Chandigarh, March 2
The lackadaisical attitude of the Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN) has been revealed in its latest email to Panjab University, which states that 73 students represented the PU and, in fact, only one person per delegation had to compulsorily attend the conference.

Even Nitin Jindal, the student from UILS involved in the molestation case, attended the conference only for a day, it disclosed.

The mail said the HNMUN did not maintain an attendance sheet of delegates who attended the conference. The credibility of the HNMUN, a student body based in the US which has been permitting students in large numbers from across the globe to participate in its conference, is now at stake.

The PU authorities are checking the academic sanctity of the HNMUN, which has been a “lucrative deal” for PU students to go abroad on the pretext of attending conferences. So much so, a department of the PU has even been sending official delegations to the conference.

The university is also verifying the association of the HNMUN with the United Nations and Harvard University, which has been cited as the most common reason why students are being sent for the conference, sources said.

The PU is also finding out details of students and faculty members who represented the PU in the conference in the past few years.

“Anybody who is found to have misused the name of the university would not be spared since this involves huge finances. Students got lured to the HNMUN under the impression that it was related to Harvard University and the UN, which is yet to be testified by the respective bodies,” Anupam Gupta, member of the high-powered committee that met at the PU yesterday, remarked.

The members of the committee also cautioned the departments from getting involved in this “globalised euphoria” and to refrain from getting lured into foreign conferences.

“It is outrageous that 73 students of a university go to any conference if it is of an international standard. Each time, a prestigious event is held, only a handful of students, who are brilliant, are selected to go. It is an opportunity for the university to introspect. Action against Nitin, Brinder Dhillon and others, who are involved in the case, will be taken once we gather facts on our own,” Gupta stated.

Chandigarh, March 2
Taking stern view of the Boston incident involving UILS student Nitin Jindal, Panjab University today banned foreign trips of students.

A high-powered committee constituted by the VC issued show-cause notices to delegates who registered in HNMUN 2010, except the 23 students of the UILS who were selected by the department.

Such notices would also be sent to others who used PU’s name. Notices have already been issued to 18 delegates by the department of laws and the UILS.

The committee decided that no benefits would be given to any student who participated in such foreign trips and the DUI would call for information from all other departments of the university if they were sponsoring, directly or indirectly, any foreign trip of any student. Approval of the DUI would have to be sought by students in future for any such trips.

It was also decided that the DUI would write to Harvard University seeking clarification regarding the status and profile of the Harvard International Relations Council (HRIC) which organises HNMUN on a yearly basis and the nature of its activities.

The PU also announced that it would write to the Boston police for precise information about the criminal case involving Nitin Jindal.

A show-cause notice has been issued to Brinder Dhillon, who had gone to the US, allegedly posing as a PU student.

Notices have also been sent to PUSU representatives to submit a written complaint to the DUI regarding the allegation that Brinder Dhillon took permission from the trial court, where a criminal case is pending against him, to go abroad. Meanwhile, PUSU held a press conference today and questioned the papers submitted by Brinder Dhillon to the court.

These sought permission to go abroad from February 8 to March 3, 2010. Photocopies of the attested certificates, submitted by Brinder’s advocate to the court, were also circulated. “The copies given in the court state that he could not attend certain proceedings since he is unwell. On the other hand, Brinder had earlier sought permission that he had to attend the conference,” Simranjit Dhillon said.

Chandigarh, March 2
A few hours from now over 22,000 students in the Chandigarh region will be taking the biggest test of their academic lives, the CBSE boards for classes X and XII. While for class XII the process will be the usual as in preceding years things are going to be a lot more different for class X students.

This would be the last time they would appear for the board examination on mandatory basis as from next year onwards it will be optional. Similarly, the exam, which has so far been the judging parameter of a child’s excellence, will now kick off the unnecessary misclassification of students on the basis of marks by replacing it with the latest grading system.

These exams for class X students will mark a renaissance in the Indian educational system by eliminating unhealthy competition among high achievers and reducing societal pressure.

“If you go by the past year’s figures then you will find registration rising consistently. This shows people’s faith in the board. We are undergoing a sea change and are aiming to transform literacy in education and the rat race in fun filled academic years. Not only kids but even parents are excited about a lot of things introduced for the first time in the system,” said CBSE regional director DR Yadav.

