Chandigarh, December 15
City residents woke up to a chilly morning today with mist and light showers. The meteorological department has predicted foggy days ahead. Although the city received only 1.4 mm of rain till morning, the Met predicted a clear sky but said the fog is likely to continue in the next 24 hours.

The maximum temperature recorded on Tuesday morning was 24.6 degrees Celsius with the minimum at 10 degrees C.

The showers, which were the first of this winter, were due to western disturbances, a Met officials said.

More than half a dozen trains were delayed by 40 minutes to over an hour due to the season’s first drizzle and foggy conditions in the region today, putting passengers to great inconvenience at the Chandigarh railway station.

The trains that were affected by the fog included the Unchahar and Shatabdi
 Expresses, Himalayan Queen, Pashchim Express and the 2 CNA Passenger besides some trains fromother stations to the city.

Although the Railways had introduced the Global Positioning System (GPS) for smooth running of trains in the foggy season, the system has failed to work.

Meanwhile, flights delay has also resumed. The Jet Airline flight to Delhi scheduled to depart from Chandigarh at 10:10 am today took off at 11 am. Similarly, Kingfisher Airline flight from Delhi to Chandigarh which was scheduled to arrive at 9.05 am landed in the city at 10.30 am due to poor visibility.

As visibility levels dropped below 600 metres, a Kingfisher Airlines flight from Delhi to the city was delayed by over an hour, airline officials said.

Dense fog also enveloped many areas in Punjab and Haryana, Met officials said. 
"We are expecting the foggy conditions to prevail in the region until tomorrow after which fog should clear," a Met official in the city said. He said the fog had slightly pushed up minimum temperatures in the region, but added the temperatures were expected to fall once the fog clears.

Chandigarh, December 15
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that the process of allotment of government houses is apparently “arbitrary”, and has stayed the allotment of old type III, IV, V, VI, VII houses, along with the new type VI houses.

Issuing the directions, Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia of the high court made it clear that the stay order would continue for the time being till the next date of hearing on December 22.

As the matter on the allocation of houses came up for hearing before Justice Ahluwalia, a list of officers who had been allotted type VI houses with effect from January 2006 till date was placed on record. The list of other earmarked houses, too, was placed on record.

After going through the list, Justice Ahluwalia asserted: “Counsel for the Chandigarh Administration is not able to state as to how the list of earmarked houses has expanded in Chandigarh in violation of the Chandigarh Administration (general pool) Allotment Rules, 1996.”

“Counsel for the respondent has failed to explain as to how, without taking into consideration the pay-scale/seniority, the houses of the higher types have been marked for the officers of the Chandigarh Administration. The lists supplied have more to hide than to disclose.”

“No effort has been made to explain to this court what is the criteria regarding determination of the type of house for allotment. It is stated that the houses having plots of less dimension and covered area have been assigned higher type, whereas plots having more size and covered area have been assigned lower type.”

“The process of allotment seems to be arbitrary. Therefore, there is need for the respondents to justify the same. For hearing further arguments, post on December 22. Till then, no allotment of any house pertaining to type III (old), IV and V (old), VI (old), VI (new) and VII (old) shall be made”.

The petitioner had earlier contended that the house allotment committee (upper) had been allotting government houses arbitrarily. Taking up the issue, the high court had earlier directed the secretary, house allotment committee (upper), to file an affidavit on the criteria “how the type of houses available in Chandigarh was determined”.

Chandigarh, December 15
Property transactions in the city are expected to soon become hassle-free as well as transparent. With the UT administration notifying the Chandigarh Estate (Amendment) Rules, 2009 ahead of the December 16 and 17 auctions, both prospective property owners as well as the state exchequer stand to benefit, in turn giving a fillip to real estate prices in the city.

In fact, the administration's decision to allow immediate resale of property bought in auction could infuse a fresh lease of life into the recession hit real estate market. "This would give a much-needed boost to the real estate business. Besides making property transactions transparent it would also help the state exchequer in earning crores of rupees by way of stamp duty on property registrations”, said Amarjit Sethi, a city-based property adviser.

Under the new rules resale of property immediately after the auction would be allowed with the permission of the UT estate office. "Such permission shall not be given until the lessee/allottee has paid full consideration of money and other dues chargeable under these rules, unless in the opinion of the estate officer exceptional circumstances exist for the grant of such permission”, the new rules state.

