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12-yr-old Ambala girl dies of swine flu
School mgmt took long to react:
Kin Harshita’s family has alleged that she died due to the negligence of the school management as she had been suffering from fever for about 15 days before she was shifted to Chandigarh. Dr Rajesh Sharma, Harshita’s uncle, said the victim’s younger sister who was studying in Class IV in the same school, had informed them that her sister was suffering from fever, but the school management did not bother to tell them. He said his niece had not been attending classes for two weeks.
Chandigarh/Ambala, September 28 Five more students of the school have tested positive for the disease and the school has been closed for two weeks. These children belong to Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Gurgaon, Delhi and Sangrur. The family of the deceased belongs to Meerut. She was staying in the hostel of the school and was cremated in Ludhiana. UT nodal officer for swine flu HC Gera said Harshita was on a ventilator and her samples were taken immediately. She was given preventive a dose of Tamiflu the same day. When her report tested positive, she was put on a full dose of Tamiflu, but her condition kept deteriorating and on September 26, she suffered multi organ failure. She was declared dead at 11 am today, he said Gera. A doctor from the hospital who accompanied the patient from Ambala had also developed flu-like symptoms and his samples had been taken, he added. The Ambala district administration would
be holding a meeting tomorrow to look into her death, the Deputy Commissioner said. A team of doctors from the Ambala health department visited the school yesterday and took samples of some students and sent these to the PGI for testing. The chief medical officer has already distributed Tamiflu to people who had come in contact with the girl. The hostel has been closed and the students have been sent home. Ambala nodal officer Surinder said he was informed by his counterpart at Chandigarh on September 26 about the case, following which he visited the school. Nodal officer Punjab Deepak Bhatia confirmed that the girl was cremated at Ludhiana and people from Bhai Ranjit Singh Nagar and Sangrur, who came in contact with her, had been given preventive treatment. In case of death from swine flu, the body has to be disposed of as soon as possible, keeping minimum contact with the body, and at the nearest possible place. Though it is the first death due to swine flu in Chandigarh, a total of 247 suspected cases have been reported from the tricity, besides Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and UP since May, when the first suspected case of swine flu was reported. The first 10 patients had history of foreign travel. Later, the infection spread among doctors and students. At least 10 doctors have been treated for flu while 33 confirmed cases have been reported at city hospitals.
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Vehicle Theft: Chance recovery, but not by cops
Chandigarh, September 28 The complaint, Dr Rajinder Pal Singh of Sangrur, had lost all hope, when he suddenly got a surprise recovery call on September 24, not from the police, but the service centre, saying that his vehicle was ready for delivery after service. “Not only did the police delay the registration of a case, but also failed to act for 48 hours, resulting in the escape of the accused,” he alleged. Dr Pal said his vehicle was due for service and had a leakage in the roof when it was stolen. The thieves, who were said to be “well built Haryanvis”, left it at an automobile service centre at Nazafargarh in Delhi for repair. They had also used a fake registration number. Service centres have a common database of the original owner of the vehicle along with the name, address and telephone numbers against the engine and chassis number of the vehicles sold. The service centre sent him an SMS that the vehicle was ready. Dr Pal said the police did not cooperate since day one. His brand new vehicle was stolen from the house of his acquaintance in Sector 20-A during the intervening night of August 30 and 31. “The police was informed on ‘100’ about the theft, but no one came. After waiting for a couple of hours we went to the Sector 19 police station and lodged a complaint. For three days they did nothing about it. On the fourth day, a case was registered after the intervention of the DSP (East),” he said. “I was surprised when a policeman told me that they would issue me an untraced report after three months. His attitude made it clear to me that they were not going to do anything to trace the vehicle or the accused,” he said. The DSP deputed a team to recover the vehicle after he told him that the vehicle had been traced, but the police was still reluctant to get moving. It was only after he met the UT SP (Crime), Madhur Verma, who called his counterpart in Delhi, that his vehicle was impounded from the service station. The police team went the next day to bring the vehicle. The service station staff told the police that those who had left the vehicle had argued with them for not delivering it on time. “Had the SP not informed his counterpart on time, I would have never seen my vehicle again,” Dr Pal said. The DSP said had the police moved in time, it would have nabbed the culprits at the service station.
