Chandigarh, August 6
The ghost of the techno-gym scam pertaining to the purchase of various gymnasium apparatus by the UT Administration has resurfaced with the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, Shiv Raj Patil, seeking a fresh charge sheet against the accused in the case.

The case pertained to the purchase of gymnasium apparatus installed at Sports Complex, Sector 42, Cricket Stadium, Sector 16, and Lake Complex, made on a single tender in 2006. The officers in dock for the purchases are IS Sandhu, a former Director (Sports) who was repatriated to Punjab, and Dr JPS Sidhu, Joint Director Sports.

The development follows findings of the Finance Secretary, Sanjay Kumar, based on “lot of complaints in pursuance to which the CBI inquired into the matter and pointed out several anomalies”.

A major penalty has been sought for the Joint Director Sports and the Punjab government has been forwarded a copy of the CBI findings for action against him.

Gen (retd) SF Rodrigues, a former UT Administrator, in a letter to the director of the CBI, had said there had been no irregularities in the purchase. It had also been mentioned that the purchase was made not by an individual, but an administrative structure.

Subsequently, based on the CBI report, the Finance Secretary noted that there were no official papers to justify the purchase of equipment claiming that they had been used in the Olympics. The file “does have loose papers as incomplete copies of documents of the Sports Authority of India whose validity cannot be authenticated”.

It has also been noted that “it is strange to note that the Director Sports and other officials dealing with the process of purchase of fitness equipment during 2004 and 2007 ignored the advice of Karan Avtar Singh, the then Secretary Sports, for floating open tenders”.

The report also noted that “it is not known as to why no exercise was made to exploit the possibilities or to check whether the equipment of similar specifications other than techno-gym were available in the market”.

Sanjay Kumar refused to comment on the issue, saying that “the matter is being looked into in line with the official procedure.”

IS Sandhu, former Director Sports, said: “Sanjay Kumar will have to come to the court for maligning my image. All the purchases had been made by keeping the finance department in the loop. In fact, no purchases could have been made without due approval of the seniors. I will clarify all questions at the right forum.”

Chandigarh, August 6
At a time when real estate prices are skyrocketing, can one imagine the thought of “useless” commercial property? Sounds unbelievable, but true. How else can 605 commercial properties owned by the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) and valued in crores of rupees belying vacant, some for as long as over three decades be justified?

In an apparent overdrive to construct and raise structures, the CHB seems to have lost count of its own constructions. Consequently, many of its properties are in dire straits and need more funds for renovation than the original construction cost.

The CHB, which had been initiating drives from time to time to keep a check on illegal running of shops from residential premises, has hardly bothered to take note of its commercial properties, which have been lying vacant for years. Some of these were constructed as far back as the late 1970s and in the 1980s. The others have been constructed more recently in the 90s. Clearly, the CHB has been unable to cash in on the real estate boom and is missing out on an opportunity to utilise market sentiments to generate revenue.

Chandigarh August 6
Panjab university’s tall claims of speedy results have fallen flat as it has till date failed to announce the first and second semester results of MSc biotechnology, while the students have been promoted to third semester.

The matter came to the fore when a group of students of SD College reached the university demanding a reason for a year-long delay in declaration of their results.

These students who have been promoted to second year are yet to get the results of the first year which includes the first semester examination held in July last year. According to students, if a student fails in first semester, he or she is demoted to first year and six months put in the second semester go in vain.

“The university has not declared the last year’s results of both the semesters. Though our college has promoted us to second year, we fear demotion in case we fail in any of the subjects in first semester. We have pursued the matter with the university many a times but they have never given a satisfactory answer. Had results been declared as per the schedule, it would have saved many from this hassle,” said a student.

“Every time we have approached them, they say it is in final stages. They ask us to seek solace in the fact that students of many other colleges are facing the same situation. We fail to understand that what has taken them an entire year to declare the results of first semester. Today they told us that it was due to some penalty imposed on DAV College, Sector 10, that the results had been held back,” said another.

Verifying their claims, SD College principal AC Vaid said, “ The university is taking time in declaring results, but this cannot stop us from taking classes. We have limited time to complete syllabus. Till date we have no clue if any student has a compartment in his or her first semester, but we have no option, but to provisionally promote them. If any student fails we will refund fee for the third semester. I have tried to reason it out with the university many a times. Students told me that it was due to some other college that the results were held back. If that is the case, it’s not right to make everybody suffer for one single college.”

