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Chaos as candidates swarm city
Anil Jerath Tribune News Service
Around 22,000 candidates arrived in the city to appear in the examination for 325 posts of assistant loco pilots in the railways. According to a railway official, 65,000 eligible candidates had been called for the examination but the exact number of candidates appearing in the examination could not be ascertained till filing of the report. The official said it could only be known by tomorrow as the compilation work was still in progress. The examination was conducted across 126 centres in Panchkula, Mohali and the city. Though no trains were delayed, the heavy rush saw passengers of other trains waiting on the platform fuming. Bhim Sen, who had come from Sector 28 to receive his relatives, said: “There is such a heavy rush that I have no space to stand. Every few minutes, I am pushed. I wish they had given some prior information about the expected rush.” While the examination was being conducted to fill just 325 seats under the graduate quota, the heavy rush, however, did not surprise candidates. “I was expecting much more than this. My paper went well, I hope I clear it,” stated Saurabh Bhardwaj, a resident of Kalka. Pushpa Mathur, who had come from Panipat, wasn’t too happy though. “It is a shame that we have to be bundled like sheep for this test and that too for a handful of seats. I never knew so many candidates would appear.” According to the official, the examination was conducted peacefully. To clear the rush, a special train was run for candidates at 2 pm. Arrangements were also made for the special running of buses by the CTU, the official added. Extra security, too, was put in place at the railway station and examination centres. The official added that they had made best arrangements and the examination was conducted smoothly without any incident.
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No stopping corporal punishment
June 2010: Harish Kumar and Anil Pathania, faculty members at YPS, Mohali, sacked for thrashing a boy whose mother died of shock.
July 2009: Reema Talwar, a teacher at St John’s, was sacked for beating and humiliating a Class III student for not being able to recite table of seven. July 2009: Karamjit Singh, a senior teacher at GMSSS-47, sacked for garlanding students with their shoes for not following the school dress code. Despite a ban on corporal punishment in schools, incidents of students being thrashed and humiliated continue to pour in. Shocked by the recent incidents, parents want the schools and administration to be more accountable regarding the care of their wards on the campus. It is being demanded that the administration must take immediate cognizance of “unacceptable teacher behaviour” and file an independent inquiry report at the earliest. In 2000, the Supreme Court banned any form of corporal punishment in schools to ensure that students received education in an environment of freedom and dignity, free from fear. Consequently, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) defined corporal punishment as a rap on knuckles; making children run in fields or making them kneel; making them stand for long or hitting them with a ruler; or even pinching and slapping. The list also
mentions locking a child alone in a classroom. Sexual abuse and all other acts causing insult, humiliation and physical and mental injury have been condemned by the commission. During an interaction with a cross-section of teachers, there was no doubt in their minds that corporal punishment was unjustified. But at the same time, some teachers claimed that at times, they were framed by students, parents and even colleagues. “As responsible institutions, schools need to check corporal punishment. As administrators we do take into account the chances of the ban being used as a blackmail tool, but that is dealt with by a thorough inquiry” HS Mamik, president of the Independent School Association, stated. Jasbir Singh, president of the PTA (GMSSS-35), quoted an incident. “Our school principal was repatriated following an incident of slapping. If you go by the medical report of the girl and even the DDR lodged by the police, it was not established anywhere that she was slapped. The girl was actually instigated by some teachers and the media blew the matter out of proportion. The education department also did not bother to take that into account and went by what the girl had said.”