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2 boys of Majra village drown in rivulet
Mohali, September 28 The victims, who have been identified as Saurabh (16) and Gurvinder (15), were on their way to pay homage at a Haripur-based dera of Baba Jawar Singh when the incident occurred. Both the victims were students of Class IX at Government High School, Boothgarh, and had left for
pilgrimage this morning. On the way to the dera, they stopped at the Sarsa rivulet to bathe. However, they did not realise the depth of a ditch that was filled with water and drowned. Some passersby heard their shrieks, but it was too late by the time help came. Large pits have been left in the rivulet due to sand mining. Soon after the incident, the bodies were fished out and sent to the village of the victims. The SHO, Mullanpur, HS Bal, said they did inquire about the incident since the incident had taken place in Haryana, but no foul play had been alleged. The bodies of the victims were consigned to the
flames this evening.
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Biomedical waste not being segregated, still
Chandigarh, September 28 Sources revealed that this had been proved in a report of the medical health officer which states that on every alternate day, the garbage processing plant at Dadu Majra receives biomedical waste along with normal waste from the city. Even though recently the administration had directed the civic body to send the garbage at the plant after segregation, but the corporation has done nothing about it. As per the Biomedical Waste Management and Handling Rules, the authorities of an institution generating biomedical waste shall be responsible for taking steps to ensure that such waste was handled without any adverse affect on human health and environment. A company representative at the garbage plant confirmed that they were still receiving biomedical waste in garbage and they had been complaining to the authorities about it for a long time. The company had written a letter to the MC two days ago also that the medical health department should be directed to take stringent measures against medical institutions who were not following the norms. Company representative remarked that their MoU with the corporation clearly stated that they would not receive any vegetable market, meat, biomedical and hotel waste at the plant. They had also requested that the garbage should be sent on a daily basis, which was not happening as the vehicles were not collecting it on time. Experts said most of the private clinics were openly throwing biomedical wastes like needles, syringes, blades, glass, discarded medicines and drugs in open dustbins, putting the life of ragpickers and stray cattle in danger. The solid waste included cotton contaminated with blood, body fluids, plaster casts, bedding and chemicals. A senior official of the corporation said over 200 nursing homes, clinics and diagnostic centres were running in various markets and even in residential areas without making any proper provision for the disposal of biomedical waste. They would have to individually or collectively make arrangements for the segregation and proper disposal of such waste.
Despite repeated attempts, the medical health officer of the corporation could not be contacted for comments.
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Issuance of unique ID numbers
Chandigarh, September 28 The development follows a communication from the UT, recently, that it had put into place a board, as sought by the commission. The process has been initiated by the Centre towards creation of Unique Identification Database Authority of India. In addition to PAN and driver’s licence, the unique identification numbers are aimed at creating a database of poor and
marginalised, mostly living in the rural areas. The administration has already constituted a seven-member “state level advisory board” for the implementation of the UID project. The board under the chairmanship of the Adviser includes Finance Secretary, Home Secretary, Joint Secretary Finance, Director of Information Technology, Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Finance and Planning Officer (FPO). The ministry of communication and Information Technology, in an earlier communication, had pointed out that “there has been a long-felt need in the country for a system of unique identification of every individual for a variety of purposes such as better targeting of government’s development schemes, regulatory purposes (including taxation and licensing), security purposes, banking and financial sector activities, etc. “In the absence of such a nationwide system, each sector of the economy or department/agency of the government adopts its own system of identification like PAN card, ration card, electoral photo identity card, credit cards, etc. “Such specific purpose identities were often found to have inherent limitations in accuracy and currency levels on account of low frequency of usage. “Moreover, the multiplicity of such systems renders it impossible to correlate information across sectors and even across institutions within the same sector for providing better services to people. Similarly, different agencies of government are unable to correlate their data relating to any particular individual.”
