Chandigarh, March 10
Determined to set an example for private schools, the UT administration will not only make its pre-nursery and nursery admission forms free but also reserve over 30 per cent seats for girls in government schools.

The decisions, according to officials, will be major steps in revamping the city education.

The admission forms will be available in all government Model schools from tomorrow and the department expects a huge response.

“This is the first time that we are making these forms free. Earlier this year, we had urged the private schools to keep the form fee minimal, that is Rs 100, to save parents from spending huge amounts of money in buying forms. In case of government schools, we aim at taking education to all and increasing the enrolment, especially from the EWS category, by making the form free. We, in a way, will ensure that most of the people will apply,” said DEO Chanchal Singh.

Other than the cost waiver, the 30 per cent reservation for girls comes as a bonus, especially after the Rajya Sabha, passed the women’s Bill.

“We had reservation in the past also, but this time it’s more strengthened. If women can be given reservation in Parliament, such an initiative should also be taken at the commencement of their education by reserving these seats. We will bring more and more girls into education and help to secure a better future for them,” added Chanchal.

It may be noted that the last day for the submission for duly filled forms is March 23.The list of eligible candidates will be put up on March 25, while the draw will be held on March 27.

The students, who will be of a minimum age of three on April 1, will be admitted to pre-nursery, while those of four years to nursery.

Chandigarh, March 10
The north-south divide in Chandigarh on the tourism front is set to be blurred, with the Union Ministry of Tourism today okaying an amount of Rs 5 crore for the development of the Valley of Springs next to the Sector 42 lake.

In fact, the development of the Valley of Springs comes close on the heels of the sanctioning of other ambitious projects by the Chandigarh Administration, including the Valley of Animals and the Garden of Confers, to spice up the tourism potential in the Phase II (Sectors 30-47) and the Phase III (Sector 48).

Home-cum-culture Secretary Ram Niwas, who attended today's meeting at New Delhi, claimed that the grant for the Valley of Springs, to be developed on an area of around 30 acres, would bring the tourism potential of the southern sectors on a par with the northern sectors.

Over the years, the tourism potential of only the northern sectors has been exploited, as the area has well-known tourist destinations, including the Sukhna Lake, the Rock Garden, the Rose Garden and Sector 17, making the city only a transit destination for other adjoining states.

In fact, there is a great disparity between the North and South Chandigarh, as recreational facilities are abundant in the northern areas with sparse population. On the other hand, with the development of cooperative group housing socieities(from Sector 48 to 51) and construction of flats by the Chandigarh Housing Board, lakhs of people have inhabitated the area.

"The development of parks will serve two purposes. Besides catering to the recreational needs of the residents, the new gardens and other recreational facilities will attract the tourists to the southern party giving a boost to the economy," officials said.

Panchkula, March 10
Thousands of students of Class XII had to return disappointed from examination halls at different centres in the district when they were told that the examination of English had been cancelled here today.

There were reports from various parts of the state that the paper of English, scheduled to begin at 2.30 in the evening shift, had been leaked. Following this, the exam was cancelled by the board.

District Education Officer Nalini Mimani said it was around 12 noon when she received information from the Board that the paper of Class XII had been cancelled. There were 17 examination centers set up for the students of Class XII and around 250 pupils to take the examination in each centre, she said. As soon as she got information, Panchkula deputy commissioner, Pankan Yadav and SDMs at Panchkula and Kalka were informed accordingly, said Mimani.

Chandigarh, March 10
Contrary to the general perception that lifestyle diseases are urban phenomena, a survey conducted by the community medicine department of the PGI, in association with the WHO, breaks the myth of rural populace leading a healthier life.

The survey found that people in rural areas, too, suffer from these so-called “rich people” ailments.

Dramatic changes in lifestyle, particularly due to physical inactivity, are having a telling effect on the rural populace, as they, too, have shown a high prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Most of the NCDs are a result of sedentary lifestyle, coupled with excessive use of tobacco (smoking) and alcohol, and intake of high-calorie junk food.

