Chandigarh, October 18
In one of the largest-ever haul of spurious sweets, UT administration officials today seized 7,500 kg of sweets prepared in unhygienic conditions from three suppliers, who reportedly supply sweets in bulk to major outlets in the city.

A team of UT officials descended on three manufacturers, Chandigarh Sweets House, Aggarwal Sweets and Mahadev Sweets, in Daria village at around 2:30 pm today. The raid continued for six hours until 8 30 pm.

The seized sweets including milk cake, soan papdi, pateesa, burfi, rasgullas, gulab jamun, petha and bakery items including cakes and biscuits, were destroyed by the office of the MOH (medical officer of health) till the filing of the report. In all, around 3,500 kg of spurious sweets were seized from Chandigarh Sweets, 2,500 kg from Mahadev Sweets and 1,500 kg from Aggarwal Sweets in the raid that was headed by additional deputy commissioner P.S. Shergill and conducted, according to him, on a “secret information” received by the UT home secretary about the adulteration of sweets in unhygienic conditions at these places.

The team included two doctors, Dr Satbir and Dr Rajiv, two food inspectors, Sukhwinder and Bharat, and the joint director, food and civil supplies department, Abhishek Dev, conducted the raids in accordance with the Epidemic Disease Act for destruction of spurious sweets.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Shergill said that that the owner of Mahadev Sweets had got prior information of the raid, following which he tried to flee from the scene after locking his premises.

Chandigarh, October 18
If the UT Administration has its way, city residents may soon end up paying more for essential items in day-to-day use. The UT Administration has floated a proposal for increasing the Value Added Tax (VAT), which is awaiting approval by the UT administrator.

The UT administration has proposed to hike the percentage of VAT from the existing 4 per cent to 5.

The projected hike in VAT is on essential items such as kitchenware, computers, stationery items, electronic gadgets, skimmed milk and handicrafts among others.

While the proposed hike is going to be heavy on the pockets of the residents, UT Administration officials justify the proposed hike, stating that the UT is probably the only city levying VAT at 4 per cent while the rest of the country is levying VAT at 5 per cent.

“The increase in VAT on a number of Schedule-B items (essential items) was being done to bring it at par with rates in neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana and other states,” said a senior official of the UT administration.

The proposed hike was preceded by public announcements by the UT Administration inviting objections and comments from the public on the proposed hike. Officials claim that they had taken into account the views of the public before finalising the proposal.

Criticising the administration's move to enhance the tax on essential items, Chandigarh Business Council president Jagdish Arora said, “It would be unfair to hike VAT. Just because the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana have enhanced VAT on Schedule-B household items does not mean that the UT has to blindly follow suit. Already the cost of living in Chandigarh is so high starting from affordable housing to education,” he added. 

Items likely to be dearer

l Kitchen appliances

l Computers

l Stationery items

l Electronic gadgets

l Skimmed milk

l Handicrafts

l Machinery

l Hand tools

l Cell phones

Chandigarh,October 18
Over one-and-a-half years after they were passed by the Lok Sabha, the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2007, and the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007, are still hanging fire even though Chandigarh MP Pawan Bansal holds the portfolio of parliamentary affairs.

The twin Bills, which were to take care of the land compensation and rehabilitation needs of farmers, still seem to be at the deliberation stage. This is despite the fact that land acquisition is the epicentre of all controversies surrounding the mega projects in Chandigarh with farmers up in arms against lopsided land acquisition policies of the Chandigarh administration.

Recently, the CBI had booked Lalit Sharma, former Adviser to the UT Administrator, Krishna Mohan, former UT Home Secretary, and Vivek Atray, former UT IT Director, for their alleged role in the irregularities in the allotment of land for Amusement Park.“The Congress-led UPA government should accelerate the process of passing the Bills which will virtually make the farmers stakeholders in the projects for the acquired land. Besides, they will address the genuine compensation and rehabilitation needs of the farming community,” Brig KS Kahlon (retd), president of the Chandigarh Sanjha Morcha, said.

Under the new Bills, the land acquisition for the public purpose had been restricted to strategic purposes vital to the state and for the infrastructure projects where the benefits accrue to the general public. “The provision of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, is also used to acquire private land for companies. This raises a question mark on the desirability of such state intervention when land could be arranged by the company through private negotiations on a willing-seller, willing-buyer basis, which could be seen as a fairer arrangement from the point of view of the landowner. In view of this, it is desirable to omit the provisions of acquisition of land for companies in the Act,” the Bill says.

