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No fee hike on PU campus this year
Other
announcements UGC team’s day 1 on PU
campus Following its arrival at the university’s administrative block on Monday, the members drafted their strategy for inspecting the PU during the next two days. After the visit is complete, these team members would prepare a report on whether the PU can become a varsity with “potential for excellence”. The UGC would award Rs 50 crore to five universities chosen in the country, out of which Rs 15 crore would be allocated for particular project and Rs 35 crore for the holistic development of that university.
Chandigarh, January 10 However, the implementation of today’s decision remains to be seen. In the last Senate meeting, held in December 2010, the student fee issue evoked a heated discussion when certain members alleged that the fee was hiked for certain courses despite a similar announcement even last year. In another important announcement, Sobti said the increase in the rent of shops at the Student Centre, which is the hub of activity at the PU, would now be transferred to the students in the form of subsidy in food
items. Recently, the student leaders had opposed the rise in prices of food items and drinks at the Student Centre compared to the prices of meals at the canteen in the Secretariat and PGIMER. “The university will pay 50 per cent insurance amount for the campus students also,” said Dean Student Welfare, Naval Kishore. Much to the relief of several young teachers on the campus who have recently completed their PhD or are still pursuing it, the university authorities today offered them to do their course work in the IAS study centre on campus. As per the new UGC guidelines, one semester course work has been made mandatory for all those pursuing their PhD degrees.
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Make plan for periphery’s development, Centre to UT
Highlights
Chandigarh, January 10 The directions came at a high-level meeting of senior officials of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh under the chairmanship of RC Mishra, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Urban Development, at New Delhi
today. Prominent among those, who attended the meeting included Pradip Mehra, Adviser to the UT Administrator, Ram Niwas, UT Home-cum-Finance Secretary, Raj Kumar, Secretary, Department of Urban Development, Haryana Government, SS Sandhi, Secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Development. With a view to arriving at the consensus on the issue, the Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Haryana will meet the UT top brass on January 14 here, sources told Chandigarh Tribune. In the backdrop of the haphazard urban growth in Chandigarh’s periphery in recent times, the need to have a better coordination among the states of Punjab and Haryana with Chandigarh was long felt. While the architectural controls were strict in Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh, the same cannot be said about the norms in Punjab and Haryana, where populism is believed to rule the roost. In fact, Central Government’s directive seems to be an offshoot of the entry of the big builders in Chandigarh’s
periphery in the wake of the skyrocketing land prices. There have been allegation that bigwigs, who have bought huge chunks of land in Chandigarh’s periphery, were manipulating various rules and regulations to their advantage. Sources said an integrated plan for the periphery was the need of the hour, as after haphazard construction it became a difficult task to remove these structures. In fact, with Metro coming to the tricity, the coordination among the neighbouring states was needed
more.
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Mohali reels under LPG shortage
Zirakpur hit by erratic
supply For the past few weeks residents of Zirakpur town have also been facing an acute shortage of domestic cooking gas as they have not been getting a regular supply of cylinders. Only one LPG agency - of Indian Oil - is reportedly functioning in the town. Residents stated one had to wait for 10 to 15 days to get a gas cylinder refilled. They complained though they had visited the agency office several times every time the employees failed to tell them actual day when LPG supply would arrive. An employee of the gas agency said the demand for cylinders increased manifold in December and January every year due to which there was a shortage of supply of cylinders. “Hundreds of bookings are pending from December 23 till date. The main reason behind the shortage is the massive diversion of cooking gas for commercial use, especially large-scale installation of LPG-run water heaters and vehicles”, he added. Makhan Singh, a resident of Naraingarh
Jhuggian, said he had applied for a LPG connection last month but officials of the gas agency had asked him to wait for another year. Another resident, Mahinder Singh, said: “It’s difficult to come from 3 km in such chilly weather to get a LPG cylinder. Even then I didn’t manage to get hold of a cylinder and I feel
harassed”.
