Chandigarh, May 31
Pushing the Chandigarh police on the back foot, two persons, wanted in a case of assaulting policemen, attacked a police team yet again, making them run for their lives, at Mauli Jagran here this evening.

A police team had gone to the colony to arrest two brothers, who attacked a police party on May 17 in the locality.

The assailants damaged the scooter belonging to a policeman, which the latter left behind while running from the spot.

The accused then burnt the documents they found on the scooter before fleeing. Policemen suffered minor injuries in the attack.

Soon after the incident, DSP (East) Jaswant Singh Khaira reached the spot, accompanied by a heavy posse of the force. Senior officers had reprimanded the policemen for their cowardice.

Later a case of assaulting public servant, causing hurt, criminal intimidation and mischief by fire was registered on a complaint of sub-inspector Balbir Kanda.

Sources said the accused, Dhamma and Ranjit, were wanted in an attack, in which they broke the nose of a police constable and assaulted other policemen.

A police team comprising three sub-inspectors, Balbir Kanda, Sher Singh and Harish Kumar, assistant sub-inspector Prem Singh and four constables, Amarjit Singh, Supinder Singh, Mukesh and Ishwar Singh, went to the spot around 6:30 pm to arrest Dhamma and Ranjit.

Eyewitnesses said the family members of the accused, along with their mother and sister, began pelting the policemen with stones and threw utensils on them from the rooftop of their house.

They splashed water on them, making them a miserable lot in full public view. Rendered hapless by the sudden attack, the policemen opted to escape. The acquaintances of the accused, living in nearby houses, also pelted the policemen with stones. A policeman later said since they had no woman police officer with them, they were not in a position to control the women and had to retreat.

“With stones coming from all directions, we just managed to save ourselves,” one of the injured policemen, sub-inspector Sher Singh, later said.

The police said Ranjit and Dhamma had attacked the CIA staff of the Panchkula police earlier this month and were a band of notorious persons.

Chandigarh, May 31
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has finally given up on making a class XI admission policy and has given a free hand to affiliated schools to take their own decisions.

The board, which had for long been working on a policy to allocate class XI streams to hundreds of students securing the same grade, officially allowed schools to adopt methods which they deemed fit for admissions.

The move came after the apparent failure of the CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average), which was introduced as a replacement to percentage in the class X board exams earlier this year.

Given the fact that many students secured the same grades, the board had worked out average grade point of each student. The grade point, when multiplied by 9.5, yields the idicative percentage of each student. 

But the system failed the very first day, when over 200 students from the tricity ended up scoring the same CGPA.

This was followed by a circular issued to the schools on Friday, which made a reference to using indicative percentages of individual subjects to allocate streams, but actually, left the future of hundreds of students at the discretion of schools.

“In case of a tie between two or more candidates, the average subject-wise indicative percentage of marks obtained by the candidates in one compulsory language and the subjects they opt for in the higher secondary class should be taken into consideration. Schools can adopt other methods that they find suitable in their own context,” read the circular.

Chandigarh, May 31
It been over a month and-a-half since Lieut-Col SK Sharma (retd) of Mani Majra, allegedly assaulted by a doctor at a private health centre in Sector 46, has been running from pillar to post for getting a case registered against the accused.

Terming it a mockery of justice, the victim said he was called to the Sector 34 police station a month and-a-half after he reported the matter to the police.

“The accused offered to say sorry for the incident at the police station. I told him to apologise before my wife at the health centre where we were abused and assaulted. At this, the doctor just walked away from the police station. The police later handed me a daily diary report in the matter, saying this was what they could do,” lamented the former soldier.

Despite repeated attempts, the authorities at the health centre could not be contacted for comment.

Though he had apprised UT IGP PK Srivastva of the incident and had taken up the issue with UT SSP SS Srivastva, justice seemed to be eluding him.

Sharma, who retired from the Army in 1994, has so far got only assurances of “prompt” police action.

In his complaint lodged on April 26 at the public window of the UT police headquarters, Sector 9, he alleged that on April 21, he went to the hospital along with his wife Saroj Bala Sharma after taking an appointment from the doctor over telephone.

His wife had undergone an open brain surgery in 2002 and was advised a special treatment available at the centre.