The survey, which was conducted to find out the prevalence of NCD risk factors in Chandigarh and Panchkula, has brought out startling facts that are contrary to the general perception about the lifestyles in these places. For instance, the fast-paced life and the eating-out culture so prevalent in this city would make one presume that the UT residents are more fond of fast food than their Panchkula counterparts. However, this is a myth, as data collected during the survey reveals that fast food consumption is higher in Panchkula, particularly among the younger generation (15-24 years).

In this study, they found that fast food preferences were very high in the younger age group (15-24 years) of Chandigarh (71.9 per cent) compared to Panchkula (37.3 per cent).

The survey, which included medical tests to assess risk factors due to smoking, alcohol intake, physical inactivity, salt intake and fast food consumption, was conducted on 2,736 people from Chandigarh (1,426 male and 1,337 female), which included 1,599 from urban, 528 from rural and 636 from slum areas. In Panchkula 2,273 people (1,189 male and 1084 female), which included 1,029 from urban, 613 from rural and 631 from slum areas, were included in the survey.

As per the cases of hypertension, rural areas had reported 14.4 per cent, compared to urban areas of Chandigarh (14.2). In Panchkula, 16.2 per cent cases were reported from the urban sector, while 8.2 were from rural areas.

The survey also revealed that maximum prevalence of smoking was in the slums (17.7 and 23.7 per cent in Chandigarh and Panchkula respectively) and was least in urban areas (6.8 and 6.6 per cent), respectively. Even smoking among the youth was higher in the slums - 15 per cent in Chandigarh and 11.3 in Panchkula.

While urban Chandigarh had the maximum prevalence of alcoholics (16.1 per cent) compared to 12.2 per cent in Panchkula, slums in Panchkula led with 12.5 per cent alcoholics.

The survey has shown an increasing trend in the prevalence of hypertension, says Dr JS Thakur, from community medicine department of the PGI. He said the number of cases had almost doubled, from 26.9 per cent in 1968 to 44.9 per cent in 1997, in the age group below 30.

Chandigarh, March 10
In a decision that may provide succour to employees suffering due to red tape, the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has directed the Ministry of Defence to re-fix notional pension of an Army Medical Corps (AMC) officer who could not be promoted in time to the rank of Colonel due to delay in the implementation of the AV Singh Committee report.

Consequent to the order, the officer, who retired in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, would now be entitled to pension and associated benefits of a Colonel. The Tribunal has directed the Defence Ministry to re-calculate and release pensionary benefits of the officer by treating him as if he retired in the rank of Colonel at the notional age of 58 years.

The AV Singh Committee report had reduced the time frame for promotions in the Army. It was implemented on December 16, 2004, but the implementation of the recommendations for AMC officers was, however, delayed due to internal differences regarding the length of service to be prescribed for promotion to the rank of Colonel.

The implementation letter was finally issued in November 2005 with retrospective effect from December 16, 2004, and all Lt Colonels who had completed 24 years of service were retrospectively promoted to Colonel from the said date.

The age of retirement of Colonels in the AMC is 58 years, two years more than officers of the same rank in other defence services. The petitioner, AK Kalia of Panchkula, retired as lieutenant colonel in July 2005, but was later retrospectively promoted to the rank of Colonel from December 16, 2004.

The officer however, was not re-called to serve till July 31, 2007 as the gazette notification of the retrospective promotion was published by then. It was finally published in 2008. But by that time fresh date of retirement of Kalia had already lapsed.

The petitioner contended that as a result of the delay on the part of the official machinery, he was not granted his notional benefits and had also missed out on the benefits announced by the Sixth Pay Commission.

Chandigarh, March 10
Dr Shiv Bagga, assistant professor in the department of cardiology, PGIMER, won the “Best Case Award” at “India Live-2010” Conference - an interventional cardiology meet, which was held in Delhi recently.

Dr Bagga was acknowledged for a pioneering technique of angioplasty for the treatment of complex coronary artery disease, a first of its kind to be done in India. His patient, an octogenarian, was diagnosed with distal left main bifurcation disease on coronary angiography. In view of the old age and abnormal renal functions, the patient was considered a high-risk candidate for conventional bypass surgery, which has been the only option for treatment for these kinds of cases. After due consultation with the family, the patient underwent successful angioplasty procedure at the PGI in April 2009.

