Chandigarh, March 15
Close on the heels of the Chandigarh administration being accused of flouting rules in the land allotment at the IT park, an MHA report has alleged that the CHB was used by the administration “to circumvent parliamentary controls by keeping money out of government accounts”.

“The implementation of the RGCTP Habitat Project (Prideasia) is a case of circumvention of control mechanism and manipulations of procedures to bypass the system of budgetary control over executive by the legislature. The CHB has been used as an instrument to park funds out of government accounts,” the MHA in its counter reply to the administration’s response to its special audit has said.

Terming the acquisition of land for the IT habitat project as “completely unjustified and criminal wastage of public money”, the report alleged that because of the unprofessional manner in which the project was handled even the developer defaulted on commitment

The money received from the developer had been put into joint escrow account under the joint control of the CHB and the UT administration. The money has still not been credited into the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI).

It observed: “There appears to be a deliberate attempt by the administration to bypass the budgetary process of the Union of India by not crediting the receipt to the government account.”

“It would have been expected from the administration to address the shortcomings and immediately start taking appropriate actions such as depositing money in government accounts, deliberating the application of National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy with the MHA, reviewing of direct allotments and reviewing of land use of the acquired land but it has chosen to raise irrelevant issues and putting them out of context,” the report said, demanding a probe by a specialised agency.

Putting the administration on the mat, the report noted that: “The developer has not even deposited the complete amount with the administration which appears to be more sympathetic to the cause of the developer than the government whose interest it is supposed to guard.”

Chandigarh, March 15
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held the police at fault for acting under pressure in a case against two medicos.

Passing strictures, Justice Ranjit Singh categorically said the police had been swayed by persons “holding influential position”.

The rap on the knuckles came on a petition by a doctor couple against the registration of a criminal case of negligence. Making it clear that Dr Gurdeep Singh Kochhar and Dr Kanwarjit Kochhar were implicated in the case registered a year after receiving a complaint, Justice Ranjit Singh also quashed the FIR.

The matter also stands referred to the UT Administrator, the IGP and the Home Secretary for looking into the role of the police.

The case was registered in December 2005 on the complaint of a city resident, Manmeet Singh Mattewal, who alleged negligence after the death of his 32-year-old wife Charanpreet Kaur admitted for delivery to Deep Nursing Home-21 run by the Kochhars. The newborn also did not live.

After going through medical reports, Justice Ranjit Singh ruled: “It is clear the standard laid down by the Supreme Court to prosecute a doctor for criminal negligence and rashness is certainly not made out in this case. Still, the investigating agency insisted on the presentation of challan, violating the mandate of law. This is begging an explanation. It is not a case where the investigating agency is not conscious of the requirement of law.”

Quoting the arguments put forth by the petitioners, he said the FIR was related to the change in government of Punjab. The officer working as the SSP in Chandigarh was stated to be from the Punjab cadre and it was urged that the FIR was registered due to the influence of a relative of the complainant, who came to occupy a high position in the state of Punjab after the change in government in 2007.

“Influence by person holding influential position is at play. The police apparently is seen abdicating its duty to act independently. The police must realise that biased investigation leads to violation of constitutionally guaranteed right to citizens.

“Despite four reports by different medical boards ruling out negligence or rashness, the police for some undisclosed reason made yet another effort to get a favourable opinion by setting up another board. What for and where was the need?” he observed.

Mohali, March 15
Following in the footsteps of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) has generated 4.4 million barcodes for answer books to maintain their secrecy during the ongoing board exams.

About 700,000 students are appearing in the matriculation and senior secondary level exams being conducted by the board. For various subject combinations separate barcodes have been assigned. An optical mark reader (OMR) sheet is attached to each answer book to maintain secrecy.

PSEB chairman Dalbir Singh Dhillon said, “To set new standards in secrecy it has been decided that, after the exam, a part of the OMR sheet would be torn off so that the evaluators or those handing the answer books don’t come to know about the student’s identity”.