The university officials, meanwhile, said everything was settled and the results would be declared by Tuesday.

Chandigarh, August 6
If you own a luxury car be ready to shell out more for its registration in Chandigarh, with the Administration mooting a proposal to substantially increase road tax.

At a meeting under the chairmanship of Home-cum-Transport Secretary Ram Niwas here today, a consensus emerged that there was need to substantially hike the road tax which was at present in the range of Rs 2,200 to Rs 3,000, much less than Punjab and Haryana.

Under the new proposal, the Administration has divided cars into three segments according to the value of the vehicle — ordinary (up to Rs 6 lakh), luxury (from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 20 lakh) and ultra-luxury (Rs 20 lakh onwards).

The road tax would be fixed as the percentage of the total value of the vehicles and would be “granded” meaning that the percentage would be more for luxury and ultra luxury cars, sources said.

Confirming the proposal, Deputy Commissioner Brajendra Singh said the new rates would be worked out by next week.

With over seven lakh cars already registered in Chandigarh and about 40,000 cars being registered every year, the city has the highlest vehicular density in the country. The ownership of car per 1,000 population in Chandigarh is 82, followed by Delhi with 54, Panaji 48, and Chennai 43.

Recently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the Chandigarh Administration to explore the possibilities of restricting the number of private vehicles and strengthen public transport for the convenience of the public.

With lower road tax rates in Chandigarh, a substantial number of car buyers from Punjab and Haryana get vehicles registered here, evading higher road tax in their states. 

Chandigarh, August 6
Following a ragging incident on Panjab University campus recently, the authorities have now launched a campaign to “sensitise students individually” on campus.Vice-Chancellor RC Sobti today said the PU authorities would now speed up the process of educating students on the consequences of indulging in such activities.

In yet another development in the case, the PU authorities have forwarded details of the ragging case to the UT Administrator, Shivraj Patil, and UT advisor Pradeep Mehra. A detailed report shall also be sent to the PU Chancellor shortly.

“The UICET student was shown the hostel register with pictures and details of all hostel students. He was unable to verify the defaulters. We have told the police that we are ready to give maximum support and it is up to the police to take action in the matter,” said Sobti.

Meanwhile, university staff today informed that Tejas Anand, a student of the University Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology (UICET), who had alleged that two seniors ragged him, had joined the hostel only four hours before the incident took place.

“The boy has written two letters to the authorities. In the first letter he said he was depressed because of incidents of ragging, while in the second he mentioned that he wanted to go home for a few days and does not wants to ruin anybody’s career,” said a staff member.

Chandigarh, August 6
Campaigning for the Panjab University Teacher’s Association (PUTA) election has picked up. The Panjab University teacher’s democratic front today issued a series of agenda items for the election and claimed that it would play instrumental in pushing the case of CAS promotions, BDS faculty case and several other issues.

Members of the democratic front said there was an urgent need of recruiting support staff such as nurses and chair side assistants. They promised to get air-conditioning of clinics and laboratories on a priority basis in dental college, which has the maximum share of votes. At the UIET, teachers claimed that increments for MTech faculty would be ensured on a priority basis, while at the USOL, they would try to draw the attention of the authorities towards overhauling. Teachers who belong to the front also claimed that several steps taken by the PU authorities were a result of their effort. — TNS

Chandigarh, August 6
The cultural bonanza organised by the Chandigarh Senior Citizen Association, Chapter 37, at Guru Nanak Public School’s (junior) auditorium was a veritable mix of patriotic songs, poems, ghazals and filmy songs. It was a sheer coincidence that while young artistes touched serious and social issues, seniors, on the contrary, doled out romantic and ecstatic numbers.

The programme commenced with chapter president SS Lamba paying rich tributes to all those freedom fighters and martyrs, who made supreme sacrifices.

He urged the gathering to uphold those ideals by preserving and practicing moral ethics. Pushpa Walia made many eyes moist with an immaculate rendition of “Ai mere watan ke logo...”, Dr Nisha Pandya for “Banjaria..” and Veena Puri won applause for soulful rendition of “Mavan te dhiyan”, which is immortalised by legendary Surinder Kaur, while noted poet Rupa Saba with “Dhal Uthi hai shaam” was impressive with her ghazal.

