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3rd annual convocation at Chitkara
Rajpura, December 17 Dr Krishna Vedula, dean emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, USA, was the chief guest and Dr Partha Chowdhury, vice-provost of research, University of Massachusetts, was the guest of honour. Dr Vedula is a co-founder and executive director of the Indo-US Collaboration in Engineering Education (IUCEE), initiated by the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE). The director-general of the institute presented an annual report, in which she highlighted various achievements of the institute, including its ranking among the top 50 private engineering colleges of India, as per a recent survey by C-Fore Mint. An international conference on wireless networks and embedded systems and a national conference on advances in power systems and energy management was also organised. The students won four national awards (two gold and two silver medals) in the 39th All-India Engineering Students Design Competition-2008, conducted by National Design and Research Forum of Institution of Engineers (India). Dr Vedula traced advancement of technology in different fields in the last century, describing it as a century of innovation - twenty engineering achievements that transformed our lives. He underlined that India graduates more than 5,00,000 students every year (which is 10 times than in USA) and asked them to use this talent pool to build the Indian economy and make a huge impact on the world.
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Dearth of medicines in Ambala hospital
Ambala, December 17 It may be mentioned that the health department has already directed the civil hospital doctors to provide medicines to the patients, while only a few medicines are available in the hospital stock. The deputy commissioner has further directed the doctors that they should have prescribed only those medicines, which were available in the hospital. Most of the patients wanted that they should be prescribed the best medicine available in the market so that they could cure at the earliest. Recently, the DC strictly directed the doctors to prescribe only those medicines to the patients, which were available with them. The doctors threatened they would not attend the OPDs, if such a binding was made. The PMO, Dr OP Arya, allowed the doctors to prescribe those medicines to patients from the market that were not available in the hospital stock. After this assurance, the doctors attended their OPDs.
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Woman found dead
Ambala, December 17 The gold ornaments that she was wearing were also found missing. The deceased was identified as Indira Rani (58). According to information, Indira’s husband Om
Prakash, who runs a shop at Jagadhri gate in Ambala, came home today evening. When the door was not opened after being knocked continuously, he got suspicious. Later, he entered the house through another door and found his wife lying on the floor.
The police is investigating the matter.
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Three killed in separate accidents
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 17 Yadvinder Singh of Balpur village was going towards Sirhind Railway Station to drop his servant last night and his car was collided with a stray animal. The vehicle fell in the fields on the G.T. Road near Madhopur chowk and hit a tree. He was declared dead by doctors at Civil Hospital and the servant, Nagina, was undergoing treatment at the hospital. Three farmers, Gurpal Singh, Prem Singh and Balbir Singh, were coming from Rajpura after selling wheat last night and stopped their tractor-trolley near Sirhind flyover. They were waiting for their turn to cross the flyover as vehicles were coming towards him at a fast pace. A Haryana Roadways bus coming from the rear side hit the tractor-trolley. The farmers sitting in the trolley fell on the road and received serious injuries. Balbir rushed both Gurpal and Prem to civil hospital where Prem was declared dead and Gurpal is still battling with life. In the third accident that took place last night, one motorcyclist, Gurcharan Singh of village Chanalon was on his way towards Sirhind when his bike was collided with a tractor trolley, which was parked without the parking lights. Gurcharan died on the spot. Cases have been registered in this connection at Sirhind and Fatehgarh Sahib police stations. |
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Bahawalpur community seeks OBC status
Bassi
Pathana, December 17 A large number of people belonging to the community, who migrated from Bahawalpur area of Pakistan, had settled in the town. The Sangh also elected
O.P. Makhija, former councillor, as their president. Talking to
mediapersons, Makhija said that their community had always played a positive role in the development of the town and the state. He said still there are many families that live below poverty line and should be given OBC
status. He said they would also submit a memorandum to the government in
this regard.