Though Bansal could not be contacted for comments, his media coordinator Pardeep Chabbra claimed that the Congress had always stood for the farming community and the Bills would soon be brought before Parliament. “There is a strong possibility that the Bills may be brought in the winter session of Parliament,” he added.

Sources in the Congress said that after passage of these Bills in the Lok Sabha ahead of the May 13, 2009, parliamentary elections, the Bill were not passed in the Rajya Sabha as the Congress did not have a majority in the Upper House. Since final touches had to be given to the Bills after the formation of government by the UPA after the last Lok Sabha elections, the tabling of the Bills had been delayed, sources said.

Chandigarh, October 18
High drama was witnessed today at PGI when a MHA (master in hospital administration) student allegedly slapped a ward attendant in the hospital’s Nehru building. Following the incident all ward attendants, numbering about a hundred, as well as some other hospital employees gathered in front of the hospital administration department building and sought action against the medico.

According to the protesting employees, the student asked one of the attendants, Muneesh, to take soiled bedsheets to the laundry. When the latter refused, saying it was not part of the duty of ward attendants, the enraged student slapped him, they alleged.

Department officials tried to pacify the employees but in vain and the matter was reported to the police. However, both sides later reached a compromise.

During the drama services at the hospital’s wards including the emergency remained affected.

As the ward attendants, who are assigned the tasks of helping in shifting patients from one place to another, collecting diagnosis reports and other sundry jobs, had left their stations the nursing staff had to take on the additional load.

When contacted a PGI spokesperson said the matter was being “looked into”.

Mohali, October 18
Patwaris, appointed by the Punjab Government to maintain revenue records in rural areas, are also controlling the fate of hundreds of senior citizens in the city; thanks to archaic rules of the state government.

Revenue officials, who have no interaction with the urban population, have been handed down the job of attesting various documents like certificates for entitlement to pensions, proof of domicile and caste.

The end result is harassment to the residents who are being forced to make endless rounds of patwaris who are seldom available at a designated place. Even instruction to the Mohali district administration by the Punjab Chief Minister about two months ago to sort out the issue has not shown any results.

“It is a very strange rule. A patwari is asked to give his report about urban residents while he is deputed in rural areas,” said Paramjit Singh Kahlon, a municipal councilor.

Residents seeking certificates for entitlement to pensions, proof of domicile and caste are facing harassment after patwaris were asked by the government to give their report on the basis of which such documents could be issued.

Often people who had to get their certificates attested were called to Landran and Sohana. At times patwaris were not even available. They attested the document of any person only after a councillor initially attested it as they had no record of Mohali. The procedure was wrong and there was a need to amend it, said Kahlon.

Mohali Deputy Commissioner Parveen Kumar, however, said his office had received directions from higher authorities that patwaris were required to attest such certificates and so such directions could not be ignored. He said he would try to solve the problem if those harassed by patwaris came to him. The directions issued by the higher authorities were for entire Punjab and not just for Mohali, added the Deputy Commissioner.

The representative of the people had brought the issue to the notice of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal when he had met municipal councillors in Mohali on August 26. Badal had then directed the Mohali Deputy Commissioner to look into the matter.

The property of Mohali had nothing to do with patwaris and as such they knew little about people living in the town. Moreover, they were not readily available as most of their time was spent in villages.

SS Barnala, another councillor, had said elected representatives were answerable to the public and not patwaris who had no interest in Mohali.

The government had created hurdles by involving patwaris in the work related to such certificates that was earlier done only by elected representatives. It was difficult for widows, senior citizens and physically challenged persons to locate patwaris to get required reports in connection with eligibility certificates for entitlement to pensions and other kinds of work.

Chandigarh, October 18
The race for the president of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) is still wide open with incumbent chief BB Bahl and former mayor of the city’s municipal corporation Lalit Joshi Bhardwaj being the frontrunners.

Despite reports that Bahl’s name had been cleared for the post, sources close to the Congress party claimed AICC president Sonia Gandhi would clear it in a day or two. “Names for the post have been recommended to Sonia Gandhi and she’ll take a final decision following which one of them will be formally announced,” they added.

Bahl has already completed three terms and, if the party constitution is adhered to in letter and spirit, he cannot be made president for another term. Since he is considered close to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, this condition could be waived in his case.

On the other hand Bhardwaj also wields considerable influence in the party setup having been city mayor and president of the Mahila Congress.

In fact, Parliamentary Affairs & Water Resources Minister Pawan Bansal would not have much difficulty in working with either Bahl and Bhardwaj as they do not pose any political challenge to him.