According to Dr Bagga, he used this new technique for this group of disease learnt from his Chinese colleagues, which he further improvised and modified to make the procedure safe and efficacious. He presented the nine-month clinical follow-up data on his patient and did secure the similar success on a different patient. According to Dr Bagga, this technique may open a new vista and arena in the treatment of left main bifurcation disease which till recently has been the domain of cardiothoracic surgeons. However, he suggested the need for due consideration of the anatomy of the disease and significantly high degree of technical skill on part of the operator.

Dr Bagga said he acknowledges his director and head of department of cardiology Prof KK Talwar for his dynamic leadership and for the faith, providing the opportunities to his juniors to grow academically.

The event was organised by the eminent cardiologists of the country, Dr Ashok Seth and Dr Upendra Kaul from Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi and Dr VK Behl from AIIMS. The conference was held under the aegis of Cardiology Society of India and Intervention (USA). It was duly participated by the reputed International faculty.

Chandigarh, March 10
In a reply before a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Chandigarh administration admitted it lacked the expertise for formation of technical terms for setting up a project for bio-medical waste disposal facility.

The senior standing counsel of the administration, while arguing the case before the Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Jasbir Singh, stated that directions be issued to the PGIMER to decided on the technical terms for inviting expression of interest for setting up the project.

The Bench has directed the counsel of the PGI, also a party in the case, to take instructions from the PGI and inform the court.

The bio-medical waste disposal project has been a prestigious project for the Chandigarh health department and according to plan, the project was to be set up under public-private partnership (PPP model) for disposal of bio-medical waste of all the health institutions, government and private, in the city.

Ominder Singh and several other residents of Sector 16 had moved a petition before the HC, seeking directions for stopping the operation of incinerator.

Chandigarh, March 10
The post-mortem of an unidentified man, who was found hanging under mysterious circumstances on Monday in the forest area near Hallo Majra, today indicated that he died of asphyxia due to hanging.

Sources said doctors conducted the post-mortem at the Sector 16 Government Multi-Specialty Hospital and later the body was handed over to the Seva Samiti for cremation.

The SHO of the Industrial Area police station said the post-mortem confirmed that the death was caused due to hanging and there was no other injury marks on the body.

Ruling out any foul play behind the death, as the victim’s hands were found to be tied with a string, the SHO said doctors mentioned in the report after examining the body that the hands were loosely tied with what appeared to be shoe laces. “Had the hands were tied by a third persons, the victims wrists should bore deep gushes and injury marks, which were not found in this case,” the SHO stated.

Maggots had eaten up the body and there was not much left as far the examination of the internal organs was concerned.

The police had not so far been able to ascertain the identity of the man. The police had contacted the principal of Blue Bird Model School in Sector 16, Panchkula, who after seeing the victim’s photograph, confirmed that he was not their employee. She made it clear to the police that they do not have any Sikh persons employed with the school, be it a teacher, bus driver or any other staff member.

The police said the victim’s details had already been flashed to police in Mohali and Panchkula and the missing persons record of the tricity police were being verified.

Chandigarh, March 10
Furniture, mattresses and other articles were gutted in a fire that broke out at Atul Furniture showroom at Ram Darbar late in the evening today.

Employees of the showroom managed to escape unhurt before the flames engulfed the entire showroom. The fire started around 7:30 pm in the workshop located at the first floor of the furniture store.

One of the employees of the showroom stated that the fire might have been caused due to spark in the generator installed with the telecom tower at the top floor of the building.

Fire department officials said that the blaze spread in no time as the workshop had combustible materials like thinner, sprit, varnish polish, upholstery, wood and petroleum-based foam stuffed in mattresses.

As in case of all major fire incidents in market places, the fire tenders faced a tough time in reaching the site today also. A lot of precious time was wasted in clearing the haphazardly parked vehicles there.

One of the fire officials said the main cause of spreading of fire was the storing of large quantity of combustible material in the workshop. He said there was no fire safety system in place at the store. Had they installed any inbuilt fire-fighting system like water sprinklers, the fire would have been put off at the initial stage.