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500 examined at eye camp
Patiala, December 17 Around 30 patients were given free lens implant with phaco emulsification at the Patiala Eye Hospital and Lasik Laser Centre by Dr Sukhdip S. Boparai and Dr Anuradha Raj. Also, free food and medicines were provided by Sukhdev Singh, chairman of the Kirtan Memorial Charitable Trust. A team of doctors led by the chief consultant of the hospital and laser centre, Dr Sukhdip S Boparai, which included Dr Anuradha Raj also, examined the patients and identified those who needed surgery. The organisers said the camp was organised to give a special medical treatment to the patients who could not afford to go to hospitals for check-up and surgery. Dr Boparai said during the camp the patients were diagnosed with cataract underwent phaco emulsification and intra-ocular lens implant. He has done pioneering work in the field of phaco emulsification (stitchless cataract surgery) where the latest microprocessor-controlled machine with tiny ultrasonic probe was used to remove the cataract and a foldable intraocular lens implant was inserted through this small opening in the eye. The patient had full visual recovery immediately. Sukhdev Singh, who ensured supply of free medicines and food for the patients, said such free eye camps were planned for the future also. The Patiala Eye Hospital is performing almost all kinds of microscopic eye surgeries under topical and local anesthesia. It has been organising free eye check-up camps in the rural areas of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan with the help of NGOs and social service organisations.
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Lok Adalats on Dec 20, 21
Patiala, December 17 Inderjit Singh Walia, district and session judge-cum-chairman district legal services authority, Patiala , said this was a special campaign to settle pending civil and compoundable criminal cases in the state. In these Lok Adalats, not only pending matters would be settled but Revenue Authorities/Statutory Tribunals constituted under any law, including Industrial Tribunals, Labour Courts, Consumer forums and other quasi-judicial authorities, would also be settled, he added. Walia further said revenue cases relating to partition and mutation proceedings, lambardari, Land Acquisition Act and Compensation disputes, Punjab Tenancy Act, Land Revenue Act, Punjab Village Common Land Acts, Public Premises Ejectment Act, Election petitions or matters pending before the Executive Authorities would also be settled in these lok adalats.
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Baljit declared ‘Mr Punjabi University’
Patiala, December 17 The competitions were held at SGTB Khalsa College, Anandpur Sahib, from December 11 to 15. The results: Weightlifting: 56 kg: Yogesh Sharma (gold); 56 kg: Sumeet Kumar (bronze); 75 kg: Gurpreet Singh (gold); 75 kg: Balwinder Singh (silver); 105 kg: Sukhdeep Singh (gold). Powerlifting: 56 kg: Sumeet Kumar (bronze); 67.5 kg: Rattandeep Singh (gold); 75 kg: Balwinder Singh (bronze); 90 kg: Jujhar Singh (gold); 100 kg: Jaswinder Singh (silver); 125 kg: Jagjiwan Singh (gold). Best physique: 60 kg: Bharat Chauhan (gold); 65 kg: Ravi Kumar (gold); 70 kg Baljinder Singh (silver); 75 kg: Baljit Singh (gold); 80 kg: Harpreet Singh (gold); 85 kg: Deepak Singh (gold); 85 kg: Harwinder Singh (silver). Baljit Singh was declared “Mr Punjabi University”. College principal Dr Satish Bhardwaj felicitated the winning teams. The college earned 208 points, while the runners-up, SGTB Khalsa College, Anandpur Sahib, secured 196 points.
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To ensure speedy disposal of cases
Chandigarh, December 17 A decision to this effect was taken on Tuesday during the full court meeting attended by almost all the judges of the high court, including Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur. The new system, aimed at increasing the output, is expected to come into force immediately after the high court reopens next year after the winter break starting December 25. For the purpose, necessary changes are being made in the roaster. As of now, 22 judges sit in as many as 11 Division Benches. While as many as seven Benches take up civil matters, one Division Bench deals with civil and criminal matters. Another Division Bench has been assigned the task of hearing tax and other civil matters, while two Division Benches essentially take up criminal matters, including appeals. Available information suggests the full bench has cleared the proposal to reduce the number of Benches, in all probability to six. With this, the number of judges sitting in Division Bench will go down to 12. This would leave as many as 10 judges spare for taking up cases in the single Bench. In the process, the output in terms of disposal of cases is expected to go up. It is believed that a large number of cases heard by the Division Benches but not involving vital questions of law, will eventually be transferred to the single Benches. These include service matters squarely covered by Division Bench and Apex Court judgments. Other matters of vital nature with serious implications will still be taken up by the Division Benches. Even the public interest litigations will go to a Division Bench. The decision to reduce the number of Division Benches is a part of the high court’s resolve to cut down on the pendency of cases. For the purpose, the court timings have already been increased. The judges now hold the court till 4 pm against the earlier time of 3.30 pm. Before the decision to increase the court working hours in September, there were approximately 65,000 first appeals against order relating to motor accident claims pending before the high court. In all, almost 2.5 lakh cases were awaiting disposal.
