Chandigarh, August 7
A local court today framed charges against former UT Home Secretary NK Jain, who is presently the posted as Commissioner, Haryana Fisheries Department, in an eight-year-old rape case.

Additional District Sessions Judge RN Bharti framed gang rape charges against Jain and four others. The case will now come up for hearing on August 23.

The case dates back to August 14, 2002, when a Shimla-based girl was raped and thrown out of the car near a petrol station in Sector 33, here.

Mohali, August 7
How insensitive can society be to destitutes and orphans, who have little to look forward to in life? It is a pathetic sight that anyone will hate to witness.

At 11 am yesterday, almost two hours after officials in the District Administrative Complex (DAC), are settled in their offices, a frail-looking soul, face tucked in his legs, is squatted on a stinking piece of cloth in an unkempt corner of the DAC.

He sits in the sultry weather, continuously shoving away flies that are attracted to the heaps of filth and mounds of cow dung lying around.

At a short distance, segregated by just a steel railing, employees in the DAC are comfortably seated in their rooms, with some enjoying the comfort of air-conditioners.

The DAC comprises offices of the Mohali Deputy Commissioner, the Senior Superintendent of Police, the Additional Deputy Commissioner and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, among others.

Anyone can see he has a dirty and scraggly beard. Yet, no one seems bothered about the pathetic condition of the man, seemingly in his late 30s. Most prefer to merely glance at him and then quickly turn their heads.

Chandigarh, August 7
Sample this: For a space earmarked for 61 advocates, 33 typists, one petitioner and 11 stamp vendors, nearly 250 persons are running their work from this space with a daily footfall of almost the same number.

This is not a hypothetical, but a reality of the rear side of the Estate Office in Sector 17. This shocking revelation has come to fore in a reply to a query filed under the RTI Act by advocate Karan Puri, who is also the president of the Estate Office Advocates’ Welfare Society. Interestingly, while the reply to the RTI query clearly mentions that the left and right side corners of the veranda are meant for the general public, even these have not been spared.

The Deputy Commissioner’s office has failed to give any reply to the query pertaining to the last five surprise checks conducted by the department on the availability of advocates on their respective seats.

The members of the association had also alleged that a number of lawyers had sublet their places and are practicing in the district courts and even the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The District Magistrate’s office and the Estate office in Sector 17 has in its backyard and outer corridors provided space for typists, notary, stamp vendors, oath commissioners to sit and carry out their work.

While the typists are provided space as per the rules after a written test, the administration has opened offices of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate in various parts of the city. Yet, there is no respite in the Sector 17 office where these typists are seated with hardly any space left for the passers-by to walk. Many typists, oath commissioners stamp vendors and notaries have even encroached upon the road berms.

Chandigarh, August 7
A couple got separated during Partition in 1947. The wife landed in India with her two sons. The husband, who stayed on in Pakistan, remarried and had a son. Decades later, the three children met each other for the first time here today.

This is not from a Bollywood flick, but is real stuff. Pakistan’s Sheikh Gaffar (in his mid 40s), who visited India on the invitation of the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council to play T-20 cricket matches, met his two stepbrothers, with the surname Wadhwa, in an emotional atmosphere.

Time virtually came to a standstill when the brothers saw each other. The agony of years of separation rolled down the cheeks of the brothers, who hugged each other and cried for several minutes. Their father was no more.

Both India-based brothers came from Ganganagar, where they had been living with their mother Shanti Devi (Gaffar’s stepmother), to meet him.

During Partition, Shanti Devi had come to India, but her husband Lalu Ram Wadhwa could not for reasons not known. He later remarried and rechristened himself Mohammad Din.

Mohammad Din had managed to contact his first wife in India later, but could not meet his family due to strained relations between the two countries. They were in touch through letters and some friends.

After the reunion today, the three brothers chose to spend the precious moments privately. “We neither want to be disturbed, nor want to talk to anyone about ourselves,” said Gaffar to this correspondent. They turned down, though politely, a request of being clicked together.

