Chandigarh, October 28
In the backdrop of the spat between Punjab Governor and UT Administrator SF Rodrigues and Union Minister Pawan Bansal, another decision of the former could spark off another confrontation between the Raj Bhawan and the Congress.

The decision of Rodrigues to recommend a panel of three names for the appointment of the chairperson of the Chandigarh Social Welfare Board (CSWB) at the fag end of his tenure is being viewed as “improper” and “defying any logic”.

The administrator had recommended the names of Manju Bhalla, Manisha Sharma and Pallavi Singh for the post. Interestingly, none of them are active Congress workers.

However, the final choice is subject to ratification by the Central Social Welfare Board Chairperson Prema Cariappa, a senior Congress leader and former MP.

A senior woman leader of the ruling party usually holds the political post both at the central and the state level. Lalit Joshi Bhardwaj, president of the local unit of the Mahila Congress and former Mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation is presently the chairperson of the board, whose tenure is ending next month.

Sources in the Congress reveal that propriety demanded that the UT Administrator should have waited for his successor to recommend the names of the chairperson of the board. As the post had usually been used to “rehabilitate” senior party leaders of the ruling party, it would have been desirable to consult local MP Pawan Bansal in the matter, the sources added.

Set up in 1953 by the Central government, the main objective of the board was the promotion of social welfare activities and implementation of welfare programmes for women, children, handicapped and disadvantaged sections of society through voluntary organisations.

The chairperson of the board wields considerable patronage as the financial assistance to various organisations is given on his/her recommendation. Since the expansion of welfare activities was high on the agenda of the state/UT boards, the Central government usually prefers its senior workers to head the board so that the government's welfare measures could reach the beneficiaries.

Sources said with the war of words between Rodrigues and Bansal hotting up following allegations and counter-allegations, the decision could raise many an eyebrow. However, official sources termed the recommendation as the "routine" administrative exercise.

Chandigarh, October 28
From now on it will be mandatory for all industrial and developmental projects in the city to obtain environmental clearance.

In order to check environmental degradation caused by these projects, the union environment & forests ministry has passed an improvised rule. A regulatory body, comprising of senior Panjab University professors, ecologists and other experts will now be the sole local regulatory body to grant a ‘no objection certificate’ (NOC) for these projects.

According to subsection (3) of section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986) read with paragraph 3 of the ministry’s notification dated September 14, 2006, two regulatory bodies - the Union Territory Environment Impact Assessment Authority (EIAA) and the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) - have been formed.

The PU professors whose names have been shortlisted for these bodies have now received a letter from the UT administration notifying the same.

Dr Veer Singh, former dean (instruction), PU has been nominated as the chairperson of EIAA and Prof SK Sharma shall be its member. In addition to this, the director of the UT administration’s environment department would also be a member-secretary in this body.

To assist the authority, the central government in consultation with the UT administration, has also set up the Expert Appraisal Committee. Prof RK Kohli of the Centre for Environment & Vocational Studies, an accredited ecologist, will be chairperson of this body.

MS Johal, former professor at PU’s zoology department, Dr VK Rattan, UICET, PU, Prof Shakti Arora, Rajnish Wattas, Surinder Singh and Vivek Pandey have been selected as the members of the committee.

While the rule is applicable to all developmental projects there are certain sensitive areas that have been kept under the jurisdiction of the central government. A few among these are the ecosensitive zones, defence and border areas, areas close to atomic energy plants. However, the central government has retained the clearance power for special economic zones and coastal regulatory zones.

Earlier - in 1994 - also the central government had introduced a rule to check environment degradation by developmental projects in which the clearance used to be given by the Centre itself. However, the rule was ineffective due to certain ambiguities involved. There was a problem of ground inspection of the land in various states by one single central body, and hence there was a need to revise the rule.

As per the new notification, even the projects set up earlier in the city will have to obtain a renewed NOC. “The body’s aim is not only to help industries and safeguard their interests, but also keep a check on the environment degradation,” said Kohli.

“The inspection done by the bodies will be time bound to ensure efficiency. If the bodies do clear the proposal within 60 days, it will be assumed the clearance has been given,” he added.

Chandigarh, October 28
The Chandigarh administration presented a revised plan budget of Rs 355.5 crores for the current financial year to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) at a meeting in New Delhi today.