Station fire officer Magal Chand said two water boozers and a water tender were sent at the spot for controlling the fire.

He said the fire tenders tried to douse the flames by using foam, but it was not of much help. They also made a water curtain to prevent the fire from entering into the shop, but it engulfed the entire shop.

Expensive sofas, beds and other furniture items caught fire and were reduced to ashes though the firemen as well as the showroom employees tried to save the articles.

Since the Olympic/world championship medallists have already proved their mettle at the world level, the selection trials for them seem to be an exercise in futility.

In fact, the selection trials for the Olympic winners seem to be an offshot of the ego satisfaction by the top bosses in the sports federations in India.The national selection trials for our champions would result only in the wastage of precious time of the top sportspersons, which they could otherwise utilise to hone their sporting skills.

Top-class sporting infrastructure, particularly for individual sports, is still a far cry in India. Top sportsmen such as Ahbinav Bindra train abroad for a major part in the year to compete with the best in the world. In fact, the recent controversy about his selections trials was unnecessary, as nobody could doubt his sporting credentials.

Forcing such top sportpersons, who have brought laurels to the country at the Olympic level would only be frustrating and demotivating. Does Abhinav, who brought India first individual Olympic gold in 112 years, need to prove to the national selectors that he is fit to compete at the world level?

The very schedule of the national trials and national camps tells upon the training schedule of exceptional sportspersons. One can understand selection trials for medallists in the Commonwealth and Asiads but the selections trials for the Olympic and world championship winners is quite surprising and humiliating.

Politicians and bureaucrats rule the roost in the Indian sports.The selection trials for Olympic and world champions is another attempt by bureaucrats and politicians to make the sportspersons prostrate before them for their inclusion in the Indian teams.

Special people require special treatment.The special treatment in exempting champion sportspersons, who have made a mark at the world and Olympic levels, is not out of place.

Chandigarh, March 10
Employees of various public cooperative sector institutions today held a mass rally at Udyog Bhavan, Sector 17, on a call given by the Punjab State Cooperative Board Corporation Employees Mahasangh in support of their demands.

Representatives of the mahasangh claimed that employees of various institutions, including the PSIEC, the PSIDC, the PFC, the Tubewell Corporation, Land Mortgage Bank, Punsup, Cooperative Bank, Puncofed, PESCO, the PRTC took mass causal leave to participate in the rally.

Earlier, the police did not allow employees of Markfed to participate in the rally at Udyog Bhavan. Markfed employees carried out their rally in the Markfed building in Sector 35 and condemned the state government and Markfed management, demanding enhancement in their house rent.

The protesting employees initially faced problem when the police did not allow them to assemble at the Udyog Bhavan. The matter was, however, amicably resolved with the police agreeing to allow the protesters to carry out a peaceful rally.

The employees were protesting against the roll back of their allowances and other benefits given to the public and co-operative sector employees by the state government for the last 30 years. Their demands included pay revision, arrears with effect from January 1, 2006, regularisation of daily wage employees, restoration of pension benefits to land mortgage employees and stoppage of privatisation and contractual system.

The protesters rued that on the one hand the government had rolled back the benefits given to them in the name of pay parity with government employees while on the other the benefits available to government employees, including job security, pension, LTC and medical reimbursement after retirement are not being extended to them.

Among others, N Marwari and Dalbir Singh, PSIEC, AK Sharma, Jarnail Singh of PSIDC, Deepak Kumar and Ashwani Kumar of PFC addressed the gathering.

Meanwhile, the UT Police facilitated a meeting of the delegation of the protesting employees with the OSD to the Punjab chief minister, who assured to fix their meeting with the CM at the earliest.

Chandigarh, March 10
The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation is again planning to commence the project of night sweeping on major roads of the city, ignoring the fact that such drives should also be undertaken in the slums and colonies of the city.

The sanitation committee, which met here today under the chairmanship of Sarita Devi, took the decision. The committee approved the proposal for night sweeping and asked the MC authorities to chalk out a schedule for V-3 and V-2 roads for this purpose. It has also directed the authorities to recruit three more drivers for the Italian sweeping machines for continuous night sweeping drives on these roads.