“I dropped my wife at the porch and went to park my car. When I entered the reception area, I saw the doctor shouting at my wife. I told him to behave properly and he started beating me up. He hit me with the register he was carrying and my spectacles came off. I was helped by others,” Shama alleged while taking to Chandigarh Tribune.

“We have inquired the matter and found that there was no cognisable offence. It is a civil matter as both parties are levelling allegations against each other,” said inspector Udeypal Singh, SHO of the Sector 34 police station.

Chandigarh, May 31
The tug-of-war between the municipal corporation Commissioner (MC) Roshan Sunkaria and the ruling Congress has reached a high, with the latter deciding to meet Punjab Governor-cum-UT Administrator Shivraj Patil against the bureaucrat.

With the standoff between the Commissioner and the Mayor, Anu Chatrath, over the inauguration of the greenbelt at Mauli Jagran snowballing into a major confrontation between the elected representatives and the bureaucracy, the Congress is not ready to take the “insult” lying down.

In fact, the Congress top brass today met Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources Pawan Bansal at his residence to chalk out the strategy to take on the bureaucrat, who had repeatedly let the elected representatives down.

A senior leader said the commissioner had “wilfully” been defying senior functionaries of the Congress, including ministers.

For instance, Sunkaria was absent from the function where Union Tourism Minister Selja laid the foundation stones of the Garden of Conifers and the Garden of Palms recently. Similarly, the Commissioner has absented himself from several functions of Pawan Bansal organised by the civic body.

Congress sources said the party would formally come out with allegations against the officer “on record” to put the record straight and counter the “false propaganda” of the BJP-SAD opposition.

Last year, Sunkaria and the then Mayor Kamlesh had locked horns over the calling of the review meetings of the officials.

In the backdrop of that standoff, 22 councillors, including the Mayor, had called on Secretary, Local Government, Ram Niwas, and objected to the "attitude" of the Commissioner.

Ram Niwas had then recommended the setting up of an institutional mechanism to suggest ways and means for better coordination between elected representatives and officials to ensure speedy development.

Chandigarh, May 31
In the absence of proper records maintained by the UT estate office, the municipal corporation continues to grope in the dark when it comes to realising outstanding property taxes. MC records show that last March the property tax department served notices to 18,556 defaulters owing a whopping Rs 17 crore in taxes to the civic body.

The problem is more pronounced with regard to properties listed with the estate office. MC additional commissioner PK Sharma said, “We have written to the estate office on several occasions seeking updated records on property holders but to no avail”.

Sources said over one-half of the commercial property tax defaulters are those who own property under the jurisdiction of the estate office. The irony is that though the MC has prepared a list of defaulters it is clueless as to whom to serve the notices as they have no records about the properties’ owners.

As a result there are a number of commercial property owners who have never deposited their property taxes since 2004 when they were introduced in the city.

As a routine procedure the corporation writes to the estate office seeking details of the property whose owner is defaulting on payment. The subregistrar’s office, which has all the relevant land records, has failed to deliver the latter.

A senior official said a provision of the commercial property tax act stipulates if any property is rented out by the owner the authorities can attach the rent to collect the pending tax amount, which accrues to the civic body.

According to another clause if the owner is using the property the MC can attach his moveable and then immoveable property to collect the tax dues.

Officials revealed that in four property tax cases the authorities attached the rent to recover the dues. However, they have failed to do so in the case of commercial sites that are sold or purchased through the estate office, as they have no proof of the properties’ owners.

Chandigarh, May 31
In what could be termed as a classic case of once bitten twice shy, the UT administration has decided to refer all development matters pertaining to new projects in the left out area of the city, especially in its periphery, and even major changes required to be made in the existing ones, to the its nine-member master plan committee.

Though the panel was set up in December last year it seems to have swung into action only now following the recent official termination of three ‘mega’ projects - the Theme cum Amusement Park, the Film City and the Modern Terminal Market.

The committee was constituted following the Punjab & Haryana High Court’s orders on a writ petition filed against the arbitrary expansion in the city’s periphery. The panel was asked to come up with a master plan of the periphery.

Interestingly, both the Theme cum Amusement Park and Film City projects were to be constructed in Sarangpur, bordering Punjab, while the Modern Terminal Market was slated to be developed in Sector 39.

