Chandigarh, September 15
The grid system of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) has failed to emerge as a permanent mode of transport for thousands of commuters as it has failed to deliver. The increasing number of vehicles confirms public dissatisfaction with the bus service.

In sectors on the periphery, buses are neither on time nor do these ply frequently. The administration has failed to reduce the load of traffic on city roads which are bursting at the seams.

Approximately seven lakh vehicles are registered with the State Transport Authority (STA) and officials confirm new registrations between 120 and 140 everyday.

These figures do not include vehicles coming from Panchkula and Mohali to the city. The strength of about 170 buses does not quite match the level of a regular and faster grid system.

A random survey of the roads revealed that residents of all sectors bordering Mohali, including 43, 44, 45, 45, 46 and 48, are not really tuned into the grid system.

Rakesh Sharma, a Punjab government employee, said: “The bus route from my house in Sector 45 to the office is meandering. I prefer to take my motorcycle instead. Also, autorickshaws are available for just Rs 5 and go to the heart of the city in Sector 17 which houses a majority of government offices. The CTU needs to work on certain routes.”

Residents of northern sectors, particularly 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15, are also not into the bus scene. Mehar Das Gupta of Sector 11 said: “A majority of residents in our area use their own vehicles and getting passengers for buses will not be easy. I have a car, my sons also have their own vehicles and so do both my daughters-in-law.”

Tek Chand, a resident of Sector 37, said the grid system needed to be overhauled because straight routes were out of the way for residents in the other corner of the same sector.

Students and employees travelling from Sectors 29 and 30 towards Madhya Marg complain of irregular bus timings.

The grid system, however, has delivered the desired results on certain straight roads, particularly Madhya Marg and Dakshin Marg.

Raj Kumar, secretary of the Chandigarh Government Transport Workers Union, said the CTU buses on the periphery were not delivering and lesser frequency was, in a way, responsible for fewer passengers. “We are also facing a shortage of buses. Passengers want assured and faster transportation service before they decide to change their mode of transport,” he said.

ML Sharma, CTU director, said: “A high-level meeting would be held soon to plug all loopholes. The CTU has purchased 100 more buses that will be functional by October.”

Chandigarh, September 15
Trouble seems to be brewing for the director-principal of the GMCH, Sector 32, Dr Raj Bahadur, as the Sub-Divisional Judicial Court at Dera Bassi has issued bailable arrest warrants against him in an accident case dating back to 2001.

Since the court of Rakesh Kumar, SDJ Magistrate, doesn’t have the power to issue the warrants, it moved an application to the District and Sessions Court, Ropar. The District and Sessions Judge, Ropar, further sent the warrants to the Sessions Court, Chandigarh, as it is beyond the jurisdiction of the former.

The warrants are now to be sent to the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Chandigarh, who is the competent authority to issue the warrants.

Dr Raj Bahadur failed to appear in the court despite being served summons more than once. The case was registered on January 26, 2001, at Dera Bassi under Sections 279, 338 and 304-A of the IPC.

In the application, it was stated that the prosecution witness, Dr Raj Bahadur, was not appearing in court. It was stated that he was doing so in several other cases also. Hence, he was being summoned through bailable warrants.

The Dera Bassi Magistrate stated in a letter to the District and Sessions Judge, Ropar, that a report had been received, saying that the card registration number was incorrect, but the additional public prosecutor had stated that it was correct and the witness, Dr Raj Bahadur, was avoiding service. The next date for the case is October 1.

Chandigarh, September 15
Even as Bhawan Vidyalaya and DPS authorities continue opposing suggestions from parents to close school in wake of some students contracting swine flu, two more students (one from each school) tested positive for the disease today.

With this, the total number of affected students from Bhawan Vidyalaya has reached six while this is the third case at the DPS. Both students are from Class VI.

The UT health authorities have suspended classes for a week, HC Gera, UT nodal officer for swine flu, said. The DPS student who tested positive today was the son of a PGI doctor couple while the other was a resident of Sector 45. The health department had home quarantined the family members of both students.

“Though the home quarantine is meant for seven days for patients with suspected or confirmed H1N1 infection, sick patients, including students and staff, should stay home for 24 hours after getting over the symptoms without any medication,” he advised.

He said this was to ensure that they had recovered completely after necessary treatment and the compulsory isolation period.