Earlier, several senior leaders including former mayor Subhash Chawla, INTUC president Ram Pal Sharma and senior leader Pawan Sharma were in contention for the party post.

With the 2011 municipal corporation elections round the corner, Congress workers want a grassroots leader to lead the party in the polls. While Bahl does not have any electoral history, Bhardwaj has been a grassroots worker. If named president the latter will be the first woman Congress president and - in a way - will fulfill the party’s promise to give important posts to female workers. The BJP already had Kamla Sharma as its president earlier.

A section of the party is of the view that the entry of former central minister Harmohan Dhawan into the BJP may make the going tough for the party. The Congress wants an “active” worker as the chief who could inspire the electorate.

The sources added Sonia Gandhi would take a decision taking Bansal into confidence keeping in view the forthcoming elections of the civic body.

Chandigarh, October 18
The Chandigarh Administration has recommended the name of VK Singh, an IAS officer of the 1990 batch and currently posted as the Managing Director of Punjab Milkfed, for the post of Finance Secretary to the Central government.

The administration has zeroed in on the name of Singh for the coveted post and is set to forward it to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). PS Aujla (1990), currently posted as Secretary, Public Health, Water Supply, Sanitation and Sports and Rakesh Kumar Verma (1993), Managing Director, Punjab Infotech, were the other contenders for the post. The current incumbent Sanjay Kumar’s tenure ends in January 2011. After receiving the names, the MHA, in turn, would forward these to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), with the final nod coming from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

In the local bureaucratic set-up, the post of the Finance Secretary is considered to be the third most-significant after the Adviser to the UT Administrator and Home Secretary. Given his position in Chandigarh, which is the capital of the Punjab and Haryana besides the headquarters of the Union Territory, the Finance Secretary wields a lot of influence in the local administrative set-up.

Besides, the Finance Secretary is the administrative secretary of several key departments, including engineering, urban planning and development, sports, information technology, science and technology, housing, environment and forest and excise and taxation, which gave him a lot of patronage. With Chandigarh on its way to getting the Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS), including metro, the post assumes all the more importance since the Finance Secretary, as the MRTS secretary, is the coordinating officer with the neighbouring states and the Central government agencies.

FS post under scanner

With controversies surrounding the mega projects and land acquisition for major projects, the post of the finance secretary is not a bed of roses for the new incumbent. Since major decisions regarding land acquisition are routed through the finance department, the post of the finance secretary would be under scanner from various quarters, including the MHA.

Mohali, October 18
Banning rallies at Chandigarh’s Matka Chowk and shifting the venue to Sector 25 by the Chandigarh administration has proved to be counterproductive not only for the Mohali administration but also for the residents of southern sectors.

Few months after the Chandigarh administration banned the entry of protestors into the heart of the city, the latter have discovered a new venue at the entrance to the city beautiful, defeating the very purpose of the UT’s scheme to check protesters from disturbing the normal life in the city.

Since September, the protesters have set their eyes on the main road leading to Chandigarh from YPS chowk. Be it the week-long rally by the Bhartiya Kisan Union or rally by Punjab Government employees, the protesters find the road very strategic to catch the attention of the Punjab Government and the Chandigarh administration.

Mohali SSP GPS Bhullar, while admitting the fact that the new venue had increased their problems, said he was taking up the matter with the Chandigarh administration so that an alternate site could be identified. The present site is not suitable for holding rallies.

The worst sufferers are the residents living in Sectors 52, 61 and several parts of Mohali, who use the road to commute between the two cities.

Explaining the logic behind selection of the new location, Gurmail Singh, a leader of the Punjab Employees Union, said sitting in Sector 25 would catch no ones attention. Since the present site was along one of the busiest roads leading from Chandigarh to different parts of Punjab, holding rally on the spot caught everyone’s attention, he said.

Meanwhile, while giving the account of the residents, Abhinav Sharma, a resident of Sector 61, said rally at YPS chowk meant closing of all linking roads automatically. Commuters have to face a harrowing time during the morning and evening hours. 

Chandigarh, October 18
Cabins of two shop-cum-offices (SCOs), numbers 1004-05, in Sector 22-B opposite the ISBT-17 were gutted last night due to a short-circuit. As the incident occurred at 1 am, no loss of life was reported.

As per the fire department, the incident took place due to a short-circuit in one of the electricity meters in a shop. An eyewitness informed the fire department about the incident.

