Chandigarh, July 10
After the add-on courses row, some private colleges affiliated to Panjab University have found an “innovative” way to fleece students. They are charging huge amounts from students for innovative courses on a par with self-financing courses.

According to the rules, a self-financing course and innovative course cannot be treated equal when it comes to fee structure. Self-financing courses are self-sustainable courses for which the fee structure is decided depending on the expenditure that will incur on buying equipment, getting infrastructure ready and providing faculty for that particular course.

Innovative courses are those which are fully financed by the UGC. The funds are provided to the colleges even before the course is started.

According to sources, some colleges in Punjab and one in Chandigarh is charging students around Rs 36,000 for innovative courses like MSc (instrumental), postgraduate diploma in international business and MSc applied chemistry (pharmaceutical). The fee for M.Sc (biotechnology), a self-financing course, is the same. The colleges are taking the students and their parents for a ride taking advantage of their ignorance about the difference between the two set of courses.

“It is unjustified. Earlier, their used to be vocational courses like this but the fee structure for those courses was much lower than self-financing courses. People are unaware of what’s happening around them and are being cheated”, said P S Sangha, PU fellow.

“If such a thing is happening in any college, then an emergency meeting of the fee committee should be convened . Vice-chancellor should intervene immediately”, said Rabinder Nath Sharma, PU fellow.

According to the sources, a letter has been issued to all colleges by the dean, college development council, B D Budhiraja today asking them to furnish details about innovative courses they are running and the fee structure that is being charged.

UGC vice-chairman, Prof Moolchand Sharma, said, “Action can be taken against such colleges. Talk to me tomorrow and I will tell you the course of action”.

Zirakpur, July 10
Almost one-and-a-half years after the Government of India issued a notification banning construction within 100 metres of defence installations, the SAS Nagar administration has decided to implement the notification.

SAS Nagar DC Rahul Bhandari has ordered the municipal council of Zirakpur to stop all fresh construction within the 100-metre range of the Air Force station and also conduct a survey of the structures that have already come up within this range.

The notification issued by the Ministry of Defence in February, 2007, was forwarded by the Air Force station authorities to the DC’s office last year but remained just another paper in official files till recently when the administration woke up to the host of violations in Zirakpur where houses, shops and other structures had come up within 100-metre radius of the Air Force station.

“The Air Force authorities have been sending letters to the office for more than one year but these seem to have been ignored. Now we have decided to implement the notification strictly,” said Bhandari.

The DC has also held a joint meeting with the Air Force authorities. “It was decided that fresh construction should be stopped immediately. A survey is to be conducted to know the extent of the unauthorised construction.

The Air Force authorities have also been asked to conduct an awareness drive in the area so that people know why the construction is being stopped and why no further construction would be allowed. Also the executive officer of the Zirakpur MC has been told not to pass any more building plans in the area,” said Bhandari.

Following the DC’s orders, the council has started a survey of the area. “We are demarcating the 100-metre radius from the Air Force station. Those which are clearly within the prohibited distance have been issued notices to stop construction as these are likely to be demolished,” said R.K. Mittal, executive officer, Zirakpur.

Mittal said work of demarcation is likely to be completed soon.

There has been unbridled construction in the area for the past three years despite clear guidelines regarding the prohibition on construction of structures within certain specified limits of the defence installation. Interestingly, the ban on construction around the Air Force station was “lifted” by former CM Amarinder Singh.

Chandigarh, July 10
The undertrials brought to the district courts are at the mercy of god in case of medical emergency, as there are no arrangements to take care of them.

A similar scenario was witnessed today after three undertrials brought to the district courts fainted on the premises of Bakshi Khana and had to wait for a long time to get medical help.

In just over an hour, three undertrials needed immediate medical help but none could get it in time.

And, this happened right in front of the civil dispensary of the court.

One of the undertrials, Mahavir, developed symptoms of epilepsy and was picked up by five policemen from Bakshi Khana and kept under a tree.

The policemen made a call to the PCR at 11.35 am about the emergency, but the latter failed to turn up. Thereafter, the affected person was taken in a police bus used to bring undertrials to court.

Surprisingly, none of the policemen approached the doctor of the dispensary for first aid and kept waiting for the arrival of the PCR vehicle.

Finally, some lawyers approached the doctor and informed him about the condition of the undertrial. He then provided medical aid to the suffering undertrial.

