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City turning into education hub Chandigarh, June 12 In fact, this was the one of the issues highlighted in a memorandum submitted to the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator by PC Sanghi, chairman, Federation of Sector Welfare Associations (FOSWAC) when the Administrator’s Advisory Council met. The issue gains importance with a large number of students enrolling themselves in the private coaching institutes, computer-training centres and specialised courses. Most of these students are particularly from adjoining states like Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. “The city has become an educational hub due to the availability of the best education facilities, strong social infrastructure and safe environment. The administration should take urgent steps to construct more hostels to keep a check on illegal paying guest accommodations mushrooming in the city,” Sanghi added. It is argued that the private hostels, besides catering to the needs of the students’ community, will also prove beneficial for single working executives. In the backdrop of the city emerging as the IT and retail destination with the coming of the multinational companies and big corporate houses, the demand for affordable accommodations is on the rise. “The paying guest accommodation is a costly affair. A hostel accommodation can give the same comfort levels at much cheaper rates,” says Shweta Singh, a student with a private institute in Sector 34. Presently, there is only one private hostel in Sector 15 besides a couple of working women hostels in the city. Former Municipal Corporation’s Mayor Pardeep Chhabra said the private hostels would serve two purposes -check the menace of the paying guest accommodations and provide facilities to the students and unmarried employees. In the absence of the private hostels, a good number of employees are currently forced to live in the paying guest accommodations and hostels of Panjab University-the stay in the latter being illegal. Harpal Singh, a young entrepreneur, says the students’ community was one of the largest contributors to the city’s economy. Since students and their parents spend a substantial amount of their money on shopping, the Chandigarh Administration should spare a thought for them and workout a strategy for allowing private hostel accommodations to come up in the city. A senior official said the idea of private hostels seemed to be feasible. “The administration will consider it in a positive spirit as and when it was brought before it,” he added.
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UT goofs on Strawberry Fields, yet again Chandigarh, June 12 Following the news in a section of the press, the preliminary enquiries have revealed that the Estate Office had confused the records of the two institutes because one was the International Nehru Centre and the other sounding similar was the Nehru Bhawan. The Nehru Bhawan is actually registered in the name of the Bharat Sewak Samaj. Talking to The Tribune, Deputy Commissioner, Barjinder Singh, said: “There seems to be some confusion on account of the two institutes having similar names. I have called for all official records and will be able to make a statement by Monday afternoon. Any definite observation can be made only after confirming the draft outlay of the area” The Deputy Commissioner also visited the site today to confirm the site allocation for two institutes under question. The two institutes are located near each other. However, both are distinctive, even on the ground demarcation. The land under question is actually only about an acre and was registered as freehold in 1967. The report is instead makes mention of 2.2 acres, which is on the leasehold and is in the name of the International Nehru Centre. News report in a section of press stated today that the Estate office had initiated eviction proceedings against Strawberry Fields School, Sector 24. Sources pointed out that the Nehru International Centre was allocated to Dr Amrit Tewari for constructing a centre in memory of her husband, Dr VN Tewari. Failing to transform the action plan on ground, she surrendered the property to the administration. On the piece of land under contention, the administration is already coming up with new houses. Atul Khanna, the director of the school, said: “Let the administration look into the issue and decide. I only want the administration to look into the credentials of the person who sought information under the RTI, in this particular case.” |