Sources said that when the issue of night sweeping in colonies and slums was raised by one of the members, most of the committee members objected to it giving a plea that it would not be successful in those areas. Even the issue of sweeping in market places was also rejected by the members, claiming that most of them clean their shops in the morning, which make the passages unclean so there is no need of curb such a drive in the markets.

Interestingly, about two year ago, the sanitation committee had cleared a similar proposal of night sweeping, for the major roads of the city when the Italian machines were purchased. Even the officers pleaded in the house that if these machines were purchased they could start night sweeping in the city. But this project remained on the paper only and no concrete steps were taken to implement in letter and spirit.

When contacted, former chairman of the sanitation committee Dr AP Sanwaria revealed that the then committee members approved the project of night sweeping manually and mechanically but no action was taken in this regard. He said it is strange that no schedule of night sweeping had ever been planned for the slums and colonies, which are more prone to diseases due to unhygienic surroundings of the area. Councillors had raised the issue in the house that why sweeping machines were being used on the main roads only and not in the interior roads of the sectors for cleaning.

Besides, the committee also approved setting up of a sanitation complaint centre-cum-stores in every sector, maintenance of the sehaj safai kender and caretaker for proper upkeep of the centre and strengthening of safai karmacharis to keep the sectors clean.

Panchkula, March 10
The district police has decided to oppose the bail application of Ranjit Bajaj tooth and nail in the court.

Bajaj after his arrest on March 3 from his residence in Chandigarh had applied for bail in a Panchkula court.

Pleading for regular bail, Bajaj said the police was working under the influence of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge to save his son.

Moreover, no case under Section 307 of the IPC (attempt to murder) was made against him, he contended in the application stating that there was no mention of any injury on the foot of Gurmohan, in the medico-legal report though he was accused of running the car on his foot.

On the application of Bajaj, the court had issued notice to the Panchkula police to file its reply by March 11. The police, however, filed the reply today only.

The police in its reply has stated that Bajaj was booked and arrested by the Chandigarh Police in seven criminal cases in the past.

These were in addition to the cases registered against him in Gurgaon and Himachal Pradesh said the reply.

Opposing the bail of the accused, the police further claimed that he could tamper with evidence in case he was let free on bail.

Meanwhile, a team of Panckula police has left for Uttar Pradesh with Malkhan Singh, the alleged guard of Ranjit. Malkhan had told the police that the weapon used in the crime was dumped at some place in Uttar Pradesh.

Similarly, another team of the police headed by Chandi Mandir SHO Jung Sher Singh was stationed at Panipat in the search of Mohinder Singh, the other guard of Ranjit, who was also involved in the alleged assault on the son of the High Court Judge on the night of January 29 at hotel North Park.

Chandigarh, March 10
Members of the Panjab University Student Union (PUSU) blocked gate 2 of the university for nearly 90 minutes to protest the mishandling of students by the UT police outside the VC’s office on Friday.

Students had gathered to protest the delay in Boston case.

Udey Wirring, PUSU president, and Simranjit Singh Dhillon led the protest.

The protesters raised slogans till the DSP (central) who they claimed “mishandled the students” last week reached the spot and compromised with students.

The protesters demanded that such incidents should not be repeated. DSW Naval Kishore also reached the spot and tried to pacify the protesters. After one hour, students opened the gates of the campus. Both DSW & DSP said whatever happened with the students last week was not good.

Simranjit Singh Dhillon, PUSU leader, said, “We are happy that the police listened to our pleas.”

PUSU also submitted a memorandum to the Vice-Chancellor for the non-intervention of the police when there is any protest on the campus.

Chandigarh, March 10
Panjab University is all set to introduce a new software to keep cases of change of examination centres at bay.

This year itself more than six superintendents have been debarred for their involvement in centre change cases. In addition, several students who are involved in such cases have also been fined Rs 5,000.

Out of the 300 centres of examinations under Panjab University, such incidents of centre change without prior permission of authorities is found in 10-12 centres on an average.

The superintendents, who have been penalised, were hand in glove with students. They facilitated them to cheat in exams and permitted them to change their centres.