Guest of honour BD Sharma, an art promoter and educationist, HS Chawla, Kundan Singh, Dr G Kaur Nanda, RK Moudgil, Gen MS Kandal (retd) presented songs.

Chandigarh August 6
Following the latest guidelines of the Government of India, the UT administration has decided to introduce a feedback system to monitor the midday meal scheme in the city schools.

According to its latest initiative, the UT education department will distribute the feedback performa to schoolchildren to get their response to the quality of the midday meal.

The decision was taken at a review meeting held by the Home Secretary today, which was attended by parents, teachers, cooking agencies and officials concerned.

The purpose of the feedback form is that the students are encouraged to reflect their liking regarding the food and change in menu.

Besides this, seven sheds will be constructed so that time and distance of kitchens and schools is reduced.

Chandigarh, August 6
With the change of guard at the Punjab Raj Bhavan, Chandigarh’s senior-most bureaucrat and Adviser to the UT Administrator Pradip Mehra is gradually getting back his powers.

In fact, the vesting of powers of the chief vigilance officer (CVO) with Mehra by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) in place of the UT home secretary seems to have done away with an administrative anomaly.

Being the senior-most officer, it was in the fitness of things that the Adviser was the CVO and the MHA decision had “restored” the balance of power in the UT administrative setup, sources said.

Since Home Secretary is secretary for many UT departments, it was “improper” for him to be the CVO since a substantial number of vigilance complaints were against officials belonging to these departments. In most state governments, an officer at the level of the chief secretary or equivalent is posted as the CVO.

Since Mehra’s rank was equivalent to that of the chief secretary of a state as per the protocol, the transfer of CVO’s powers to adviser was only a matter of time, sources said.

On account of his slugfest with former Punjab Governor-cum-UT Administrator SF Rodrigues over land allotment for controversial mega projects, Mehra seemed to have been at the receiving end of the Raj Bhavan till last year.

Following an anonymous complaint, Rodrigues recommended an inquiry by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) against Mehra.

Rodrigues also withdrew the annual confidential report (ACR)-writing powers of his junior officers from Mehra. The ACR powers were ultimately restored by the MHA.

Sources said the new Administrator, Shivraj Patil, was very particular about protocol and wanted his Adviser to be in loop on major decisions.

The transfer of CVO’s power to the Adviser has to be seen in that light, the sources added.

Ensnared: A camel bleats in a pitiable condition after falling into an open manhole near DAV College, Sector 10, Chandigarh, on Friday. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan

PFA ‘slow’ to react

By the time a PFA team could arrive at the scene around 4.45 pm, the animal had been rescued

Chandigarh, August 6
While the pathology department of the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, is likely to submit the histopathology report into the death of a newborn at Government Multi-speciality Hospital, Sector 16, tomorrow, the new committee is also expected to conclude its proceedings of inquiry by Tuesday.

Chandigarh Additional Deputy Commissioner PS Shergill and GMCH Director-Principal Dr Raj Bahadur, who were asked by the UT administration to conduct a fresh probe into the death of Bulbul’s baby soon after delivery at the OPD counter on July 21, have already questioned the staff and witnesses.

Sources said the committee has observed that it was the system collapse at the GMSH that had led to the delivery in the open and subsequent death of the newborn.

The committee has also observed that most employees on duty failed to deliver what was expected of them under such circumstances.

The manner in which Bulbul was made to go from one room to another taking the support of her husband, the staff present should have taken care of her and admitted her to the labour room.

First, the labour room staff failed to evaluate the gravity of her condition when Bulbul reached there, then the staff present there did not admit her, said 
the sources.

The committee is also of the view that Jasjit Kaur, a pharmacist, came out to help the patient soon after the delivery and did not waste time in picking up the baby from the floor.

According to sources, the committee is of the view that the pharmacist has set an example for others in the hospital, as it is not easy to hold a newborn with bare hands.

Chandigarh, August 6
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today asked the Home Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to put their heads together for evolving a mechanism and decide upon the composition of a tribunal for providing security cover to the VIPs and others.

The homes secretaries have been asked to hold a joint meeting and carryout the deliberations in consultations with the police chiefs. Justice Surya Kant has also asked the states to update the list of protected persons and the scale of security. The case will now come up for further hearing on September 13.