Sources claim that following the debacle of these three projects, administration officials do not wish to take any risk. Be it allowing change of land use in the industrial area or making any new plans for the unused land of the city, none of the UT officials is sticking his or her neck out to take decisions on such matters.

Set up during the tenure of former UT administrator SF Rodrigues, the committee comprises former town planners of Punjab and Haryana and other eminent expert-residents of the city. It was constituted to look into the possibilities of developing the city’s periphery, especially the land bordering Punjab and Haryana. The panel is also supposed to undertake the planning for the land that has already been acquired and which is yet to be acquired.

A committee member said on condition of anonymity that the panel’s members recently met UT administrator Shivraj V Patil and sought his suggestions on how the left out area of the city could be planned and developed.

UT finance secretary Sanjay Kumar is taking care of the coordination part between the committee and officials of the Punjab and Haryana governments, wherever necessary.

Confirming this, Kumar said: “ The committee is involved in planning and developing the left out area of the city and meets regularly. Any changes regarding that part of the city would be decided by consensus of the members”.

It may be mentioned here that a similar committee, called Chandigarh Perspectives, comprising eminent experts was set up by the UT administration to suggest ways and means for the improvement of the urban planning in the city years ago. However, this panel went into oblivion with its members last meeting on November 13, 2006.

Chandigarh, May 31
Even after two months of issuing a show-cause notice to Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, in the case of alleged arbitrary expulsion of Ruchika Girhotra, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is yet to decide on it.

Reacting to the reports of the school having been found guilty, board chairman Vineet Joshi issued a statement in New Delhi today.

“The school has submitted the report about its action of expelling Ruchika. The report is being considered by a committee. No decision has been taken in this matter,” he said.

On being questioned about the reason of delay, Rama Sharma, CBSE official spokesperson, said the official concerned was out of the country.

Sacred Heart Convent School had been declared guilty by the UT administration for arbitrarily expelling Ruchika under the pressure of former Haryana cop SPS Rathore, who molested her.

The administration forwarded the report to the CBSE recommending disaffiliation of the school, following which the school was issued a notice. The school filed a reply insisting that Ruchika had voluntarily left the school.

Panchkula, May 31
Poonam Sharma, an employee of PC jewellers, standing by her earlier statement given to the police, identified Amit Yadav, Sunder, alias Kala, Pawan Saini and Sunil, alias Leela, during a cross-examination by the accused’s counsel before additional district and sessions judge Ritu Garg.

Earlier, the public prosecutor informed the court that on the day of the dacoity, Amit Yadav was sporting a turban, Sunder had impersonated as a prisoner and Sunil was dressed like a policeman and Pawan was present at the time of heist on January 27, 2009. Gang leader Rajesh, alias Badri, was waiting in a car outside, which was parked near the showroom, he added.

Recently, the Panchkula court had framed charges of dacoity and criminal conspiracy against gang leader Rajesh, alias Badri, a graduate from Government College in Bahadurgarh, Amit Yadav, an MBA from Barwala Institute and resident of Jhajjar, Rohit Khasa, owner of a medical shop in Rohtak, Pawan Saini, a resident of Rohtak, Manju, a resident of Jind, Sunil, alias Leela, a resident of Sonepat, Sudhir, a resident of Meham, Sundar, alias Kala, a resident of Ismilla village in Rohtak, and Sandeep Dahiya, a resident of Sonepat.

Chandigarh, May 31
Lack of proper homework by the Chandigarh Police before signing its much-publicised project of installing CCTV cameras at 20 major intersections in the city, has resulted in avoidable delay.

The delay had resulted in the depreciation of the cameras, which remained dysfunctional for over eight months after they had been installed. The police now said, out of the 20 intersections, CCTV cameras at 18 interactions were functioning. These cameras are operated manually and as many as 950 challans has been issued to the offenders so far. The delay was caused due to switching over from the manual system to the automatic system of issuing challans, said a police officer.

Sources said the senior police officials had failed to get proper information of the latest technology available in the field and had not assessed its feasibility at the initial stage.