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New-look Shatabdi to chug in
Chandigarh, June 6 “Conventional coaches of Shatabdi Express trains will soon be replaced with new LHB coaches that are more comfortable and luxurious. Twentyone of these coaches have already arrived in the country. However, the composition of the train will be the same. At present the Shatabdi has 13 airconditioned coach, including one executive class, and two generator cars. The remaining coaches will be kept as spares. During summer vacations or on special occasions these coaches will also be attached to Shatabdi trains,” said a Northern Railway official. Indian Railways, which has imported two rakes - about 20 LHB coaches - from Germany, has also begun manufacturing them at the rail coach factory in Kapurthala following a technology transfer pact. “More LHB coaches may be attached to locomotives as they are lighter and can travel at speeds of 160-200 km per hour. The vertical and horizontal shock absorbers reduce vibrations during travel. The controlled discharge toilet system in these coaches will store the waste generated in the toilets and it will be released only when the train travels at a speed of 30 kmph. This would help the railways in maintaining cleanliness at train stations,” said a senior Northern Railways official. Though each LHB coach costs Rs 2 crore to build against Rs 83 lakh for a conventional coach, it has a longer life span of 35 years -ten years longer than an ordinary bogie. "The interiors have been designed with screwless panels to improve aesthetics. Windows will have roller blinds instead of cloth curtains. Halogen reading lights have also been fitted under the luggage rack," the official added. Six months ago the Shatabdi Express was listed in the Limca Book of National Records for being the first train in the country to have LCD TV screens inside its coaches. “New tenders will be invited for installing LCD TV screens in the new LHB coaches,” said the Northern Railways official. "Our aim is to run all mail and express trains with LHB coaches as a safety measure, as they cannot turn turtle in the event of any derailment or collision. The conventional coaches have to be replaced in phases”, he added. GB Singh, Northern Railways commercial manager, Ambala division, said: “It will take some more time for the new coaches to be commissioned on the Shatabdi-Express running between Kalka and New Delhi.” According to railway sources, trains with similar high-speed coaches that are currently operating include the New Delhi-Lucknow, New Delhi-Amritsar, New Delhi-Howrah Shatabdi trains and the New Delhi-Patna, New Delhi-Mumbai and New-Delhi-Gauhati Rajdhani Expresses.
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Govt colleges still carry old tags in prospectus
Neha Miglani Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 6
Two months back, PU made alteration in the names of colleges that were proposed by the UT administration, yet the names published in this year’s prospectus are those proposed by the administration and not the ones that the PU senate had finally approved. In the PU senate meeting held on April 4, 2010, it was resolved to modify the names of Government College for Girls, Sector 11, Government College for Girls, Sector 42, and Government College, Sector 46, to Government Post Graduate College for Girls, Sector 11 and 42, and Government Post Graduate College, Sector 46, respectively.
Addition of “postgraduate” title to the names of colleges offering postgraduate courses meant more grants from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and other Centrally funding agencies. Therefore, in a letter issued on March 4, the adviser to UT administration had recommended that the “postgraduate” tag be added as a prefix to names of these colleges. Hence the new name proposed for Government College for Girls, Sector 11, was recommended as Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 11, by the UT administration. The proposal was then sent to Panjab University for approval. However, the senate agreed that the “government” tag was more relevant and rhythmic. Since the senate is the final authority, ideally, the names proposed by the university senate should have been printed on the prospectus. “Any deviation in names in the UT administration’s common prospectus will only mislead thousands of students, especially those who come from other states. Technically, there would be no difference if the prefix government comes first or postgraduate, but the name should sound logical,” said Prabjit Singh, PU senate member.
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‘Overcharging’ of patients at
PGI Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 6 In a letter to Singla, the association has stated that while it was decided in 2002 that the rate list of AIIMS and PGIMER would be on a par, the matter remained unresolved with the PGI continuing to charge higher. Dubbing AIIMS "people friendly" as compared to the PGI, the association has stated, “Except for MRI, CT scan, and few tests, nothing is charged in Delhi from patients admitted to general ward. For routine tests or surgical procedures, patients pay only Rs 35 per day and Rs 25 admission charges", states the release. In contrast, the PGI charges one third of private ward rate from general ward patients for surgical and other procedures. “Except few routine blood/urine and other tests, the general ward patients are charged for all investigations at one third of the private ward rates,” says the letter. The letter further states that the PGI has been charging Rs 115 per day from general ward patients, which include Rs 35 as diet charges, Rs 30 as bed charges and Rs 50 for routine investigation. It does not include supply of surgical items, IV fluids and other material. Besides, if general ward patient is shifted to ICU, Rs 300 is charged per day at the PGI. Questioning the logic behind two central autonomous bodies / institutes, set up under an identical and similar Act of Parliament, having different yardsticks, the letter says that no notification has ever been issued by the Government of India for the past two decades for levying or revising the charges, which is also quite unusual. Urging Singla to intervene and resolve this issue, the letter has asked the MP to raise the issue at appropriate forum.