Mohali, January 10 Already faced with a backlog running beyond 20 days, consumers are now being forced to buy the LPG cylinders from the black market for such exorbitant amounts. Enquiries revealed that inhabitants in Shahimajra, Mohali and other villages around the town were buying the gas for
Rs 70 a kg. Ravinder Sharma, a resident of Jagatpura village, said he had procured the cooking gas from Colony No 5 in Chandigarh as supply from the gas agency was inordinately delayed. Consumers were also being fleeced as those pilfering the cooking gas were filling less gas in the cylinders and charging more. Mohali subdivisional magistrate Amit Talwar said following reports of misuse of domestic cooking gas, surprise checks were conducted at various eating joints in the town. “Some of the outlets were found using domestic cooking gas and we have
seized about 15 cylinders”, he said, adding the district administration would continue to conduct checks regularly. Bindlesh, a member of the All-India LPG Distributors Federation, said LPG run water heaters were emerging as a major source of the shortage in winter as a large number of private firms manufacturing or marketing these appliances had flooded the markets with them. In winter the consumption of cooking gas also goes up due to increased consumption. Similar complaints are being received from consumers in adjoining areas like Kharar and Nayagaon. Mohali district food & supplies officer Sarabjit Singh said he had held a meeting with representatives of LPG gas agencies a few days ago. “We haven’t received any complaints so far and are monitoring the situation on a regular basis”, he added. All the three state-owned oil marketing firms - Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum - have their dealers located in various areas of
Mohali.
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Mohali Corporation
Mohali, January 10 NK Sharma, Chairman of the District Planning Board, said it was a welcome step. It would set the pace of development of the city, he said. During a sangat darshan held on January 2, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had formally
made an announcement in this regard.. Residents of Mohali and officials of the Mohali MC had been anxiously waiting for the notification. Executive officer of the council Amna Kumar Goyal, along with a superintendent, had reached the Punjab secretariat on Friday waiting to get a copy of the government notification, but itb was not issued then. Badal had said during a programme in Mohali on January 2 that he had already given the approval for the formation of the Municipal Corporation so that Mohali could be developed as a world-class city with ultra modern infrastructure. While interacting with mediapersons after the programme, the Chief Minister had said that he had already directed the department of the local government to issue a notification for the formation of the new corporation. Even the process to appoint a commissioner for the newly-formed corporation was set into motion.
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Quiet exit by Sanjay Kumar
Orders on new FS The UT Administration on Monday received orders for the posting of VK Singh as the new UT Finance Secretary from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The new incumbent will join on January 12, according to sources
Chandigarh, January 10 By sheer coincidence, the UT Administration’s top officials - Advisor Pradip Mehra and Home Secretary Ram Niwas - were conspicuous by their absence as both were away to Delhi to attend a meeting. Though Sanjay Kumar stayed for a little over two hours in his office, all officials reporting to him, except for the Joint Secretary (Home), called on him. However, in the absence of any senior functionary, Sanjay Kumar sent copies of his relinquishing the charge. When contacted, UT Home Secretary Ram Niwas was almost dismissive about Sanjay Kumar. “Only the charge was to be relinquished. There was no need for any official to be present. It is official procedure for outgoing officials to come to office to hand over charge. For that, neither I nor any other official needs to be present.” Asked about his experience with the UT Administration, Sanjay Kumar tried to be modest, saying, “I tried to put in my best for the development of the city. I am fully satisfied. It is for others to judge.” During his tenure, Sanjay Kumar had courted controversies due to his proximity with former UT Administrator General SF Rodrigues (retd), more specifically Major Nirvikar Singh, a controversial officer currently facing a CBI inquiry, who was Rodrigues’ ADC. Many UT Administration officials were witness to Sanjay Kumar’s direct access to the Raj Bhawan so much so that he was even known to bypass Mehra, his immediate superior. The UT Administration, which is well known for being faction-ridden, is known for its rivalries, lobbies and coteries. Both Sanjay Kumar and Mehra, for example, were often involved in “indirect” conflict. Towards the end of his tenure, Sanjay Kumar was caught for allegedly forging a document signed by Rodrigues arrogating to himself lifetime membership of the Chandigarh Golf Association (CGA). He was later entangled in a conflict with the Ministry of Home Affairs when the latter served on him notices for wrongly retaining the Pride Asia funds amounting to Rs 621 crore.
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Police preparing sketches of suspects
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 10 Yesterday, UT SSP Naunihal Singh had visited the spot in Phase X, Mohali, where Khushpreet’s strangulated body was found on January 5. The SSP had also visited all STD booths in Colony Number 5, Mohali, Kharar and Kurali, from where the ransom calls were made to Khushpreet’s uncle. According to sources, the police is in the process of making the sketches on the basis of description provided to them by the owner of STD booths.The STD booth owners had given a vague description that the callers were turban tied and appeared to be in their mid 20s. While the police has completely botched up the case since the very beginning, police investigations also revealed that the accused stayed in the periphery of Chandigarh all these days when Khushpreet was kept in their confinement. While the body of the child was found in Mohali, the ransom calls were made from Kharar as well as Kurali.
