, krishi vigyan kendras (KVKs), agricultural technology management agencies (ATMA), and electronic and print media would be extensively used to disseminate these advisories.

Under the new system, district-wise forecasts would be issued for different weather parameters (rainfall, temperature, wind, cloud cover and relative humidity) in quantitative terms up to next 5 days.

Among others present were Dr S.C. Bhan, director of the regional meteorological department, New Delhi.

Chandigarh, May 28
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will declare results of the Class-X examination for Panchkula, Delhi, Guwahati and Allahabad regions tomorrow at 8 am.

The students, who are awaiting their result tomorrow, need not worry about the inaccessibility of the site. For, to cope up with the heavy load on the server, the board has made arrangements to circulate the results through mobile phones, landline and an interactive voice-response system.

According to CBSE officials, more than 7,00,000 candidates from around 7,500 schools have appeared for the examination. The schools can get the entire results by giving their school code and e-mail ID on the websites. The board will also be making its results available to individual students through the interactive voice response system.

Airtel, Spice Telecom, BSNL and Idea - have made special arrangements for providing results through voice and short messaging service (SMS).

According to Sanjay Bahl, COO, Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel, the Airtel customers can register their roll numbers through the interactive voice response (IVR) system or message.

Through IVR, the customer would need to call 54321202 and enter his/her roll number. The customer can also send a message to 54321202. More than one roll number can be registered from the same mobile. The voice call charges are Rs 2.40 per minute, while a message will cost Re 1. The registered users will be sent the result via message.

Adopting the same procedure, Spice Telecom offers to access the result through SMS or IVR calls at 51012, which would detail out the candidate’s name, roll no and subject wise marks obtained. The charges are same as that of Airtel’s.

Idea Cellular Ltd. has launched a new service - "Exam Results", which will be available on its voice portal "Say Idea". Subscribers need to dial 456080 and register their roll numbers. Once registered, they will get a message containing their results.

BSNL is also providing results through IVR system for its landline and mobile subscribers. 

Chandigarh, May 28
Coming as a relief for students coping with result anxiety or upset with the examination outcome, the CBSE has started the second phase of its “Post-exam helpline”.

The CBSE counsellor for the region and principal of KB DAV Public School, Sector 7, Madhu Behl shared the services of the helpline with Chandigarh Tribune.

“Children develop a sort of phobia and feel helpless and scared if the examination result is not up to their expectations. The helpline helps pacify the child and explains them that they are capable of doing better. The purpose of the helpline is to decrease student’s stress levels and alleviate their fear during or after the examination”, said Madhu.

During the first phase i.e. during pre-exam period (from January to March 31), over 40 calls are received daily and during post-examination period, the figure goes up to around 55 calls per day.

The helpline’s post-exam stage runs from March to June wherein students phone in to ask about the stream to opt for, manner in which to prepare for preparatory examination, forms availability, eligibility criteria and extra help in particular areas of study.

A majority of calls are received from students who enquire about the re-evaluation procedure. However, Behl, who just returned from the CBSE helpline meeting held at Delhi, felt that the counsellors needed to be equipped with the re-evaluation process thoroughly.

“I have raised this point at the CBSE helpline meeting to let us have thorough knowledge about re-evaluation process as a majority of calls received are from students scoring around 60 per cent or below marks. Since admission to medical or non-medical streams requires at least 60 per cent marks, students also try their hands at re-checking of answer sheets”, she said.

Then there are sportspersons who call frequently. “Most of these students playing at national or international levels generally achieve low percentage of marks i.e. between 55 percent and 65 per cent. But due to their sports gradation quota, they have bright chances to go in for AIEEE exam. They have to be counselled for their further studies keeping in mind their main interest,” said Behl.

The students who prepared well but could not get marks according to their expectations are immensely worried to see their counterparts obtain more marks comparatively. They are counselled on ways to deal with this and concentrate on their further planning.

Students who achieve between 70 and 80 per cent and aspire for higher marks are advised on ways to improve their marks. Mediocre students are guided on self-study techniques to increase their marks further.

Personal counselling is undertaken only under compelling circumstances when students fail to get through the examination.

“In such cases, even parents feel helpless. Our job is to counsel them and make them understand that it is not the end.”

Chandigarh, May 28
For 93 budding fashion designers of the Inter National Institute for Fashion Design (INIFD), Sector 8, it was a day when their alma mater honoured them for making it to the fashion scene.

The "placement day" at the CII in Sector 31 was a big draw for former INIFD students, who have been placed with top brands, including Tommy Hilfiger, Benetton, Wills Lifestyle and Esprit.

A beaming Ritu Kochhar, director of the INIFD, said, “They will prove to be an asset to their employers with their managerial capabilities and aesthetic fashion sense," she added.

On the other hand, the students were very enthusiastic. "We were taught the basics like needle work and embroidery. This helps us in strenghtening our foundation in the highly competitive industry," said Sugandha, who has been placed at the United Colors of Benetton.

Harmanjot, a passout of the 2007-08 batch placed at Tommy, said, "Intensive training in fashion sense has made us different from others."

The products of the institute has to their credit the designing of the wardrobes for movies like "Jodha Akbar","Vivah" and "Apne" besides designing for personalities like Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Angelina Jolie and Prince Charles.

Chandigarh, May 28
International College of Financial Planning (ICFP) is starting two postgraduate courses on financial planning to produce specialists in India.

