Barwala (Panchkula), March 20
Government College at Barwala continues to run from a primary school building even though the construction of the building for the college was completed about two years ago.

There is no road connectivity to the college building from the main town and the building is still under the possession of the public works department, which has not handed over the complex to the education department.

The area is inhabited by the Rajput community which doesn’t allow its girls to move to other town or cities, including Panchkula, for higher education. Keeping this in view, the college was started in 1993 and at present, arts and commerce courses are being taught to about 430 students, including 350 girls.

The principal, Ila Johar, said they had taken up the mater with the district administration some time ago and it had promised to construct a road on the shortest route to the college as the approved road was about 2-km long and students and staff faced difficulty in reaching the college.

She said the DC, Pankaj Yadav, had recently visited the college for the annual prize distribution function and had assured them that work on the approved kutcha road would start soon.

The DC said he had already inspected the site and given necessary directions to the BDO and the tehsildar of the area in this regard and asked them to complete the earth filling work so that the college could start functioning from the new building from the next academic session. He had also directed the PWD to complete the necessary formalities for handling over the college to the education department.

A senior lecturer of the college, Jai Narain, said due to paucity of space, they had to return funds to the tune of Rs 3.5 lakh sanctioned for the purchase of infrastructure for the college.

He said if the building was handed over to them, they could start new science and professional courses, besides postgraduate courses in arts and commerce so that the girls did not have to move out of the town for higher education.

Chandigarh, March 20
While the UT education department’s expenditure for 2009-2010 may have hit an all-time high with Rs 27 crore, it seems to have failed to enhance the quality of education for government school students.

On the face of it, the latest project report of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) is impressive -- the education department has “utilised” all funds allocated to it in the 2009-2010 financial year for boosting infrastructure of city schools. The department has reportedly built 75 new classrooms with 91 new classes under construction and 119 more being planned. Funds have been set aside to build five more schools in addition to plans to make 10 cooking sheds for the regularisation of the midday meal scheme.

Although the report makes one positive about the latest budget allocation of around Rs 38 crore, a review of the situation at various schools makes it evident that the allocation of crores of rupees has only translated into shelved plans year after year.

The recently built classrooms apparently failed their very purpose when in several schools like Government High School (GHS), Vikas Nagar, students appearing for the CBSE board exam had to sit on the ground due to lack of space.

In periphery schools like that of Hallo Majra, Dadu Majra and Mauli Jagran, besides Government Primary School in Sector 42 and the government primary school at the PGI, students continue to either sit under trees or in cramped classrooms with broken benches.

In many schools, especially primary schools, even decent toilet facilities are a distant dream. The department has once again “announced” the construction of school buildings even while the administration has failed to keep its promise of providing pre-fabricated structures.

A survey conducted by the department reveals that barring a few government model schools, most do not even have a library while in some schools, a library comprises only a cupboard of books.

In almost all government schools that have libraries, students have not been issued books for the past six years. The laboratories are no better and the students continue to get practical assessment without even having ever done an experiment.

In periphery schools, the teacher-student ratio is 1:80, which is way more than 1:40 prescribed by the CBSE.

The UT administration has been trying without success to get many private schools to adopt government schools.

SSA Budget

A programme for the repair and upgrade of school infrastructure has been planned during the 2009-2010 financial year. The engineering department would be spending around Rs 10 crore in addition to the Sarv Siksha Abhiyan budget to upgrade the infrastructure by constructing additional rooms, kitchen sheds and pre-fabricated structures in various government schools.

Ailing Schools

Government High School, Mauli Jagran, GHS, Vikas Nagar, Government School, Hallo Majra, Colony Number 4, Dadu Majra, Indira Colony, Government Model School, Sector 42, GHS, Mani Majra, Government Primary School, PGI, Government Primary School, Sector 52, Government Model School-22, Government School-25, Railway Colony, and GMS-27

Chandigarh, March 20
Blame it on swanky glossy men’s magazines or the likes of John Ibrahims, Salman Khans and Shah Rukhs who bare and flaunt their well sculpted bodies, the Indian male is today getting more conscious about his physical appeal than even before.

And incidentally it’s not only the battle of the “bulge” that he is fighting today. From orthodontic surgeries for the perfect smile and chiselled jaws to tummy tucks and abdomen sculpting for a six pack and breast reduction for a well shaped chest, men are going under the scalpel for nearly everything.

If figures are any indication, the women-men ratio for cosmetic surgeries today is now almost 60:40, which earlier was only 90:10. “Men are getting more conscious about their physique and if this trend continues at the going pace, they might even turn the tables on the fairer sex,” says Dr KM Kapoor, a cosmetic surgeon from Fortis.