Chandigarh, March 2
Drunken brawls including some incidents of attempted murder, fatal road accidents and rampant traffic violations marked Holi celebrations in the city on Monday.

Gulshan, a two-year-old child was drowned to death in a water tank at a construction site in Sector 25 when his parents were busy celebrating the festival. Unable to find him anywhere the family members began a search and found the child floating in the tank. He was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Meanwhile, the police said two people died in road accidents. Two people were seriously injured in street fights, five people were caught drinking in public and a man was caught with a ‘country made’ pistol in the city. The police control room remained abuzz with 140 telephone calls about incidents of hooliganism coming in from the across the city.

Hordes of youngsters triple riding on scooters and motorcycles and in rashly driven cars and open jeeps were seen flouting traffic rules all over the city, defying the heavy police presence.

Not only this, some miscreants were even seen hurling eggs on passersby and also indulging in ‘eve teasing’ and making obscene gestures at girls and women.

The cops, however, remained mute spectators, preferring to just allow the miscreants to pass through their areas and took action only when the situation began to take an ugly turn.

The traffic police caught 450 motorists for various violations, including 130 scooterists and motorcyclists riding without wearing helmets. About 60 vehicles were impounded after their occupants failed to produce valid documents. Street fights remained the order of the day during the Holi festivities. Though several incidents were reported, the police registered cases only in a few incidents.

The cops booked four youths - Rahul, Tiranga, Vikas and Lara - on charges of attempted murder after they allegedly stabbed one Veru of Sector 25. Giving an old dispute as the reason behind the assault, the police said the assailants called Veru from his house and stabbed him. He was admitted to PGI in a critical condition.

In a similar incident, Sunil Kumar of Pipliwala town in Manimajra was reportedly assaulted by Vikas, Manmohan Singh and Priam Singh. The police has booked the suspects for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

An unidentified man and a cyclist, both said to be in their midtwenties, were killed after being knocked down by speeding vehicles being driven by Holi revelers. A pedestrian was killed in NAC Manimajra after being hit by a Tata Safari SUV driven by Harmanpreet Singh of Mohali. The victim was wheeled to the PGI where he was declared dead on arrival.

In another incident, a cyclist, Ram Kishan of Sector 22, was seriously injured after being hit by an unidentified Honda Activa scooter on the road dividing Sectors 23 and 36. He was rushed to the Sector 16 Multi Specialty Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Similarly, the police caught Pankaj Sharma, Kasturi Lal, Vijay Kumar, Sunil Kumar and Surinder Thakur were various parts of the city while allegedly consuming liquor at public places.

In Bapu Dham colony some miscreants barged into a confectionary shop and created a ruckus. They allegedly damaged the shop and assaulted the shopkeeper, Mohammad Irshad. The police filed a case in this connection and arrested a colony resident, Kalu, of the on the basis of a complaint lodged by Bhadur Ahmed. However, the suspect’s accomplices are at large.

Among several incidents of sexual molestation reported in the city, Rajnish Bhatia of Mani Majra complained to the cops that a resident of his locality, Narinder Kumar, had beaten up and threatened his sister on Monday. In another incident, a resident of Mauli Jagran filed a complaint alleging Mohan Kumar of Vikas Nagar, Mauli Jagran had “outraged the modesty” of his daughter and threatened her with “dire consequences” near her home. The police has arrested the suspect.

Apart from these incidents a police team nabbed a Colony no 5 resident, Kuldeep Singh, and recovered a country-made pistol from him during a search on Monday.

Chandigarh, March 2
A life sentence is generally considered to be virtually the end of one’s life. However, Paras Ram, who spent 14 years in the Burail Model Jail here serving the term, has managed to change this perception not only for himself but has also offered a light at the end of the dark tunnel for several other prison inmates.

Paras had earned about Rs 22,000 during his 14 years in the jail while working in its furniture making unit. Talking to TNS, deputy jail superintendent Amandeep Singh said like Paras several other inmates were making money while serving their jail sentences. “The amount may look small, but just consider his daily wages that were then Rs 14 before they were recently increased to Rs 30 for skilled, 25 for semiskilled and Rs 20 for unskilled persons”, said a jail official.