Nari Niketan Rape Case Chandigarh, June 12 The issue that the mentally challenged rape victim was not able to corroborate her statements that cropped up during the cross-examination raised a question whether it was important to bring evidence on record to establish her mental age. Though she is 20-year-old, which she accepted in the cross-examination, it is difficult to establish whether she is fit for it or not. She takes a little extra time. Elaborating on it he said, “Her physical age is mentioned as 20 but her exact mental age is not mentioned.” Commenting on the mental age and need of a psychologist, a lawyer of one of the witnesses advocate Madhu P Singh said: “The girl is mentally challenged and her mental age is lesser than her physical age and it was evident from her conduct during the cross-examination. Thus instead of the attendant there should have been a psychologist in the court.” “After observing the cross-examination proceedings, I felt that the response time was very less with the victim as she was not able to quickly comprehend the questions put by the defence. She was also responding in accordance with the mode of question that is if put in affirmative the reply was affirmative and if put in negative the response was also in the same tone,” the advocate added. Explaining the legal procedure she said, “When the matter of termination of pregnancy came before the High Court the medical board of the PGI was constituted which gave the findings about her mental age. But no such evidence has been brought on record in the challan.” |
Chickens tortured to death! Mohali, June 12 Gulshan Kumar, a resident of Sector 43, Chandigarh, who runs a makeshift slaughterhouse near Jagatpura village on the outskirts of Mohali, had been allegedly torturing the chickens to death rather than simply slaughtering them. To ensure against creating a mess due to the excessive blood loss by conventional methods of slaughtering, Gulshan and his workers had been resorting to first breaking the neck of the chickens, then crushing them with their feet followed by hitting them against the wall and finally leaving them to die in a cage. The poultry was apparently being supplied to restaurants in the tri-city. Acting on a tip off, CIA Sub Inspector, Ajiab Singh, raided the slaughterhouse last evening and saw chickens being tortured to death. The poor
birds were seen writhing in pain and waiting to die. Some had broken bones and disfigured body parts. The police officials, who photographed the ghastly site, were taken aback by seeing at least 100 tortured chickens stacked in the cage. A number of dead chickens were also found on the site. Located along the Jagatpura-Kambali road, the makeshift slaughterhouse emitted a pungent smell. On being questioned by the cops, the owner of the slaughterhouse said the conventional method of slaughter was resulting in excessive blood loss following which it became difficult to clean up the area. By injuring them, the frightened chickens were dying a slow death. |
Hot, humid days ahead Chandigarh, June 12 The maximum temperature, which dipped to 22.5 degrees Celsius after the downpour, again rose to almost same level of 38.2 degrees Celsius recorded on June 7, while the minimum temperature too settled three degrees below normal at 25 degrees Celsius. However, high humidity levels troubled residents. Homemaker Divya Taneja of Sector 28 said: “Even though the humidity has increased after rain, I am still enjoying as it is a welcome break from the unbearable heat. The nice cool breeze in the evenings has given an added incentive to get out of the house for long walks.” The forecast for the next two days is a generally cloudy sky with rain or thundershowers in some areas of Punjab and Haryana. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 39 degrees and 26 degrees, respectively, the Met office said. |
Come December, city airport to go international Chandigarh, June 12 Confirming this, Suneel Dutt, director, Chandigarh airport, said that expansion work was in full swing and it would be completed by the year-end. "We are helpless as still some parts of the new terminal building is under construction and that will take five to six months for completion. But the process of shifting to the new building will start in October and the terminal will be fully functional by December,” he assured. He maintained that the air traffic from and to Chandigarh airport had multiplied by around 400 per cent since 2006. Eleven flights operate daily from the airport. He added that the rush was going to multiply further once the international flights start operating from here. There was a great demand for flights to European and North American countries as people had to go to Delhi or Amritsar for the same. Given the number of people who travelled abroad from the region, there would be a continuous demand on the airport and it was gearing up for the same, he pointed out. "However, our new ultra-modern building equipped with all the facilities of international standards is under construction and work is going on at good pace. Hopefully, it will be ready for use by December and we can attract more international flights to Chandigarh," Dutt said. The new airport building would accommodate 400 passengers at a time, which is more than four times its present capacity. It would also be fully air-conditioned, equipped with escalators and will have special facilities for the physically challenged persons. Other new steps include more advanced fire security apparatus and five-fold increase in the parking space, he added. The airport director said the instrument landing system (ILS) of CAT-I would be installed by October after receiving formal clearance from Air Force authorities. “The proposal to allow the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to install the ILS here on our land has been accepted, but it would take time to sign the MoU as the modalities have to be worked out. After we get legal advice from experts, we will forward it to the defence experts who would give the final nod,” said a senior IAF official in Chandigarh. Last winter, air passengers had to face a lot of problem as a number of flights were delayed or cancelled due to fog. The present equipment at the airport is lying defunct for the last one year, causing a lot of harassment to people. If all goes well, air passengers will have no problem during winters as the airport will be equipped with its own ILS and the flights will then have no trouble landing and taking off in a bad weather. The other expansion included creating of cargo hubs and night parking, for which a patch of 2.5 acre was awaited from the Air Force authorities. |