The technical committee would continue to evaluate each school and every confirmed or suspected case reported to the health authority will be discussed by the UT rapid response team for combating swine flu.

Chandigarh, September 15
In a major relief to residents of the city, the Chandigarh administration has taken important policy decisions pertaining to the functioning of the UT estate office.

A meeting in this regard was held under the chairmanship of UT Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar today where it was decided to give some breather to plot holders i.e. one year for completing their construction work and reform the system of attaining occupation certificate.

It was also decided that all plot holders who had been allotted construction sites five years ago or before and had not constructed anything on it would be given last opportunity to complete the construction work and take occupation certificate within one year of the publication of the public notice.

In case of allottees who had not taken occupation certificates even after completing their construction work, it was decided to urge all such holders through public notice to inform the estate office (EO) about the completion of construction work on their plots by submitting an application along with a copy of electricity connection and a certificate from the architect declaring that the construction had been done under the approved building plan and had no violations on the date of inspection.

The applications along with the aforesaid documents can be submitted either at the suvidha kendra set up at the estate office or at e-sampark centres against a receipt and the receipt of the same shall be deemed to be a completion certificate.

All applicants will have to do the needful within 90 days and after the completion of the period, a list of all applicants will be prepared and out of them 25 per cent sites will be randomly selected and will be inspected by a team of estate office in the presence of the owner and the architect. The process of random inspection and issuance of completion certificate will be completed within 90 days after the lapse of first 90 day-time period.

Assistant Estate Officer Hargunjit Kaur said the process of centralisation of the property records had already been initiated.

A list of 18-20 documents had been identified and photocopies of the same would be used for future file work while the originals would be accessible to the AEO or the EO only.

It was also planned to have miniatures of these documents so that the problem of missing records was adequately addressed.

Chandigarh, September 15
While work remained suspended for the second consecutive day at the district courts today, despite lawyers claiming that the strike was in public interest, it has adversely affected public that has been coming to courts during these days for their cases.

The strike started as a protest against hike in court fee across Punjab and Chandigarh on a call given by the Bar Council and district Bar associations in Punjab.

The lawyers claimed that the work was being stalled only in the interest of general public. On the contrary, litigants suffered due to the suspension of work, as the strike was not announced well in advance.

“If lawyers had to stall work for two days, the same should have been announced well in advance so that hundred of litigants didn’t have to come here leaving other important engagements aside,” said Ram Parkash, a litigant who had come from a village.

“It becomes all the more problematic for those who are working as one has to apply for leave from work. Such strikes should be announced way in advance,” said another litigant.

During a recent national conference of Chief Justice and chief ministers, it was suggested that the number of holidays be reduced and the prescribed number of working days be completed.

The situation was no different at the Punjab and Haryana High Court where the work remained suspended throughout the day.

In fact, the problem here for litigants was all the more pertinent, as most of them come from far-flung districts like Bathinda, Ferozepur, Kaithal, Mahendergarh etc.

In the absence of prior notice, they reached High Court only to be told that the cases had been adjourned for another date.

Chandigarh, September 15
The Sunday car bazaar in Sector 7 along the Madhya Marg, the favourite haunt of second-hand car buyers, will have a new location in Industrial Area, Phase I, here from November 1.

With the stand-off between the Chandigarh Administration and car dealers ending, the stage is set for the shifting of the car bazaar to the new location - a parking lot in Phase I.

In the run-up to the new deadline for the shifting, various modalities will be worked out by the administration, the municipal corporation and the car dealers.

In fact, a “compromise formula” was worked out by Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar in the presence of MC Commissioner, former Mayor Pardeep Chabbra, representative of union minister Pawan Bansal, councillor Ravinder Palli, and Chandigarh Car Dealers Association president Rupinder Bir Singh.

“The decision to shift the bazaar has been taken in public interest as haphazard parking of vehicles sparked off traffic chaos and protests from residents,” Sanjay Kumar said.

Chabbra claimed that the shifting of the car bazaar to the new site would be in the interest of both car dealers and general public.

While public would get more space for the parking of their vehicles, as several shops on the Madhya Marg opened on Sunday, car dealers would get more space for the display of second-hand cars.

The spacious new site would meet the requirements of car dealers for several years to come.

