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2 KV boys go missing
Chandigarh, August 29 The other boy was allegedly standing guard outside the toilet, which is usually used by the teachers. The incident took place at around 2 pm after school hours, when some Class IV employees had gone to the toilet to clean it. They got suspicious when they found the door locked from inside and they immediately called the guard. After repeated knocking at the door, the boy, who was inside the room, opened the door and claimed that he was “fixing” his pant’s broken zip. However, to their shock, they found the other boy and the girl in the bathroom. The schoolteachers were informed about the incident and they reportedly gave a sound dressing down to trio. While the girl’s mother was called to the school and apprised about the incident, the school authorities did not inform the boys’ parents. They were let off with instruction to get their parents to school the next day. Confirming the incident, the SHO, Industrial Area, Phase I, said a missing report had been lodged and efforts were on to trace them. School principal Samarjeet Kaur, who was also present at the police station when the boys’ parents reached there this morning, also confirmed the incident. The boys’ parents said that even after repeated visits to the school yesterday, they did not receive any information about the boys. After futile searches yesterday, the parents today reached the school at around 6 am today with a hope to meet the school principal, but they could meet with her only after 10 am. The principal, who apparently did not know about the incident till this morning, said, “I came to know about the incident today morning when I came to the school. I do not know of any parents coming to the school searching for their children yesterday.” Very critical of the school authorities’ actions, the parents allege that harsh treatment by the teachers had scared the boys and that was why they did not return home. Blaming the school authorities, the father of one of the boys said, “I went to the school to check at 4 pm, 7 pm and even 1 am. Even after repeated visits, why was the principal not informed yesterday? Missing kids do not mean anything to the school authorities,” he alleged. “Even if our children had done something wrong, we should have been informed about it. They say that they just gave the kids a warning. In that case, why didn’t they return home? They were definitely scared. It’s because of them our kids are not with us. When the teachers called up the girl’s parents, why did they not call us?” questioned the mother of one of the boys. Meanwhile, the police has launched a hunt for the two boys. Later today, the SHO, Industrial Area, Phase I, said: “Statements of the school staff have been recorded and we have dispatched our teams to search the boys.”
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Another bombshell found at plant site
Chandigarh, August 29 Two bombshells were found from the plant on August 25 also. General manager of the garbage plant RD Sharma, while confirming this, said, “We found a bombshell at around 12 today and instantly called the police control room. The police, along with a dog squad, came and took the bomb in their possession.” A senior police official said illegal activities here cannot be ruled out, as the bombshell came along with the city’s garbage. “It is otherwise difficult to know from where it could have come. We have to strengthen our vigil after this incident”. The bomb shell recovered from the site has been sent to the Army for disposal.
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Experts visit garbage plant
Chandigarh, August 29 Sources revealed that a meeting was held between the committee members and officials of the Chandigarh Pollution Control Board to discuss the functioning of the plant. Officials of the board also tabled their report on emanating of foul smell around the site in the meeting. As per the report, the foul smell around the site was due to fall in temperature and increase in moisture during evening hours. The report also stated that as there was high percentage of moisture in the garbage. So when RDF is burnt, it emanates foul smell. Officials revealed that the team would also visit the dumping ground of the city tomorrow. Sources said it was expected that the committee would submit its report by Monday to the Chandigarh
administration.