Justice Surya Kant has already made it clear that the court wants to know the opinion of the states on the setting up a tribunal on the issue of providing security cover to the VIPs and others.

If the tribunal comes into the existence, the issue of arbitrarily granting, curtailing or withdrawing security cover is expected to be largely resolved.

The directions came on a petition filed by Raghubir Singh, secretary, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. Punjab has already placed before the high court its policy on security. It says dignitaries to be provided pilot and escort vehicles are Punjab Governor, the Chief Minister and his close family, the Chief Justice of India, and the Supreme Court judges while touring the state.

The pilot vehicles during tours are to be provided to the Chief Justice, Vidhan Sabha speaker, Cabinet Minister, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, Leader of Opposition in the state, Deputy Speaker, Advocate-General, Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Principal Secretary (Home) and the Director-General of Police. They are to be provided with escort vehicles on a permanent basis. 

Mohali, August 6
A year after erroneously carving out plots on land reserved for Dasmesh Canal here, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) is now finding it difficult to allot alternative plots to the allottees.

About 44 plots were allotted in Sector 80 by GMADA. It later realised that the plots had been carved out on the reserved land. By the time the allottees were directed against beginning construction work, two of the plot owners had already started construction.

GMADA has now decided to offer alternative plots to the affected allotees. After finalising details of the alternative sites, the proposal will be placed before Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during a forthcoming meeting. “It would only be after the CM’s nod that the re-allotments would be done,” said a senior official.

Sources said it was not only the case of Sector 80, the Dasmesh Canal had disturbed the planning of the Aerocity project. A 100 feet wide strip of land acquired for the canal by the irrigation department passes through various sectors of the greater Mohali area, including Sectors 80 and 81.

Since Dasmesh Canal had disturbed the planning of the prestigious Knowledge City in Sector 81, a proposal to realign the canal had been discussed with the irrigation department, but with little success. Now, the proposal would also be discussed at the Chief Minister’s level. In the Knowledge City, GMADA has re-alloted land to the Indian School of Business (ISB).

In the Aerocity housing project, GMADA has to forgo about 150 plots as the land acquired for the canal crisscrosses the project’s planning area. Not only the plots, the 100 feet wide strip of canal land would disturb the proper laying of essential facilities like roads, sewerage and storm water networks. About seven acres acquired by the department comes in the area for the Aerocity project.

Adopting a safer side in the future, GMADA had not planned plots on the land acquired for the canal by the irrigation department. The strip was being left as a green belt. The basic amenities would be planned keeping in mind the proposed canal’s alignment.

As part of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal network, several hundred acres had been acquired to irrigate the agricultural land in the belt comprising Ropar, Mohali and Patiala districts. Sources in the irrigation department said the Dasmesh Canal project had become more or less defunct, but officially it was being kept alive by the Punjab government due to “political reasons”. Since the project is related to the SYL canal, it becomes an interstate issue and is, thus, too sensitive for the government to shelve the project

Chandigarh, August 6
Panjab University authorities today convened an interactive session with students of University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) at the law auditorium.Addressing a large gathering of the UIET students, RC Sobti, Vice-Chancellor, laid due emphasis on the observance of discipline, spirit of togetherness and cooperation and an unswerving pursuit of knowledge. 

He also cautioned students not to indulge in any kind of ragging which is a cognisable offence and crime.

“Any student who is found guilty of ragging or abetting the incidence of ragging will be dealt with exemplary punishment as prescribed by law,” he said.

Students took an oath to stay away from ragging. During the interactive session, Sobti said students’ problems would be attended to in a given time frame. He said students would also be involved in decision making. When some students raised the issue of excluding students of Swami Sarvanand Giri Regional Centre (SSGR Regional Centre), Hoshiarpur, from the process of placement, Sobti assured them that the issue would be placed before the duly constituted committee comprising Dean Student Welfare, Naval Kishore, Director UIET, Renu Vij, and some of the representatives of the UIET students.

Chandigarh, August 6
Panjab University today sanctioned additional seats for various courses in SD College, Sector 32.The admissions to these additional seats can be taken by making a payment of Rs 1,500 as late admission fee in addition to Rs 1,500 as the additional development fund fee.

The admission to all these courses except BCom will be done on merit basis.

The interested candidates are required to reach the college seminar hall on August 9 at 9 am.