Chandigarh, August 7
It took just 2.7 mm of rain to disrupt normal life of the city here today. Like earlier showers, today also, drainage system of the city collapsed catching the commuters unaware. Several people were seen stranded with their vehicles.

Being Saturday most of the offices were closed today, but weekend revellers heading towards Sector 17 had a tough time as they suddenly found themselves in knee deep water.

Low-lying areas and parking lots were inundated at many places and streets were turned into rivulets, affecting a large number of commuters. Even the Madhya Marg, which otherwise remains unaffected, was also flooded.

Several inches of water collected around the road berms, while roundabouts, too, had a sorry state of affair.

Slow carriageways along the Madhya Marg as well as parking lots outside showrooms on roads were full of water. Sectors 7, 19, 26 and 27 roundabout were heavily flooded. Many cars and autos stalled midway due to high water level at several places.

Roads in sectors 8, 9, 17, 22, 24, 26, 43, 45, 51 Colony no 4 and 5 also faced waterlogging problem.

What was worst that several vehicles developed snags and were stranded on the flooded roads.

Residents were angry with the shoddy work in cleaning the storm water gullies done by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. In majority of sectors, road gullies had been repaired just about a month ago. However, the rains today exposed the quality of work by the corporation.

The condition of Sector 25, where there is old drainage system, rainwater entered several houses like earlier. Other affected areas were Kumhar Colony, Janta Colony, Milkman Colony, Mauli Jargan, Nizampur Kumbar, Hallo Majra and Vikas Nagar colonies.

Meanwhile, children and youngsters didn’t miss a chance to get drenched and enjoy the weather.

Most of the slip roads seemingly vanished as slush covered them. There was also a report of one truck getting stuck in the road at the CITCO Petrol Pump in Sector 9.

Chandigarh, August 7
Blending the classical conservations and dynamic spirit of innovations in a well knit choreography, and enchanting Odissi dance recital, acclaimed Odissi Guru Padmashri Madhavi Mudgal and her disciples danced straight to the heart of audience at the Tagore Theatre here today.

Captivating Odissi classical dance soiree organised by the Indian National Theatre commenced with an invocation of Lord Shiva and sacred river Ganges. Accomplished dancers, including Arushi Mudgal, Sudha Mukhopdhya, Divya Sen, Snehsan Sahu and Sahalkhya Rao led by Madhavi Mudgal, depicted the flow of Ganges originating from the hair locks of Lord Shiva and cascade down from mountains.

Arabi Pallavi, based on raga Arabi, delineated the elements of pure Odissi dance form before presenting AN Ashtapadi based on saint poet Jayadeva’s Geewt Govind.

Waiting since long, divine consort Radha expresses displeasure and anger over the delayed arrival of Lord Krishna. An Orriya geet choreographed and danced to perfection won applause. The concluding item by Madhavi and Arushi was the apex of their genius. Both defined the lyrical beauty, ecstasy, grace and vigour in an entrancing jugalbandi. They seem to be translating their inner self merging into the dance and the cosmos. The intrusive audience gave a standing ovation to guru Madhavi Mudgal, Arushi and others. The vocal recital and music was the lifeline of the concert.

Eminent art historian Dr BN Goswami honoured the artistes. Justice Mukul Mudgal, Ram Niwas, IAS, N Khosla, IAS (retd) and INT president graced the concert.

Chandigarh, August 7
It seems that problems of thousands of inhabitants of the city’s colonies and villages are not on the priority list of elected representatives of the municipal corporation (MC), if one goes by proceedings of the first slum colony and village development committee, held here yesterday.

While residents have been waiting endlessly for councillors to sort out their long-pending problems of drinking water, proper roads and sanitation, the half-hour proceedings of the meeting, chaired by its deputy chairman HC Kalyan, with just four of the nine members present, did not have an agenda.

One thing the participants did was that they had tea while relaxing in the air-conditioned committee room at the MC office.

After the half-hour ‘marathon’ exercise, a decision was taken to have a blueprint of the problems, to be discussed at the next meeting.