The manufacturing unit, which was modernised in 2008 with the introduction of plainer, lathe and chisel machines costing around Rs 5 lakh, has enabled the jail to make furniture worth over Rs 45 lakh in the current financial year. Similarly, during the last fiscal (2008-2009) the unit made and sold furniture worth Rs 22 lakh, Amandeep informed.

Though the unit was functional since the jail’s inception of the jail in 1972, its production increased only after the latest machines were installed. The unit had also exhibited its products, including chairs, tables, flowerpots, school desks and other articles, which helped them in attracting buyers who included the city’s prestigious Hotel Taj.

The UT administration has also provided a shop in Sector 22 to sell the products made in the jail.

During the current fiscal the education department purchased desks and other school items worth about Rs 30 lakh. Jail officials said their priority was to meet orders placed by government institutions in the city, even as they also accepted orders from private parties.

Apart from the furniture making unit the jail has separate units for welders, polish masters, pot maskers and also for those who can work on computers.

Chandigarh, March 2
Be prepared to shell out more for air travel. Flying is all set to get dearer by between 10 per cent and 15 per cent. Airlines and fliers have little to cheer in the Budget.

A service tax of 10.36 per cent, imposed only on premium-class flights so far, will be levied on domestic flights and economy-class foreign flights.

“All air passengers have to pay service tax. It was earlier restricted to first-class and business-class travel,” said Ratinder Thakur, executive with an aviation consultancy firm.

An increase in customs duty by 5 per cent on aviation turbine fuel prices would also push air fares up.

Sources say it was not clear whether the 10.36 per cent service tax would be levied on base fares or all levies like fuel surcharge and airport user fees.

The government hoped to rake in an extra Rs 500 crore even as air travellers would feel the pinch.

A Chandigarh-Delhi economy-class return ticket would cost Rs 600 more and a Chandigarh-Mumbai ticket Rs 1,000, depending on seasonal fares.

Jet Airways’ area manager Raju Raina called the levy bad news as it could hit air traffic.

GoAir airlines’ area manager Rakesh Kumar said the new levy did not mean an unnecessary burden for fliers.

“The new tax rates, offering relief to 60 per cent taxpayers, and proposals will put more money into hands of consumers, which will have a favourable impact on overall consumption and demand for aviation,” he said.

Darshan Singh Sodhi, an architect travelling almost twice a fortnight, was already feeling the pinch.

“The service tax on domestic flights will hardly make a difference as airlines will come up with some innovative ways to give incentives to passengers,” he said.

“The travel and tourism industry, barely recovering from recession, has now received a huge blow,” said Surbhi Gaba, president of the Chandigarh Travel Agents Association.

Chandigarh, March 2
The long wait of UT employees seems to be finally over, with the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) gearing up for the draw of lots for its special housing scheme for them.

The special housing scheme, floated in January 2008, had been marred by litigation ever since. On February 26, the Punjab and Haryana high Court dismissed the bunch of petitions on the scheme.

The CHB had 45 acres in Sectors 52 and 56 for the construction of nearly 2,200 flats and it had received 7,746 applications.

A senior CHB official said, “We have started the process of scrutinising all applications. We will hold the draw of lots within a month.”

Though the draw of lots was yet to take place, employees who had applied under the scheme had been paying monthly interest on loans that most of them have taken from banks for initial deposit.

Several employee associations had moved court, alleging discrimination regarding eligibility criteria for the scheme.

It had been alleged that while deputationists and court employees were made eligible, certain sections of employees, including those with the PGI and the PU, were ignored.

Several other issues had been debated in the court, following which it had reserved its judgement in October last.

Many senior IAS, HCS and PCS officers, judicial officers and other employees from various departments of the UT administration had applied for the scheme, which was a bargain of sorts for prospective allottees for its reasonable prices and ample covered area.

While category A (three-bedroom) houses, having a covered area of 2,000 sq ft, would cost Rs 34.7 lakh for UT employees, the same, with a covered area of 1,424 sq ft, would cost Rs 39.57 lakh to a general allottee.

A category B (two-bedroom) house, with a covered area of 1,400 sq ft, would cost Rs 24.3 lakh for UT staff, but general-category allottees would have to shell out Rs 29.14 lakh for the same, with a reduced covered area of 1,075 sq ft.