Fire officials stated that four water tenders and hydraulic tenders were immediately rushed to the site of the incident from Sectors 17, 32, 38, 11 and Ram Darbar fire stations after getting a call.

Fire officials, in their report, said one shop was of videography and air-conditioner repair, while the other was of fire safety equipment.

The report also mentioned that fire safety equipment were not in a working condition when the incident took place.

MC Chief Fire Officer TPS Phoolka stated that the problem in the market was that there was a major violation in building bylaws rather than of fire safety norms. He said they had been issuing notices to the violators time and again, but the estate office had to be more active to remove encroachers to avoid any major fire mishap in the market.

Though the fire incident in Sector 22 today did not turn out to be a major incident, if one visits the market, it’s evident that a major disaster could occur any moment. It may be mentioned that in 2009, fire engulfed the first floor of the SCO 1026 and later spread to the adjoining SCO 1027, in which four persons were killed in a devastating fire.

During the visit to the market today, it was found that the market is having the similar picture, which it had two years ago after the major fire tragedy. Neither the UT estate office nor the MC fire department has taken any action against the violators till date. The shopkeepers had encroached upon the balcony on the first and second floors of the market through glazing and grills.

To worsen the situation, they have installed huge billboards on the face of the building, blocking the free movement of air. Whatever little space was left on the windowsills, the shopkeepers had fixed the outer parts of the split air conditioners. Verandas of some of the shops were even covered with tin sheets.

Even staircases that lead to these floors are dingy and have hanging wires which pose a threat to the users. Many of these shopkeepers don’t even have the valid permission to use so much electricity, and thus don’t even have the provision for proper wiring.

Chandigarh, October 18
The Federation of Sector Welfare Associations (FOSWAC) yesterday welcomed the registration of cases against some bureaucrats by the CBI on the charges of irregularities in the allotment of land for mega projects.

At the executive committee meeting of the FOSWAC, members were of the view that Chandigarh had become a paradise for the bureaucrats to enjoy their posting in the city at the cost of tax payers' money. The city has become a hub of scams and a den of corruption, whether it may be a case of allotment of land, award of projects, recovery of penalty, undue payments to the contractors, recruitment of staff in different departments and even for admission in the prestigious institutions like PEC, the PU, the PGI, a press note said here yesterday.

The members expressed concern regarding poor functioning of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) as a service provider. Instead of addressing the problems of citizens, including improvement of infrastructure and civic amenities and tackling the menace of stray dogs.

Mohali, October 18
Delay in marriages is leading to medical complications for couples wanting a baby. It is estimated that in the near future, 1 per cent of the babies in the world would take birth through the “In-virtro fertilisation (IVF), popularly known as test tube babies, said Dr Hrishikesh Pai, one of the leading experts in in-vitro fertilisation in the country.

Dr Pai, who was introducing mediapersons to a couple having their baby through the IVF technique, said: “A 37-year-old woman of Mohali conceived after she underwent IVF.” Doctors used vitrification technique for freezing. Kuldeep Kaur, wife of Kewaldeep Singh, underwent frozen embryos and then thaw cycle and was blessed with a baby boy on October 9, he said.

Bloom IVF has the distinction of delivering its first baby ever in India, following the IVF technique with vitrification. Father of baby Kewaldeep said his wife had several miscarriages during the past 15 years. Last year, they decided to go for the IVF and it took less than one year for them to have a baby, he said.

Explaining the reason over the future scenario in this regard, Dr Pai said the modern lifestyle had led to difficulties in normal conceiving and even the sperm count in males was decreasing. Late marriages, increasing toxicity in environment and eatables with more and more use of alcohol and smoking is taking a toll on the capacity of becoming parents on the people in a normal way, he said.

In India, there are over 500 centres involved in the IVF, ranking second in the world after Japan, where the number of such centres is nearly 600, he added. 

Chandigarh, October 18
Ganga Devi (76), mother of two Dainik Tribune staffers - Haresh Vashishtha, deputy news-editor and Amarnath Vashishtha, senior sub-editor, passed away here at GMCH, Sector 32 this morning after prolonged illness. She is survived by two more sons - Ashok Vashishtha, chief controller (Railways), Kota, and Chandershekhar, additional district and sessions judge, Bhiwani and two daughters.

She was cremated in hometown Kaithal today. Her funeral was attended by Naresh Kaushal, Editor, Dainik Tribune, other editorial staff of the paper and CJM Rajesh Garg among others. The bhog will be held in Kaithal on October 29.