In the last seven months, the committee members could not find time to put up their agenda before the meeting. MC officials also had not bothered to prepare an agenda ahead of the meeting.

When contacted, BJP councillor Anil Dubey, who attended the meeting, said the authorities had made a mockery of this committee as in eight months, it had failed to draft any agenda to discuss at this meeting.

Complaining about the stepmotherly treatment of the authorities, he said no member was aware about this committee and its chairman till June.

Interestingly, the authorities issued the letter to all nine members of the committee, two days ahead of the meeting, without chalking out any agenda for the meeting.

Nominated councillor Amrit Bolaria, who was present at the meeting, blamed the area councillor and MC officials for the non-serious approach towards residents of slum and rural areas.

She insisted that a blueprint of the agenda should be framed by the authorities before convening a meeting of this committee by the chairman.

Records of the corporation showed that in 2007, the committee was constituted by Harjinder Kaur, who was chairperson of this committee. Regular meetings were conducted by officials that year.

Later, in 2008, this committee met thrice under the chairmanship of Manjit Singh Chauhan. Last year, only two meetings were held, with Sheela Devi as its chairperson.

Chandigarh, August 7
For many Pakistan lawyers on their first visit here, India has turned out to be beyond their dreams and perception. Not only are they impressed with the world’s largest democracy, they are also overwhelmed by the warmth and generosity that Indians possess.

“We salute the world’s largest democracy,” said Talat Mahmood Kakezai, a senior member of the Punjab Bar Council (Pakistan). “India’s sustained democracy, liberalism and secularism are praiseworthy,” he added.

A team of lawyers from Pakistan are here to play a friendly T-20 cricket match with their counterparts from the Punjab and Haryana High Court as part of efforts by people at the grass roots to create harmony between the two societies.

This is quite unlike Pakistan, which has been under military rule for a large part of its existence and where society is dominated by orthodox religious elements.

Council vice-chairman Mumtaz Mustafa said the peoples of India and Pakistan were closer to each other because of language, culture and traditions that went back in time.

“It is not religion but a host of other factors that bring the peoples together. Had religion been a factor, we would have been closer to Afghanistan than India but it is not so,” he added.

The visiting lawyers were of the opinion that by bonding at the grass roots, they had made strides in a way that even the governments of the two countries or national cricket teams could not achieve so far.

“We want to continue these efforts so that peace and harmony can prevail in the region,” said Rana Mohammad Akram Khan, chairman, executive committee, Punjab Bar Council (Pakistan).

“In fact we cancelled out trip to the UK, which was scheduled this month, to be here. We have now extended a reciprocal invitation to people here so that they can come and play in Pakistan,” he added.

Chandigarh, August 7
Doctors of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) conducted a “rarest of rare” operation on a three-year-old child here yesterday. The patient, Jaskirat of Gurdaspur, was admitted to the hospital after he fell off a tractor and suffered fracture dislocation at D-12 and D-11 in the spine with neurological deficit.

The unusual complication of associated neurological deficit due to an injure at throcolumbar spine in a child of such a tender age required immediate surgery, which was conducted successfully in two hours with the loss of only 300cc blood.

Dr Raj Bahadur, Director Principal of the hospital, who led the team of doctors involved in the surgery, said spinal injuries in children were extremely rare and these constituted only 0.34 per cent of the total cases of injuries among children.

Of the 6,000 patients operated upon by Professor Raj Bahadur in Chandigarh over the past 15 years, only four patients of spinal injury among children were encountered.

He said the surgery in the present case was quite major for a child to tolerate. It involved anterior decompression, stabilisation with rod and screws and bone grafting. If the child could take weight on its limbs after three months, it would be a significant contribution by surgical exercise in the life of the child, he added.

“Though the patient looked perfectly all right after the surgery, we expect more recovery in near future,” he said.

Chandigarh, August 7
The RTI Activists Federation, Punjab, has protested against the Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Informers) Bill, 2010. Terming it as a “lame duck Bill”, president of the federation HC Arora said they had also objected to the change in the nomenclature of the Bill.