General allottees would have to pay Rs 17.15 lakh for a category C (one-bedroom) house, measuring 684 sq ft, while UT staff would pay Rs 13.53 lakh in the same category, with a house measuring about 900 sq ft.

Chandigarh, March 2
The battle for the post of president of the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal (CBM), the elections for which are scheduled to be held later this month, has begun with candidates intensifying lobbying in a bid to capture the top post of the trading community in the city.

While the date for the elections (likely to be March 28) will be decided at a general body meeting of the CBM on March 14, various permutations and combinations are already being worked out with two candidates emerging as front-runners for the post.

Kamaljit Panchhi, a prominent property consultant, and Diwakar Sahoonja, general secretary-cum-official spokesman of CBM, are likely candidates for the president’s post, according to sources.

Though the CBM claims to be a “non-political” body, various political parties, including the Congress, the BJP, the BSP and the RJD, wield considerable influence on the traders’ body.

In fact, the battle of wits between the candidates has to be seen in the backdrop of the influence of the “political votes” in the premier traders’ body. In fact certain top traders’ leaders also occupy several key positions in the traders’ cells of various political parties.

In the recent past, the post has assumed importance as the CBM president is the traders’ interface with the outside world, including the Chandigarh Administration, political parties and corporate sector.

With Chandigarh emerging as the retail hub with the entry of the MNCs and major corporates, the post has assumed added significance.

As the CBM president is also a member of several importance committees, including the Administrator’s advisory council, stakes seem to be high for the contesting candidates. Representatives of various market associations in the city, mainly presidents and general secretaries, form electorate for the CBM president, who later nominates various office-bearers of the executive committee and sub-committees.

Recently, a local court had ruled that incumbent president Charanjiv Singh could not contest for the third term which would mean that the traders’ body would see a new face in the presidential chair.

Chandigarh, March 2
The Chandigarh administration has declared March 3 a weekly holiday under the Factories Act, 1948, at Mauli Jagran.

According to a press note, all factories in areas under the Mauli Jagran gram panchayat will be closed.

No worker will be required or allowed to work at any factory tomorrow, the day decided for elections to the gram panchayat.

Under the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, 1958, as applicable to the union territory, all shops and commercial establishments in areas under the gram panchayat will remain closed.

Chandigarh, March 2
Man Chand, senior bromide paster, The Tribune, retired on February 28, after putting in more than 27 years of service. He joined the institution on 1983.

He was given a warm send-off by his colleagues. A farewell was also arranged in his honour on the office premises. Among others, Rajeshwar Chopra, assistant general manager, The Tribune, lauded his services to the institution.

Panchkula, March 2
Betting over a bottle of beer had cost a youth his life when he drowned in the waters of Tikkar Taal at Morni near here yesterday. However, the body of the deceased, identified as Gurmeet Singh, a resident of Nada village, could not be recovered from the lake till this evening.

According to information, Gurmeet had gone to visit the picnic spot on Holi along with four others -- Mamraj, Balwinder, Jagdev and Lal Singh from the same village. After reaching there all of them had a bet on getting a bottle of beer thrown in the Tikker Taal. Gurmeet dived in the lake but did not come back.

Following the incident the youths reported the matter to the staff of tourism centre who searched Gurmeet in the lake but found nothing and suspected that the youths were under the influence of liquor and had made fun of them.

Later, all four returned to their homes and did not tell anything to their parents. When family members of Gurmeet made inquiries this morning the youths told them of reality. The family members, along with other villagers, reached the spot where the search operation was started with the help of the police without any success.

Now, the search operation would resume tomorrow, said the police.

Mohali, March 2
While the Chandigarh police was strict with Holi revellers, those in Mohali had a comparatively better time as most of them found they were able to roam around the town uninterrupted by cops.

As a majority of the police force was busy in Rajpura conducting a rehearsal for the Punjab Chief Minister’s function to be held there, there were few cops to control the tipsy revelers.

Mohali, March 2
Children of various age groups showcased their talent in various competitions organised at Blossom Convent School, Nayagaon.

Events like drawing, rhyme recitation, hurdle race, tambola, besides a healthy baby show were organised.

Kids from six months to eight years participated in the competition. Col BS Sandhu, CMD of the school, gave away prizes to the winners.

Geeta Sandu, MD of the school, said such competitions helped in the overall development of children.