Those at the helm of affairs had initially agreed for a manual system, in which an operator sitting in the control room at the Traffic Police Lines, Sector 29, would manually issue a challan to an offender caught violating traffic rules on the cameras. Later, after coming to know about the latest technology, which automatically detected a violation and issued an offence sheet, the top brass asked the company assigned with the job of installing the CCTV cameras to incorporate changes.

The police has now decided to go for the latest software called ‘violation evidence management system’. The software will take the picture of the violator and prepare an offence sheet along with the address on which the vehicle is registered.

UT SP (Traffic) HS Doon said the delay was caused as the company had been asked to incorporate additional latest features in the cameras to make them more affective. “The changes are being made free of cost and the delay is caused as the engineering wing has to clear the technology before incorporating new features. At present we are operating them manually, the company will only hand us over the the cameras, when they are properly functional”, Doon said.

Chandigarh, May 31
All members of the Art and Culture Committee of the Municipal Corporation threatened to resign from the committee if MC Mayor Anu Chatrath did not stop interfering in the functioning of the committee.

At a meeting held here today under the chairmanship Brig Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri, the members demanded that Chatrath should withdraw her power of approving venues and chief guest for events organised by the corporation.

Recently at the meeting of the Finance and Contract Committee a decision was taken that if any councillor wanted to organise any function in his or her area, prior information to the Mayor was a must.

Condemning this decision, members of the Art and Culture Committee said an understanding should be reached between the members of the committee and the Mayor that she would accept all decisions of the committee.

Referring to two previous events, including Teej and Basakhi, in which Chatrath had overlooked the decisions of the committee and came up with her own plans for the same.

Dr Amrit Bolaria, another member of the committee, stated that they should analyse the events organised by the committee in the past five months, only then they should go ahead with other plans. She requested the chairman to call the Mayor in the next meeting of the committee to discuss as to why she was overlooking their decisions. She said that if the Mayor was going to scarp all decisions taken by the committee than it was better to dissolve it.

Harjinder Kaur, member of the committee, said that instead of being insulted every time, it was better to resign from the committee, as none of its decision was being respected.

Chandigarh, May 31
With the meeting of the rejigged Administrator’s Advisory Council (AAC) to be held after over four years on June 9, both AAC members and residents feel that the reconstituted advisory panel will set the ball rolling for public participation in the decision-making process. The last meeting of the AAC was held on May 6, 2006, and last council’s two -year tenure ended on February 9, 2009, without holding even a single meeting.

During the five-year tenure of former UT Administrator SF Rodrigues there were allegations of the “autocratic” functioning of the administration. In fact, during Rodrigues’ time there was only one meeting of the AAC and its recommendations allegedly did not find a way into the policy decisions of the Chandigarh Administration.

In fact, with a judicious mix of politicians at the grass-root level and experienced people from different walks of life, the council should service its purpose of being people’s body.

New UT Administrator Shivraj Patil did not make changes in the names of the members in the last council. In fact, his long experience in public life should come handy in getting important issues discussed at the AAC meeting.

“The indications from the Raj Bhawan about the involvement of people, particularly elected representatives of the people are positive and the AAC should serve its purpose of advising the administration on important issues of public interest,” former Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) Pardeep Chabbra, said.

Besides politicians, it is the representation of eminent people from different walks of life that gives advice to the UT administration on development issues and policy matters affecting the city. In the past years, the AAC has represented a cross-section of society and its advice has gone a long way in the formulation of policy decisions.

The UT Administrator is the chairman and the Adviser is the vice-chairman. It also has senior bureaucrats and public representatives, including administrative secretaries, IGP, SSP, MC Commissioner, Mayor, Deputy Commissioner, chairmen of Zila Parishad and panchayat samiti, as ex officio members. Besides, other members consist of eminent persons from all walks of life and representatives of major political parties

Chandigarh, May 31
In what may seem to be an irony, the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, authorities are seeking to reappoint a retired professor in the anatomy department, where another professor already exists, even as two of its other departments, paediatric and physiology, are working without professors for over a year.

As reported in these columns on May 20, “GMCH doc’s reappointment set to kick up a row”, the hospital authorities recently mooted a controversial proposal to reappoint Prof Balbir Singh, who retired on April 30, in the anatomy department despite the fact that Prof Kanchan Kapoor has been working there as professor since November, 2006.