On the pattern of CBSE, the unique barcode assigned to each and every answer book to maintain secrecy during evaluation will enable the board authorities to check incidents of tampering. “Even CBSE and other regional boards have evinced keen interest about the manner in which the barcodes are being assigned”, a senior PSEB official said.

Chandigarh, March 15
If fever, burning sensation in the eyes, running nose, sore throat and upset stomach are some of your complaints then you’re probably affected by a virus infection that is rife in the city! Doctors and virologists say the infection can be due to several reasons and not just fluctuating weather.

“Be it virus or bacteria, they have many strains. Each strain produces its own set of symptoms. That is why, every year we hear of different symptoms of viral fever,” says Dr Vipin Kaushal, medical superintendent, GMCH-32.

He, however, says no pathological tests have been conducted and no samples sent to labs so far.

“The fever is prevalent for a week and then it goes,” adds Dr Kaushal.

“Those who are already unwell are likely to be affected more. So, they need to be careful during the change of season as more cases are reported during this time,” says a senior doctor at Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16.

The health officer advises extra precaution as far as catching the infection is concerned.

“Avoid coming too close to a person with such symptoms. Since the virus is air-borne, one is likely to catch the infection easily. People should take a lot of vitamin C in the form of fruits and juices,” Dr Kaushal prescribes.

According to doctors: “This viral infection cannot be avoided because it’s already out there. Antibiotics are pretty ineffective. The sickness runs its course for five-seven days and then the body heals itself. Medication can be taken to keep symptoms under control.”

Chandigarh, March 15
Getting approval for the building plan of a commercial building, multiplex or hotel will no longer be a cakewalk.

The UT estate office has found a novel way to deal with shrinking parking spaces in the city, especially at commercial buildings.

The administration has given clear guidelines to the estate office and the municipal corporation that proper parking spaces must be earmarked in the plan before approval is granted to building plans or commercial use is allowed.

The situation on this front is particularly bad, especially at multiplexes, industrial areas, educational institutions and important offices.

The administration has notified that 80 per cent of the zone area can be used as parking space at non-residential areas and ‘bhavans’.

Multi-level parking above the ground level has been exempt from floor area ratio (FAR). It has been notified that this space cannot be used for any other purpose except parking.

The dministration has also allowed hotels, multiplexes and other commercial buildings to have multi-level mechanical parking areas.

According to official sources, this is being done on account of the increasing number of vehicles, adding up to the existing ones, in the city.

As per the administration’s norms for parking spaces in commercial buildings, a commercial plot measuring between two and four kanal with per 100 square-metre built-up area should have two equivalent car space areas.

For a plot more than one acre with per 100 square-metre built-up area, four equivalent car space areas are needed. For a school site, 20 per cent of the total built-up area is for surface parking and 33 ECS acres is required for basement parking.

Chandigarh, March 15
Punjab Governor-cum-UT Administrator Shivraj Patil held a public hearing session at the UT Secretariat here today.

A total of 28 grievances were brought to his notice, including allotment of house and booth, job on compassionate grounds, re-employment of NTT teachers and complaint against cooperation department staff.

The Administrator gave a patient hearing to various delegations and individuals, who came to present their grievances and seek solutions to their problems. Most of the problems were sorted out on the spot. Senior officers were directed to initiate immediate action in respect of requests which needed examination to give relief to applicants in a time-bound manner as prescribed under the law.

Responding to the demand of an individual regarding the refund of money deposited with the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB), Patil said beneficiaries of any project of the CHB should not suffer due to any internal differences between the CHB and its partners.

On the matter relating to the Chandigarh Safai Karamchari Union, the Administrator directed the municipal corporation Commissioner to examine the matter thoroughly within the parameters of the law.

Taking a serious note of a senior citizen’s grievance of being harassed by his son and causing mental torture, Patil asked the IGP to take necessary action and ensure justice.

Adviser to the UT Administrator, Pradip Mehra, Secretary to the Governor, MP Singh, Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar, municipal corporation Commissioner Roshan Sankaria, Chandigarh Housing Board Chairman Mohanjeet Singh, IGP Pradeep Srivastava and ADC PS Shergill were present.