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Councillors moot tour to Europe
Chandigarh, August 29 Ironically, the proposal comes at a time when the imported German garbage processing plant is mired in controversy. Notwithstanding the earlier rejections to such sojourns by the administration, the enterprising councillors are moving a fresh proposal for a foreign study tour to Europe. The tour is being mooted even when a similar request for a visit to Singapore and Hong Kong is already pending with the administration. As per the agenda, which is going to be tabled in the August 31 House meeting, Congress councillor Manjit Singh Kang proposed that a team of councillors should visit Europe to study the working of the civic bodies there and prepare a report suggesting improvement in the civic system here. Sources in the MC revealed that the administration had raised questions on the proposed study tour to Singapore and Hong Kong. Sources said the MC had submitted its reply to the administration, but there has been no further communiqué in this regard from the administration. Officials reveal that the House had passed an agenda earlier that only one study tour would be allowed in a year due to fixed amount of funds allocated for the tour. Officials expressed surprise as to how Mayor Kamlesh had approved this agenda to be tabled in the House when she was aware that the approval of the last study tour was still pending with the administration. Referring to the report of Bangkok and Singapore tour of 2007, officials said it was proposed that parking fee should be imposed on those who park their vehicles in front of their houses on the MC land. Officials stated that this issue was never discussed in the House for the reasons best known to them. Official said the MC failed to even execute the suggestions proposed by a team after visiting various cities of the country. Then what could be expected from tours abroad? questioned officials. A delegation of MC went to Pune and Nagpur and another to Goa and Mumbai. In their report, the councillors suggested about the steps to be taken to improve the functioning of streetlights, tourism potential, fish market and management of slums. Ironically, not even a single project has been executed in the city even after three years. Meanwhile, other agendas that are going to be tabled in the House include musical fountain at Sector 17 plaza, proposed notification of dog bylaws and confirmation of 900 daily wagers into regular employees. The Chandigarh administration has also rejected the proposal of certifying the contractors after the completion of work by the area councillors. The agenda of charging Re 1 from the blind institute, deaf and dumb and leprosy institute (Kusth Ashram) is also going to be tabled in the House for approval.
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3 more test positive
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 29 “Out of the total positive cases, 12 were treated and discharged. Remaining were undergoing treatment at various hospitals,” UT Nodal officer for swine flu HC Gera said. A total of 170 suspected cases have been reported so far in all the government hospitals in the city. However, no swine flu death has been reported from this region so far, he added. A 14-year-old boy had gone to Hong Kong recently and reported in the PGI with fever and cough. “He was showing symptoms of the virus and the PGI later confirmed it,” said Gera. His condition is stable now. As he is a resident of Panchkula, we have informed the health authorities there, added Gera. A 28-year-old woman, a resident of UK, came to city to meet her relative. She complained of sore throat, sneezing and running nose. She reported for a health check-up at GMCH-32 and was tested positive for swine flu. Gera said: “The entire family, including the 28-year-old woman, has been quarantined for a week and their health was being constantly monitored. None of them had symptoms of H1N1 influenza.” Another suspected case from Sector 49, reported at the GMCH yesterday, has no travel history and probably is a contact of an earlier positive patient, said Gera. A 14-year-old boy reported at the GMCH-32 with flu-like symptoms and his samples were found positive today, said Gera. Meanwhile, five-suspected cases of H1N1 influenza were reported at various hospitals today. “Throat swab samples have been sent to the PGI for lab tests. The reports will be come in a day,” added Gera. PGI extends testing services to other states The department of virology, PGI, has extended swine flu testing services to other states, including Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana. As per the recent communication from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the department of virology, PGI, will provide diagnostic facility to these states, said Dr RK Ratho, in charge of the swine flu lab, PGI. The department has planned to open a
12-hour swine flue sample-receiving counter at Research Block-A (ground floor), PGI. It will be operating from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm daily. “Testing of all the backlog samples have been completed and now the reports are made available within a day,” said Dr Ratho.
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Women power to fore in PU polls
Chandigarh, August 29 The panel of “Panjab University Women Front” (PUWF), an initiative of INSO party presidential candidate, Deepika Thakur, will consist of representatives from all girls hostels of the PU whose primary task would be to highlight problems faced by girls in the university. Though a formal announcement of the front is to be done on Monday, modalities are being worked out and preparations are on to formulate a team that has a healthy mix of representatives of all hostels. “We are working out minute details of the front and it’s functioning. At times, there is a lack of communication between girls and the hostel authorities, and in many cases, the girls are not able to approach the university authorities due to personal reasons. We wish to break all these barriers, and only women power can do that,” said Deepika, a PhD scholar, Department of Evening and Vocational Studies. Asserting that the launch of “women’s front” will follow an unprecedented change in the system, she said this would also check the incidents of violence and eve-teasing in the university. “The front will ensure that the trend of boys fighting for girls’ rights on the campus comes to a halt, as we can directly take up the matter with the authorities if injustice is done to any girl in the university,” added Deepika. An estimated 7,000 voters out of a total of 11,000 in the university are girls and consequently the launch of the front comes as a well-thought-out move by the party to gain momentum in the elections. “It is the first time in the history of the campus that such a front is being formed. This will help the girls feel stronger and we are sure that the front will do great work in future,” said Charanjeet, a B.Sc. II (chemistry) student and representative of Hostel 2. “The problems that the girls face and cannot share with others need to be brought to light. The power of ‘I’ has to be realised. If all of us say that I alone cannot do anything, the women power will never be realised,” said Nivedita Rana of M.Sc (I), nuclear medicine.