The new parking lot had been constructed for the upcoming shopping malls and commercial establishments in the city.

It is learnt that in the runup to November-1 deadline, the car dealers have promised to streamline the parking of cars.

Now, the cars will not be parked on road berms or in front of houses and shops both in the front and the back.

Besides, no private vehicle will be deprived of the parking space. Currently, around 45 dealers are registered with the MC and pay a sum of Rs 555 per week as registration charges to the civic body.

Meanwhile, the administration decision has widely been welcomed. Prominent associations that hailed the decision included Association of Commercial Establishments, Sector 7-C, Traders Association, Sector 7-C, Madhya Marg Building Owners Association, Sectors 7 and 26, and Welfare Association, Sector 7-C.

Chandigarh, September 15
The world energy scenario shows that buildings and construction consumes the major share of the global energy. There is a close connection between today’s building designs and increasing energy crisis, which is rising day by day.

However, comfort can also be achieved with less consumption of energy. Thus introduction to sustainable building design measures can make an important contribution to minimise the energy crisis.

Issues pertaining to the significance of green buildings came up during a conference on “Building Green Cities” at Government Museum and Art Gallery here today.

The conference was organised jointly by the Embassy of Switzerland in India, Indian Institute of Architects, Chandigarh-Punjab 
chapter, and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zürich.

Surinder Bahga, chairman of Chandigarh-Punjab chapter of Indian Institute of Architects, said: “A green building uses less energy, water and natural resources, creates less waste and is healthier for people compared to a standard building. 

We should adopt various mechanisms for reducing power consumption substantially in a bid to combat climate change.” Dr Matia Celio, science and technology counsellor, Embassy of Switzerland, said “sustainable urban development” and “renewable energy sources” had been pinpointed by the Swiss and the Indian governments as priority research areas in the programme of cooperation. Switzerland Ambassador Philippe Welti was the guest of honour.

Technical talks were delivered by Prof Dietmar Eberle from Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, Prof Daniel Spreng, Centre for Energy Policy and Economics, ETH Zürich, and Gerhard Schmitt, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich. The sessions were chaired by Jit Gupta, director, Bhaddal College of Architecture, Ropar.

Chandigarh, September 15
Imagine life without wheat! Or in other words, breakfast without bread, lunch or dinner without “roti” or any other eatable made out of wheat or its derivatives like “samosa” or “puri”. Tough, isn’t it?

But there are thousands of people who cannot consume anything made out of wheat due to the presence of a protein, gluten, which causes celiac, a wheat allergy, a serious ailment.

Knowing what such patients are missing in life has prompted a Patiala-based resident, Deepika Lamba, whose daughter is suffering from celiac, to launch a range of gluten-free food products.

During an awareness programme on celiac disease, organised by the department of dietetics, GMCH-32, today, she displayed her range of “wheat-less” products.

Deepika, a college lecturer, said: “I just want to provide variety of gluten-free food products so that the patient’s growth does not stop.”

Dr Manju Mathur, chief dietician of GMCH-32, emphasised that all fresh fruits, vegetables, pulses, meat, fish, chicken, egg and homemade dosa, idli, moong dal cheela and dry fruits could be safely consumed by patients.

Information was disseminated through charts, posters and games during an exhibition.

Also, the latest issue of the newsletter, “Nutrition news n views”, was released by Director-Principal Dr Raj Bahadur.

Chandigarh, September 15
The Chandigarh administration’s move to introduce pick-and-drop bus service for students of government schools in Chandigarh at subsidised rates is taking off on trial basis.

The Chandigarh State Transport Authority (STA) has decided to kick start the service any day after September 18. The buses pressed into the service will be old ones and will not display advertisements.

The UT administration has approved the STA’s proposal to permit the old buses in good running conditions for the pick-and-drop bus service.

“We have decided to start the service after September 18 on the trial basis,” said STA secretary Vandana Disdodia.

The bus fare will remain at Rs 380 per student for the time being. We have called a meeting of all 22 bus operators, who had offered their buses for the purpose, to work out the formalities,” she disclosed.

The administration’s move to introduce the service last month, that too with the new buses, had hit a legal roadblock after the UT administration, quoting a court ruling, disallowed the operators from displaying ads on the buses.

