NEIGHBOURHOOD

Missing hosteller: Pbi varsity officials clueless
Tribune News Service

Patiala, September 9
The Punjab government has relented to an extent on the demands of the striking junior doctors with an advertisement having been issued for posts of paramedics in the state.

Stating this here today, a spokesman of the Junior Doctors Association (JDA), Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, said the doctors continued their strike for the 17th day today.

Junior doctors sat on dharna in front of the OPD and raised slogans against the indifferent attitude of the government towards their demands. They said the government had given an advertisement for the recruitment of 398 staff, which includes staff nurses, ward boys, sweepers, lab technicians etc.

Besides, the JDA has also got a written document regarding the ongoing process of recruitment of security persons and toilet maintenance by Sulabh Shauchalaya in the hospital.

The JDA has welcomed this decision but its demand regarding the hike in stipend is still stuck in the finance department. The JDA has, therefore, demanded the notification from the government regarding this issue. Until then the association will continue its ongoing agitation. 

Patiala, September 9
Speakers at the inaugural function of the Gurmat Sangeet competition, organised by Punjabi University’s department of Gurmat Sangeet yesterday, disapproved of the practice of reciting Gurbani based on film music.

They felt it was against the spirit with which Sikh Gurus had composed and recited Gurbani and took the focus of the listener away from the quintessence of the divine word to popular film compositions.

In his presidential address, Vice-Chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh said the department had been actively parrying the onslaught of western music on Indian classical music through the recital of Sikh divine music.

Gurmat Sangeet, having been established as an exclusive discipline by the university, has encouraged the Sikhs around the world to make earnest efforts to persuade institutions of higher education to introduce this as a subject.

Dr Jaspal Singh added that music and Gurbani had an inseparable relationship and it was the best medium to internalise the divine word.

He urged the Sikh “kirtankaars” to make efforts to refine the taste than change it among listeners of Gurbani by reciting their compositions on prescribed ragas contained in Guru Granth Sahib.

SGPC president Avtar Singh guaranteed placement to all deserving students of Gurmat Sangeet receiving education from the university.

He also committed to allocate at least one day for recital of Gurbani kirtan at Golden Temple based on prescribed ragas accompanied by string instruments.

He also declared to start a special course to train Sikh “kirtankaars” at Damdama Sahib in reciting Gurbani in its true spirit.

He announced grants of Rs 5 lakh each to the department and Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra Memorial Trust (JGSTMT), which had sponsored the 
competition.

Dr Gurnam Singh, dean, faculty of arts and culture, and chief organiser of the function, said the competition was a step to sustain, rejuvenate and promote the 
hoary tradition of reciting the Sikh divine music in its purest form.

He thanked the president of the JGSTMT for giving Rs 2 lakhs to organise the competition.

Zirakpur/Dera Bassi, September 9
Heavy rains that lashed the region today hit normal life in Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and Lalru.

While the rainwater entered houses and shops, highways and internal roads were waterlogged, leading to traffic chaos. Traffic on Zirakpur-Patiala and Zirakpur-Kalka highways remained disrupted.

Irate shopkeepers and residents alleged that the department concerned failed to provide better drainage system in Zirakpur and Dera Bassi.

In Dera Bassi, the villages were worst affected and residents had to take out water from their houses. One of the residents of Bhankarpur said that rainwater entered his house and damaged furniture. The area opposite the Dera Bassi Municipal Council office was also flooded with rainwater. The condition on the Zirakpur-Patiala Highway was even worse where the rainwater entered the shops and damaged goods.

The drains under the Zirkapur flyover were flooded as heaps of garbage blocked the flow of rainwater. The commuters on the Zirakpur-Kalka highway had to face inconvenience as a number of vehicles remained stuck for hours. The Choice Road in Baltana was also flooded with rainwater.

In the absence of a proper drainage system, residential colonies, including Highland Cooperative Society, Vikas Nagar and Bharat Enclave were the worse hit. The residents complained that despite repeated requests to the authorities concerned, they failed to put a proper drainage system in place.

Sanjay Khurana, a resident of Baltana, said they had asked the authorities concerned to make proper arrangements for disposal of rainwater, but to no avail.

Rainwater enters houses, shops

Bassi Pathana: The continuous heavy rain had thrown the normal life out of gear in the town. Rainwater entered the houses in the low lying areas. Similarly, the rainwater entered the shops in the main market and damaged the goods.