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Drowning of Mohali Boy Parents to move HC Gurdeep Singh Mann Tribune News Service
Rajpura, August 29 Six students of SD College, Sector-32, identified as Manjot Singh, Sikander Sharma, Jasjit Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Sanjiv Rao, all from Chandigarh, and Abhishesk Sud from Mohali, were booked on the charges of murder and criminal conspiracy. The body of Sahil was fished out from the canal near Ghanaur in Patiala after two days of extensive search. The parents of the deceased had alleged that their son was kidnapped from SD College by his friends and was thrown in the canal. “The police officials refuse to arrest the accused under some political pressure. They said the accused were not hardcore criminals and would not be arrested,” said Mohan Lal Sharma, father of the deceased. He said the police is siding with the family members of the accused. “We are still unaware of the facts and reason behind the death of our son,” he said, adding that only the accused could reveal the truth behind Sahil’s death. Despite repeated requests to the top functionaries of the Patiala police, nothing has been done, he said. However, the police officials investigating the case said they were looking into the matter. The viscera reports are yet to be received, they added.
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Tree Felling Case
Panchkula, August 29 The HUDA chief administrator reportedly has asked the official to explain the circumstances under which the minimum fine was imposed on the erring person and the trees, which were the department’s property, was not recovered. Leaving apart the importance of trees for the environment aspect, the four trees could fetch the department more than Rs 10,000 if it was to be used for fuel purpose only. It was this month only when four chakrasia trees standing on the roadside were axed in Sector 4 of the Mansa Devi Complex. The trees were axed, as these were an obstruction between the picturesque location with hills and forest facing the house purchased in the name of Razia Sultan, wife of Mustafa recently. All four trees were between 15 to 18 years of age with a diameter up to 1 foot on its trunk. While the horticulture department had lodged a complaint with the police, it had stepped back after knowing the status of the erring resident. A fine of Rs 2,375 was, however, received after the issue was highlighted in The Tribune. “It was a sorry state of affair, as four trees were axed on the instance of a well educated and known personality and the worst part of the incident was the attitude of the authorities concerned,” said Dr SK Sharma, president of the Environment Society of India (ESI). “In fact the thing would keep on repeating till the state government do not implement the Tree Preservation Act on the pattern of New Delhi where a person involved in such crime could be jailed up to six months with heavy penalty,” he said. ‘Value of a tree’ According to an article by TM Das, head of department of agriculture at University of Calcutta, published in 1980 entitled, “The value of a tree”, he calculated the value of the environmental services provided by a 50-year-old tree, which was worth Rs 15.7 lakh. According to him, a 50-tonne, medium-sized tree produced at least one tonne of oxygen and if one wanted to buy this oxygen at market rates, it would cost Rs 5,000 per year. Or that a tree recycles an enormous amount of groundwater through transpiration from leaf surfaces. If an equivalent amount of water was to be drawn from the underground reserves, it would need a large centrifugal pump whose running costs alone would amount to Rs 6,000 annually.
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Societies seek land rates on lines of Chandigarh
Mohali, August 29 GMADA’s prevailing land allotment rate in Mohali was Rs 12,000 per sq yard. “Why is it taking so long for the government to decide on the allotment rates. In the last one year, the cost of construction has increased manifold”, lamented a stakeholder. The proposed allotment rates are six times the rate of Rs 2,000 per sq yard it had offered at the time of inviting applications. As comparison of the allotment rates of the group housing schemes in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali reveals that the proposed rates of GMADA were on the higher sides. In Panchkula, the approximate allotment rates for 2008-09, depending upon the size of dwelling unit, varied between Rs 4,500 per sq yard and Rs 6,800 per sq yard. In the last allotments made to societies in late eighties, the Chandigarh Housing Board had offered around Rs 2,900 per sq yard. In Mohali, the last allotment made to cooperative societies in 2003 was Rs 2,000 per sq yard. On the contrary, PUDA had allotted land to two societies in Ludhiana for Rs 6,000 per sq yard and Rs 7,600 per sq yard. For the past few years, no allotments have been made. Now, GMADA and other authorities under the Punjab housing and urban development have decided to allot land at the prevailing land prices. The members of the societies demand that PUDA should adopt the rates prevailing in 2004, when their applications were accepted, and not the current land prices. In 2006, the finance and accounts committee of PUDA had decided to refund the earnest money to the societies after it decided to auction the sites instead of allotment. Since, the societies had applied for land in 2003, the case was reconsidered by the authority in February, 2008, after the intervention by the Chief Minister, who is also Chairman of
GMADA.