Chandigarh, October 18
A new trend of installing CCTV cameras in classrooms at certain private schools has evoked a mixed response from the teacher community with the former calling it “redundant” and “an unnecessary attempt to bring discipline”.

While certain other teachers and principals, however, disagree with this notion and claim that the CCTV cameras have now become essential, particularly in co-educational institutes, where a check is required on teenagers.

The trend of placing the CCTV cameras in corridors, laboratories and other places inside the school campus had been common in the past, but the installation of the same in the classrooms has become a subject of discussion among the students as well as teacher community.

“There are several ways of keeping a track on the students and if the CCTV cameras are being installed to check the activity of the students, then it is in vain because they adopt numerous ways to escape discipline,” said a student counsellor of Delhi Public School, Sangrila Dubey.

“The schools that have begun to follow the practice may be doing so, since the trust in the student-teacher relationship is deteriorating. In reality, the whole system in the schools needs to be monitored and not just classrooms. The children are smart and just installing cameras cannot keep a tab on them,” she added.

Certain prominent schools in the city have already installed cameras in the classes, surprisingly, principals of certain other schools feel that it was redundant to pressurise the students and teachers by installing cameras.

“Our school was the first in the city to have 24 cameras installed at various places, except classrooms, where cameras are actually not needed. I have no intention to install the cameras in future as well. Keeping a tab on the teachers and students every second mounts the pressure on them. It is also a big headache for the administrator or the principal, who has to constantly monitor the cameras,” said principal, KB DAV School, Sector 7, Madhu Behl.

“The teachers have different ways to teaching and some of them have interactive ways of teaching. In that case, the students need to be playful in the classroom. There is no point curbing or encroaching on the freedom of students or teachers,” she added.

Echoing similar sentiments, GMSSS, Sector 16, principal Anujit Kaur said, “The cameras are fine in corridors and other places to keep a check on the activities, but in the classrooms there is no real use. The students find a way out for everything, if you try to over discipline them, they will find an alternate way to do what they have to. The CCTV cameras have both positive and negative points.”

Chandigarh, October 18
Embellished with vibrant colours, the first-ever “emblem” of the zonal youth festival, being held for the Panjab University affiliated colleges (zone B), has now become a fascination at the Postgraduate Government College for Girls, Sector 42 campus, the venue of the fest this year.

The “torch” created by a former student of the Government College of Art, Sector 10, has been designed reflecting both “girl power” and “spread of knowledge” at the same time. A gigantic replica of the emblem has been placed at the college building, right at the entrance.

Since the zone B youth festival would consist of all girls’ colleges in the region as the participating institutes and nearly 800 female participants, the emblem relevantly depicts four girls in bright yellow, marching towards the yellow flame that reflects knowledge.

The torch, which has bright yellow, green and orange colours, has been aesthetically matched with the background that consists of multicoloured patches.

College officials claim that the insignia on the institute’s wall has uplifted the look of the college and it is the first time that an emblem is being used for any youth festival, except for the symbol of the colleges, which have been carried in the past.

“We have taken this particular emblem since it represents women power and the flame on it highlights the spread of knowledge and awareness. Every inch of the college is working towards success of the youth festival,” said PGGCG-42 principal Mani Bedi.

Right from certificates made for winners and participants to invitation cards, the emblem has been used everywhere, say college officials.

In the past, the absence of an auditorium had been a cause of concern for the college while hosting the youth festival. But this time, the college has innovatively upgraded its earlier stage.

“Our old students who came for convocation this year got their pictures clicked right in front of the huge emblem. Students feel touched by this new addition in the college, which would become its symbol for academic and social development,” said the public relation officer of the youth festival, Dr Dilip Kumar.

Monika Singh and Jasreet Kaur, both associate professors in the department of English, have been executing the task of making the emblem popular by printing them on the publicity material, while Amit Dutta designed this emblem for the college two years ago.

Mohali, October 18
A three-week intensive course on “Advanced analytical techniques: Basic principles and application for quality assessment of drugs and pharmaceuticals for export” was inaugurated today at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali.

Prof KK Bhutani, director NIPER, in his welcome address highlighted the contribution of NIPER in producing human resources of highest caliber for the present and future needs of academia, pharmaceutical industry and regulatory agencies, by offering traditional and continuous education courses on various aspects of drugs and pharmaceuticals.

The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation, popularly known as ITEC, was launched in 1964 for assisting the Government of India, keeping the aim about the cooperation and partnership for mutual benefit and addressing the needs of developing countries in the globe.