The UT has also submitted a non-plan budget of Rs 289 crore and a non-plan budget of Rs 13.5 crore for the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) in the UT.

The budget under the plan head includes expenditure on salaries and upgrading infrastructure in hospitals, schools and roads. The meeting on the revised budget was chaired by the Chief Comptroller and was attended by Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar on behalf of the UT. After comments by the MHA, the Ministry of Finance will give a formal clearance for the budget.

In the original budget allocation earlier this year, the Centre had allocated Rs 300.35 crore under the plan head and Rs 184.9 crore in the non-plan category. In the non-plan budget, special emphasis has been laid on power purchase. “The UT does not have an independent source for power generation and has to depend on outside sources. Besides, the main supplier, the BBMB, the UT draws power from other states as well,” senior official said.

Revised budget allocations under the revised head of the planned budget have laid special emphasis on infrastructure in schools and hospitals in the city. The planned budget has also underlined the projects under the JNNURM. The budget has made a special mention of the schools and roads projects. The expenditure under this category has made a separate mention of budget for the rehabilitation schemes.

In the original budget allocation, the three main areas were human development, infrastructure and environment. Constituting more than 83 per cent of the planned budget, the figures separately stood at Rs 89.03 crore for human development, Rs 177.85 crore for infrastructure and Rs 1.42 crore for environment.

The budget surplus during 2008-09 was Rs 623.5 crore. In the original budget, Rs 767.62 crore was earmarked for the salaries of employees alone.

Fiscal management and discipline in spending came up for a detailed discussion at a separate meeting, which was held under the chairmanship of Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The meeting laid stress on prudent spending of the government budget.

Chandigarh, October 28
Nearly 5,000 children in the city and surrounding areas undergoing treatment at the Neurocysticercosis Clinic (NCC) of PGI’s Advanced Paediatric Centre for parasitic brain infection (neurocysticercosis), a neurological disorder that causes epileptic type seizures among 90 per cent of the patients affected.

Giving details, Dr Prathibha Singhi, chief of the paediatric neurology & neurodevelopment in the department of paediatrics, PGI and national president of the Association of Child Neurology, India said this disease is assuming alarming proportions as there has been virtually an 80 per cent increase in such patients over the past decade.

“In 1989 of 100 children with partial seizure almost half were diagnosed with neurocysticercosis but the figure had now increased by almost 80 per cent,” Singhi said.

Contrary to the earlier perception that it was only disease afflicting adults, figures reveal it is quite common in children too, said Singhi. She said children of 5-14 years of age are more prone to neurocysticercosis. Though there is no particular reason for this it is believed that the lack of knowledge about hygiene is the main cause.

“Children get easily infected if their or the hands of food handlers are not properly washed or the food they eat is not properly cooked,” she said. In fact, neurocysticercosis is a major reason behind seizures in children, she added.

‘‘Primarily a public hygiene and sanitation problem, the disease is spread through pork. When a person eats infected pork meat, tapeworms form in his intestine. Their eggs are excreted through the faeces that contaminate the soil. Once human beings or pork eat the egg-infected vegetables, the cycle is maintained. The eggs enter the human body and hatch in the intestine. The larvae are transported by blood to the brain where they settle down. Once they rupture there is brain swelling following which a child has seizures and presents with headache and vomiting,'' says Singhi.

While treatment is available for the disease, in certain cases post-treatment problems can also arise, said doctors at PGI. Sanitary hygiene is the best check against the disease. Once in the body, the parasite causes trouble only if its egg dies in the brain. Epilepsy is caused mostly by this parasite egg.

Chandigarh, October 28
Service lanes in the residential areas of the city were designed to keep the backyards of the houses clean. But with the passage of time, residents have encroached upon these lanes.

Not only the dark and dingy lanes are brimming with garbage and sludge, some residents have blocked these lanes by using them for parking vehicles and some have even developed parks in the lanes.

In some of the service lanes, the residents have stored their construction material even as the authorities concerned have turned a blind eye towards the menace.

In some sectors, the residents lock the entry gates of the service lanes as these are being used for parking their vehicles during night. It was also found that in some areas, washer men had encroached upon the service lanes by constructing temporary sheds.

Sources in Chandigarh Municipal Corporation said these service lanes were earmarked in the city’s master plan for easing traffic congestion in front of the markets and providing an alternative route to the commuters. But these pathways failed to achieve their perceived objectives due to poor maintenance. Later, the MC cemented the service lanes so the passers-by could use them.