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Ads mar city’s face
Chandigarh, August 29 A round of the city would be enough to know how blatantly the Chandigarh Advertisement Control Order, 1954, was being flouted, in connivance with the administration and Municipal Corporation employees. One can see advertisements painted and handbills pasted on electric poles, pillars of government buildings, walls of public parks and bus stops. Besides presenting an ugly sight, these advertisements hide vital public information as the posters are often pasted on road signs, sector guide maps and SCO numbers. The problem is prevalent in Sectors 27, 34, 36, 16 and 15 as most of the tutorial institutes and paying guest accommodations are in these sectors. A proposal was mooted by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation to install display boards on the V4 roads for advertisements. However, the Chief Architect had not agreed to the proposal of installing display boards across or facing Madhya Marg, National Highway, V-1, V-2, V3 roads, roundabouts and light points. Moreover, it is a mandatory condition to get the approval of the Secretary, Finance, for installation of display boards not exceeding measurement of 12 feet by 7.5 feet. But this “permission practice” too is being misused by multinational companies selling soft drinks, telecom service providers and shopkeepers of various markets of the city, especially in Sector 17. Ironically, while the administration considers Sector 17 as a “critical area”, as per an official noting of 2007, a soft drink company has conveniently painted the pillars of the Sector 17 (30 Bays building), near the Estate Office building. Similarly, a telecom company has hung banners on the Sector 17 bridge. Besides this, an electricity pole is being painted permanently with a private housing company’s advertisement just next to the roundabout of Sectors 17-22-21-18. In the Sector 36 market, besides hanging oversized advertisements over almost every SCO, the whole booth has been painted with advertisement. Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar admitted to the violations and said action would be taken against the violators. “It has been observed that brazen violations are being committed in various parts of the city. We are serving notices to them,” he said. Legal expert Harcharan Singh said the mass misuse of the Advertisement Control Order is prevalent due to nexus between the wrongdoers and the administration officials. “Companies hire officials to promote their products illegally which offends the good taste, decency and public morals,” he said.
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Three PGI doctors selected for awards
Chandigarh, August 29 Prof. Anil Bhansali, head of endocrinology department, has been selected for “MN Sen Oration Award” from the ICMR in the field of pituitary disorders and Dr HS Kohli, additional professor of nephrology for “Prof Surindar Mohan Marwah ICMR award” for his work in the field of "Renal Failure in the Elderly". This award is given to Indian scientist for sustained research work, both basic and applied, carried out on the problems of the aged as evidenced by research publications. Dr Ajay Duseja from the department of hepatology won the prestigious “Dr. Dharamvir Datta Memorial Oration Award” for the year 2006 from the Indian Council of Medical Research for his research on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in India. Dr Bhansali has earlier been awarded Novo Nordesk Lifetime Achivement Award for Medical Education, NNF Gold Medal Award, Shurveer Singh Trust Award and Dr PN Shah Memorial Oration. He is the member of Professional Bodies of Endocrine Society India (ESI), the Research Society for Study of Diabetes in India (RSSDI), the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the American Endocrine Society(AES), the Indian Society of Bone Mineral Research and the Indian Menopause Society (ISBMR). Dr Kohli has earlier been awarded both the “Bansal Oration” and“Khullar Oration Award” of the Indian Society of Nephrology and also the Fellowship of the Indian Society of Nephrology (FISN). He did his International Society of Nephrology fellowship training in “Critical Care Nephrology” at University of California, San Diego, the USA. He is at present the joint secretary of the Indian Society of Organ Transplantation. Dr Ajay Duseja has worked and published extensively on various aspects of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and has shown in his 8 years of research that Indian patients with NAFLD are somewhat different from their western counterparts. NAFLD is a disease which occurs in patients, who do not consume alcohol, is characterised by deposition of fat in the liver and occurs mainly in patients with overweight, obesity and diabetes mellitus. In some individuals with certain risk factors, the disease can progress on to a stage of fibrosis and cirrhosis and can even lead on to liver cancer.