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Ramlilas culminate with a bang
Chandigarh, September 28 MC Commissioner Roshan Lal Sarkaria and senior Congress leader Venod Sharma presided over the festivities at Sectors 46 and 17, respectively. Artistes enacted scenes from Ramayana at the venues before the effigies were consigned to flames. At sabzi mandi ground, Sector 46, the Sanatan Dharam Dasehra Committee had set up 70-ft-high effigies of
Ravana, Kumbhkarna and Meghnad, which were later consigned to flames. Hundreds of people were seen standing atop nearby residences. Others occupied nearby roads and green belts to have a view of the festivities. The police had tough time
controlling the rush at various venues. Those who attended the celebrations in Sector 46 included DGP AP
Pandey, Chief Engineer Surinder Pal Singh, GGDSD College Society chairman Upkar
Krishan. Earlier in the day, a procession with tableaux depicting scenes from Ramayana was taken out in the city. The procession started around 1 pm from Sector 46 and culminated at the starting point after passing through various
sectors. Singer Sunil Dhyani regaled the audience with devotional songs. Commissioner Sarkaria also honoured Prof Purshottam Lal
Mehra, a senior citizen and educationist, and Manju Bhardwaj, SD Public School principal, for their contribution to their respective fields. The police remained on its toes since early morning to ensure that everything passed off peacefully. Sources in the police said Dasehra was celebrated at 34 places in the city and there was a heavy deployment of police at all venues. Posse of uniformed personnel besides those in mufti, which included personnel from the CID, operations cell and home guard volunteers, guarded various
venues. “The police was on high alert all through the nine-day Ramlila celebrations,” said a senior
official.
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Verka forays into sweets business
Mohali, September 28 Cashing in on the brand name, the items have been launched in a new standardised pack indicating the ingredients, date of manufacturing and other details. “The packaging contains a hologram as a mark of quality,” said Parminder Singh Chalaki, chairman of the plant. At a time when spurious sweets have flooded the market and consumers are taken for a ride, the plant management will provide quality sweets made with desi ghee and khoya. The initiative has been taken in view of demand of consumers who prefer to buy quality sweets, said the chairman, adding that the booking for sweets had already been started. Currently, the sweets will be available at milk bars at Mohali, Morinda, Ropar, Lalru, Anandpur Sahib and Handersra. The prices vary between Rs 160 and Rs 270 for a 800-gram packing. The milk plant authorities plan to manufacture the sweets throughout the year. Apart from Punjab, the authorities plan to target the market in neighbouring states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The chairman said the milk plant had bagged first award of National Productivity for the year 2006-07 in the category of dairy development and production sector. The award was given by union minister of Agriculture KV Thomas at a function held at New Delhi on September 24.
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Crucial landing device lying dysfunctional
Chandigarh, September 28 Airport authorities say it will take four-five months to replace it. “The ILS device is out of order for the last few months. We informed the concerned higher authorities and the Indian Air Force about this and requested for an immediate replacement,” a senior official of Chandigarh airport, told IANS on Sunday. He added: “The present ILS is based on outdated technology and we were facing many problems because of this. Without the ILS, our flights are frequently getting delayed. The flights either have to remain in the sky, wait for the weather to clear, or go to Delhi or Amritsar airport, which obviously leads to wastage of fuel and resources.” Being primarily a military airfield, all air traffic control facilities, including navigational and landing aids and other safety measures, are the responsibility of the Indian Air Force at Chandigarh airport. “The faulty ILS will be replaced very soon. We are already working in this direction and we will try to install it at the earliest,” said Naresh Vijay Wig, defence spokesperson. In normal conditions, a plane could land safely if the visibility is upto 2,800-3,000 meters. The ILS could help if visibility is reduced to 1,200-1,400 meters. Chandigarh airport is frequented by various celebrities and politicians while moving to other states. Last week, Nita Ambani, wife of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, had to remain in air in her private chopper for more than an hour waiting for the weather to clear. She had come here to watch a cricket match. Everyday, over a dozen flights arrive and depart from this airport and all the major airlines like Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher, Go Air and MDLR operate from here. Recently a joint venture was signed between the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the governments of Punjab and Haryana for the execution of a multi-million rupee project for an international airport at Chandigarh. The project being developed on an area of more than 300 acres at Jheorheri village in Punjab, adjoining Chandigarh, would be an extension of the existing airport.
— IANS
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Air India Stir — Day 3
Chandigarh, September 28 On the third day of the strike today, at least 50 passengers turned up at the airport for the flight. At least 60 passengers had been booked for the flight. According to Air India officials, almost 50 per cent of those who had turned up were accommodated in Jet Airways flight. While some postponed their travel, others claimed refund, said the officials. Even as there is no news of any breakthrough between the Air India management and pilots, the status for tomorrow’s flight from the city stands operational. The airlines officials at the airport said the strike had substantially affected the number of bookings, which was expected to fall further if the scenario continued. There were speculations that Air India might have to suspend some flights for at least 15 days. On if the Chandigarh-Delhi Air India flight would be included in the suspension, the officials at the airline said they hadn’t received any information in this regard.