Interestingly, members of the human rights commission who were present at the scene remained mute spectators to the incident.

Similarly, Amar Singh and Rohit who had been brought to the court for hearing faced medical problems and suffered similar ordeal.

Doctor of the dispensary said most of the times, policemen failed to approach them to seek first aid for undertrials.

He said he had been consulted only once or twice before.

An advocate, Mahinder Singh, who was an eyewitness, said they would meet the district and sessions judge seeking direction to doctors to attend to undertrials.

SSP S.S. Shrivastava said such incidents had been happening at the courts in the past due to increasing number of undertrials and pressure on space.

He said such cases had increased due to congestion and suffocation.

He said he would mark an inquiry in the case so that necessary steps were taken.

Chandigarh, July 10
The enforcement wing of the municipal corporation pulled down over 300 illegal structures at Indira Colony, Mani Majra, here today.

The operation that began at 10 am and lasted till 6 pm went off peacefully.

MC officials said it was a joint operation with the estate office of the UT administration.

Sources said jhuggis had earlier been removed by the administration, following which the occupants had shifted to Panchkula but they returned to Chandigarh after the authorities there evicted them.

Sources said the residents did not protest as a large number of them already had accommodations in other parts of the city.

They had encroached upon the area purportedly to be included in the rehabilitation scheme claiming displacement.

The enforcement wing pressed into service three JCB machines to pull down the structures and also took the help of the police to tackle any untoward incident.

Area residents alleged that it was a partial drive and the authorities did not take action against violators encroaching upon government land along the road from Vishavkarma temple to Mansa Devi shrine.

They alleged that junk dealers and a service station were running their businesses on the government land.

Denying the allegations, assistant commissioner Parminder Pal Singh said some junk dealers, who had obtained stay orders from court, were not touched during the drive.

He added that the service station was demolished in the past and he was not aware if they owner had carried out some construction there.

Zirakpur, July 10
The deputy commissioner, SAS Nagar, today ordered stopping of all construction activity in the Sukhna choe bed. DC Rahul Bhandari had visited the area this morning following a report carried in the Chandigarh Tribune regarding the encroachment by builders in the nadi area of Baltana village.

Talking to The Tribune Bhandari said no construction would be allowed in the choe bed and the sanctity of the shamlat nature of the land would be maintained. “However at places where parts of the choe bed are owned privately, construction can be carried out only with after a no objection certificate (NoC) is procured from the irrigation and drainage department,” said the DC.

The DC accompanied by the SDM of Dera Bassi S.L. Bhumbak also met the owner of the Choice Resort and asked him to make proper arrangements for the drainage of rainwater that gathered around the resort. “The arrangement done by the owner was not affective and he has been asked to improve the drainage system laid down by him so that the rain water is channelled into the shoe and not allowed to gather on the road,” said Bhandari.

The DC also held a meeting in the guesthouse here regarding the cases of usurpation of shamlat land in Zirakpur and Dera Bassi. The BDPO Dera Bassi handed over a report to the DC regarding the status of shamlat land in Nagla and Shehtabgarh villages. The executive councillor of the municipal council of Zirakpur R.K. Mittal updated the DC about the efforts made by the council to save the shamlat land of Peer Mashala village.

“The municipal councils of both Dera Bassi and Zirakpur have been asked to take the possession of the shamlat land in villages which have now come under their jurisdiction,” said the DC.

In case of the ongoing controversy of shamlat land of Nagla village the DC said not an inch of land would be handed over to private parties and the administration would support the village panchayat for possession of shamlat land.

Chandigarh, July 10
The “kidnapping” turned out to be an excursion. Mukerain-based bank manager of the Punjab State Agriculture Development Bank, Samir Gupta, it seems , was on a ‘tour’ since Sunday, visiting five cities.

Samir claimed he was ‘under depression’ following trivial issues in the bank.

Samir boarded a bus for Delhi on Sunday. From Delhi, he went to Jaipur, Ajmer, Agra and then to Kanpur.

From Kanpur, he proceeded to Bulandshahr, where he stayed for a night and later contacted his family.

Samir said: “ I was depressed and thought of suicide, but the thought of my loved ones prevented me from doing so. I was disturbed over malpractices in the bank.”

SS Srivastava, SSP, said : “ We are seeking legal opinion on action against Gupta for misleading the police. However, his wife is not to be blamed.”