Explaining the amended rules, officials said the buyer would now be able to sell the property bought in the auction immediately after clearing his dues. “There would be no mandatory lock-in period of 15 years for resale as was the case in the property allotment cases”, they added.

Interestingly, the administration has only reverted back to the pre-2007 regime while notifying the new rules. Prior to 2007 there was no lock-in period for auctioned property. In fact, the introduction of the lock-in period has taken a toll on the auction of commercial property with only four of the 34 commercial sites put under the hammer being sold in the auction held on October 23, 2008.

Chandigarh, December 15
The CBI court of J Sidhu adjourned the high-profile Ruchika molestation case till December 21 today. The trial of the case was shifted to the court early last month on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court with the consent of both parties.

The incident, which dates back to 1990, has an alleged involvement of the then Director -General of Police, Haryana, SPS Rathore, who was also the president of the Haryana Lawn Tennis Association at that time. The association was being run from its make-shift office at the residence of Rathore.

It was alleged that on August 12, 1990, Ruchika, a trainee tennis player, was called at the association office and was allegedly molested by Rathore. Ruchika’s friend, Reemu, who had accompanied her, also witnessed the incident, and they informed their parents about it.

The parents later filed a complaint with the police. In 1993, Ruchika committed suicide under mysterious circumstances. Ruchika’s friend’s mother, Madhu Prakash, who had moved the HC following which a case was, registered with the CBI which chargesheeted SPS Rathore under Section 354 of the IPC in 2000.

Chandigarh, December 15
It may sound bizarre but using an otherwise innocuous LPG-fuelled geyser can prove disastrous
for health and even cause permanent brain damage if caution is not maintained.

While this may surprise many, the inflow of such patients is quite common at the PGI, where the latest victim is none other than a doctor herself, who due to little carelessness, slipped into coma a fortnight after “brain damage” caused by leaking LPG from a geyser.

Bathing in an unventilated bathroom with gas leaking from an LPG geyser is virtually similar to sleeping in a room with charcoal or wood heater and can even cause death. The leaking gas leads to rapid depletion of the oxygen level in the bathroom and the person present there soon suffers from acute hypoxia.

Confirming this, Dr Manish Modi, Asst Professor in the department of neurology, PGI, said one or two such cases are coming to the PGI emergency everyday. “The victims suffer from hypoxia (reduced circulation of oxygen supply to the brain), due to the inhalation of carbon monoxide,” he said, adding that a patient can slip into coma and even die.

Though no fatality has been reported yet, in the past one and a half years, almost 12-15 such cases have been reported at the PGI, in which victims suffer permanent brain damage.

“As the combustion in the LPG-fuelled geyser leads to the emission of carbon monoxide gas, which is odourless and colourless, the victims are poisoned and rendered unconscious within minutes of being exposed to the gas, particularly if bathroom is unventilated,” said Dr Modi.

The leaking (carbon monoxide) gas replaces the oxygen in the body when inhaled due to which the brain goes dead, rendering other organs motionless, and longer exposure to the gas means certain death, he added.

Terming such incidents as a result of sheer “ignorance”, Dr Modi advised that water heaters should be installed outside the bathrooms. And if the same isn’t feasible, the bathroom should be properly ventilated. “It would be prudent to collect hot water in a bucket and the heater switched off before entering the bathroom to cut down the risk of meeting with such accidents,” he added.

Chandigarh, December 15
The annual Army-Central Police Organisations (CPO) Conference was held at Headquarters (Western Command), Chandimandir today. Apart from senior Army officers of the Western Command, the top brass from the Border Security Force (BSF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Border Wing Home Guards attended the conference.

It was presided over by Lieut-Gen MS Buttar, Chief of Staff, Western Command. The agenda included discussions on issues of mutual importance for enhancing cooperation and effectiveness between the Army and the CPOs.

Chandigarh, December 15
“Mein hridya ka geet hoon dard ki pehchaan hoon….” Speaking from the recesses of his heart with pulsating yet philosophic lines was Hindi litterateur, Uday Bhanu Hans (85), who inspired fellow poets from the region at a Trilingual Mushaira organised by Srijan, an institute of creativity, at DAV College-10 Hall here today.

As many as 13 poets read out their verses to the scant but receptive audience in the symposium supported by the Hindi Sahitya Parishad, Punjab, DAV College and Cultural Affairs, Chandigarh.