The proposal to start the service with the old buses had been sent by the STA to the Home Secretary who has given the go ahead. The bus operators have been permitted to ply the old buses.

“Since it is a facilitation scheme and not a revenue generation exercise, it is the prerogative of the administration to device such measures as entail benefit for both schoolchildren and bus operators,” said Disodia.

The move to start the service was worked out at the meeting held between STA officials and bus operators. Two factors apparently weighed with them in agreeing to the proposal. One, they would not have to purchase the new buses and second their old buses, which were in running condition but had been lying idle, will be put to gainful use.

Chandigarh, September 15
While the Chandigarh Police may have “video graphed” the statements of the two accused in the high profile teachers’ recruitment scam, their hesitation to get the same recorded before a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC has raised eyebrows in the legal circle.

Though under normal circumstances, the police usually prefer to get confessions of the criminals recorded before the magistrate to strengthen their case, they seem to let go the practice, wittingly or unwittingly, whenever some high profile person is involved in the case.

It’s a known fact that the two accused in the recruitment scam, Jolly and Hardev, have alleged the involvement of DPI (Schools) Samwartak Singh but even then the police has not opted to rely on a confession under Section 164 of the CrPC.

Advocate AS Shergill, a criminal lawyer in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, said, “There is no harm to record the statement under Section 164 of the CrPC, it will make the case strong for then the person is bound to his statement and cannot deny it. But it is the choice of the investigation officer whether he wants to record the statement under Section 164 or not.”

Another advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Gauravjit Singh, said, “This is a high profile case and the police should produce the accused before the magistrate to record their statements under Section 164 of the CrPC.”

UT SSP SS Srivastava said, “We are investigating the matter and if we feel the need, we will surely record the statements.”

Mohali, September 15
A green belt locked between two religious sites in Phase 3 B1 here has become a bone of contention between the residents of the area and the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).

The green belt lies behind the phase 31B 1 rehri market and the problem started when the enforcement staff of the GMADA descended on the scene to demolish structures raised by certain residents on the green belt. While the residents claim that they had stay on the land, the GMADA officials said the residents had no right to raise private structures on the public land.

The protesting residents said since the fire that broke out in the market two years ago, they had taken preventive measures to check the spread of fire. They demand a 22 feet wide green belt should be left between the houses and the rehri market. 

Failure of the GMADA official to check the alleged encroachment on both sides of the green belt by the two religious sites has also been pointed out.

The GMADA officials said since a 10 feet wide road was proposed on the public land, the structures had to be removed.

Chandigarh, September 15
Several events marked the 62nd Raising Day of Western Command at Chandimandir Military Station today. It was on this day in 1947 that the Western Command came into being at Delhi.

A solemn wreath laying ceremony was held at the Veer Smriti war memorial to pay homage to martyrs. A wreath was laid by Lt Gen MS Buttar, Chief of Staff, Western Command. A ceremonial guard reversed arms as a mark of respect to those who had laid down their lives in the line of duty, while buglers sounded the Last Post followed by the Rouse. Senior officers, JCOs and other ranks were present on the occasion.

In his special order of the day, Lt Gen TK Sapru, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, said the Indian Army’s ethos of accepting its grave responsibility and having an unwavering will to succeed was ingrained in all soldiers.

Stating that the sacrifices made by our heroes and the path shown by them would be the driving force in all future ventures, he added that we re-dedicate ourselves to work towards sustaining and building up the indomitable traditions of valour that were the hallmark of the Army.

General Sapru said the Command was instrumental in effectively blunting the Pakistani aggressions in 1947, 1965 and 1971, and subsequently carrying the battle into enemy territory, thereby underlining the resilience and offensive spirit of the men who form part of this Command. The victories won by Western Command have enabled the country to have an upper hand in the negotiations that followed at the end of each conflict.

A ‘bara khana’ for troops in the afternoon and a get-together at the Shivalik Officers’ Institute, which was attended by civilian and military dignitaries, were also organised on the occasion.

Raised as Delhi and East Punjab Command and controlling all formations with an operational role in the territorial areas of the present Western, South Western and Northern Commands, it was redesignated as Western Command in January 1948. In 1954, the Command Headquarters moved to Shimla.