An executive committee member of the Citizens Association, Sector 21, Sachin, said that despite repeated complaints the MC has failed to remove encroachments and clean these service lanes. He said that neither the MC has deployed safai karamcharis nor any official bothers to challan the violators who throw debris or horticulture waste in the lanes.

Talking to The Tribune, some residents of Sector 15 said they had made repeated complaints to the MC, but to no avail.

Area residents added that notices had been put on the entry of the service lanes that trucks, cars and scooters were not allowed, but these orders were being violated with impunity.

MC councillors had also taken up the issue of service lanes in the House meetings a number of times, but the officials only assured them that they were working on the plans to remove encroachments and clean them regularly. However, the officials have failed to chalk out any strategy for service lanes till date.

Chandigarh, October 28
The ongoing Kalagram controversy between UT home secretary Ram Niwas and the director of the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC) took a new turn today with the former conveying to both UT administrator SF Rodrigues and the NZCC chairman the “uncalled for conduct by the director” on work at the centre.

The home secretary said his mention of the ‘Dilli Haat like structure’ was actually discussed at a meeting with Rodrigues and he had agreed to the changes. “The director has now responded in an uncalled for manner and we have demanded strict action against him,” he added.

He said the UT administrator had “asked us to prepare the estimates for the hut, theme gate and other special areas. The major reason for the suggested changes was that permanent structures would be saving a lot of money spent on erecting temporary structures at every event”.

NZCC director DS Saroya, in a letter yesterday, said: “NZCC is extremely embarrassed and amused over the contents of these news items (on Kalagram). Such an announcement was not only uncalled for but has also been made without any authority”.

“To set the record straight for all - and it needs to be clarified most emphatically - NZCC is an autonomous body of the ministry of culture. A project having any financial implications is to be first conceptualized, got approved from the chairman and then put before the statuary bodies. It is for the competent authority to decide the executing agency of the project approved by the central government”, Saroya said.

”I would also take the opportunity to place on record NZCC’s experience of getting the first phase of Kalagram through the Chandigarh Housing Board was not a pleasurable one. The building has not stood the test of time and the quality of work done is not of desirable standards. Any decision regarding choice of an executing agency will be taken according to the well established and laid down procedure by the competent authority of NZCC”, he added.

Talking to The Tribune, the director refused to comment on the issue, only saying “the matter will be officially settled”.

Chandigarh, October 28
Four central trade unions today observed the “National Protest Day” as a follow up action of national convention of workers held on September 14.

The trade union leaders from the city submitted a demand charter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh through the UT Home Secretary. Representatives of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), the Hind Mazddor Sabha (HMS) and the Centre For Indian Trade Union (CITU) and various other state and national-level trade unions participated in the show of strength at Bhakna Bhawan in Sector 29.

They raised the issue of price rise of essential commodities, job loss due to recession, non-implementation and violation of labour laws, employment protection and disinvestments of shares of central public sector enterprises.

Besides, the leaders condemned the UT administration for undeclared imposition of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the city to suppress the democratic and legitimate trade union right for demonstrations, peaceful protests and rallies by the workers and employees despite assurances given by the organisers.

Chandigarh, October 28
The number of suspected swine flu cases continue to rise as more people turn up at government hospitals showing symptoms of the disease.

Six fresh suspected cases of swine flu were reported today at various hospitals. HC Gera, UT nodal officer for swine flu, said, “Samples of all the suspected patients were collected and sent to the PGI.” As the symptoms noticed in five patients were mild, they were given the option to remain at home, he said.

A 19-year-old suspected H1N1 patient, a resident of Sector 22, was admitted to the isolation ward in the PGI. Out of the five quarantined at home, three are from Mandi and the other two are from Zirakpur and Yamunanagar.

Meanwhile, the reports of five suspected H1N1 patients quarantined yesterday are negative.

Mohali, October 28
The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has decided to chargesheet an executive engineer and two other officials in connection with the drawbacks pointed out by Lt-Gen BS Dhaliwal (retd), adviser (technical) to the Punjab Chief Minister, during his inspection of a prestigious road project here.

The inspection of the sector-separating road was conducted by General Dhaliwal in the presence of the executive engineer and his staff on April 21.