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Chandigarh remains colder than Srinagar, Shimla
Chandigarh, January 10 Icy winds sent the maximum temperature in Chandigarh plummeting to 7.7 degrees Celsius(C°), down by 12 degrees below normal, and 0.5 degrees lower than yesterday. In contrast, Srinagar and Shimla recorded 10 degrees and 11.3 C° respectively. The minimum temperature, however, was marginally higher at 4.2°C compared to 3.6 degrees recorded yesterday, a Met official here said. The Met office predicts that the chilly weather conditions are expected to continue for the next two days. In some parts of the region, frost and in some others, fog is likely to prevail. Chandigarh Met director Surender Paul said, "The entire north and north-east is under the grip of a cold spell and there will be no let up in the situation for the next 24 hours in the region." "As the gap between the minimum and maximum temperature has narrowed down it makes the winter chill all the more intense," he added. The bone-biting cold threw life completely out of gear in several places of Punjab and Haryana as traffic was reduced to a snail's pace in most parts of the two states. Throughout the day, people remained huddled around bonfires. It has been 10 days since the region has been reeling under cold with thick mist and haze during the morning and evening hours. The Met has forecast partly cloudy sky with mist/fog in the morning and evening. Weather will mainly be dry in Punjab and Haryana with ground frost at few places in the two states.
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Heart patients, elderly take care, say experts
Chill Pill Tips for elderly and heart
patients Tips for skin care
Chandigarh, January 10
“The number of patients visiting OPDs with complaints of high blood pressure and angina has seen a sudden spurt”, Dr Yashpal Sharma, additional professor in the PGI’s cardiology department said. “Fog and frost can cause decrease in blood supply to the heart resulting in complaint of blood pressure. Such patients and elders should avoid going outside in such conditions and take healthy diet with reduced intake of salt,” said the cardiologist. Instead of wearing heavy garments, one should wear multi-layered clothing as it helps in blocking icy winds during winter. While venturing outdoors, it must be ensured that the head, neck and chest are properly covered, he advised. Lack of activity and forcing people indoors for longer periods in winter can lead to mood swings resulting in depression. In fact, this can also affect the heart, he added. Long confinement at one place leads to lack of confidence, which can lead to depression, said the cardiologist. Winters also takes toll on the skin especially the face and hands. People, who use water in daily chores, including housewives, domestic help and employees in the eateries, are more prone to swollen fingers, Dr Vikas Sharma of National Skin Hospital, Panchkula, said. Many others get dry skin resulting in flaking, cracking and even eczema in which the skin becomes inflamed, he added.
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167 flights out of 220 cancelled till date this month
No impact on road
traffic However, there has been no impact on road traffic. Fog has hardly made any impact on the movement of buses. Buses continue to ply as usual even in such an inclement weather, Chandigarh Transport Undertaking director
ML Sharma said.
Chandigarh, December 10 On an average 1,500 to 2,000 passengers travel to and from Chandigarh airport and not a single flight has operated from the airport due to extremely hazy conditions from January 5 till date. Presently, 11 scheduled flights operate out of Chandigarh airport connecting city residents to Bengaluru, New Delhi, Jammu, Srinagar, Mumbai, Goa and Chennai. The four airlines operating from Chandigarh are GoAir, Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India. Captain HS Toor, airport controller, said that Chandigarh airport’s Instrument Landing System (ILS), which helped while landing or taking off during poor visibility conditions, had been lying defunct for over a year. Though a new ILS has been installed it has not started working yet. Even though trains are plying, rail passengers continue to suffer with most trains reaching well over the scheduled time. The Howrah-Kalka Mail (2311) arrived late by 16 hours while the Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabdi Express (2011) was late by 30 minutes. Chandigarh station superintendent DK Meena said that all major trains, including the Shatabdi Express, the Chandigarh-Lucknow Sadbhavna Express, the Jan Shatabdi, Kalka-Howrah and the Chandigarh-Jaipur Express were running to full capacity. The unreserved compartments are filled beyond capacity. However, one train, the Chandigarh-Allahabad Express has been cancelled until January 31 due to bad weather on the way.