Chandigarh, March 15
“A visit to a blood donation centre is like a pilgrimage to the holiest places of all religions,” says Satpal Bansal, a voluntary blood donor, who has the distinction of donating blood 141 times in the last 44 years.

A retired State Bank of Patiala employee, he believes that it has become a ritual for him to visit a blood centre every month.

Treating every volunteer working at these camps as ‘pujaris’, he lauds their role in enlightening the masses about the need to donate blood.

He feels that the responsibility of donors does not end by donating blood as they should continue the crusade to motivate people to join in this noble mission to save precious lives of the needy.

Revealing his dream project, Bansal states that his mission is to involve the young generation in creating awareness about blood donation among children by educating them about the cause.

He has prepared background material in this regard and has been contacting various government agencies to make voluntary blood donation a mass movement.

Bansal has been approaching various state governments in the region to allow him to organise exhibitions and quizzes at schools so that inhibitions about blood donation are removed from the minds of the people.

He has expressed surprise at the attitude of the authorities, who have only been giving him assurances, but have not taken any concrete action so far.

He has never asked for any financial aid from governments to organise exhibitions or camps at educational institutions.

“All my life, I have been a passionately collecting blood donation badges in India and abroad. I have travelled extensively and used my minimal resources in collecting those. Though I have never thought of parting with my treasure, it is of little interest to my family and friends. This hobby has become my biggest asset in old age. This is my ‘jamapunji’ (life-long collection) which will see me through my last days,” he adds.

Narrating his long journey, he says, “At the age of 17, I first donated blood during an NCC camp in 1965. After that, there was no looking back. In 1967, I joined the State Bank of Patiala and continued my campaign for blood donation. Since 1981, I have been donating blood four times a year,” says Bansal.

“People do not know the benefits of donating blood. Blood donation is good for health. Another reason why people do not donate blood is because no one persuades them to do so. If you motivate people, they will come forward. It has to be conveyed to the masses that through this, they can be a part of the noblest task of saving precious lives,” he says.

Bansal met officials of the Chandigarh administration today to discuss his project of creating awareness about blood donation at schools with them and they asked him to submit his proposal.

Panchkula, March 15
The district administration has made elaborate security arrangements for the thousands of devotees expected to attend the 9-day ‘Navratra mela’ beginning tomorrow at the Mansa Devi complex here.

In view of the perception of a threat to religious sites in the country the administration has put in place ‘three tier’ security measures to thwart any attempt at disrupting the event by subversive forces. Over 700 personnel including policemen and home guards besides scouts from schools will be deployed at the inner, middle and outer ring of the fair to ensure its smooth and safe conduct.

SP Maneesh Chaudhary along with four DSPs will supervise the operations. Metal detectors have been installed at the entry and exit points and the police has set up 13 ‘nakas’ (checkposts) to ward off “anti-social elements”. About 325 police personnel would join the local police to assist in handling the law and order situation. CCTV cameras have also been installed inside the temple complex as well as the parking area and other sensitive points. CID personnel and policemen in plain clothes will also be present to keep a close watch.

Giving details of the arrangements, deputy commissioner Pankaj Yadav said enough space had been earmarked this time to ensure the devotees did not face any problem in parking their vehicles.

"A separate parking lot set aside for two-wheelers, opposite the police post, has been allotted to the District Child Welfare Society, while the old parking lot for four wheelers has been allotted to the Red Cross. Proper lighting arrangements have been made, besides enough of barricades erected, for the devotees to have smooth passage from the parking lots to the main temple”, he said.

Yadav said the administration had provided the services of a duty magistrate as well as nodal and protocol officers to help the shrine board administration in ensuring there was no untoward incident at the fair. “Also, the district health department will provide 24-hour health services supervised by the senior medical officer along with medical officers, staff nurses, pharmacists and other paramedical staff”, he added.