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Medicity
Chandigarh, December 17 In an application filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Grewal also sought directions to the UT administration and other respondents to “provide the entire record/files pertaining to the project”. This, he asserted, was essential for just adjudication of the matter. He said a series of reports were carried in The Tribune from October 26 to 30, “bringing to light the noting on the file pertaining to the Medicity
project”. Grewal asserted that the alteration in the site was against the city’s master plan. He added, otherwise also, the master plan had not been adhered to while conceptionalising the project. Moreover, clearance from central agencies, like the ministry of environment and town planning had not been taken. Referring to the reserve price for the project to be set up on 45 acres, he said it was fixed at Rs 203.7
crore, while the actual value was more than Rs 2,000 crore. As such, directions for summoning the record be issued. Taking a note of the contentions, Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Jasbir Singh issued a notice of motion to the UT administration and other respondents for February 10 next year.
Grewal has all along been asserting that the criterion for allotment was tailor-made to favour a particular hospital in
Mohali. He had stated that even if others applied, they would not
qualify. Grewal, in his petition, had earlier stated there was no need to set up
Medicity, as the project, in its present form, was not in public interest. He had sought directions for quashing advertisement issued by the Chandigarh administration inviting expression of interest for setting up and developing the proposed
Medicity. The city, he asserted, already had a well equipped Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, and General Hospital in Sector 16, besides a number of
other privately-run healthcare facilities. The proposed project was to have a medical college and hospital, a dental college and hospital, two other hospitals, nursing college and a research
centre, the petitioner out, while referring to the UT administration advertisement. Quoting Medical Council of India (MCI) norms and guidelines, he added that these specified provision of 25 acres for setting up a medical college, five acres for a dental college. On the other hand, much less land was likely to be provided for these units in proposed
Medicity.
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CHB told to follow measurement standards: UT
Chandigarh, December 17 An affidavit in this regard was submitted to the Division Bench of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Jasbir Singh. It was stated: “Noticing that the metric system is not being strictly followed, the chairman has approved that the provisions of the Standards of Weights and Measurement Act, 1976, the Standards of Weights and Measurement (Enforcement) Act, 1985, and the Chandigarh Administration Standards of Weights and Measurement Rules, and other rules made
thereunder, shall be strictly followed by the board with immediate effect”. The Bench observed: Keeping in view the nature of the controversy that even in Punjab, the metric system does not appear to have been introduced in so far as the land records are concerned, we deem it fit to implede the state of Punjab through secretary (revenue) as party respondent. A petition in this regard has been filed by a resident.
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Accused sent to police custody
Mohali, December 17 The Mohali police had arrested Ravinder Singh, alias Chhanga and his two accomplices, Pavitar Singh and Gurjit Singh, alias Gaggi yesterday. While Chhanga and Pavitar were remanded in the two-day police custody, Gurjit was sent to the five-day police remand. The suspects while rescuing Chhanga from the judicial custody at Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, had run down jail warden, Rahgbir Singh, under a Mahindra Scorpio.
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Youth’s Killing
Mohali, December 17 Certain block samiti members, sarpanches and political leaders demanded the reinstatement of the SHO of the Sohana police station who was suspended for allegedly not taking timely action in the incident. Harvinder Singh was killed after a dispute over land turned bloody and some armed persons shot him with a .12 bore gun from a close range. Around 100 persons had assembled at the village to take forcible possession of a common land. Sohana sarpanch Parminder Singh, addressing a press conference along with other leaders, condemned the suspension of SHO Mohinder Singh and demanded an inquiry into the case of firing at Sekhan Majra village. He said it was unfortunate that a youth had lost his life in the incident but the SHO was being made a scapegoat by persons who were lending a political colour to the incident. He said the SHO was a hard working officer who was honoured for his services on August 15. Baseless allegations were being levelled against the officer by certain political leaders, he asserted. The sarpanch demanded strict action against the persons involved in the killing of the youth. The police produced Gurpreet Singh, Ranbir Singh, Kamaljit Singh and Jaswant Singh in the court here this afternoon. The four were remanded in judicial custody till December 24. The remaining six persons will be produced in the court tomorrow.
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IAS officer seeks interim bail
Chandigarh, December 17 The move comes after the court had adjourned Verma’s anticipatory bail application. The hearing of the interim bail application would be held on December 18. Moving the application, the IAS officer stated that he made no demand for dowry from his wife Shevta
Verma. He said he had vacated the house in Panchkula. Anurag Verma was booked under Sections 406 of IPC and Section 3 & 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act on the complaint of his wife Shevta Verma.