Residents of Chakri mohalla, Giljian mohalla, Sherana Wala gate and the Namdev Mandir road were the worst affected. The residents here are living in a hell-like situation as the drainage system is not in order and roads are overflowing with sewer water, which has created stink in the town.

The rainwater has also created numerous deep potholes on the roads.

The residents allege that the civic body has failed miserably in making arrangements for the drainage of rainwater. They have urged the administration to provide at least basic amenities of life.

Bassi Pathana, September 9
The Punjab police has been directed not to register case against any doctor in the state under Sections 304 and 304A of the Indian Penal Code without consulting an authorised committee.

Earlier, doctors were booked for criminal negligence directly on the complaint of affected patients.

In a letter to all zonal IGs, DIGs and SSPs, the Director General of Police has instructed that officials should ensure the implementation of guidelines that govern the prosecution of doctors for offences of criminal rashness or criminal negligence.

He has further directed that the Supreme Court guidelines must be followed by which prior to registration of case under Sections 304 and 304A, IPC, against any doctor, opinion of an authorised committee must be taken on record to establish the culpability or otherwise against the doctor concerned.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has welcomed the move of the government to implement the Supreme Court guidelines while registering FIRs against doctors in the state.

Dr Mohinder Singla, IMA president, said a delegation of the IMA had met the DGP in this regard last week. He said the DGP should ensure that his directions were implemented in letter and spirit at the SHO level.

Kalka, September 9
Despite the fact that the state government has declared to charge interest on agricultural loan at the rate of 4 per cent, 11 branches of the Panchkula Co-operatives Societies and 11 Primary Agriculture and Co-operative Societies (PACS) of the district continue to charge 7 per cent rate of interest from thousands of loan holding farmers of Panchkula district.

The farmers alleged that at the time of recovery they were being charged with 7 per cent interest these days. They said the state government had declared in July to reduce the rate of interest on agricultural loan from 7 per cent to 4 per cent, but the above said branches and PACS were still charging the previous rate of interest from them.

Ram Parkash, manager of the Panchkula Co-operative Society at Kalka, said they had been charging at the previous rate of interest as they had not received any letter till date from the higher authorities in this context.

Registrar of the Co-operative Society, Haryana, Panchkula, when contacted said letters issuing the directives to charge 4 per cent interest rate on agriculture loans have recently been sent to all branches and PACS of the district.

e-learning DVD released

A web designing and software development company launched an e-learning training of basics of computer in Hindi today in collaboration with Academy of Computers, Kalka. Atul Kumar and Gurjeet Singh of the academy said the students can learn computers at home with the DVD without the help of any teacher and institute.

They can even take online exams after completion of course on www.aoccareers.com. They further said DVD-based different courses were also being launched by the company, which include basics of computer, Tally 9.0 (expert-level course), web designing and development course and hardware & networking courses.

It had taken almost four months to prepare these DVDs and other courses are being launched very soon. The main motive behind the launching of this DVD was to cover the rural area.

Chandigarh, September 9
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed Indian Airlines to pay Rs 6,000 as compensation for deficiency in service.

The complainant, Wren Mishra, a resident of Sector 7, in his complaint stated that he along with his wife and minor son went to Port Blair from Chandigarh on Indian Airlines flight in February 2009 on a five-day holiday. He said the baggage was checked-in from Chandigarh airport to Chennai airport and it was assured by the airport officials that it would be automatically transferred to the next flight to Chennai.

However, on reaching Chennai airport, the baggage did not reach there, following which Mishra lodged a complaint at Chennai airport in response to which he was assured that the baggage would be sent to Port Blair through the next flight of Kingfisher and would reach in the morning. However, it did not reach for next couple of days and despite repeated calls to office of Indian Airlines at Chennai, nothing was done, he added.

The complainant got a message later from the Indian Airlines office, Port Blair, to collect the baggage, which was completely damaged, broken and its stroller panel was missing.

The chief managing director, NACIL, New Delhi, and the station manager, Indian Airlines, Chandigarh airport in their joint reply stated that their registered baggage (stroller suitcase) was over-carried to Mumbai without handle and without baggage tag as there was no claimant. It was only after receiving the information about the claimant the baggage was dispatched from Mumbai to Chennai on March 2, 2009, and further to Port Blair by Kingfisher flight.