Yadav said ‘bhajan sandhya’ would be organized in the evening near the musical fountain area, adding popular singer Anoop Jalota would perform on March 19. ‘For ‘bhandaras’ (community kitchen) separate sites have been earmarked where 12 ‘bhandaras’ would be organized during the fair. Besides this the administration has also set up night shelter tents with a capacity to house 500 people. These would have separate bathrooms for men and women along with temporary toilets,” he added.

Chandigarh, March 15
“The Science Express”, mounted on a specially designed train will reach the city railway station on March 18.

The train will be at the station till March 20. The 16-coach train has been launched by the department of science and technology, the German Ministry of Higher Education and Research, and Max Planck Society.

The aim is to nurture curiosity among the youth and rekindle their waning interest in science.

The Science Express started on October 2 from Gandhinagar in Gujarat will travel over 56 locations, covering a distance of about 18,000 km in seven months.

The exhibition, with more than 300 large-format visual images, over 150 video clips and multi-media exhibits, deals with cutting-edge research and technology. In the first two phases of the project, the train successfully covered 108 stations.

According to a press release, in the 12 exhibition coaches, most of exhibits have been developed in Germany, while some are indigenous. Through these, the visitors explore wide areas in science in a fascinating manner, the release added.

There is a dedicated coach on “Climate Change - cause, effect and mitigation”, sponsored by HSBC as an initiative of the “Earth Sciences Forum”.

Exhibits on “Energy Conservation” and poster on “Nutrition” are the new attractions in the third phase.

Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, has entrusted Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC), Ahmedabad, for co-ordinating the “Science Express” across India.

Though the exhibition is open to all, it primarily targets high school and college students. It attempts to develop scientific temper among them and encourage them to pursue careers in science.

Chandigarh, March 15
A six-day workshop on “Qualitative Methods and Techniques In Social Science Research” began at ICSSR here today.

Organised by the northwestern regional centre of ICSSR, the training workshop is attended by 50 young research scholars and teachers from different parts of India, including Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Panjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.

Besides, foreign students from Africa and Iran and from different disciplines in social sciences are also participating.

The workshop will draw resource persons from different research institutions and universities from Delhi and other states.

Prof Bhupinder Brar, director of the regional centre, emphasised the relevance of such workshops for research scholars in social sciences. — TNS

Chandigarh, March 15
After the duplication of question papers, it’s the delay in provision of the approved marking scheme, which is all set to haunt the CBSE Class IX results now.

While almost all city schools are through with the Class IX examination, most of them are still waiting for the CBSE’s approved marking scheme to start checking the papers and prepare the results.

“We are through with the Class IX exams, but could not start the evaluation, as we have not received the CBSE’s marking scheme.

As per directions of the CBSE, we were asked to evaluate Class IX papers strictly on the basis of marking scheme to be provided by the board. Thus, we could not check papers. We are waiting for the scheme, which is yet to arrive,” said a principal.

“We are done with the exams and now waiting for directions on how to check the papers. As the papers were set by the CBSE this time, they had categorically stated that evaluation would be done as per their marking scheme only. This can delay results,” added another principal.

However, when contacted DR Yadav, regional director, CBSE, said,

“We have sent the schemes to some of the schools already and others will be getting it soon. We will also upload it on our website.”

As part of its Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation System, the CBSE in a bid to bring uniformity, had set the Class IX papers of all schools this time.

The schools were provided with the CDs of question papers and respective passwords. The plan, however, backfired after schools started getting the same papers due to varied datesheets, which led to a mass leak.

As part of this programme only, the CBSE had asked schools to evaluate papers on the basis of its marking scheme.

Meanwhile, sources said the CBSE, Delhi, had permitted schools to set the question papers themselves in the wake of recent duplication of examination papers.

Chandigarh, March 15
IGNOU held its 21st convocation at Panjab University here today.

It was the first convocation ceremony for newly-established Regional Centre of Chandigarh. While the main function at IGNOU headquarters was presided over by SK Joshi, an eminent scientist and former director-general, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the guest of honour at the centre was Pradeep Srivastava, IPS, IG Police Chandigarh.