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Sans playgrounds, kids head to bigger pastures
Children have been left with no choice but to play in bigger gardens, green belts and parks of their sectors. And this isn’t going down well with visitors, especially morning and evening walkers, who feel it spoils the beauty of parks and increases the risk of injury to them. Officials of the Chandigarh administration are also against children playing in green belts as they claim that for every game there is a club for children where they can take admission and play as much as they want. However, not all families can afford to pay fee of such clubs and academies. Also, these clubs are far away from their homes and it is difficult for children to reach there. But officials of the municipal corporation plead that they have installed different types of play equipment in various parks of the city. But they forget that teenagers also need a place to play outdoor games near their homes. Residents’ of sectors like 3, 15, 22, 33, 38 and 40 have complained to the authorities that during morning and evening hours, children play games like football or cricket in the green belt, which sometimes results in injury to morning and evening walkers taking a stroll in these gardens. On numerous occasions, councillors Brig Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri, Harjinder Kaur and others have suggested in the house meetings that a playground be developed in the corners of green belts so that children who come along with their parents can play there. Even councillors have suggested that the MC authorities should ask educational institutions to allow children to play on their premises. But nothing has so far come out it. Evening walkers in Bougainvillea Garden, Sector 3, have complained that some youngsters play football in the garden, creating nuisance for them. “The groups playing in this garden are not children but young boys. Many a time, ball hits passersby,” retired journalist Pritam Bhullar said. He said on Friday a senior citizen was hit by a football and another by a cricket ball. Sushma, a resident of Sector 22, said youngsters were not at fault if they were playing in green belts as there were no playgrounds in the nearby areas and they were forced to play there. She said rather than blaming children, the authorities should come up with concrete plans to solve the problem of children as well as daily walkers.
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How safe are city roads for kids?
No untoward incident was witnessed, however, a schoolgirl had a close shave when she jumped across the fence to the adjoining road in Sector 52. Driver of a fast moving car made a dangerous turn to avert any unfortunate incident which could have cost her life. Danger looms large on the southern belt along Sectors 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45. Delaying tactics
The rendezvous of disgraced Haryana DGP SPS Rathore, convicted in the Ruchika molestation case, with mediapersons continues unabated even as the former cop is cooling heels in the Burail jail. On June 5, Rathore against sent news-hungry media in a tizzy when he complained of restlessness and breathlessness inside the Burail jail. With reports of Rathore’s “imminent” admission to the PGI doing the rounds, mediapersons gathered ouside the PGI’s emergency and the Advanced Cardiac Centre. Any van or ambulance arriving at the PGI was swarmed by media personnel. While Rathore’s “delaying tactics” baffled the scribes and lensmen, his antics inside the jail made the jail staff sweat it out for over three hours as he “resisted” the attempts to take him to the PGI. By midnight, the word went around that the convicted former cop is not coming to the PGI following which scribes dispersed. However, around 1 am, unpredictable Rathore quietly made an appearance at the PGI virtually taking the battery of photographers for a ride as nobody could click his photograph. “Rathore may have missed a heart beat, but he made scores of scribes miss a heart beat or two by his now-on, now-off PGI drama,” a scribe quipped.