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GMADA numbers drain inlets
Mohali, September 28 For accountability, Greater Mohali Area Authority (GMADA) has numbered all the storm water gullies and manholes in four sectors 66, 67, 68 and 69 being maintained by it. Around 1,200 such road gullies have been numbered in the past few days. Sources in GMADA said by numbering the gullies, it would be easy to know the schedule of cleaning and cater to specific complaints. The authority would also be in a position to tell the exact number of gullies, location and other related details. The Punjab State Electricity Board has done the numbering on street light poles in the city. Moreover, it has been seen that repair and cleaning of storm water gullies is done in papers. But with numbering, the field staff would have to tell the specific gullies that have been handled. On the pattern of road gullies, the horticulture wing of GMADA was also planning to number all parks being maintained by it. “GMADA should put the information on its website also so that the information remains in public domain,” said Ranjivan Singh, a resident of Phase IX.
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Move to vote out MC chief begins
Mohali, September 28 Reports in municipal circles indicate that some councillors have allegedly been “taken out of the town” to different places to prevent them from being won over by the ruling Congress group. According to reports, they are expected to be brought to the Municipal Council office on the day of no-trust vote. The ruling group headed by Rana owes allegiance to Kharar MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu. According to councillors, the move to vote out Rana would effect the protest called by the MLA against the government over power and water shortage in Mohali where councillors were to come wearing black gowns and an effigy of the Punjab Government was to be burnt. It is alleged by some councillors that chairman of the District Planning Board NK Sharma was playing a role in getting the Congress-backed head of the council voted out. He had held a meeting with councillors, including some of those in the ruling group, in Chandigarh yesterday. Sharma, however, said baseless allegations were being levelled against him. He had met councillors only to discuss issues related to the development of the town, as he was heading the District Planning Board. Kharar MLA alleged that six councillors of the Rana group had been taken away which was totally against the principles of democracy. He said a municipal councillor of the ruling group Gurnam Bindra Singh had allegedly been pressurised to withdraw a case going on in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in connection with the re-counting of votes in the ward of the former council president Kulwant Singh. The case had once again been shifted to the district tribunal, which would be heard tomorrow. He said he was against the re-counting of votes, as the record had allegedly been tampered by the authorities concerned and no justice was expected from the district officials. He appealed to the High Court to take action in this regard.
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6 councillors extend support to Bansal
Panchkula, September 28 Several senior Congress leaders, including Municipal Councillors Jalmegha Dahiya, Shmasher Singh,
Bhavna Gupta, Anita Tiwari and Sangeeta Goyal have extended their support in favour of Bansal. A door-to-door campaign was also launched by the
councillors. Arti Thakur, district Congress president, said, “We extend our firm support to DK Bansal." Om Parkash Devi Nagar said, “We will surely win the elections this time.” Bansal said his forefathers belonged to Parali village in Panchkula district and he was a member of the Panchkula Bar Association for the past many years. Meanwhile, BK Sanghi, president of the Haryana Group Housing Federation, urged residents to vote for the Congress party.
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Run marks Tourism Day celebrations
Chandigarh, September 28 The day was marked by various activities, including ‘Surnandan’, live Indian classical and fusion music performance by Subhash Ghosh, at Sukhna Lake early in the morning, followed by “Run for Tourism”. UT Home-cum-Tourism Secretary Ram Niwas flagged off the run which started off from the lake and after covering a distance of around 1 km culminated at the starting point. Around 200 students of UT Government schools along with 200 ITFT students besides officials of the tourism and education department took part in the run. In the evening, “Antakshri” competition was held at CITCO Chef Lakeview Cafeteria, which was followed by fun with DJ at Sukhna Lake. The department of tourism in association with CITCO had organised these activities to mark the day from September 25 and 27. The festivity began on September 25 with a flower arrangement competition organised by Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management, Sector 42, followed by a musical evening, ‘Rock Fusion Music’, at Sector 17 plaza on September 26. Meanwhile, Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management commemorated the day by organising an inter-college poster making competition on “Incredible India” and “Tourism and Global Warming”. A satirical play “Sadak hamare baap ki” directed by Rajeev Mehta was also staged, which depicted the predicament of those who do not care for traffic rules.