Dr RK Sharma, head of plastic surgery department at the PGI, says: “The most common procedure in men is breast reduction. Both young and middle-aged men are now asking for this because they want to look good. We do about 30-40 such surgeries now as compared to five-10 in a year earlier.”

Various hospitals in the city have reported an approximate 40 to 50 per cent rise in the number of men going in for breast correction procedures in the past few years.

Dr Kapoor says that a hairy chest may have once been considered manly, but not anymore. He revealed that young men in their 20s now want to permanently get rid of their sagging breasts and back hair. “This procedure costs between Rs 20,000 and Rs 50,000, depending on the number of sittings,” he adds.

Dr Sharma agrees that men are much more conscious of their bodies these days.

Chandigarh, March 20
The ghazal concert by invincible ghazal king Jagjit Singh at the Nehru Bhavan will be a remembrance for music lovers.The concert organised by the Durga Das Foundation and with The Tribune Group as the media sponsor, featured the maestro after over two years. As the sonorous and masculine voice of the maestro wafted across the otherwise panoramic and tranquil ambiance at the Nehru Bhavan, the audience got enraptured.

Jagjit Singh commenced the programme with a soulful alaap in raga tilk kamod to dole out the ghazal “Kuch na kuch jaroor hona hai” which was embellished by soothing jugalbandi with all instrumentalists. The very first item gave the index of the versatile genius of Jagjit Singh.

Amidst applause he rendered “Tumne badle hamse gin gin ke liye” in which he modulated his voice to give expression to the intended emotions in the ghazal. He also presented the soulful “Chithi na koi sandesh” which was well received by the audience. After the soulful rendition the maestro presented “Maye ni maye”, Shiv Kumar Batalvi classic.

He brought alive the anguish and pain of unrequited love in perfect silence among the audience. His repertoire melted into romanticism with “Tere aane ki jab khabar mahke”, which marked the variety of rhythmic patterns and interludes by instrumentalists and audience clapping to every move. After “Hosh walon ko khbar kya”, he again presented “Menu tere shabab lai baitha” from Shiv Batalvi.

After the interval he opened up with evergreen hit “Ye kagaz ki kashti” followed by “Baat nikalegi”, “Ahista Ahista”, Ghalib numbers and folk songs like “Miti Da Bawa” and many more. Admiring at the amazing stamina and level of excellence of every rendition during the three-hour concert, the audience gave him a standing ovation.

Mohali, March 20
In view of rehabilitation of the victims of 1984 riots, the government of Punjab has announced 50 per cent subsidy on the allotment of commercial booths at Mohali. GMADA officials disclosed that the Chief Minister had accorded formal approval to the allotment of these booths at 50 per cent of their existing price.

This is in continuation of the decision taken earlier by the department of revenue, rehabilitation and disaster management, regarding allotment of booths to riot victims. These booths would be allotted in the newly developed Sector 77.

GMADA is in the process of announcing the scheme inviting applications for the allotment of these booths. Each booth would cost Rs 10.05 lakh against the prevailing price of Rs 20.10 lakh. The department of revenue, rehabilitation and disaster management would contribute the amount of subsidy that comes to around Rs 10.05 per booth. In case the number of applicants is more than the number of booth sites, a draw of lots would be taken out to find the successful applicants.

The riot victims possessing red cards and continuously staying in Punjab since 1984 are eligible for the allotment of booth. The riot victims would be required to certify that he/she has not been allotted a commercial site at Mohali earlier under any scheme floated by the government to rehabilitate the riot victims.

Prospective allottees are required to pay 25 per cent of the said price within 30 days of the allotment. Remaining 75 per cent price will be payable in four equated yearly instalments. Lump-sum payment of the remaining 75 per cent price would entitle the allottee to avail 5 per cent rebate.

Panchkula, March 20
The Residents Welfare Association (RWA), Sector 4, has urged the district administration for vacating the community centre in the area so that they could solemnise the marriage of their wards besides holding various functions.

Addressing the media here yesterday KD Prabhakar, president, RWA, said the residents of the sector were facing problems in performing marriages or holding other functions as they had to book hotels or other community centres located in other sectors.

He said the roadways buses were being parked in the parking area situated in front of the market causing inconvenience to the residents.

Chandigarh, March 20
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-I has directed city-based Sindhi Sweets to pay a compensation of Rs 5,000 for selling adulterated item to Gautam Singal, DSP (intelligence wing), Punjab, along with the refund of Rs 40 received from him towards the sale of a fruitcake.

Gautam Singal, a resident of Rupnagar, in a report submitted to the forum said he had purchased a fruitcake worth Rs 40 along with other food items for a total sum of Rs 277 from Sindhi Sweets. He found an insect inside the cake on which he lodged a complaint with the police and director, health services, Chandigarh, and deposited the said cake in original, which was sent to the public analyst for examination from where it was reported that the contents of the sample contained five insects and were therefore adulterated.