Cricketer on ramp
India’s ace cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s off-field forays continue to make news. While his cricketing performance during the recently-concluded T-20 World Cup and the IPL was lacklustre, the good-looking cricketer’s off-field “performance” seems to be good. Yuvi was seen sashaying down the ramp with leading models-cum-actresses, including Amisha Patel, Shamita Shetty and Hard Kaur, at a fashion show in Chandigarh on June 5 night. By the way, Yuvi was supposed to attend the fitness programme of the National Cricket Academy at Bangalore. One of his fans was heard saying that if Yuvi could concentrate on his game, the sky was the limit for the promising cricketer. And we fully agree with the fan. In fact, ditto for other cricketers indulging in non-cricketing action!
Residents a
terrified lot
Hundreds of residents of Panchkula residing near the roundabouts are living in the danger zone due to the faulty installation of unipoles installed by various companies around the roundabouts. With no clear cut policy governing their installation, residents are a terrified lot as one of the unipoles fell on a corner house in Sector 9 during the recent dust storm that lashed the tricity. Will the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) whose record of providing relief to residents has been lacklustre, spare a thought to the plight of hapless residents in case of such mishaps. Due to the storm, a number of residents of the city had to spend sleepless night in the absence of electricity on Friday. As if they could not help, even the complaint centres at various areas of the city had held-up their telephones, as complaints were pouring in at regular intervals. There was a complete black out in many parts of city due to power failure. Rajan Gupta, a resident of Hallo Majra, said throughout the night, there was no electricity in the area. Even the inverters failed after some time. “Home makers cooked meals with the help of candles. Kids spent sleepless night, as the fans/lights were not working. We tried to contact electricity complaint centres but to no avail. No one picked up the phone and it was very disgusting. Electricity was resumed at 9 am,” Gupta said. However, the linemen feel that due to the shortage of staff, every complaint could not be attended in a day. “We had to work for 24 hours in such circumstances. Unless more linemen are recruited, all complaints can’t be attended to,” said one of the linemen at a complaint centre in Industrial Area, Phase I. No senior PSEB functionary was available for comments; however, an area SDE said three persons were deployed at the complaint centre and two of them had to go for repairs but at least one person should remain there. The problem could be due to the shortage of employees in the department, he said.
PU’s miss on environment
On the World Environment Day, this year, a group of teachers and students rued the fact that Panjab University Vice-Chancellor’s decision of observing every Monday of each month as “No-vehicle day” collapsed because of protest by a group of students. Calling it unfortunate, a senior faculty member, said the youth could have set an example for others to follow by merely abstaining from their using their vehicle for a single day. Students, infact, should have showed the way for others to follow. In wake of such opposition, the university was forced to a give symbolic representation to its concern for environment by making the exercise as ‘voluntary or informal’. Contributed by Sanjeev Singh Bariana, Pradeep Sharma, Akash Ghai, Sanjay Bhumbroo, Anil Jerath and Neha Miglani
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Workshop on medical mycology at PGI from today
Chandigarh, June 6 The workshop will be held on “Diagnostic Medical Mycology — conventional and molecular techniques”. Doctors and faculty members from different institutes of the country would participate in the training course. The assumes importance as it is meant to disseminate information on latest trends in fungal infections. According to experts, untrained health providers (quacks), misuse of steroids, intravenous drug abuse, availability of spurious medical care infusion sets are additional risk factors for fungal infections in India. Thus, the number of persons at risk of fungal infections in India is staggering. However, the exact data regarding incidence/prevalence of fungal infections in India is sketchy. The deficiency of availability of data is due to there being a few diagnostic mycology laboratories in India and lack of awareness of manifestations of mycotic diseases among majority clinicians. This course in diagnostic mycology every year helps development of this discipline in the country. Already around 20 laboratories have been developed in the country. This has helped in the development of two national networks — zygomycosis network and candidemia network. These networks will help understand the epidemiology of those two diseases in the country. The present national training course is the ninth in the series. The course has become so popular that a large number of faculty members from different institutes of the country have expressed their desire to attend the workshop. To develop diagnostic mycology facilities across the country, one participant has been selected from each city for the workshop. The delegates will come from Agartala, Ranchi, Bhopal, Lucknow, Delhi, Mumbai, Jodhpur,
Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Solapur, Ahmedabad, etc. The mycology division in the department of medical microbiology has been working in various field of fungal disease for the past three decades. Currently, it is working as the National Reference Laboratory in the field of medical mycology. The WHO has made it the “WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Fungi of Medical Importance”.