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Electronic tickets in CTU buses soon
Chandigarh, September 28 Confirming this, CTU director ML Sharma said: “Conductors will issue electronic tickets using machines instead of those issued manually. The tickets will mention the time and destination of the passengers. The introduction of electronic ticketing will keep a check on ticket pilferage wherein certain conductors hand out old tickets to travellers.” The CTU will have 200 electronic ticket devices installed in as many buses in the first phase.
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Hindi fortnight by ITBP battalion
Chandigarh,
September 28 Mrityunjay Kumar,
Commandant, distributed prizes and certificates to the winners and
appealed officers to do maximum work in Hindi according to the policy of
the government.
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International Peace Fest inaugurated
Chandigarh, September 28 This event is a joint initiative of NSS-DAV College, KB DAV- Sector 7, the Gurukul, CYP Asia Centre, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development and Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, New Delhi and a city based NGO- Yuvsatta. Flag marches were replaced by Peace March and young students from Pakistan read out their messages for peace and brotherhood. The activity filled day began with an interaction amongst fellow students, followed by a dialogue with an epitome of Gandhian way of living Bernie Meyer, an American who lives, dresses, thinks, and speaks Ghandhi’s words of peace and non-violence. Eminent speakers from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Bangladesh and USA delivered peace talks. Saeeda Diep, Irushine, Anugraha John and Ketan Mehta, spoke on various issues relevant for establishing peace. Participants were also sensitised on the need for peace and cultural exchange by volunteers of Arushi, Bhopal. The families hosting foreign students are equally involved in the process and extend help and support in all fields. Dussehra was a novelty for many participants. “Never saw a thing like this,” said Feroz, a participant from NWFP of Pakistan, who was clicking pictures to show it back home. The festival will continue till the eve of Gandhi
Jayanti.
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Academic chairs at PU yet to be filled
Chandigarh, September 28 While some chairs are named after political leaders, others are named to pay tributes to religious icons, but the fate of these chairs remain undecided, even though after five years of their establishment, the onus of expenditure involved in research work falls on the university. Among those chairs still vacant, a few are PN Mehra Chair, Ravi Das Chair, Tagore Chair, Rajiv Gandhi Chair, Bhagat Singh Chair, Baba Farid Chair, Baba Vir Singh Chair and the recently established Manmohan Singh Chair. Despite consistent efforts to fill up these chairs, nothing concrete has come up till now, though the university has toiled to depute professors on temporary charge. For instance, the charge for Guru Nanak Sikh Studies Chair and Baba Ravi Das Chair has been temporarily given to Prof Nahar Singh and Prof Jaspal Singh in last month’s senate meeting. “The chair professor is huge and dynamic responsibility. These chairs are primarily meant to promote exceptional research work in a particular field. The purpose is to provide reference and resource material for its utilisation at the highest level of study in that field,” said Prof Nahar Singh of Punjabi department. While some accuse that the establishment of chairs is done on the spur of moment to please certain quarters, senior officials of the university negate this and argue that despite advertisements, for the coveted chairs, none of the candidates was found suitable. “If the interest is political, the quality of research work will go down. The interest should be purely academic since the position of a chair professor is very high and it requires a lot of devotion to the job, which is not easily found,” said a senior official on anonymity. Surprisingly, there are some chairs, for which even the interviews have not been conducted till date ever since their inception. “A chair should be world known for its research work and the establishment should not be done for the name sake. Eventually, the responsibility of the expenditure involved falls on the university, since the UGC or the government funds it only for five years,” he added. Vice-Chancellor RC Sobti refused to give comments on any issue to the paper.
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Oration on architecture, music
Chandigarh, September 28 Artiste-scholar Prof Pankaj Mala Sharma, chairperson, department of music, Panjab University, and Punjabi folk singer Dolly Guleria will speak on different aspects of the subject from their experiences and expertise to show how the two most ubiquitous disciplines are related to each other and to all human beings in everyday life across the globe.
Shiv Datt Sharma, recipient of the Indian Institute of Architects’ gold medal as lifetime achievement award in architecture, will be the chief guest. SS
Bhatti, forum founder, will deliver the keynote oration on architecture and music, revealing their affinities of rhythm, to stress the point that these two disciplines, along with painting, poetry, sculpture, literature, etc. are different expressions of the same sensibility because creativity in all diverse forms is God’s most precious gift to humankind.
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Lawrence students attend school on Dassehra
Mohali, September 28 Students of various classes appeared in internal examinations being conducted by the school authorities. Despite repeated attempts, school principal Veena Malhotra was not available for comments.
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