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Fishy friend arrives with rain water
Chandigarh, August 29 The “catch” survived for a few hours in the family’s aquarium but finally died having suffered several injuries during its long journey from the drain storm to the professor’s drawing room. “When it rains even a little the storm water drain in Sector 14 starts overflowing and instead of taking water to the Patiala ki Rao choe it begins to spew water in great quantities within the campus thereby creating a huge flood. The water at least one-foot deep on the streets and enters low lying houses, including ours,” said
Rajivlochan. “This storm water brings with it a variety of water creatures, snakes, crabs etc. On this particular occasion, we found this fish inside the house while we were draining the water out,” he added. The family which is used to draining out all kind of muck that comes in with the storm initially thought that was some detritus brought in with the storm water. “But then I noticed that it was moving. I went close to it and realised that it was actually a big fish, said Udit
Vinayak, Rajivlochan’s son. “Despite several attempts to save the fish’s life, we failed,” said
Vinayak. “We have had fishes for several years now and they last a long time in our aquariums. Its sad that we could not save this one,” added
Rajivlochan.
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Central Himalayas to be under weather forecast cover
Chandigarh, August 29 The establishment, a laboratory under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is in the process of setting up a series of weather stations and observatories along the central Himalayan axis in Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand and the Indo-Nepal Border. Scientists expect the new weather network to be operational by September next year. It will comprise 60 observatories and stations located at strategic places. These will include some existing observatories under the DRDO as well as the India Meteorological Department (IMD). As part of the project, a mountain meteorological Centre is coming up at Joshimath in Uttarakhand, while three upper-air observatories are planned at Pithoragarh, Dehradun and Shimla. In addition, 14 normal observatories and 16 automatic weather stations would be set up. Under the Project PARWAT (Prediction of Accurate Regional Weather for Army in Mountainous Terrain), the establishment is providing weather forecasts and avalanche warnings to the armed forces as well as civilian administration in Jammu and Kashmir, which have been of immense value. “Given the success of the project, we were tasked to extend it to other areas in the central Himalayas,” a scientist said. The new project has been termed as the Project PARWAT Central. Besides DRDO establishments, the Army, the Air Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force, the IMD and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting would be collaborating with SASE for the project.
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Silvi Park faces MC apathy
Mohali, August 29 The municipal library, the canteen and the water pool located in the Silvi Park in Phase X here are in a state of neglect. Even some ornamental plants have started to dry up, as these have become worm-infested. During a visit to the library recently, it was found that the area had not been cleaned since long. There was dust on the bookshelves and even on the reading tables. The floor had also become dirty and it was reported that it was cleaned only once a week. There is no provision of drinking water and no proper standby arrangement in case of power failure. Visitors frequented the library only to read newspapers and some magazines. Readers complained that there were a few books in the library and these, too, were not of reputed authors. The civic body purchased the books for the library and most of these were of a publishing house based in Mansa. Municipal councillor Amteshwar Kaur said she was shocked to visit one part of the park, which was in the state of neglect. The canteen had not been functioning for the past several years. The pool, which had become dry over the years, had broken tiles, wild growth and filth in it now. There was wild growth around the railway track in the park, which was meant to give joy rides to tiny tots. This part of the park could not be frequented by visitors because of the wild growth all around. Amteshwar Kaur said she had brought the state of affairs to the notice of executive officer Amna Kumar Goyal on Wednesday. However, when this correspondent visited the park, the area was being cleared of the wild growth. Those at work said the contractor had sent them here to clean the area because a compliant had been made at the civic body office.
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Housing society seeks Punjab CM’s help
Mohali, August 29 Naresh Kumar Trehan , president , said here today that the Housefed was guilty of breach of trust of 632 allottees of different types of super deluxe flats in Sector 79. He alleged that Housefed had failed to give the factual position to the allottees, who had reposed confidence in it by responding to its scheme and deposited crores of rupees in good faith. He said according to the brochure, Housefed was to start the construction of flats on sites No II and IV on or before June 30, 2004 . The land was in possession of Housefed as was evident from the fact that it had fixed signboards in the area stating that the land belonged to Housefed and strict action would be taken against those who tried to take possession of it. Trehan further alleged that Housefed failed to start the work of constructing the flats and also did not take into confidence its allottees regarding the delay in the construction work. But it allegedly kept collecting quarterly payments from the allottees and even lured some of them to deposit total cost of the flats. He said Housefed had claimed that there was a stay order from a court, and the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority ( GMADA) did not want it to undertake the construction work. He said how could a stay order issued in September, 2001, affect Housefed when the land was allotted to it in March, 2002, and if there was anything of the sort it would have been mentioned in the allotment letter. Moreover, GMADA had issued
allotment letters to people in the same area and also allowed them to construct their houses. Trehan said since allo tees were kept in the dark by Sugarfed, they were now entitled to a rate of interest at par with which the prices of property had gone up during this period on the amount they had deposited.