The work consisted of widening and strengthening of the road measuring around 3.5 km from the UT boundary to the end of Sector 71/72.

The work, which was carried out at a cost of Rs 5.07 crore, had begun on December 13, 2007, and was completed on April 2 this year.

According to sources, GMADA had taken action on the recommendation of General Dhaliwal against engineers who had executed the work of widening and strengthening the sector-separating roads of Sectors 53/54, 59/60 and 71/72.

According to GMADA officials, General Dhaliwal was satisfied with the action-taken report submitted to him by the authority and a letter was received from him yesterday which stated that “the case may be treated as closed at this end”.

Superintending Engineer HS Sodhi said chargesheets would be issued to executive engineer JS Tiwana, SDO Mewa Singh and junior engineer Vijay Pal Sharma.

Action against the three officials was being taken as lapses were noticed in the work of supervision. Undulation had developed on some parts of the road that was widened because “job formula was not done”.

Moreover, California bearing ratio (CRB) test was also not conducted on the distress portions of the road by engineering officials.

GMADA chief administrator VP Singh said an internal inquiry was initiated in connection with the road project, which was done by superintending engineer Jatinder Mohan.

Shortcomings in the work were pointed out by him as well and he had held the three officials responsible in this regard.

GMADA had earlier issued a show-cause notice to the contractor linked with the project and also recommended that he should be debarred for two years from working for the authority.

The independent quality assurance consultant (IQAC) hired by GMADA for the project had also been debarred for two years.

Major shortcomings in the work were noticed during an inspection of the project by General Dhaliwal in April.

In fact, General Dhaliwal had stated in his report that the “work executed has totally failed” and “most of the work requires to be redone”. Extracts from the inspection report of General Dhaliwal were published by Chandigarh Tribune on July 23.

Zirakpur, October 28
Though a personal room in school for teachers is taken for granted, teachers at a government high school in Baltana are said to have even personal toilets. However, principal Krishna Sharma denied this was the case, claiming the authorities had only closed toilets to avoid outsiders from using it.

According to information, over 200 boys and girls studying at the school have to share a single toilet despite four more toilets as they are reserved for the teachers. Students complained these toilets are always locked and opened only for use by the teacher. Even the single toilet for students is in a bad condition, said a student.

One of the students, who asked not to be named, said teachers ask the security guard of the school to lock the toilets and open them when only they want to use. This causes a lot of inconvenience to students. Another student claimed they had to either share the same toilet or the boys had to urinate outside the school building.

Some students said the girls are the worst sufferers, sometimes having to wait outside the toilet for boys to come out.

Sharma asserted the toilets are used by all members of the staff as well as students, adding some of the toilets had been locked to prevent outsiders from damaging the sanitary fittings. “We have asked the students to take the keys from the chowikdar for using the toilets”, she said.

Zirakpur, October 28
Thieves decamped with jewellery worth lakhs and cash after breaking into a jewellery shop at Shalimar Enclave at Dhakoli village, here last night.

According to the police, Harvinder Singh, owner of Sai Jewellers, claimed that around 3 am, a shopkeeper informed him about the theft.

After reaching the shop, he found the shutter lock broken. The owner alleged that around 300 gm gold and 7 kg silver jewellery along with some cash were missing. The investigating officer stated that the owner of the shop had submitted his complaint and further investigations were on.

Chandigarh, October 28
Considering the frequent complaints about misconduct by male teachers in UT schools, education secretary has issued strict orders to transfer all male teachers from all girls’ government schools.

From new session, male teachers in three government girls’ schools in the city will be transferred to other co-educational government schools.

However, the secretary has already issued transfer orders of three male teachers of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, having received complaints of abuse and misconduct against them.

“We have been frequently receiving complaints from girl students about misbehaviour by male teachers in the past. Girls, at times fear insult raising such issues and to bring the guilty to justice. Hence, it is our responsibility to safeguard their interest,” said HS Ram Niwas.

“Male teachers in three all girls government schools will be transferred to other schools from the next session,” he added.

The directions also state that the ratio of girls and boys in a class will be in proportion to the ratio of male and female teachers teaching that particular section. The class with more number of girls will have majority female teachers teaching that section.

In total, out of the 106 government schools in the city, there are three all girls schools, including Government Girls Senior Secondary, Sector 22, Government Girls Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 18, and Sector 23, whose male teachers will be transferred.