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Punjabi edition of ‘Bandhan’ released Chandigarh, June 12 Chief guest Dr Jaspal Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, while releasing the book lauded the literary passion of the novelist, who is otherwise BTech, MBA and UPSC-1986 batch ITS officer, presently working as DDG (vigilance and telecom), Punjab. A prolific author of four books of socio-cultural relevance, Manoj has shared the pain and anguish of schizophrenia patients with mental disorder and their families. Eminent critic Dr Satinder Singh Noor, vice-chairman, National Sahitya Akademy, Delhi, delved into his analytical and critical appreciation. Noor observed that the novel, richer in content and wider in range, had immaculately explored the psyche of patients, circumstances for mood and thought disorder in patients through a crispy narrative despite being suggestive respecting role of society. City litterateur Dr Chander Trikha opined that it was a rare feat to define the clinical psychological behaviour of human beings through fiction. Dr Raghubir Singh Sirjana, Dr Sarbajit Singh and others participated in the deliberations, while Dainik Tribune Editor Naresh Kaushal and former editor Radhaehyam Sharma, Dr Mukta, director, Haryana Sahit Akademy, too attended the function. Dr Deepak Manmohan Singh conducted the programme. |
Man crushed to death
Panchkula, June 12 According to eyewitnesses, the victim, aged about 38, tried to cross the track at about 3.30 pm when the train was approaching at a high speed from Zirakpur side. The GRP has taken the body to the Sector 6 General Hospital where it would be kept in a mortuary for identification. The victim was wearing a capri and blue T-shirt. —
TNS |
89 staff nurses given appointment letters Mohali, June 12 The department of health and family welfare had recently recruited 379 staff nurses on a contract basis, out of which 89 staff nurses belonging to nearby districts of Mohali, Ropar, Nawanshahr, Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Ludhiana and Chandigarh were given the appointment letters by the minister. While addressing the staff nurses, the minister asked them to perform their duty honestly. Reiterating the health department’s commitment for providing better health services to the people at their doorsteps, Chawla said the recruitment of the staff was being done to fill the gap and to further improve the functioning of the health institutions in the state, which would further encourage people to avail the government-provided healthcare services. Principal secretary Satish Chandra, health and family welfare, Punjab, said different categories of vacant posts were being filled by the department. During last two years, hundreds of recruitments were made against different posts of medical and para-medical staff by the health department. He said another 104 posts of staff nurses under the National Rural Health Mission and 24 posts under trauma centres would also be filled shortly. |
Garbage plant bags 2nd position
Chandigarh, June 12 The chief guest of the seminar was Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, Minister for Major Industries, Commerce and Food Processing, Andhra Pradesh. Brig RS Sahota, vice-president, Japyee associate, received the award on behalf of the company. He also presented a detailed documentary on the functioning of the garbage processing plant at the symposium. — TNS |
IT dept serves another notice on CHB
Chandigarh, June 12 A similar notice was sent to the CHB in the past and the board had even filed an appeal stating that the money doesn’t belong to it. After a fresh notice was served, the CHB has now referred the matter to the UT senior standing counsel Sanjay Kaushal for a legal opinion. — TNS |
Back to light Panchkula, June 12 Defunct streetlights on almost all major and internal roads in various sectors have been causing inconvenience to residents. Stray cattle on the roads, especially during night hours, have been causing accidents. Almost 80 per cent of the 10,000 streetlights are non-functional. The administration will pay about Rs 2 lakh per month to contractors. The whole area has been divided into three zones. The work will be allotted to three contractors. They will have to deposit a security of Rs 1 lakh for each zone before starting the work. The payment for the work, starting next month, will be made on a point basis. Executive officer KK Jain says contractors will start maintaining the streetlights from June 15.