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City happy hunting ground for snatchers
Chandigarh, December 17 The rising number of such incidents is being attributed to the absence of beat patrol and dysfunctional streetlights. On Thursday, three miscreants not only tried to rob a 20-year-old girl in Sector 20 but also tried to abduct her. The attempt was foiled by bystanders who came to the rescue of the girl. The victim, Sujata (named changed), did not lodge a complaint fearing tedious procedure. She is living as a paying guest in the sector. The incident took place on a busy road around 6 pm, indicating that the miscreants had no fear of the police, said a Sector-20 resident. He added that beat policemen were rarely seen in the locality. Youths are often seen drinking and smoking in public places of the area, making it difficult for women, especially girls, to venture out in the sector at night. A spate of snatching incidents has laid bare the claims of the police of having heighten security in the city. Recently, four snatching incidents were reported in the city and, interestingly, three were committed by occupants of a Maruti car. The car’s registration number was incomplete and the police, known for nabbing traffic violators, could not catch the miscreants. Also, unidentified motorcyclists have been targeting women in the city and committing snatchings.
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Woman robbed of at knifepoint
Chandigarh, December 17 Assistant manager of a bank at Delhi V.Parshad lodged an FIR with the police, alleging that three youths on a white Maruti car came around 10:30 pm and snatched the bag containing Rs 1200, an ATM card and other documents of his colleague Vijay Lakshmi at the knifepoint. The victim alleged that they were coming from the Hotel Taj after having dinner, suddenly a car came and snatched her bag and ran away, Ram Rattan, incharge Sector 17 police post, said.
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Laptop, mobile stolen from car
Chandigarh, December 17 Theft
In yet another incident, a resident of Zirakpur, Shiv Pal Singh filed a complaint with the police alleging that his laptop, mobile phone and cash Rs 900 were stolen from his car (CH-04-C-7218) from Sector 22 yesterday. A case under Section 379 of the IPC has been
filed at the Sector 17 police station.
Abduction
The local police registered a case on the complaint of a resident of Mani Majra alleging that Sudama of Mani Majra abducted his 17-year-old daughter from near her school on December 12. A case under Sections 363, 366 of the IPC has been registered at the Mani Majra police station. No accused has been arrested till the filing of the case.
Trespass
The local police registered a case on the complaint of Raj Rani, a resident of Sector 56, alleging that her son Ashwani Kumar of the same sector entered into her house by breaking the locks yesterday. A case under Section 453 of the IPC has been registered at Sector 39 police station. The accused has been arrested in this case.
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Teams work out in nets
Mohali, December 17 England team, who are down 1-0 in the two-Test series and are in a must-win situation, kick-started their practice at 9 am and toiled hard till around 12.30 in the afternoon. Later, some of the team members went for shopping while others preferred staying at the team hotel. Around 1 pm, Team India hit the nets as well. “The Wall” Rahul Dravid, who has been struggling with his batting for the past few innings, was seen taking tips from team coach Garry Kirsten. The team practised for nearly three hours. Interestingly, off-spinner Harbhajn Singh and local lad Yuvraj Singh failed to turn up at the practice session. Both squads will continue their practice session tomorrow as well before the Test starts on December 19. Indian mediapersons were prevented by officials accompanying England team from talking to England players at PCA stadium today. When two correspondents from the local media tried talking to England skipper Kevin Pieterson, who was being interviewed by the English media, the former’s manager prevented them from doing so, saying: “This is for English media only.” Later, when wicket-keeper Matt Prior addressed a press conference, he preferred answering queries of the English media over those of the Indian media.