Vice-Chancellor in his annual report enlisted achievements of IGNOU and congratulated more than 1.33 lakh awardees enrolled in different programmes at IGNOU.

He highlighted several new initiatives taken by IGNOU. These included on campus programmes, studies through community colleges, the scheme of Gyan Deep based on IGNOU Army Community Colleges for Education and Empowerment of Jawans and Army personnel, convergence scheme of study through 427 partner institutions, e-villages scheme and many other collaborations.

Prof SK Joshi dwelt on magnitude of IGNOU operations and role in providing access, equity and quality to higher education learners. He expressed his concern over weak line education with industry and stressed to train young people through various programmes of IGNOU.

He said IGNOU already had programmes with industry, but it had to amplify its efforts. In his address, he deliberated upon sustainability of science, environment, climate change and human value.

Dr Asha Sharma welcomed Pradeep Srivastava and other eminent guests present at the auditorium of the University School of Open Learning (USOL) at Panjab University.

Dr Sharma presented the report of the Regional Centre. She said as many as 1,900 learners were enrolled in various courses at the centre since July, 2009, till the current session.

Chandigarh, March 15
The shutting down of the general enquiry counter at Panjab University by women staff during the working hours today led to a wide-spread resentment among students and parents.

A visit to the enquiry counter at the Aruna Ranjit Chandra Hall on the PU campus revealed the lackadaisical attitude of the women staff, who had closed down the main counter.

The women on duty were busy talking and to avoid any distraction, they had shut down the enquiry counter.

While the timings displayed at the counter were 9 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 5 pm, the university staff had leisurely shut down the enquiry window, while students were waiting outside the counter in long queues.

On the complaint of students, the correspondent captured the whole scene in her camera.

“I was passing by the university, so I thought of enquiring about my daughter’s entrance examination and the last date of submission of form, but the indifferent attitude of the staff took me by surprise,” rued a parent, present on the spot.

The “single window system” is actually meant for taking up the queries, when a woman on duty was questioned, she replied, “We have only a single window system here, therefore, the problems are taken up at this window, while the other windows at the counter remain closed.”

With parents and students queued up at the counter to enquire about the upcoming entrance examinations of OCET, PULEET, PhD, CET, MEd, and BEd, the apathetic attitude of the enquiry counter staff has become a cause of inconvenience for them. 

Chandigarh, March 15
The authorities of Panjab University today served a time-bound notice on the family of Nitin Jindal, a student of University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS), who was allegedly involved in the Boston molestation case. In addition, the authorities have also served a show cause notice on the other two students from Muktsar and Ludhiana Centre of PU, who had attended the conference.

The PU authorities were surprised to know that the same lawyer was approached by all 40 students who had been served a show cause notice for using the university’s name to attend the 56th Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN).

All of them gave the same explanation to the PU authorities.

These law students have threatened to drag the university authorities to the court, if any action was taken against them.

In their plea, all students claimed that they did not use the university’s name and went in their individual capacity by applying online.

They also stated that they were asked to name their groups, so they used “University School of law” as their group name. On the contrary, in the mail received by the university, from the HNMUN, the respondent from Boston had stated that this particular department had been banned, although no such department existed at PU.

Panchkula, March 15
Dedication, punctuality and continuity were three important aspects through which the students could achieve higher goals in life, said Panchkula DC Pankaj Yadav during the annual prize distribution function of Government College, Barwala, near here today.

Yadav said participation of students in sports and other cultural activities, along with academics, helped in their overall development. He said art of self-assessment was a must for students.

Lauding the role of the college teachers, Yadav said teachers and other college staff should sensitise students against female foeticide, as the girls’ ratio was declining in Punjab and Haryana.

Seven students were given college colour, 190 students got merit certificates and 15 students were given special prizes for their performance in academics, sports and other cultural activities.

College principal Ila Johar urged the DC for handing over the new college building to the college management, as the present building was not sufficient to accommodate over 450 students.

She said in the absence of proper infrastructure, the college was not able to start new courses.