Results: Drawing competition (winners): Jasmin Gill, Diya Singla and Pratham; rhyme recitation: Arshi, Pratham and Manpreet; hurdle race: Bhumika, Diya, Rashmi and Poonam; healthy baby show: Khushi 1, Jiya 2 and Deepesh 3, while Anmol, Geetika, Vaishnavi, Gunjan and Smriti bagged the consolation prizes.

Chandigarh, March 2
City schools have got into the corrective mode after virtual “leak” of Class IX question papers, which happened due to duplication of the papers allotted to various schools due to varied datesheets.

The schools are asking examinees to return the question papers attached with their answer sheets to combat the problem of these papers exchanging hands.

It may be noted that the CBSE’s idea of introducing uniformity in Class IX examination by setting the examination papers itself for all schools ran into troubled waters last week when two of the city schools got same papers. While one of them based in Sector 27 was almost through with its exams, the other in Sector 36 was midway and was startled by the fact that its students procured papers from those of the former school.

All over the country various schools are dealing with the same problem, as children have even uploaded these papers on the Internet.

As a part of the continuous and comprehensive evaluation, the CBSE had announced to set the papers for all major subjects of Class IX itself to make the examination and marking pattern uniform in all schools. The Board uploaded these papers in CDS and sent them to all schools which were followed by a password. This password reportedly reached each school at a different time. The schools were asked to work out their own datesheets.

However, the problem arose when it was found that over 25 schools of the city had been allotted same set of papers and due to varied datesheets the students were exchanging them leading to what many have termed as mass leak.

When contacted, CBSE authorities upheld that they were not at fault, as it was not feasible to set different paper for every school. When confronted on different datesheets, the Board chose to remain mum.

“We had apprised the Board of the problem, but they claimed to be too busy with the Boards so we had to take the initiative and devise this method. The Class IX papers have been mass leaked and we cannot do anything, as we have no powers to change the papers so this was best we could do,” said a member of the Independent School Association.

Chandigarh, March 2
St John’s High School, Sector 26, has marked an inquiry into the complaint against art teacher Michaelangelo Francis by a senior PCS official, TK Goyal, father of two students of Class VII.

The complainant has been summoned to the school to report to the committee constituted under Justice SS Sodhi (retd) tomorrow at 10 am with all documentary evidences.

Meanwhile, TK Goyal wrote a letter to the school authorities and stated that there was no question of the school conducting an inquiry into the matter.

He added that in an inquiry conducted by the UT administration, it was found that “there is enough material on record to establish the fact that the teacher had been indulging in vulgarity and cyber crime.”

Reacting to the allegation and complaint of the parent, the UT administration had earlier served a show-cause notice to the school authorities, which in turn initiated an inquiry into the matter and asked Goyal to furnish “material proposed to be relied upon”, which he eventually refused claiming that he did not trust the authorities.

The complainant asked Brother Sarto D’souza, who issued him a letter to participate in the inquiry, that the school authorities should follow the orders of the UT administration.

Meanwhile, earlier in his response to the complaint, the accused teacher had earlier claimed that Goyal was in a habit of giving expensive gifts to all teachers and took obligations on refusing the gifts, which in turn he would complain against the teacher.

Chandigarh, March 2
In a crucial decision taken today, the UT education department has doubled the salaries of nearly 200 contractual teachers.

For JBT teachers, the salary has been increased from Rs 7,000 to Rs 14,000 and for TGT teachers, the salary has been increased from Rs 8,000 to Rs 17,600.

Additionally, the salary of PGCT has been hiked from Rs 9,000 to Rs 19,800.

According to information given by director public instructions (schools), arrears of the teachers would also be given from August 1, 2009 and the new salaries are applicable from this month.

Chandigarh, March 2
The University Institute of Fashion Technology and Vocational Development, PU, organised a one-day workshop on “Fibre and Yarn Testing for Total Quality Management”. The workshop was conducted by Chaaya Verma, assistant professor, department of clothing and textiles, Government Home Science College, Chandigarh.

She spoke on quality control methods for textile process, statistical control procedures, acceptance and methods of sampling plans, specific quality factors governing textile products, processes and their variabilities, standardisation used in textile industry, specification tests, properties, including uniformity, count, ply and strength of yarns.

She deliberated upon various factors, conditions and properties of fibres and yarns.