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National School Games Too cold to
handle Players, from states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Manipur are finding it hard to cope with the misty conditions and biting low temperature. Budding cricketers say that they are unable to perform to their potential due to extreme weather conditions. Low scores by the teams from these states have been corroborating this claim.
Chandigarh, January 10 The players, especially from states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Manipur are finding it hard to cope with the misty conditions and biting low temperatures that have been lower than even Srinagar and Shimla for the past two days. “Due to bone chilling cold, we have been performing below par in the games,” claimed several players from these states. “We have never experienced such weather conditions in our lives. It is very difficult for us to play in such extreme conditions”, said Rizwan Pathan, Akshay Parmar and Paresh Patel, all members of the Maharashtra under-19 cricket team. The budding cricketers said in unison that they were unable to perform to their potential due to extreme weather. Low scores by the teams from these states have been corroborating this claim. In their first match, the Maharashtra team, which claims to have many top-class players, could muster only 73 runs in 25 overs in their match against Punjab, which had posted a total 136 runs. Then again, Uttar Pradesh, which is otherwise known to be a strong team, was able to score just 54 runs against a relatively weaker J & K, which managed to make 52 runs - almost at par with UP. The low-scoring character of the games is also evident from scores posted by Puducherry (70), Bihar (78), Delhi (79) and Rajasthan (93). The icing on the cake is Kerala, which scored a mere 36 runs. The budding cricketers claimed that the poor show by certain teams was result of cold waves. “We find it very hard to play, especially while fielding,” said the cricketers while showing bruises on their hands. Similarly, footballers, Linthoigambi, skipper of the Manipur girls’ football team, and her teammate, Lalan, said that all their team members had been facing considerable challenge from the weather god.
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Govt schools in city, Pkl closed till Jan 16
Chandigarh, January 10 The teachers will also not come to schools during these holidays. The sources said the government school teachers will only be required to come to the closing day ceremony of the National School Games on January 12 at the Hockey Stadium, Sector 42.
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Hoax bomb call Fun Republic vacated
Chandigarh, January 10 The phone call was received at the police control room number 100 when an anonymous person called form a mobile number -9915661558 -and subsequently the person, who had made the call, switched off his cell phone. Movies were being run inside three cinema halls situated inside the multiplex and the fourth hall is being renovated. SHO of Manimajra police station, Inspector Rajesh Shukla, said the phone call was received around 8:30 pm and a huge posse of police was rushed to Fun Republic for the rescue operation. He said four different teams of anti-terrorist cell (operation cell) and bomb disposal squad with sniffer dogs have been appointed for the search of explosives. Earlier, a similar phone call was received at police control room on December 4 claiming an explosive was ready to explode at TDI Mall (old Jagat Cinema) in Sector 17 but it turned out to be a hoax call. The investigation established that the hoax call was made by an
under-trail lodged inside Patiala jail. — TNS
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Coop societies accuse GMADA of breaching allotment terms
Mohali, January 10 Recently GMADA had decided to review its offer to allot land to the societies after it found the latter had indulged in large-scale substitution of members, ranging from 20 to 60 per cent. The societies had been offered 21 acres land at the rate of Rs 12,000 per square yard. In a representation to the Punjab chief minister, the president of the Sahibzada Cooperative House Building Society said despite the clear-cut guidelines in GMADA’s offer letter it had been mentioned the societies could build up to 80 flats per acre and, for more flats, approval had to be taken from the authority. GMADA has now sought comments of the registrar of cooperative societies on the issue of substitution of members. The authority maintained it was a violation of the terms and conditions stipulated in the allocation letters. It was decided substitution would be allowed in two cases - one, in inheritance cases and the second, substitution within a family. GMADA also decided not to allow any other category of substitution. However, the cooperative societies have been stating the substitution was legal as per the Cooperative Act. On the other hand, the societies said GMADA was contravening its own rules and regulations. One of the societies, the Youth Welfare Club Cooperative House Building Society, has also got status quo from the Punjab & Haryana High Court. The societies have urged the chief minister to direct GMADA officials to issue allotment letters at the earliest.