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Traffic marshals still in dark about duties
Mohali, August 29 Basking under glory of the newly attained status, the marshals are also not clear about their duties and limitations. It had been observed that in certain cases in Chandigarh, the traffic marshals flaunted their status by fixing signboards in front of their vehicles or obliging their friends by way of letting them off the hook during special traffic challan drives. On being asked the powers of the traffic marshals, SSP JS Aulakh, Mohali, during the yesterday’s scheme launching function had stated that the system was being worked out. Residents wonder whether they would be called only to assist the cops in the special challan drives or the community police scheme would meet the same fate, as had been seen in the previous schemes. Albel Singh Siyan, one of the traffic marshals, said they were to be informed tomorrow about their brief and duties. “We have been told by the senior officials that on seeing any cops accepting bribe from a traffic rule offender, we can inform them,” he added. The Chandigarh Police chief traffic marshal Gurnam Singh said he had also approached the Mohali police so that his experience could come handy for the cops and newly appointed traffic marshals in Mohali. But he had not been called so far. He claimed that the scheme was working well in Chandigarh. Mohali along with four other cities in Punjab has been selected to launch the traffic marshal scheme.
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Mohali, August 29 An active participation of the volunteers, staff members and parents was witnessed. The purpose of the camp was to ensure an adequate supply of healthy and uninfected blood for patients in order to meet the increasing blood demand. Sant Isher school emerge winners: Sant Isher Singh Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 70, secured the first position in the district-level educational competition held in Mohali yesterday. The competition was organised by the Punjab School Education Board for primary, middle and senior secondary classes. Computer quiz: A computer quiz was organised at Swami Ram Tirtha Public High School for classes I to III here yesterday. Four teams were formed. The teams were named as Intel, IBM, Microsoft and Infosys. The Intel team cleared five rounds and won the quiz. — OC
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70 structures face demolition
Mohali, August 29 Sources said though the permission for police force had been given by the SSP, Mohali, the force could not be given due to VIP duties in the past few days. The violations outside the limit of the civic bodies had come up in violation of the Periphery Act.
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Rain exposes flaws in drainage system
Mohali, August 29 Commuters had to move though knee-deep water in certain parts of the town. Those entering the market areas had to face a tough time too. Some two-wheeler riders lost control on their vehicles while passing through the water-filled potholes. A traffic jam was witnessed in Phase VII where an internal road got flooded and vehicles moved at a snail’s pace. Some areas in Phase III B-2 also got flooded.
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Old ‘marriages’ head for
‘divorce’
Chandigarh, August 29 As the final countdown to the polls begins, new permutations and combinations are being worked out and if initial trends are any indication, last year’s “marriages” will end up in divorces and “partners” may be swapped. The 2008 winning combine of the Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) and Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is heading for a split and the search for a new partner is on. While the leaders of these parties are tight-lipped on these developments, insiders admit that all’s not well with the alliance. “The ABVP piggy rode us in the last elections and got two seats in the students council and later demanded too much,” said a leader. However, the ABVP activists blame SOPU leaders for attempting to “bulldoze” them at every given opportunity. “Our suggestions are not accepted and they try to treat us like doormats,” he said. On the ideological front, SOPU and ABVP, are quite different. While SOPU is usually backed by some Punjab Congress leaders and their kin, the ABVP is the BJP’s student body. Things aren’t looking even bright for the last year’s runners-up, the Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) and National Students Union of India (NSUI), too. Egos of the leaders are reportedly coming in way for another term together, as they accuse each other of not being in tune to the “alliance spirit”. If insiders of these major parties are to be believed, a partner-swapping, PUSU, may join hands with the ABVP and SOPU may ally with the NSUI. In this season of breaking and making of such “marriages of convenience”, there are some parties like the Indian National Students organisation (INSO), backed by Chautala’s INLD, which are up willing to be the “bedfellows” of any party agreeing to give them three seats. INSO had failed to make any mark in the last polls. Other student bodies like the Students Organisation of India (SOI), the Haryana Students Association, in its new avtar Hindustan Students Association (HAS), and the Himachal Pradesh Students union are still to wake up to the polls. They had unsuccessfully contested the polls last year, but are so far missing from the scene.