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Woman hanged herself to death: Report Mohali, June 12 The autopsy of the victim conducted by a board of doctors has confirmed the death due to hanging. To rule out any possibility of foul play behind the death, the police has sent a suicide note written by the victim for forensic examination. The victim, along with her husband Rajesh had a few days ago moved to her in-laws house, who live in the residential quarters at the water supply and sewerage complex. Earlier, based on the statement of the victim’s brother, Basant, the police had registered a case of murder against the victim’s in-laws. Family members of the victim had said the couple got married a year ago against the wishes of their family members and had shifted with the victim’s in-laws a week ago only. In the suicide note, she had stated that no one should be blamed for her death and her items should be handed over to her sister. Man missing
Dharminder Singh (30), a resident of Phase IV, has gone missing from his home. In a complaint lodged with the police, youth’s mother Prem Lata said her son was mentally challenged. Acting on her complaint, the Phase I police station has lodged a missing report.
Two held
The Kharar police has arrested two vendors for selling meat products in an unhygienic condition. They have been identified as Kishan Lal and Ismail Singh. The investigating officer a team raided the spot and arrested them following receipt of information. A case under Section 269 of the IPC was registered against them. |
Two more child workers freed Mohali, June 12 They were working at a tavern near Phase XI here. They were handed over to their parents. The owner of the tavern managed to escape. All 16 employers were challaned. They would be fined between Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000. Imprisonment under such violations ranged from three months to two years. The team moved about in vehicles, along with the police, at Phases IIIB2 , IV and X to see if any child on the streets who worked at houses, but could not find anyone. |
Northern Railway eyes 20 pc rise in income Chandigarh, June 12 “We anticipate a 20 per cent jump in our total income in the current fiscal, which will mainly be coming from freight collection, for transporting food grain, including wheat and rice, from Punjab to other states,” GM Singh, senior divisional commercial manager, Northern Railway, Ambala division, said here on Thursday. Ambala division’s 90 per cent of the income generated from freight segment came from transportation of food grain from Punjab to other states. “We had a bumper output of wheat this year and if the rice yield in Punjab also goes well, it will lead to higher collection of freight as the Food Corporation of India (FCI) will send out more food grain to other states through our network,” he said. This year, Punjab had already transported around 150 lakh tonne wheat to other states and it was also expecting to transport over 155 lakh tonne paddy output in the coming season. The Ambala division covers 64.5 per cent rail network of Punjab, 18.5 per cent of Haryana, 11 per cent of Himachal Pradesh, three per cent each of UP and Rajasthan. Northern Railway (Ambala) earned a total income of Rs 1,517 crore, comprising income from passenger and freight segments, in 2009-10 with an average growth of 24 per cent. Out of the total income, Rs 367 crore was earned from passenger segment with a growth of 11 per cent. “We saw a substantial growth of 29 per cent in freight collection last fiscal because of high output of wheat and paddy in Punjab,” he said. However, railway authorities are looking at 10 per cent growth in income from passenger fares in the current fiscal. The Ambala division has passenger traffic of 1.8 lakh persons per day. Northern Railway is also in the process of converting the Chandigarh railway station into a world-class facility. “We will submit our report to the general manager, Northern Railway, soon and thereafter a consultant will be hired to guide us about converting it into a world-class station,” said divisional railway manager (DRM) YP Singh. He said the centre had already decided to have world-class railway stations in Delhi and Ambala.
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Soft skill mgmt integrated into curriculum Chandigarh, June 12 In first-of-its-kind initiative, the department has decided to include activities like computer application training, communication skill development, data compilation, etc. as the mandatory part of all courses. “The basic concept behind the idea is to ensure that students who opt for regular courses like regular bachelor in arts are ready to enter the job market right after it. If you see the current trend, many such students after their courses go in for computer courses or diplomas. The plan will be to provide them with all this value addition as part of their course only. So, a student doing BA in Sanskrit will have an added brownie in the form of a translation course, computer applications, etc.” said director, higher education, Ajoy Sharma. A committee of experts, who have analysed the job requisites, has zeroed in on these special subjects, which will be made available as a mandatory choice to students. “This is part of what we call revamping the subjects. Just reviewing and changing the syllabus is not enough in today’s world. Education needs to be more vocational in its approach. This will start as a pilot initiative and based on feedback will be expanded further,” added Ajoy. The courses will commence from September and will be provided without any additional fee. The colleges are currently mulling over getting apt trainers or faculty for the same.