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Brahma Kumaris’ programme ends Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 6 The programme on “Journey towards a Blissful Life” had started on June 4. Discoursing on happiness, she said one’s mind should be able to obey one’s instructions. She also spoke on the importance of cleaning the mind before meditation in order to beat stress. Failure to do so would lead to collection of bad memories, which in turn led to anger, jealousy, and hatred toward others. Keeping the mind unclean would lead to permanent thought patterns, which were difficult to correct, she added. Speaking on the modern tendency to express anger toward others in the mistaken belief that it would get the work done, she said it gave rise to anger and tension and that was why happiness was rare. “People trusted each other in the past, however that trust is now slowly turning to pain. Instead of trying to change themselves, people try to change others’ thoughts and behavior patterns,” she added. She also spoke on a wide spectrum of themes like stress-free lifestyle, leadership skills, emotional intelligence, art of right thinking, exploring inner powers, harmony in relationships and the practical technique of Rajyoga meditation.
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A spoof on theatre
Chandigarh, June 6 Riding on its overwhelming success and aspiring for more viewers, Mangal ventured for more innovations to film the mono-act play on stage and present part of it live on the stage as well as on screen. He coined the new format as Chitraatak, which had the elements of theatre and dynamics of cinema received by art lovers with approbation. However, the part of physical live performance was withdrawn for yesterday’s show at the Randhawa Auditorium. The instant production going beyond the limitation of theatre has been a pioneering experiment, never attempted before, claims Dhillon based on the exploration into the psyche of an artist, revered as the mirror of the society. Play bares the hypocrisy, perfidy and deprivation of ethical and moral values especially in the realm of performing arts and brings into focus several burning issues of socio-cultural relevance requiring immediate redressal. A deep empathy for the victims of viciousness flows like an under current through out the play and the pace ably sustained to keep the audience alive. With a stronger sense of reality, emotionalism and introspection of self, Mangal enthused the play a new vibrant theme with which every individual is identifying him in daily life. But experts opine that the live performance of the play was more scintillating and the writer actor director Mangal was his best.
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Review enforcement agencies’ working: Janata Party
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 6 He said an illegal auto-rickshaw stand had come up in Sector 22-A (opposite Gurdial Singh petrol pump). On noticing illegal activities like drinking of liquor (in late evening hours), passing of vulgar remarks to women and creation of bottlenecks in the free movement of traffic there, residents of Sector 22-A moved a representation to Adviser to UT Administrator Pradip Mehra, who marked it to the State Transport Authority (STA), the representation said. However, the STA officials conveyed that due to lack of coordination among various departments concerned, including the police, these things were continuing. Recently, advertisements and public notices were flashed by the UT health department declaring June 2010 as anti-malaria month. Simultaneously, cut fruits were being sold openly, especially in Sector 17 (main shopping complex), in violation of the health laws. The matter was reported a few months back, but to no avail. At present, the mechanism is not responding but if the status quo remains then people will also stop reporting illegal activities being carried out in the city, the representation added.
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11-member panel to assist SDMs
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 6 The offices of SDMs have been declared as maintenance tribunals for the purpose of adjudicating and deciding upon the order for maintenance in the area concerned under Section 7 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. During the meeting, it was decided that conciliation officers would be deputed by name with the SDMs under the Act on weekends or any other holidays and the SDMs would be asked to make arrangements for providing secretarial assistance and space to the conciliation officers. To accommodate more abandoned senior citizens, one more floor in the Old Age Home, Sector 15, Chandigarh, would be constructed. It was also decided to visit all old age/senior citizen homes in the tricity i.e. Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula for friendly atmosphere and improvement.