Dr Dharam Swaroop Gupt eulogised the panoramic beauty of the city beautiful with certain problems. Dr Rajindera Kumar Kannaujiya’s poem, “Aksar jab raton ko mujhko neend nahi aaya karti”, was a veritable salutation to the motherhood.

Advocate Chaman Lal Sharma, who also conducted the mushaira read out more couplets than the participating poets. Prem Vij delving into romanticism held love as the supreme, while Shakuntala Srivastav was nostalgic with “Yadein”. Sardar Panchhi was at his best with “Apni apni jaat majhab…” and more and Puran Ehsaas from Pathankot was more satirical.

Dr Vibha Ray spelled philosophy of life in her one liners. Haryana Sahit Akademy awardee Gurbux Singh Saini was impressive with “Pathar khaade saari umran keeta nahin gilaa..”.

Besides Deepa Bahar, Subhash Rastogi and Jagmohan Chopra, it was Dr Gurminder Sidhu who excelled with potent content and recitation.

Earlier Suchitra introduced the poets and Srijan chairman, Dr DS Gupt, welcomed chief guest RS Verma, director, cultural affairs, who inaugurated the mushaira by lightening the traditional lamp.

Panchkula, December 15
“ Urdu hai jiska naam, hameen jaante hein Dagh , saare jahaan mein dhoom hamari zubaan ki hai…” the essence and concept enshrined in Dagh Dehlavi’s couplet found its true expression at the international mushaira.

Organised by Haryana Urdu Akademy at Red Bishop Complex here today. The chief guest Bhupinder Singh, Chief Minister of Haryana, and the dignitaries especially Sharada Rathore, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Kuldip Sharma, Anita Yadav parliamentary secretary , Shiv Raman Gaud, director, Information and Public Relations, all relied on soothing Urdu couplets to lay emphasis and to embellish their views on the grandeur of Urdu language and its proliferation.

They appreciated the performance of academy in propagating the Urdu language and literature.

Supporting with adequate facts the CM claimed that Urdu , in fact, was born and raised to a spectacular level of popularity in Haryana itself. The greatest Urdu poets like Hali belonged to Panipat, Dagh Dehavi from Ferozepur Jhirka and even all time great Mirza Ghalib had Haryana connection, claimed the CM amidst a lofty applause. He, however, advised akademy secretary Padmashri KL Zakir to bring instances of issues like not giving visas to poets from Pakistan. But he appreciaqted the participation of Pakistani poets residing in London and Holland.

Welcoming Hooda and other dignitaries, the acclaimed literary person and DPR Shiv Raman Gaud admiring the felicity of Urdu said “ Tarz padta hai koi jab jhoom kaer nazam va ghazal , Aisa lagta hai Firaq va Josh hain yarron ke beech”. But Sharda Rathore was too articulate in her speech while commending Urdu as “ Voh Urdu ka musafir hai , yahi pehchaan hai uski, , Jidhar se bui jaata hai saleeka chhod jaata hai.”. Her perception was brought alive in the recitations of poets, which commenced with Naresh Gupta IPS ( Retd) and known as Naaz Allahabdi’s qalaam on peaceful coexistence with Pakistan before the king of humour poet “ Popular Mehrati” spelling satirical poetry extracting humour from daily chores. Asad Mufti from Holland was very impressive with “Ye behtar tha ke mein darya hi rehta, Samundar ban ke tanha ho gya haan” besides Jenab Mirza Iqbal from London, Shahid Mahauli, Naseem, Farid Parbati, Malik Zada Zaved, Shakeel Azmi, Populkar Mehrati, MP Chnad, Devinder kafir, Uzma Akhtar, KL Zakir, Shamas Tabrezi and Makhmoor Sayeedi who also conducted the mushaira.

On the occasion five books, including a special journal of Urdu academy dedicated to the profound memory of Choudhry Ranbir Singh Hooda , a freedom fighter and social reformer, were released. Urdu Akademy secretary KL Zakir expressed gratitude to the dignitaries, poets and audience. 

Chandigarh, December 15
An anti-encroachment drive was carried out in Dadu Majra and Shahpur in Sector 38 West today to remove the unauthorised constructions raised in violation of the Periphery Control Act and on acquired land.

The drive was carried out under the supervision of land acquisition officer (LAO) Ashwani Kumar and SDM (South) Prerna Puri.