In their written reply, the sweet shop submitted that the fruitcakes and other articles sold by them were of the best quality and there was no insect in the cake. The complainant after purchasing the said food articles started demanding discounts from their employee and when the discount was not given, he became angry and threatened them. The complainant had tampered with the cake and had put the insects in that, so as to malign their reputation and to harass them, as they had not given discount to him.

Chandigarh, March 20
Expecting huge rush of summer travellers, airline operators have introduced four new flights from the city, besides adding new destinations from March 28.Offbeat destinations like Bangalore and Leh will see new flights added. With the peak summer season starting from the first week of April, airlines officials estimate a 20 per cent rise in domestic tourists this year.

Kingfisher will start a new airbus flight to Bangalore from Chandigarh via Delhi and Mumbai from March 28. Similarly, GoAir and Kingfisher will start additional flight to Delhi from Chandigarh around the same time.

“Bookings have been very strong and Delhi and Mumbai continue to be the hot destinations,” said John, managing supervisor for GoAir Airlines.

In view of the passenger rush, Kingfisher would to induct Boeing 737 on the Chandigarh-Delhi route from March 28 with revised timings. The Delhi-Chandigarh flight, which used to land at the city airport at 9.35 am, would arrive at 8.15 am and take off at 8.55 am to facilitate more passengers.

“There is more demand for seats for Srinagar than Jammu. For a 65-seater plane, occupancy usually hovers around 45, which have gone up in recent days. Chandigarh-Delhi evening flights are going full,” said, Alok, assistant manager, Kingfisher.

Indian Airlines also confirmed similar trends in passenger response. Airlines staff said flight occupancy for 174-seater plane flying to Delhi and Chandigarh had gone up to an average of 150 passengers and is expected to go up further in the coming weeks. 

Chandigarh, March 20
After the conclusion of arguments in the cash-at-judge's-door case, the CBI court adjourned the hearing till March 26.

CBI Special Judge Darshan Singh has fixed the next date in the case after Sanjeev Bansal, the prime accused in the case, and Anupam Gupta, the counsel on behalf of the petitioner, the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, had concluded their arguments.

Gupta, who had moved a protest petition against the closure report filed by the CBI in the case, maintained that offences were made out against the accused and quoted several earlier Supreme Court judgments to stress his point that “opinion of the Attorney General in the case was not a binding”.

In response to Bansal’s assertion that the opinion of the Attorney General was a binding, Gupta said, “The then Attorney General’s opinion that no case is made out against the accused is not a binding. The CBI says a case is made out. According to the CBI manual, the opinion of the CBI director is final and the Attorney General finds no place in the scheme of things as per the investigating agency's own manual.” “In an important cases where the CBI director disagrees with the advice of the director of prosecution, the matter shall be referred to the Attorney General of India for his views. Thereafter, the decision taken by the CBI director, keeping in view of the opinion of the attorney general, would be deemed final,” the manual reads.

Bansal, who is arguing his own case, cited the multi-crore fodder scam of Bihar in support of his point. Gupta, however, said it was the report of the “officer in-charge of investigations that is treated as final”. He told the court that the law had been continuously evolving and made a mention of a few judgments ranging from the Taj corridor case to Hawala case to stress that the issue here needed to be seen from a wider perspective.

Gupta had filed a 16-page report on the behalf of the association before the CBI court yesterday as evidence in support of their petition protesting the closure a report filed by the investigating agency.

He said that statements of various witnesses in the case supported the detailed report. It includes the statement of Sanjeev Bansal's wife, Renu Bansal, and RK Jain, a judicial officer of Haryana. While referring to the report submitted by Gupta on behalf of the association, Sanjeev Bansal in the court contested the assertions that the amount of Rs 15 lakh was actually bribe money meant for a sitting judge.

Criticising the then Attorney General, Milon Banerjee, Gupta said, “The CBI in one voice said the case is made out, it is only the Attorney General who said that no case is made out,” and added: “Banerjee had reduced his office by giving this opinion. This opinion could not be taken into consideration by the trial court in view of the SC’s judgment in the Taj corridor case.” Gupta also claimed that he would withdraw from the case if the present Attorney General endorsed Banerjee’s opinion. The case came to light nearly two years back when Rs 15 lakh was "wrongly delivered" at the residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur of the High Court here following which she reported the matter to the police. Ram, a clerk of former Haryana Additional Advocate General Sanjeev Bansal, the prime accused in the case, had allegedly delivered the money after which the police registered an FIR on August 16, 2008. The police had then arrested the two of them, along with a Delhi-based businessman, Ravinder, for their alleged involvement in the scam. However, they were released on bail later.