“Financial planning is the process of helping a person meet his life goals through the proper management of his finances. To prepare financial planners, we offer two postgraduate courses-Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning and Post Graduate Diploma in Securities Analysis and Trading (PGDSAT),” said Brijesh Bhayana, vice-president, ICFP. The session will commence in August. 

Mohali, May 28
Path Finder High School, Sector 69, organised a rain dance party for students during their summer camp here today. Students cheerfully danced to the tunes of Punjabi and Hindi songs in the ‘rain’. MD of the school Kulwant Kaur said the school had organised different activities like dance-music, art-craft, games etc during the camp. She said more activities would be added as students took keen interest in various events.

ACCREDITATION: To strengthen the ongoing initiatives for the process of brand building, Chandigarh Engineering College (CEC) is getting accredited to TCS. According to a press release, students of CEC will now be trained according to industry requirements by a team of professionals from the company in addition to the university curriculum.

Chandigarh, May 28
The primary health centre in Mohali’s Phase 3-B-1 will not be closed or moved for the time being.

Taking up a petition filed by residents against its closure, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the maintenance of status quo on the shifting of the centre. The centre has been functioning since 1979.

The Bench, comprising Justice M.M. Kumar and Justice Sabina, also issued a notice of motion to Punjab and others. The case will now come up on August 1 for further hearing.

In the petition, Gian Chand Aggarwal and four others had earlier sought directions for quashing a latter dated April 21, vide which the centre has been closed down.

Elaborating, the petitioners added the premises were being given to the Ayurvedic, Unani and Homeopathic Department.

The petitioners also asked for the issuance of directions for quashing order of May 16 and May 22, vide which the doctors and the staff of the centre were sought to be transferred to the Civil Hospital and dispensaries.

Describing the move as “illegal”, “mala fide” and “arbitrary”, the petitioners had contended the closure would affect patients, particularly from economically weaker section.

The worse affected would be the patients putting up in Phase 3 B-1, B-2, 3-A, 4 and seven, along with Sectors 52, 70, 71, Nehru Colony, Madanpura village, Industrial Area, and Phase 8. The petitioners added some of the patients were being treated since 1979.

Chandigarh, May 28
Taking note of violation of bylaws by an eating joint, Annapurna-32 in Sector 32, judicial magistrate Balwinder Kumar has imposed interim injunction, restraining the restaurant owner from using the basement for purpose of kitchen instead of godown.

Chander Kanta and Girish Inder Virk, the landlords of the SCO No. 359 in Sector 32 from where the restaurant is functioning, had appealed before the court after taking note of the violations of bylaws.

In the petition, the landlords had stated that the basement was being used as kitchen and that violated the laws laid down by the administration.

They further requested the court to direct the defendants to remove the stairs leading to the basement in accordance with the sanctioned plan.

The petition also sought the removal of cabin from the basement and kitchen from ground floor and also tap and sink provided on the rear of the building for washing.

The plaintiff had entered into a registered lease deed with the restaurant owner on November 21, 2002. It was stated in the petition that under the sale lease deed the defendant was not permitted to run any restaurant or kitchen in the basement.

The defendant argued that they had been running the restaurant for the past 10 years and as per the notification of the administration all those allotted commercial sites except industrial sites were allowed to pursue any trade.

The court observed: “It is clear that the plaintiffs have faced irreparable loss and injury due to the violations. The balance and convenience also lies in favour of the plaintiffs as they are seeking directions just to make the defendant obey the laws of the land.”

Chandigarh, May 28
Additional district and sessions judge Raj Shekhar Attri today sentenced Laxman Singh to life imprisonment for strangulating his pregnant wife to death.

Laxman was convicted under Sections 302 and 309 of the IPC. A fine of Rs 2,500 was also imposed on the accused.

According to the prosecution, Laxman had allegedly murdered his wife, Godavari, on the night of March 30, 2007.

Laxman along with his eight-month pregnant wife and their two daughters used to live in Housing Board Colony, Dhanas. The examination result of their children was to be announced on March 31.

After Godavari was not seen the next morning, residents of the area inquired about her from children. The children told them that their mother was asleep.

Thereafter, residents went to check on her and realised that she was dead. The accused, Laxman, had locked himself in the adjoining room after consuming pesticide.

Laxman was booked under Sections 302 and 309 of the IPC.

Chandigarh, May 28
The failure of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to appoint a medical superintendent (MS) for the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, has forced the Chandigarh administration to appoint a doctor on “deputation” from the PGI who does not meet the qualification under the Medical Council of India (MCI) guidelines.

The MCI rules say that a doctor working on the post of MS should be “professor in hospital administration”. However, the new appointee, Dr Vipin Kaushal, an experienced hand of the PGI, has been appointed as “assistant professor in hospital administration-cum-medical superintendent”.

Official says: “Finding a doctor with these qualifications is already a tough thing and hoping that he will join government service is another fallacy.” With private sector wooing doctors with hefty packages, finding doctors with specialised qualifications for government jobs is a difficult task.

Prof Raj Bhadur, director principal, GMCH-32, admitted that he had appointed a person who did not meet the qualifications but they did not have other options. “We had sent requests to the UPSC twice but they didn’t appoint anyone,” he added.

“Our hands are tied. This was the best option under the given circumstances. The MCI has laid down certain guidelines that are tough to meet in the first place,” said Professor Rajbhadur.

Health secretary Sanjay Kumar said: “We cannot leave the post vacant so we appointed a person on deputation immediately.”

Due to delay in relieving process, Dr Vipin Kaushal has failed to join the new post. “As soon as the PGI authority relieve me, I will join there,” he added.