He said at the moment, Gupta’s well-being was a priority with the police.

Chandigarh, July 10
The emerging Indian tourism has something to cheer about in the run-up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. In fact, the sports extravaganza would set off a tourism boom with the Indian share in international tourist arrivals expected to touch 1.5 per cent as against current 0.52 per cent with the neighbouring states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh likely to be most benefited from the spillover effect of the influx of sportspersons and tourists, a study says.

Conducted by the industry chamber PHDCCI, the study claims that the large influx of sportspersons and tourists would push up the foreign exchange earnings as the anticipated earnings are likely to rise to $18 billion from around $7 billion at present. In fact, the games would prove to be a catalyst for major investment in the country's sporting, social and economic sectors which would have a long-term effect on the tourism industry.

The study asserts that vast infrastructure being created for the games would provide a fillip to economic development and employment generation in and around Delhi. According to estimates, the tourism sector would generate 45 million jobs by 2010 from the current 42 million.

The employment would be generated in the tourism-related industries, including hotel and restaurant industry, tour operators, airlines and airports.

Even Union finance minister P Chidambaram has announced that the provision for building tourist infrastructure would be increased from Rs 423 crore in 2006-07 to Rs 624 crore in 2008-09. He also proposed to provide Rs 150 crore to the ministry of youth affairs and sports and Rs 350 crore to the Delhi Government for the Commonwealth Games. The hotel boom in New Delhi in the eighties could be attributed to 1982 Asiad and same success can be replicated during the Commonwealth Games, the study notes.

The study suggests that preferential allotment of land to the hotel industry, to cater to the requirement of 70,000 additional rooms in Delhi and NCR by 2010, should be expeditiously considered. Besides, airport upgradation and modernisation of air traffic control system should remain priority. Upgradation of tourism infrastructure by the state governments at places of tourist interest is also crucial. Above all, the tourism ministry should embark upon aggressive campaigning under the "Incredible India" to promote India as a major tourist destination, the study concludes.

Panchkula, July 10
Panic gripped the area when a bag containing bombshells was found at a slum area here today. The administration as well as the locals heaved a sigh of relief when a team of the Army reached on the spot and declared the bombs dud.

It was around 9 in the morning when Kurni Louis, a resident of the Ambedkar Colony in Sector 21, spotted a bag containing bombs at an open space in the colony and informed the police control room. Deputy commissioner Rajinder Kataria along with superintendent of Police Sandip Khirwar, reached the spot.

The area was cordoned off. Finding that the bombs were similar to those being used by the defence services, the Army was requested to look in to the matter.

A team of Army personnel from Chandi Mandir headed by Lt Col Mohan Singh reached the spot and informed that there were seven bombshells in the bag.

These were obsolete and even the Army had stopped using them, said Lt Col Mohan. One of the shell was 2.5 pounder while the other was 3.7 pounder used for mortars. Seven other shells of 2.3 mm were meant for chopper guns.

Chandigarh, July 10
In the absence of a regulatory body for private clinics, patients are at the receiving end. With private healthcare booming in the city, the number of complaints of negligence on their part is also on the rise.

Though the patients are approaching consumer courts to seek relief, they feel the need for a more powerful body to regulate the functioning of the clinics in the private sector.

“The private sector healthcare delivery system here has remained largely unregulated. Problems range from inadequate and inappropriate treatment and excessive use of technology to medical malpractice and negligence,” said JS Arora. He alleged that doctors at a private hospital in Sector 34 had not treated his wife properly.

Five years back, the tragic case of 15-year-old Abhishek Ahluwalia, who lost a leg because of doctor’s negligence after he had suffered a fracture, shook the city.

Said Abhishek’s mother Anuradha Walia:“Harried patients must have a forum, other than the consumer forum, where they can report their grievances directly.

Delhi has an Act for private nursing homes and hospitals since 1953. Section 3 of this Act prohibits running a nursing home without valid registration and contravention of the provision is punishable.

Health secretary Roshan Sunkaria, admits that proper registration and an inspection system for private hospitals and nursing homes need to be in place. “I will try to set up a mandatory body so that the patients are not fleeced.”

As of now, the only recourse to ensuring quality care appears to be accreditation of hospitals.

Chandigarh, July 10
A large number of candidates who had come for interview for the posts of senior resident doctor and casual medical officer here returned disappointed as the interview was called off at the last moment here today.