As many as 17 rooms and 15 jhuggies were removed from Dadu Majra, a gas godown was removed from Sector 38 West and three cattle sheds and two scrap dealers were removed from Shahpur village during the drive.

Around 200 police personnel, three JCBs and enforcement staff of the Estate Office were deployed for carrying out the anti-encroachment drive. 

Chandigarh, December 15
The licences of two ‘fair price’ shops in Colony No 5 - Baladeen Karyana Store and Verma Karyana Store - have been suspended by the district food & supplies and consumer affairs officer for violating the provisions of the Chandigarh Public Distribution System (Licensing & Control) Order, 2002. Irregularities in stock maintenance and record keeping in these two depots had come to light during an inspection conducted by the food & supplies department staff.

The department has also forfeited the security amount of Rs 18,000 of four fair price shops - Happy Karyana Store, Pawan Karyana Store, Amrit Karyana Store, depot holders of Labour Colony No 5, Burail and Kamla Devi, depot holder, Khajeri for committing irregularities. — TNS

Chandigarh, December 15
To curb the menace of beggary and to strictly enforce the provisions of the Haryana Prevention of Beggary Act, 1971, and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, an intensive drive was conducted in the city under the supervision of area SDMs during which a total of eight beggars were arrested.

The beggars were arrested from outside the UK Embassy, Sector 8, Canadian Embassy, Sector 17, Sector-43 bus stand, Kisan Bhawan chowk and Industrial Area, Phase I.

Mohali, December 15
Causing a major setback to the Congress-backed ruling group of the Municipal Council, a special meeting held by civic body president Rajinder Singh Rana in connection with the no-confidence motion against him more than two months ago has been declared invalid by the government.

The executive officer of the civic body, Amna Kumar Goyal, has received a letter from the director, local government, Punjab, which stated that the proceedings of the meeting which was attended by 13 members were declared invalid. However, no specific reason has been stated in the letter for declaring the meeting as invalid.

Goyal confirmed today that he had received the letter from the director.

When the proceedings of the meeting were sent to the office of the director for clearance, the executive officer had sent a note stating that the quorum of the meeting was not complete. As per Section 26 of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, of the total number of councillors, 16 were needed to hold the special meeting, which was attended only by 13 members. There were 31 councillors when the meeting was held.

The strength at present has come down to 30 with the death of one elected representative. Kharar MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu, who is an ex-office member of the civic body, also has the voting right.

A group of 21 councillors had given a notice of a no-confidence motion against Congress supported president Rajinder Singh Rana to the council authorities on September 29.

Chandigarh, December 15
With a virtually non-existent “management information system” (MIS) and a poor information bank, there is no way to find out exact figures and statistics related to the administrative machinery in Panjab University.

After receiving the prestigious PURSE award this year, the university is already being viewed as ‘well-heeled’, with quick grants from central university falling in its kitty. Consequently, lack of such crucial information system could prove to be an impediment in its soaring educational aspirations.

Except the conventional manual system, there are no means to get statistics for ‘ready reference’ viz number of re-employed teachers, number of filled up and vacant posts, the inflow and outflow of cash, amount collected from purchase of forms, details of salaries and other relevant statistics. Though there are plans to develop an MIS by next year, till date these statistics are being calculated manually in the university.

Experts in the field agree that assimilation and retrieval of information through MIS is like a gold mine for the university. It is also quoted to be a pre-requisite for any quality level institution.

“We have no information pool in PU till now, but we are planning to develop the MIS by next year. After such an advanced system is launched it will be easy to extract the relevant information, which is needed by the administration for development purposes and the same can be updated scientifically at regular intervals,” said an official of the finance department of PU.

Senior university functionaries also felt that similar to the invention of the unique SMS facility by UIET students, the management and statistics department students of PU could be involved in developing such a system.

Chandigarh, December 15
An advanced training school in mathematics for lecturers on ‘Algebra and Number Theory’ was inaugurated in the department of mathematics, Panjab University, by former Vice-Chancellor Prof RP Bambah here today.

About 40 lecturers from all over India are participating in this programme to be held from December 15 to 31. The national board sponsors this programme for higher mathematics, department of atomic energy, Mumbai.

Emeritus professor IBS Passi, member coordination committee of ATM Schools, apprised the audience of the aims and objectives of the school.