“Earlier, when the Bill was introduced in the Parliament in 2006, it was called “The Whistle Blowers (Protection in Public Interest Disclosures) Bill, 2006”. Now the revised draft names the Bill as “Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Informers) Bill, 2010. The word “informers” should be replaced with “whistle blowers”,” he said.

“The word “informer” contains a negative connotation and is totally inappropriate to describe the present day RTI activists who are fighting for freeing the country from the evil of corruption,” he added.

In letters addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, chairperson of the UPA Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Parliament LK Advani, Arora has highlighted that the proposed Bill is aimed at keeping identity of the informer secret; it is hardly of any relevance for RTI activists, whose identity is disclosed as soon as an RTI application is filed. The Bill does not cover state government departments and undertakings. Arora has called for tabling a comprehensive Bill for covering state governments also. The Bill should have provisions for appointing nodal authorities both at the Centre and state level, he has suggested.

Chandigarh, August 7
With just three days left for PUTA election, it seems that teachers of the university do not wish to waste a single minute as far as canvassing is concerned.

Most of them have been campaigning during the peak teaching hours, thus disrupting the ongoing classes on the campus.

The intensity of campaigning, say students, has increased manifold this year. Nearly 14,000 students are enrolled in various courses on the campus and classes for most courses have already begun.

Students of various departments have now brought the issue to the notice of certain student organisations and have mailed the Vice-Chancellor regarding the same. Student leaders are now gearing up to submit a memorandum to the authorities.

As per guidelines of the University Grants Commission, at least 90 teaching days are required to be achieved per semester. The prolonged campaigning by teachers hampers the course of syllabi, claim students.

“At the end of the academic year, the same teachers rush through the syllabus. Now that the session has just begun, time is being wasted on such petty leadership gimmicks by teachers whose primary job is to teach,” said an MA (II) student on condition of anonymity.

While the official campaigning period for the student council election on the PU campus is one week, the activity for teachers’ union election had started much earlier.

For the post of PUTA’s vice-president, pro-BJP candidate Nandeep Goyal of the physics department, has already been elected unanimously, since no other candidate had filled the nomination. Ironically, two major teachers’ fronts on the campus claim that Goyal belongs to their cadre.

“The PU authorities must ensure that the teachers are not campaigning during teaching hours. The canvassing can also be done in the afternoon, as by that time most classes are over. We will take up the matter with the university authorities,” said PUSU leader Simran Singh Dhillon.

The teachers’ lobbies are, however, denying the allegations levelled by students. “None of our supporters are campaigning during the teaching hours. Whenever a teacher gets free from a class, he joins others who are campaigning,” said Jaspal Kaur Kang, one of the nominees for the post of president.

Vice-Chancellor RC Sotbi was not available for comments on the issue.

Chandigarh, August 7
Figure this: only three students, out of 113 students, who appeared in the MPhil entrance exam of the PU’s department of English and cultural studies this year, passed. The total number of seats in the MPhil course is 20.

Baffled by the changed pattern of the MPhil entrance exam this year, a majority of students had a tough time cracking the entrance exam. Till last year, a common exam was conducted for PhD and MPhil entrance in the department. Rana Nayyar, department chairperson, said following the university instructions to fill up seats in all courses even if a re-test needed to be conducted, the board of studies added four marks to the score of all candidates.

“The interviews of nearly 30 candidates have been done. These candidates were shortlisted after the board of studies intervened and decided to allot extra marks to all students. We have filled all 20 seats, which include the seats for the reserved categories as well,” said Nayyar.

He added that the pattern of the question paper was different this year and it was designed to choose research-oriented students.

The chairperson also informed that no question was direct this time. The question paper consisted only two questions of 25 marks each and both were indirect. The first question was compulsory and the second had a choice of three questions. The multiple-choice questions were also omitted this year.

Meanwhile, the students who appeared in the exam and could not qualify have now started pouring in mails to Vice-Chancellor RC Sotbi to intervene in the matter and give them another chance.