Over 100 candidates had applied for around 60 posts of various departments.

According to information available, the candidates had been asked to appear at 11 am at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, today. However, the health authorities postponed the interview without giving any prior notice to the candidates.

They only learned about the postponement once they had reached the venue. The fresh interviews will now be held on July 21. Health secretary Roshan Sunkaria said a large number of applicants had applied for these post. “In order to make the appointment transparent, we had planned interviews for these posts.”

However, interviews will now be held of only those candidates who clear the written examination to be held on July 15. Senior lecturers of the institute said the postponement had caused harassment to candidates. “The postponement has caused inconvenience to those candidates who have come from far-off places,” said a senior lecturer of the institute.

“We came here around 9 am and had no idea that the interview had been postponed. The government should reimburse candidates for expenses incurred on account of travel,” said a candidate, on condition of anonymity, who had come from Patna.

The GMCH-32 authorities said they had received the order from the health department just one day prior to the interview.

Chandigarh, July 10
As part of the Founders' Day celebrations, the Chandigarh Press Club is organising a two-day seminar on "Public Perception of Media" beginning from July 12. The exercise is to analyse the different developments and trends in the media and allied professions.

People from all walks of life are expected to participate in the seminar. On the second day, journalists from all sections of the media would get together for brainstorming session to analyse the public perception about their profession and related activities. The outcome of these two sessions would form the basis of series of discussions throughout the year.

On Founders' Day, which falls on July 15, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would address a “Meet-the-Press" programme.

Chandigarh, July 10
Unprofessional attitude of the college authorities and faulty admission process are taking their toll on students who are running from pillar to post to get admissions in the colleges of their choice.

Pointing out various faults the in admission process, Harpreet Singh, father of a student, said: Due to the faulty process, many students are not getting admissions in the colleges of their choice.

It is not that the students do not fulfil the terms and conditions, but the unprofessional approach of these authorities is shattering their hopes,” rued Harpreet.

“The counselling dates and time are same in all colleges. This is causing a lot of harassment to the students as it is not possible for them to be present at all colleges at the same time,’’ rued Harpreet.

“It seems that the authorities did not apply their mind while finalising the admission process,” said Vidhur, a student.

Most of the students are depositing fee in more than two or three colleges with a hope to get admission in the colleges of their choice. “This means they would lose 25 per cent of the deposited fee when they ask for refund,” Vidhur added.

Citing his experience at GGDSD College, Sector 32, Harpreet lamented that his son Tarundeep Singh, who got 87 per cent marks in the commerce stream (aggregate 99 per cent including the marks of the UT pool) in Class XII, was making rounds of the college for the past five days.

“Nobody attended us properly and we were told that the final cut-off would be 88.4 (100.4% with 12% UT pool) for the commerce stream. When we got admission in DAV College, Sector 10, we came to know that SD College has revised the list and the cut-off percentage came down to 83 per cent (aggregate 95 per cent with the UT pool). Now, they have denied us admission saying that we should have come earlier,” Harpreet said while maintaining that no proper system to apprise the parents or students of the latest position.

The parents are running from pillar to post with their pockets full of money to get their wards admitted in good colleges. “As all colleges here are being regulated by Panjab University, the lists with the latest information should be displayed on the university campus as also on the notice boards of the colleges to avoid any kind of inconvenience to the students,” Harpreet suggested.

Chandigarh, July 10
Students from various states thronged college campuses in the city for admissions to various undergraduate, postgraduate and vocational courses on the third day today.

Though the maximum seats were filled on the first day, the colleges admitted a large number of students on the second day as well.

At Government College, Sector 11, no seat is left in any of the streams except in computer science where only three seats are left under the reserved category. Same is the case with Government College for Girls. Except in arts, seats in all streams are filled there.

While at Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, only 125 seats have been filled in BA, admissions are still on. Two seats each in BCom and BCA are left in the reserved category.

There is no seat left in GGDSD College, Sector 32. “All seats in all streams are filled,” claimed the college officials.

The additional seats in BCom, BCA and other courses were declared filled in the college today. The cut-off for BCom went as high as 91.34 per cent (general pool) and 82 per cent (UT pool). Admissions are still open for MSc (IT), BSc food science and quality control and BSc microbial & food technology.

Chandigarh, July 10
The joint counseling for students seeking admission to various engineering courses under the AIEEE began today at Panjab University’s gymnasium hall.