The case was later handed over to the CBI on August 28, 2008. The then High Court judge Justice Nirmal Yadav, now judge of the Uttarakhand High Court, had denied the allegation that the money delivered at justice Kaur's residence was actually meant for her.

Chandigarh, March 20
Even after four days of publication of the notice of forfeiting the security of JP Associates, which had set up a garbage processing plant at Dadu Majra, the company is yet to receive an official communiqué in this regard.

On March 17, an information was circulated to the media by the MC authorities that as the company had failed to make the garbage plant fully operational, its performance security amounting to over to Rs 1.16 crore had been forfeited under clause 5.1.

A representative of the Company, RD Sharma, however, stated that they have not received any letter from MC so far. He said the company was not aware on what grounds the MC had taken this decision as the company had been making changes in the plant as per the directions of the authorities.

However, questions are being raised about the outcome of the findings of the three-member committee of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, constituted on the demand of the MC to monitor the plant.

According to their report submitted to authorities on December 21, the plant had installed high standard machinery and meets all the norms, required for the processing of garbage.

Whereas the show-cause notice issued to the company is contrary to the findings of the committee, as it mentions that the company has failed to install necessary machinery and equipment required to make the plant fully functional. As per the report of the authorities, the company is not following the processing of segregation, shredding, drying and formation of RDF in the plant. Contrary to which the ministry report mentions that the plant has the facility of initial segregation of solid waste, separation of magnetic material, drying of segregation and homogenised product, product and its classification and separation into inert and RDF.

Chandigarh, March 20
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-I has directed National Insurance Company Limited to pay Rs 67,655 to Haryana Warehousing Corporation, Hisar, along with 9 per cent interest, with effect from July 13, 2004.

The corporation had filed a complaint that it entered into a contract with the company for insuring its stocks, stored at the state warehouse at Rattia in Hisar district.

Two incidents of theft took place at the warehouse, the first on February 10, 2003, and the second on the night of February 18, 2003.

A total of 167 wheat bags were stolen in the first incident and seven in the second. The insurance company was subsequently informed of the incidents.

The complainant had forwarded FIR copies and other documents to the company and lodged a claim for Rs 1,09,734.59.

The company did not settle the matter and asked for documents related to the departmental inquiry and the untraceable report. Information on the departmental inquiry was given to the company.

Regarding the untraceable report, it was informed that the police had submitted a challan in the court of the Fatehabad judicial magistrate, but the claim had not been settled till date. In its written reply, the insurance company took preliminary objections that the complainant had failed to supply the requisite documents despite repeated reminders.

It requested the complainant to submit documents claim-wise at the earliest. The complainant was also asked to give the untraceable report in original, countersigned by the SP or SSP.

As the complainant did not supply the documents required, it was not possible to keep it pending for an indefinite period.

The counsel for the insurance company argued that the complainant was running a warehouse business for profit and therefore, the stock insured was for commercial purposes, which excluded it from the definition of a consumer, as defined under the Consumer Protection Act.

Chandigarh, March 20
Participation of students from rural schools and periphery government schools marked the end of CHASCON, Chandigarh Science Congress at Panjab University here today.

Even the examination time failed to dampen the spirit of students, who sported a confident look with their laptops, CDs and pen drives ready to present their PowerPoint presentation. Presence of schoolchildren, who participated in events like quiz, PowerPoint presentations, model display and poster presentation contest, added flavour to the congress, which also consisted of an engaging industry interface during the post-lunch session.

Students from government high schools of Mauli Jagraon, Timbermarket and other areas, who were accompanied by their teachers, felt elated to be a part of the event.

“The students were enthusiastic to prepare for the congress, since such a platform has never been given to them before,” said Shruti, a teacher at GMSSS, Sector 26.

Saupin’s School gets notice
Tribune News service

Chandigarh, March 20
The local court today sent a notice to the city-based Saupin’s School on an application filed by Surinder Goel.

He had presented a fresh suit in the court under the order 30 Rule 1 and 2 read with Section 151 of the CrPC for the grant of temporary injunction restraining the school from increasing the fee.

He argued that the school couldn’t enhance the fees unless approved by Director Primary Education and the Parent Teachers Association as per the judgement of the Apex Court in a Review Petition of 2004.

Goel also said his two kids were studying in the school and at the time of admission, the school charged Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, respectively, which was still lying with the school.

According to sources, as many as 1,550 students are studying in the school and deposited the security and the total of the said amount comes to around 1,16,25,000 and the rate of interest carry over years can be astonishing.

He mentioned that the school was charging the tuition fees for two months in one instalment and thus, keeping the amount and earning interest and that’s why he moved his application in the court seeking mandatory injunction restraining the school from increasing the fees.