In some cases, students have also been found forging their PUPIN numbers, which is their identity as PU students in exams. They show the coloured photocopies of the same in examination centres.

Now, after the case of PUSU leader Simranjit Dhillon, came to light recently, in which the examination centre of Muktsar was debarred, the authorities are preparing to check similar cases of centre change across the state through the new filter software.

With nearly 2.5 lakh students appearing for the examinations conducted by PU each year, officials claimed that it was difficult to find out the number of extra candidates appearing in each centre manually.

Now with the new software, names in the cut list would be matched with the system. “It is hard to find out the irregularities manually. There are so many students appearing each year. As there are 300 centres, chances of checking irregularities are less,” said Prof AK Bhandari, Controller of Examination, PU.

Chandigarh, March 10
The department of microbiology and biotechnology of the GGDSD College, Sector 32, organised a two-week workshop on “From Petri Plate to Bioreactor” on the college premises.

The workshop is being sponsored by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, New Delhi

Students were apprised of various aspects of bioprocess engineering and large-scale production of metabolites. Experts from various institutes and industries delivered talks and conducted a practical training session for the participants.

Anup Verma from the department of biotechnology and environmental engineering, Thapar University, Patiala, highlighted the concept of bioreactor, its design and control parameters. He gave a demonstration on control system of the bioreactor.

Dr VK Joshi, head of the department, post-harvest technology, and Dr YS Parmar from the University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, dwelt on the production of wine using various microbial and substrate system, including jamun, kiwi, apricot, grapes and apple. Students got a chance to witness a demonstration of wine making as part of the workshop.

Chandigarh, March 10
The much-publicised “Jazzy B Nite” at Jhankaar-2010, organised by the Panjab University Campus Students Council, was an ultimate crowd-puller.

The nite was the last attraction of the three-day event. Jazzy B took to the stage around 8.30 pm and fans went berserk. He began his performance with a ‘shabad’ and later entertained the crowd with some of his hit singles.

The youthful crowd danced to “Romeo bana ke munde rakh te” and “Aya main gaddi mod ke.”

Karan Sharma, a law student, said: “The show is just as expected, extremely crowded, well attended, began late.”

Amanpreet from Sarojini Hostel, said: “It’s not very often we have a live performance by a singer of his stature and popularity. No wonder, students are having a great time.”

Chandigarh, March 10
A three-day workshop on e-content development for assistant and associate professors of government colleges got underway at Government College for Girls, Sector 11, here today. More than 300 faculty members from Government College for Girls, Sector 42, Government College for Commerce and Business Administration, Sector 42, Government Home Science College, Sector 10, and Government College for Girls, Sector 11, Chandigarh, are participating in the workshop.

The workshop is an initiative of Education Department, Chandigarh administration. The objectives are to change the traditional teaching-learning process, to orient the faculty for new teaching-methodology, to develop the skills and competencies for generating e-content and to make it available for students and teachers.

Dr DR Vij, an eminent academician, was the resource person. Dr Vij has been honoured with Balraj Sahni National Award in 2006 and the NCTE has conferred the lifetime achievement award on him. He has also been closely associated with the UGC, NCERT and numerous universities. He has authored books on pedagogy, psychology and poetry. During his presentation, he reflected upon effectiveness of teaching and quoted many philosophers and scholars to put across his view.

Chandigarh, March 10
Dr ML Verma, associate professor, department of physics, GGDSD College, Sector 32-C, has been granted a major research project entitled “Dielectric studies of Chalcogenide Glasses for Electronic Devices” by the UGC, New Delhi.

Financial assistance of Rs 9.61 lakh has been sanctioned for carrying out the research work. The project will be done under the co-supervision of Dr SK Tripathi and Dr Navdeep Goyal of department of physics, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

According to Dr Verma, chalcogenide glasses have a wide range of applications, which include solar energy conversion, optical mass memories, electron beam memories and multipliers, infra-red detectors, ultrasonic delay lines, threshold and memory switches.

Principal Dr AC Vaid congratulated Dr Verma on his achievement and wished him success for his research work.