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It’s party time as poll nears
Chandigarh, August 29 Though such parties have been organised on the sly since the announcement of the polls, the College Students’ Union
(CSU) of Khalsa College, Sector 26, today held one such get together at a Sector 7 discotheque under the garb of
freshers’ party”. It was a free-for-all affair and students had a ball of a time. However, the students realised that there were no free lunches in life as speeches of some former and present activists of the
CSU, appealing for the usual pleas for “vote, support & elect” were a prelude to the entire affair. “I was expecting it to be plain and simple party but the speeches did come as a surprise,” said a fresher girl student. There were others who were expecting this. “Who cares for the covert or the overt reasons? We get to dance and party”, said a second-year youngster. He even admitted that such party ploys weren’t beneficial for the political outfits. “We aren’t dumb” was his underlying message. While,
Rakesh, president, CSU, denied any political motives behind the gathering, but the truth was that usually such welcome parties were either organised by the seniors or the class and were contributory. But at the discotheque “the fresher party of Khalsa College by
CSU” welcomed everyone. As per the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee, no student or candidate can spend more than Rs 5, 000 on elections and he has to submit their expenditure details after one week of the election. Student leaders can’t get money from any other political parties.
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INSO releases manifesto
Chandigarh, August 29 A computer lab with 100 computers with all Internet facilities, more students participation in national and international seminars, implementation of right to evaluate the performance of their teachers as per the UGC guidelines to provide more transparency and encourage impartiality have been promised in the manifesto. This was announced by the INSO PU campus president Deepika Thakur, while releasing the election manifesto of INSO for 2009-2010. INSO leaders Vikas Rathee, Sukhdev Kundu, former PUCSC general secretary Sunny Bhardwaj, INSO working president Sudhir Mehra and other INSO students’ leaders were present on the occasion. The campus president said “the right to evaluate” would bring much-needed transparency, responsibility and answerability in the education system. The party promised the constitution of planning committee of university, headed by either the VC or the DSW with 2 students as members. This committee would help the university in planning the future, needs of teaching blocks, hostels, laboratory, library facilities and more studies courses as per the requirement of the students’ community, Deepika added. Lift charges for hostels would be abolished and student discounted passes would be provided for all bus routes, applicable for all buses of the CTU, Haryana and Punjab Roadways, the INSO manifesto said. Framing of a uniform policy for allotment of hostel accommodation was an ingredient of the manifesto. All lists of new admissions in hostels should be available at all hostels and on PU website, along with the percentage of the students, said Deepika.
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Restricted entry in PU a sham
Chandigarh, August 29 While checks are being conducted at the main entry gates (1, 2 and 3), they appear to be more of a formality and lack seriousness most of the times as hardly anyone bothers to check identity cards or the antecedents of the visitors. No records are being maintained and anyone can get inside the campus by merely saying “staff” or even “hosteller”. In addition to this laxity, there are several other entry points to the campus that are unmanned. While makeshift guard huts exist at these points, opposite Sector 15 on the main road and both gurdwara and temple’s entrance gates, which open towards Dhanas road, are unmanned, providing easy access to the campus. Notwithstanding the intentions of the police and PU authorities to ensure a violence-free polls, such unrestricted access to the campus, particularly in the backdrop of the recent clashes in which even fire arms were used, can be misused by those wanting to foment trouble. Giving reasons, Dean, Students’ Welfare, Naval Kishore, said, “We have deployed security persons everywhere, but if anyone is not doing his job properly, stern action will be taken against him.”
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SOI names candidates
Chandigarh, August 29 Shelly Khurana of MA II, psychology, who had been an INSO party supporter earlier, has now joined SOI and is contesting for
vice-presententship. “Sarabjit Singh of the UIET, 1st year, is the party candidate for the post of president and Pushpinder
Dhillon, MA I, Punjabi, is the candidate for the post of general secretary,” informed SOI campus in charge Paramjit Sunny.
— TNS
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