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Spinner-friendly pitch in offing: Curator
Mohali, December 17 Mohali curator and chairman of BCCI’s pitches committee Daljit Singh said the ball was expected to swing in the morning due to wind and moisture, indicating at some help from the pitch to the team bowling first. However, he refused to comment on whether the pitch was conducive to the team bowling or batting first. “We’ll leave that to the experts who have come with the teams,” he said. He, however, stressed the need for making result-oriented pitches. “If we have to retain Test cricket, we must make result-oriented pitches and that is what we have been striving for,” he quipped. He said there was a 10 per cent chance of rain on December19 and recent reports suggested that the weather would be clear that day. “The pitch will bring some help to spinners, however it’s up to the individual to draw maximum from the pitch,” he said. This time an ultra-violet fabric has been sourced from Canada for germination of grass. “We have imported this fabric due to lack of grass on the pitch. As the match progresses, this will get scuffed,” he added. |
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Slum girls team up, play cricket
Chandigarh, December 17 The enthusiasm witnessed among these girls regarding cricket is amazing. “We used to play in salwar kameez when we had no uniforms, but now I feel like a star cricketer in a tracksuit”, Meera, a senior team player, said. A senior player, Anu, said the feeling would have been more pleasing, if we were provided with refreshments while playing. A player from a junior cricket team, Pooja, said, “Last time our team went on a trip to Kiratpur Sahib and this time we are planning to go to Shimla.” Anjuman, the woman behind the success of this cricket team, said, “The toughest job is to convince the parents of these girls, it is difficult to change their mindset. According to them girls have nothing to do with a game like cricket and they should be confined to their homes only.” |
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Kang, Saini to battle it out on final day
Chandigarh, December 17 Ashbeer's performance comes barely a few days after another Kapurthala golfer, Gaganjeet Bhullar, made it to Asia's top 65, clash in the Volvo Masters of Asia in Bangkok beginning tomorrow. Also, figuring in this Asian Tour finale will be Chandigarh's top-ranked Asian Jeev Milkha Singh and 17-year-old Rahul Bakshi, also from Chandigarh. The leading duo is five strokes ahead of third-placed Raja Sardar. Ashbeer who started playing the game on the Kapurthala RCF course, exuded confidence after the end of the round saying: "I know it will be tough, but I know I can continue with the good show and hopefully, I can secure my first win on the tour." Ashbeer also credits Gaganjeet Bhullar for helping him out with his game as both of them play at the same club. "I have played quite a bit with him and he has always helped me out with a lot of tips. He has given me a good amount of confidence and belief that I can compete at this level" he said. Asbeer would have done much better had he not bogeyed on the final hole after three birdies. Kang on the other hand carded another steady round. Making the turn at two under 34, Kang followed it up with an even par 36 on the back nine to finish with a two under par 70. Kang is presently placed eighth on the LG Order of Merit list and would be looking to register his first win on the LG Amateur Tour this season. Raja Sardar shot a one over 73 to find himself in third place and would be teeing off in the final group tomorrow. But with five shots separating him from the leaders, it would be an uphill climb for him to get himself in contention for a win. Selvadurai who started off the tournament in fine fashion with a five under par 67, faded away after another round where he shot in the high70s and finds himself eight shots behind the leaders. It promises to be an engrossing final round and it would be interesting to see if Ashbeer can deliver under pressure. He has performed admirably so far and would be hoping to do one better than his compatriot from Punjab in the final round. Scores: 212 H.S. Kang (71-71-70), Ashbeer Saini (69-73-70); 217 Raja Sardar (73-71-73); 219 Pawan Kumar (78-70-71); 220 Sanjeev Mehra(73-73-74), L.Selvadurai (67-75-78); 221 Arshdeep Tiwana (76-72-73); 222 Vikram rana (73-72-77); 224 Rahul Bajaj (76-73-75); 225 Moin Malak (78-75-72),Biren Dey (77-76-72), Akshay Butta (76-74-75), Abhinav Lohan (72-77-76); 226 Manav Das (74-78-74), Darshan Veeraraghavan (74-74-78).
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Bindra lashes out at Vengsarkar
Mohali, December 17 “He is neither the chairman of the committee nor any other official concerned and has no right to raise objection on the matter. We did not go to the board asking for the hosting of the match. It was their own decision and he should understand it,” he added. Earlier, the PCA was on the defensive while replying to a report published in a section of media in which Chris Broad, match referee during the Australia’s tour of India, had towards the end of the tour raised a question mark over hygiene at Taj Hotel, where he had stayed. According to the report, the referee had found the hotel’s hospitality unsatisfactory. “The food was not of our selection and there was a cockroach in the food,” he had written in his report. Admitting the mistake, Bindra said: “We are not like other organisations that don’t accept their mistakes. We agree that there were some hiccups and we were working on it. We will ensure that this sort of thing doesn’t happen again,” he replied. On the delay that occurred due to the sightscreen in the last Test match held here, Bindra said: “Earlier, the sightscreen measured 14’x16’ and now a 16’x16’ sightscreen will be used and there will be no such problem.” Speaking on the low turnout at the ticket counters, Bindra said: “The real sale of tickets will pick up once the match starts and any number between 10,000 and 15,000 is expected.”
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