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Class XI admission in govt schools Chandigarh, June 12 The data, which will be uploaded on the department website, will give an idea of the requisite merit required in admission to a particular school. After calculating the percentage with reference to their scored CGPA, students will know where they can get admission. According to officials, students can analyse their indicative percentage vis-à-vis these cut-offs and prepare a realistic preference list. “If the indicative percentage of a student is 80 then he should not apply to any school where the last year’s cut-off was above 90 per cent because it will go up this time. The last year’s cut-offs will give an idea to students about the requisite merit for admission to a particular school. It will help him make realistic choice and thereby make admissions more easy,” said district education officer Chanchal Singh. The department has decided to go in for online counselling to make the admission process more convenient for students. Over 10,000 applicants are expected to submit a list of 15 schools on priority basis and will be awarded admission to one of these after evaluating their CGPA merit acquired in the class X examination. According to the DEO, as all students are not net savvy, they are bound to face some problems. “To help them with filling out their choices, the department has made a team of counsellors to guide them,” he added. According to sources, transparency in the entire process will be ensured by a six-member grievance committee headed by the DEO, which will deal with any complaint of dubious or arbitrary admission.
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Implement quota policy for
OBCs: Forum
Chandigarh, June 12 The representation states that the university has denied the legitimate right of this community by not implementing the reservation policy of the Government of India, which was approved by the Senate of Panjab University at the meeting on March 29, 2008. The forum has requested the VC to implement the reservation so that the forum will not be forced to adopt the path of agitation.
— TNS
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PU Honours school losing sheen Chandigarh, June 12 Whereas in certain departments, the number of students has gone down from 40 in BSc-I to only six in MSc II, in others, around five students drop the course after completing their graduation every year. Stringent internal assessment system in the departments and the failure of several science stream students to attain 55 per cent, which is the minimum criteria to appear in UGC NET, have been cited as the reasons for the trend by students. Certain students find courses like MBA more luring from the job perspective, others drop out after completing their BSc from PU in a bid to seek admission in more prestigious institutes. “Lack of motivation to pursue research or teaching as a career is also one major factor,” quipped a student of MSc II (mathematics) on the condition of anonymity. “We had joined the integrated course with a lot of enthusiasm but by the end of the five-year course, only six students are left in our batch. The teachers have all the power to make or ruin our career. On several occasions, there has been an uneven distribution of syllabus in the question paper and we cannot complain to anybody,” added another MSc student. “Most students in our department could not even attain 55 per cent marks needed to qualify for the UGC-NET. Only three students in the class have qualified for the NET. Hence, there is no scope left for any research,” said another MSc student. Teachers in these departments cited several reasons for this trend. “One major reason is that MBA graduates get better salaries than others, so students get lured. Some students also drop out each year due to peer and parents’ pressure,” said KD Sharma, chairperson, department of anthropology. In the geology department, for instance, out of 30 students enrolled initially, five have already dropped out. “A major concern among students today is job security and they are conscious about it at an early age. Earlier, getting best qualification was the aim, now it is earning money. Students also compete for examinations in the IITs,” said GS Gill, chairperson, department of geology. |
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5,200 students attend placement drive Kharar, June 12 Gurvinder Singh Bahra, group chairman, said students of 2009-10 batches of BE, BTech (CSE, IT, ECE, EE, EIE), MCA and MTech from all over the region participated in the drive. Students with minimum 70 percent and above on aggregate in degree with no backlogs appeared for the placement drive. They underwent written test, interview, HR interview and technical interview. “IBM Technologies are here to recruit system managers, offering a package of Rs 2.4 lakh,” Bahra said. Other information technology companies would be part of the school, he added. IBM’s software product portfolio includes software for information management, application integration, collaboration, software development tools, content management, embedded programming, data warehousing and much more, he added. |
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