After the 1971 Indo-Pak war, Northern Command, Headquartered at Udhampur, was carved out of it to assume responsibility for Jammu and Kashmir. The year 2005 again saw reorganisation of the Western Command after South-Western Command based at Jaipur was raised.

The Command has also played an important role in disaster management and aid to civil authorities in times of need, besides training para-military forces in specialized operations.

Chandigarh, September 15
The Indian Development Foundation (IDF), an NGO devoted to creating health related awareness among schoolchildren, is all in cheers for Chandigarh has recently been declared as zero leprosy state and is all set to combat tuberculosis (TB) now.

In the city for their latest module of the awareness workshops, IDF members consider TB and HIV eradication as their prime goal now.

The institution, which has been conducting the awareness workshops at several city schools for almost a decade now considers it as a major tool in fighting such diseases.

“It might be surprising to know that the mortality rate of TB is much more than any other disease and unfortunately there is hardly any awareness or media attention paid to it. The IDF is an endeavour inspired from Baba Amte, who believed in community participation in eradicating any disease like leprosy.

We conduct the workshops in several schools across the country with many being in Chandigarh wherein the kids not only get informed but also make contributions, which go for charitable hospitals,” informed Dr AK Pillai, president IDF.

The IDF innovates several initiatives wherein the schoolchildren not only are made aware but they also participate in several activities.

With Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan School being one of the most prominent collaborators in the past, the organisation looks forward to involving the city-based government schools in this endeavour now.

This refers to the City Scope “Money and arrogance” (September 7) by Raveen Thukral.

It is in fact the wealth amassed by corrupt means which breeds arrogance in the form of snobbery and haughtiness. Students, who are usually from affluent families, often indulge in hooliganism in colleges and universities during the campus elections. In a bid to get cheap publicity, they flaunt money and become role models for other students. 

Why can’t we condemn ostentatious parties thrown by these youngsters? Why can’t they be stopped from using flashy cars during the elections? With all this, the common man’s plight is becoming more and more miserable at the hands of the influential. Recently, when two UPA ministers were found staying at five-star hotels for more than three months, the question that cropped up in my mind was, are these ministers not aware of millions of their countrymen, who are starving for food, for whom to make both ends meet is almost next to impossible.

An example of arrogance of low esteem and bad quality is provided by our public servants. It is said that face is the index of mind. During appointments with most of the officials and bureaucrats, barring a few exceptions, one would find them reflecting impoliteness and a forbidding approach towards others courtesy.

Chandigarh, September 15
Panjab University syndicate’s recent decision to promote a system manager of the computer science department to a higher rank has raised concerns over rules being bent by authorities to favour individuals, since the decision has been found to contain several discrepancies.

According to the policy formulated for the computer programmers in March 2006, in order to get promoted from a technical manager III ( system manager) to technical manager IV, at least four years of regular service is needed. The board of finance and the syndicate and senate passed this policy in 2006.

The date for the promotion of Sudesh Kumar from step III to step IV, has been given August 1, 2002, in the syndicate agenda. Before the agenda was put forward to the syndicate, there was a nod in the matter by a selection committee, which was constituted under Prof AK Bhandari.

Some obvious questions cropping up in the case are- why was Sudesh Kumar not given a promotion in 2006 itself, when the policy was formulated? Why was there a delay of three years if he was eligible in 2002 ?

However on being contacted the authorities claimed that everything was being done as per the rules.

“The selection committee had only passed the proposal which was verified by the establishment branch. The date of eligibility of Sudesh Kumar’s promotion began from 2002, so it was done as per policy laid down in 2006,” said Bhandari.

However, surprisingly a senior official in the establishment branch said there was “no policy” for computer programmers at all, which contradicts the facts and statements of all PU officials.

When the matter was brought to the notice of PU registrar SS Bari, he said after repeated visits to his office that everything was done as per the policy. When asked, if promotion could be given “notionally” more than once, he said, “There is no problem in the case. It has been checked by the establishment branch and then forwarded to the selection committee.” 

Chandigarh, September 15
The British School (TBS) today celebrated the Ozone Day with zeal and fervour. Students were acquainted with the importance and working of ozone layer through umbrellas with slogans.

Meanwhile, International Ozone Day was also celebrated at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 33-D. About 100 students of Vasumati Eco Club and NSS volunteers participated in the celebrations. Various competitions like slogan writing, poster making and declamation were organised.