As per the Medical Council of India (MCI) norms, a department with a strength of 50 students has to have one professor. In contrast, the paediatric and physiology departments have no professor, which is a gross violation of the MCI norms, and hence face the constant threat of being derecognised.

The MD course of the paediatric department was discontinued in 2008 after the MCI found the department lacking both in infrastructure and adequate staff. According to sources, the paediatric department is also violating the MCI norms by having just one unit whereas it is mandatory to have two units comprising 30 beds each.

Besides having no professor, the department is running short of one reader (associate professor) and one child psychologist.

The paediatric department is being presently run by the head of the medicine department.

Under the norms, the department must have a professor, a reader (associate professor), two lecturers, two senior residents and six junior residents along with additional staff of child psychologist, health educator, technical assistant.

Even, the department of physiology has no professor and is headed by an associate professor.

The norms specify that the department should have one professor, one reader, one lecturer, one lecturer in biophysics and two demonstrators.

Dr Raj Bahadur, Director-Principal, GMCH-32, said the vacant posts would be filled shortly as interviews had already been conducted for the paediatric department. Other staff and infrastructure would be in place soon.

He said the post of professor in physiology department has been advertised and interviews were expected to be conducted next month.

Chandigarh, May 31
With certain promises fulfilled and others unfulfilled, protests against authorities and allegations against rival parties, the term of Panjab University Campus Student Council (PUCSC) has finally come to an end today.

Though with some hitches initially, the alliance of SOPU and Indian National Students’ Organisation (INSO) managed to sail through the session without much trouble.

In sync with the election manifestos of both SOPU and INSO, the council recently released the results of “teachers evaluation” conducted by it, in which close to 8,000 campus students participated.

The same even provoked the teachers’ union to appeal to the Vice-Chancellor “not to accept their representation” against the shortlisted teachers.

The placement drive conduced by the council and academic-cum-cultural international event “Vimarsh” were the added achievements of the 
council.

“We have send a memorandum to the VC regarding upgradation of the library, but nothing has been done yet. We will push hard to complete all our promises and the subsequent party supporters will continue our work,” said Deepika Thakur, secretary, student council.

“This year has been revolutionary in terms of the students rights. It is the first time a student representative was allowed to watch the Senate proceedings. We were able to fulfill most of our promises,” said Amit Bhatia, president, student council.

Meanwhile, much to the relief of the common students, the decision of the Senate not to hike the fee this year was a bonus for the students.

Chandigarh, May 31
If the police records of the past few years are any indication, all presidential candidates of the Panjab University Campus Student Council (PUCSC) have either indulged in serious acts of violence or have been dragged into the police cases due to the long-standing PUSU-SOPU rivalry.

Parminder Jaswal of Panjab University Students Union (PUSU), who was the council president in 2008, was framed in the UIET violence case in August 2009. Sahil Nanda (SOPU), council president in 2009, was dragged in a case of firing at the student centre in October 2008 and a similar incident happened with Amit Bhatia (SOPU), the present student council president, who was reportedly framed in the recent case of firing at the PUSU president’s residence and later given a clean chit.

In what has become a mockery of the students’ politics on the campus, names of party supporters and council presidents are dragged in the cases of violence out of vengeance by the rival party, who are later given a clean chit by the police. In certain cases, such a practice has even resulted in derailing the education 
of the students.

In the most recent case of firing at PUSU’s president Udey Wiring’s residence in Sector 11 on April 8, the police has given clean chit to five out of seven suspects of the SOPU. The present council president includes those who have got a clean chit.

“Last year, career of a student from the UIET was ruined due to such an attempt by the rival party.

His name was dragged in a case of attempt to murder and he could not attend classes for five months. Nobody knows what happened to him later,” said Manmeet, a PUSU supporter.

These incidents of rivalry have resulted in a “legal war” among the party supporters, failing the entire process of student elections on Panjab University campus. “Our party supporters were wrongly framed in the recent case.

We are now planning to file a civil suit to deal with their false accusations. Naming innocent students in the FIR results in bitter experience for all,” said Harsh Vardhan, presidential candidate of SOPU.

Chandigarh, May 31
The Chandigarh administration, in its endeavour to provide better infrastructure to residents, has proposed to the Government of India to improve road infrastructure in various parts of the city.