However, the transfer policy of teachers, which states that only after five years of service, the teacher will be transferred to another school, stand nullified in this case.

The education secretary made it clear that whether the male teacher has served for two or five years in a school, he will be transferred.

Chandigarh, October 28
The day two of the Panjab University Zonal Youth and Heritage Festival, Chandigarh, (Zone A) saw participation of fifteen teams of the city, including PU, competed across a range of literary contests, music items and dramatics.

The fest is being hosted by GGDSD College, Sector 32-C, from October 27 to 30.

The event started with a speech by Ram Niwas, Home and Education Secretary, Chandigarh administration.

Niwas appealed to the youth to integrate cultural activities with social commitment. “Participation in the youth festival does not end with merely sitting and clapping for performances, real participation implies becoming proactive and taking back home a positive thinking,” he said.

He also stressed on the need to understand the difference between fundamental rights and duties, work towards common brotherhood and give the society a new turn. He especially urged the students to participate in anti-ragging drives, keeping the city clean.

Results:

Orchestra (Indian): 1st - PU Campus; 2nd - GGDSD-32 and 3rd - DAV-10

Orchestra Indian (Individual): 1 - Gurdial Singh (PU Campus); 2 nd - Satyan Sharma (GGDSD-32); 3 rd - Shehnaz Akhtar (DAV-10)

Percussion (Tal Vadya): 1st - GC - 42, 2n - GGDSD- 32 and 3rd - DAV-10

Non- Percussion (Swar Vadya): 1st- Gursharnjit Singh (PU Campus), 2nd - Sharnjeet Singh (GGDSD- 32) and 3rd - Suresh Kumar (GC- 46)

Group Folk Orchestra: 1st - DAV-10, 2 nd - GC-11 and 3rd - GC-46

Group Folk Orchestra (Individual): 1st - Sikandar (GC-46) 2nd - Harbhajan Singh (DAV-10) and third Jaswant Singh (GC-11)

Folk Instrumental: 1st - Subeg Singh (PU Campus); 2nd - Sikander (GC-46) and third Harbhajan Singh (DAV-10)

Classical Dance: 1st - Sakshi Makhija (DAV-10), 2nd - Kanupriya Sharma (GGDSD-32) and 3rd - Meena Kumari (GC-11)

Group Dance General: 1st - SGGS-26, 2nd - GC-11 and 3rd - GGDSD-32

Folk Dances: 1st - DAV-10, 2nd - GC-46 and 3rd - SGGS-26

Folk Dances (Individual): 1st - Hardip Singh (DAV-10); 2nd - Simranjit Singh (SGGS-26) and 3rd - Beant (GC-46)

Poem Recitation: 1st - Amardeep Singh (GC-11); 2nd - Ritu Jain (DAV-10) and 3rd - Harleen Kaur Dua (PU Campus)

Debate: 1st - Rajat Jain (GGDSD-32); 2nd - Abhishek Sanghi (DAV-10) and 3rd - Shatakshee Chatterjee (PU Campus)

Elocution: 1st - Rajat Jain (GGDSD-32), 2nd - Puneet Kaur Gill (DAV-10) and 3rd - Amandeep Singh (SGGS-26)

Phulkari or Bagh: 1st - Vertika Sood (GGDSD-32), 2nd - Babalpreet Kaur (SGGS-26) and 3rd - Paramjeet Kaur (PU Campus)

Dasuti or Cross Stitch: 1st - Gurpreet Kaur (GC Arts-10), 2nd - Neetu Sachan (GGDSD-32) and 3rd - Hanika Chaudhary (GC Communication and Management - 42)

Pakhi Designing: 1st - Balwinder Singh (GC-46), 2nd - Sandeep Kaur (SGGS-26) and 3rd - Prabhjot Kaur (GGDSD-32)

Crochet Work: 1st - Mandeep Kaur (SGGS-26), 2nd - Tanuja Rani (GC-46) and 3rd - Richa (PU Campus)

Knitting: 1st - Shalu Rani (SGGS-26); 2nd - Pooja Chauhan (PU Campus) and 3 rd - Ruby Mandal (GGDSD-32)

Mehndi Designing & Application: 1st -Talwinder Singh (GC-46), 2nd - Anupriya Kaur (GGDSD-32) and 3rd - Neha (DAV-10).