The officiating station manager offered to compensate the complainant for his damaged baggage to his entire satisfaction, but the complainant did not accept the offer and preferred to file the claim at Chandigarh.

Holding the airlines deficient in services, the forum observed: “It is of common knowledge that a tag is affixed on the baggage showing the destination to which it is to be carried and in the present case, the bag of the complainant is presumed to be having a tag attached to the handle at the time when it was loaded by the airlines. There is, therefore, definite deficiency in service on their part who mishandled the bag and broke the handle, due to which the tag was removed and consequently, the bag did not reach Chennai and Port Blair, along with the complainant.”

Chandigarh, September 9
The CBI special court today convicted a branch manager of an insurance company in a corruption case dating back to September 22, 2004.

Holding the accused guilty, the court of Darshan Singh sentenced Darshan Singh, branch manager, United India Insurance, at Sonepat to one and half years of imprisonment and fined him Rs 7,500 under various sections of the Prevention of corruption Act.

Darshan Singh had promised the complainant Paramjit, a truck owner, to settle his insurance claim if he paid him Rs 20,000. Finally, the deal was struck at Rs 15,000.

Darshan Singh had told Paramjit that he would settle the claim at the Chandigarh branch of the company. All formalities pertaining to the claim were completed and the accused was to hand over the cheque to the complaint when CBI arrested him in Sector 17 where a trap was laid for him.

However, during the process of cross-examination in the case, it was revealed that the complainant had also misled the company by forging his licence with someone else’s.

The court has also asked to initiate action against the complaint for the same.

Chandigarh, September 9
A local court today acquitted four persons arrested in a dacoity case in 2003. The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge RS Attri acquitted Satpal, Anil, Ram Niwas and Naresh of hatching a conspiracy to commit robbery and kidnapping.

A case was registered in this regard on November 24, 2003 at the police station-26.

The operations cell of the police had arrested five persons believed to be members of the inter-state gang involved in extortion and dacoities. While the fifth member, Sanjeev, was released on bail and later declared a proclaimed offender, his accomplices were acquitted today for want of evidence.

Chandigarh, September 9
Defending champions Chandigarh Football Academy and Indian Football Association, Kolkata, were pronounced joint winners in the 7th Administrator Challenge Cup All-India Football Tournament (Boys, Under-17) here today.

Heavy rain left the Football Stadium, Sector 17, waterlogged and unplayable. The organisers then decided to declare the teams joint winners.

The Kolkata team had their train booking for tonight, so it was not possible for the organisers to conduct the final tomorrow.

The CFA would keep the trophy for the first six months, while the IFA players will have it for the remaining period.

The teams also shared the cash prize of Rs 75,000.

Adviser to the UT Administrator Pradip Mehra distributed prizes and trophies to the winners and Finance-cum-Sports Secretary Sanjay Kumar; sports director M L Sharma and joint director JPS Sidhu were among those present.

ML Sharma announced a cash award of Rs 2,000 each for CFA coaches Tejinder Kumar and Harjinder Singh besides giving them commendation certificates.

Teams: CFA: Rutfela, Akashdip, Ramanjot, Abraham, Samuel, Sumit Passi, Sehnaj, Chinkash, KC Lal, Gagandeep and Rajinder; coach: Tejinder Kumar.

IFA Kolkata: Baswajit Saha, Sujay Dey, Sandip Patra, Shibu Das, Soumen Das, Lob Mondal, Aritra Bhattacharya, Surajit Das, Amit Roy, Mithun Oraon and Dipankar Sarkar; coach: Gautam Ghosh.

Chandigarh, September 9
AS College, Khanna, thrashed Government College, Sector 46, 3-2 during the ongoing Panjab University Inter-College Table Tennis Tournament for men played at gymnasium hall here today.

In the second match played between Gobindgarh Public School and MMD DAV College, Gidderbaha, Gobindgarh players won 3-1.

Results of quarterfinals: PU Chandigarh b AS College, Khanna (3-0); SGGS College, Chandigarh, b SCD Government College, Ludhiana, (3-0); GGDSD College, Chandigarh b Gobindgarh Public School (3-0); DAV College, Chandigarh b Sri Aurobindo College, Ludhiana (3-0).