The participating colleges included UIET (University Institute of Engineering and Technology), PU, Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology, Sector 26, and Punjab Engineering College (PEC), Sector 12.

On the first day, the students up to rank 11,000 were called. The most preferred college remained PEC as it is a deemed university.

Many parents and students were seen making queries from the helpdesks set up by various colleges.

The counselling went smoothly but some parents complained that like the IITs and other big institutes, there should a seat-locking provision so that one student can claim only one seat and not three seats in three different colleges.

The counselling would continue tomorrow as well from 8 am onwards.

Chandigarh, July 10
Nirmaljit Kaur today became the first woman advocate from Punjab to be elevated as an additional judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Advocates Rajan Gupta, Ajay Tewari, Jatinder Kumar Chauhan and A.G. Masih, were also administered oath by Chief Justice Vijender Jain this afternoon.

Almost all the judges who were administered oath today have many “firsts” to their credit. Justice Masih is the first “Christian-minority” judge, while Justice Gupta is the first CBI standing counsel to be elevated.

During a ceremony attended by sitting and retired judges of the High Court, bureaucrats, relatives and 500-odd advocates, the Judges swore to "bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established".

With their elevation, the High Court has a record number of 47 judges. The number of women judges too has increased to four for the first time in the High Court’s history. The other women judges are Justice Nirmal Yadav, Justice Daya Chaudhary and Justice Sabina. Justice Chaudhary was the first woman advocate from Haryana to be elevated.

Prior to the elevation, Justice Gupta was CBI's standing counsel and chief prosecutor in the High Court, besides additional standing counsel for UT. Justice Masih was recently appointed as Punjab Additional-Advocate General (AAG). Justice Nirmaljit Kaur was Assistant Solicitor-General of India, while Justice Chauhan was Haryana AAG.

The roaster of benches has also changed with the elevation of the new judges. Justice Ashutosh Mohunta now holds the court with Justice Nirmaljit Kaur. Justice Jasbir Singh is with Justice Chauhan in the Bench, while Justice Uma Nath sits with Justice Gupta. Justice S.K. Mittal holds the court with Justice Masih and Justice Heman Gupta sits with Justice Tewari in the Bench.

Chandigarh, July 10
The process of appointing judges in the Punjab and Haryana High Court is on - at least this is what Chief Justice Vijender Jain has to say. He was talking to The Tribune this afternoon soon after administering oath to five judges, who have been elevated to the Bench.

The issue of appointment of judges in the High Court has been a matter of much speculation at the Bar; more so because the three-judge collegium headed by the Chief Justice stands “divided”.

While the advocates believe the Chief Justice will push for the appointment of more judges before he leaves his office in August first week, the other judges are reportedly not very eager to go ahead with the process, for reasons best known to them, or which no one is really willing to spell out.

In fact, the “differences” between the Chief Justice and a section of Judges over the issue of appointments has practically landed the High Court into crisis of sorts.

As the judges, the media and the invitees met at tea after the conclusion of the oath-administering ceremony this afternoon, the Chief Justice made it clear that he was in favour of appointing more judges and would strive to ensure the same.

“The appointment of judges in the High Court is a continuous process. It never stops,” he asserted. “Our endeavour is to fill as many vacancies as possible - this is what the Chief Justice of India wants, this is what the law ministry wants and this is what the Parliament wants.”

But realising that he has just around 20 days left before he relinquishes the office, the Chief Justice said, “I am facing time constraint.”

Replying to the much-talked about question on the possibility of sending a list of advocates for elevation despite “differences” with other judges, Justice Jain made it clear that sending names was the Chief Justice’s prerogative.

“The names are sent by the Chief Justice in consultation with other judges. The process of consultation is on. There is no need to for the collegium to meet formally,” he insisted.

The Chief Justice did not give a definite reply to the query on the elevation of Session Judges, though this matter too has been a topic of debate at the Bar. Some of the advocates are in favour of greater transparency in the matter.

Chief Justice Jain, however, justified the need for appointing more judges by saying it would only reduce the pendency of cases. “Till the strength increases, the litigants will not get relief,” he said, adding that he had managed to obtain sanction for 15 additional posts of judges for taking the total sanctioned strength to 68.

Before departing, the Chief Justice said there were no differences between him and the judges. “The High Court has been working as a team and should continue to work as a team. I am proud of what has been achieved with the cooperation of other judges.”