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Focus on making generic medicines popular
Chandigarh, June 6 In her inaugural address, health minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla said generic medicines were made available by opening at least one shop in every district of Punjab. So far, 20 shops have been opened, out of 50 shops at the all-India level. She announced that at least 100 shops would be opened in all over Punjab once the existing 20 shops were strengthened and made effective. She appealed to the Government of India to make supplies available at all times. Talking to mediapersons, Satish Chandra, principal secretary (health), Punjab government, said awareness about jan aushadi should be made among the public and also to the doctors and chemists. Bejon Misra, founder trustee, Consumer Online Foundation, presented mementoes to the minister and principal secretary.
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Nurses’ role in disaster mgmt stressed
Chandigarh, June 6 A total of 23 participants from different hospitals and educational Institutes of UT Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana were registered for the workshop. The lecture on disaster, its causes and affects, policies, acts and administrative set up of disaster management was delivered by Prof Rakesh Dutta from department of defense and security, Panjab University, Chandigarh. Rumor management and providing right information through alternate means of communication by public relations officer, PGI, Manju Wadwalkar, and prevention and management of fire by the fire officer, PGIMER, Chandigarh, during first two days.
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7 teams to clean water inlets
Chandigarh, June 6 Teams will be headed by SDOs and JEs of respective areas and will be held responsible for any kind of blockage in their area during monsoon. Bidda also instructed the team heads to inform the concerned area councillors regarding repair work and cleanliness of roads.
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Amendment
only in name Neha Miglani Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 6 Two months back, PU made alteration in the names of colleges that were proposed by the UT administration, yet the names published in this year’s prospectus are those proposed by the administration and not the ones that the PU senate had finally approved. In the PU senate meeting held on April 4, 2010, it was resolved to modify the names of Government College for Girls, Sector 11, Government College for Girls, Sector 42, and Government College, Sector 46, to Government Post Graduate College for Girls, Sector 11 and 42, and Government Post Graduate College, Sector 46, respectively. “I am not aware of the exact names proposed by the university and I will look into the matter on Monday,” said Ajoy Sharma, Director Higher Education, UT administration. Addition of “postgraduate” title to the names of colleges offering postgraduate courses meant more grants from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and other Centrally funding agencies. Therefore, in a letter issued on March 4, the adviser to UT administration had recommended that the “postgraduate” tag be added as a prefix to names of these colleges. Hence the new name proposed for Government College for Girls, Sector 11, was recommended as Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 11, by the UT administration. The proposal was then sent to Panjab University for approval. However, the senate agreed that the “government” tag was more relevant and rhythmic. Since the senate is the final authority, ideally, the names proposed by the university senate should have been printed on the prospectus. “Any deviation in names in the UT administration’s common prospectus will only mislead thousands of students, especially those who come from other states. Technically, there would be no difference if the prefix government comes first or postgraduate, but the name should sound logical,” said Prabjit Singh, PU senate member.
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Computer training for teachers
Chandigarh, June 6 Over 137 mathematics, science, social studies and language teachers will be attending the training aimed to equip the teachers with the basics of computers. The training workshop will be held at GMSSS-19, GMSSS-22, GMSSS-33, GMSSS-35, GMSSS-40, GMSSS-37 and GMSSS-46. Besides this, 137 newly recruited TGT teachers are attending the 30-day induction training course at the State Institute of Education, Sector 32. The focus area of this training programme is understanding of the continuous comprehensive evaluation, use of multimedia for effective learning, Right to Education, self evaluation assessment by teachers, improving motivation among students and enrichment of subject content by identification of hard spots.
— TNS
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Chandigarh, June 6
Chandigarh, June 6
“I am not aware of the exact names proposed by the university and I will look into the matter on Monday,” said Ajoy Sharma, Director Higher Education, UT administration.
Chandigarh, June 6
With the ever-increasing traffic on city roads, safety of schoolchildren on those continues to be neglected.
Tribune lensman Vinay Malik during the past one week has clicked more than a dozen pictures in various parts of the City Beautiful, where children could be seen crossing roads without proper crossing or traffic signals.