These works will be undertaken under various schemes meant to improve inter-state connectivity and provide economic assistance to improve the condition of vital road links between the UT and its neighbouring states, stated Finance Secretary-cum-Engineering Secretary Sanjay Kumar here yesterday.

In the list for repair works to be included under Central Road Fund Scheme for 2010-2011, priority has been given to widening of the Purv Marg from six lane to eight lane. This road besides being a vital link between Chandigarh and Mohali is also a peripheral road used by heavy vehicles carrying construction and industrial raw material to states of Punjab and Himachal Pardesh.

Chief engineer Surinder Pall said the engineering department also intended to take up the widening work on road between Sector 41 and the UT boundary with Mohali side to six lane.

Work on widening of Vikas Marg, ie the road between Sectors 43 to 47, from a six lane to eight lane has also been proposed as this is a peripheral road that connects to NH 21.

The department has also proposed to undertake work on widening of V-3 road, popularly known as Paschim Marg, and make it a six-lane road. The road runs from the UT boundary at Chandigarh towards Mullanpur side.

New works on strengthening of V-3 road under the Inter-State Connectivity Scheme has been proposed. They include road connecting Punjab from UT boundary at Sector 45 and the road running from Sector 46 into Mohali, serving as a vital link between Chandigarh and Punjab.

Mohali, May 31
Unhappy with the functioning of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), residents living in Sectors 66 to 69 want the municipal council to take over the charge of the area.

Residents feel that by keeping the four sectors out of the municipal limits, the authorities concerned have not only deprived them of the fundamental right of electing their own representative, but had left them at the mercy of GMADA which generally adopted an indifferent attitude towards their problems.

Welfare bodies of these sectors had approached president of the civic body Kulwant Singh to initiate the process under which the area could be brought under municipal limits. The council is planning to put up a proposal to increase the municipal limits at the meeting of the civic body to be held in July.

Satvir Singh Dhanoa, president of the Residents Welfare Society, Sector 69, said GMADA had developed the four sectors and the population of the area had also increased with the passage of time. Residents faced problems, as they had no elected representatives from these sectors and whenever they had to get some certificates for old age pension or other financial benefits announced by the government for widows and others and domicile certificates, they had to take the help of councillors representing other parts of the town. Moreover, roads in various areas were in a state of neglect, sanitation was poor and residents faced water shortage. Residents had to approach GMADA officials several times to get their work done.

Getting the work done from civic body officials was much easier as compared to officials of the authority, he added.

Kulwant Singh said a proposal to increase the municipal limits of the civic body by including Sectors 66 to 69 and Sectors 76 to 80 was put up in 2005 but was rejected by the government which wanted to exclude Sectors 76 to 80 as these had not been developed. It had asked the council to send a fresh proposal for including only Sectors 66 to 69. As the term of the civic body expired soon after, the matter remained pending. He said now a proposal would be put up in the House once again to increase the municipal limits. Meanwhile, the council chief said the civic body had proposed that GMADA should purchase two hi-tech vacuum road cleaning machines for the town each costing Rs 1.44 crore so that proper sanitation could be maintained, especially on the main roads. The proposal would be put up at the general body meeting scheduled to be held on June 3.

He said the council had purchased a sweeping machine earlier at a cost of Rs 7 lakh but it had failed to give the desired results. 

Zirakpur, May 31
The Mohali police today suspended two head constables, who were found harassing people and exhorting money unnecessary from drivers of outstation vehicles.

However, the Zirakpur traffic in charge was transferred to the police lines for not performing his duty in a proper manner.

Mohali DSP (traffic) GS Mann stated that the accused traffic police constables were identified as Kulbir Singh and Gurvinder Singh.

He said, “We had got many complaints against the constables. They were harassing public by bullying them and unnecessary stopping their vehicles passing through this stretch,” he added.

After getting the complaints, the DSP Dera Bassi and SHO Zirakpur had found the head constables exhorting money from the commuters unnecessarily, he added.

SSP Mohali GPS Bhullar said he had directed the DSP (traffic) to probe the matter. After going through his preliminary inquiry report, the errant cops have been suspended, whereas the traffic in charge has been transferred to the police lines after giving a warning. The further investigation is on, he added.