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Residents protest against colonisers, MC officials
Zirakpur, January 10 They complained that they had submitted their complaint regarding selling of park land last week, but no action has been taken against the colonisers. They alleged that MC officials were also involved in this. They demanded that the local administration should conduct an inquiry and strict action should be taken against the violators. Protesters Paramjit Singh, Gulshan Sharma, Balkar Singh, Rupinder Singh, Daljit Kaur and others said they bought the plots in which the developers had shown the road of 30 foot in front of residential area and 25 foot in front of shops. They alleged that developers had left 20 foot road in colony and they also sold land reserved for a public park. They also alleged that they had encroached upon a piece of road in the colony after constructing boundary wall and also removed the numbers from the streetlights installed by the municipal council. One of the residents alleged when they raised the voice against selling of the park land, the developers threatened them. Residents of Gurdev Nagar colony said they had written a complaint to the council officials last week, but not even a single officer from the committee had visited the site. MC officials favoured the developers and said the land was in the name of the developers. However, the phone numbers of the colonisers as given to the residents proved fake. Zirakpur MC president NK Sharma said he would check the violations on Tuesday, if he found anything wrong, a case would be registered against the culprits, Sharma added.
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ABVP members to protest against corruption
Chandigarh, January 10 Sharma said the Union government had not
taken any strict actions against those involved in these scams and that the ABVP was initiating a countrywide campaign against this issue
from January 15 to January 30. Janjagaran movement and the nationwide protest would be held on January 27, he added.
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Elders walk extra mile for greener planet
Mohali, January 10 The walkathon was sponsored by the former president of the Rotary Club Ashok Gupta and was flagged off by Vijay Goel. Members of the GJ-IMT Rotaract Club helped in spreading awareness among people by stressing on the importance of greenery and cleanliness. They carried banners and also shared their views with people around.
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Development as young scholars see it
Chandigarh, January 10 The seminar began with a presentation by the students of St Vivekananda Mellennium School, Pinjore. Dr Sudhir Baweja, co-ordinator of the centre welcomed the delegates and Mr APN Pankaj delivered the keynote address in which he outlined the idea of development, which does not merely mean material development, but an overall integrated development of the individual and society he said. He began by first explaining what being an Indian meant, and also discussed various concepts behind the terms ‘tradition’ and ‘development’. Tradition is not something that is in the past, it continues in the present, and will continue to do so till eternity. Tradition is not something to be ashamed of, as what we mean by tradition today was contemporary in the past, and what is contemporary and modern now, will become the tradition for the future. Later Prof Dharmendra Goel stressed the need to have a closer look at the inequalities in our society, especially the neglect of the tribals and other socially deprived sections of the society. Education could go a long way in enhancing the pace of development, but we should try to part this education in the mother tongue of the given populace, he added. We should take modern technology accessible to the remote areas as well. However, this does not mean that the role of the teacher is redundant. The Internet could give information, but to make sense of that information, a good teacher is indispensable. Young scholars from all over the country presented their views of development and progress. In the first session Anuj Malhotra gave an overall picture of development in the Indian tradition, while Nishant Kumar spoke on Swami Vivekananda’s concept of ‘Inclusive Development’, and Ragini Pathak stressed the need for a holistic vision of personality. The speakers argued that the Indian tradition is not static which is firmly determined by set of doctrines rather it has been receptive in respecting the inherent worth of others; it has the tendency to build a society based on the principles of cooperation rather than competition. The seminar would continue for two more days and there are three prizes for the best presentation.
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UIHMT students serve meals to UGC team
Outsourcing refreshments PU Vice-Chancellor RC Sobti announced that the contract of arranging refreshments and meals during the Senate and Syndicate meetings will be outsourced from UIHMT students. These students today served the UGC team members and will be given certificates for their hospitality, said university officials.
Chandigarh, January 10 On June 1 last, the university Vice-Chancellor RC Sobti made an announcement of outsourcing the contract of arranging refreshments and meals during the Senate and Syndicate meetings from UIHMT students. The partial implementation of this announcement was seen today when the UIHMT students enthusiastically served the university teachers, administrative functionaries and the UGC team. Since its inception, UIHMT students had been complaining of lack of resources in the institute, especially lack of a proper library, shortage of faculty and high fee structure. Since the course is relatively new, the university authorities had assured them of improvement in the next academic session. “It was a proud moment to serve the UGC team members today,” said a student. Another student added that it was the certificate that gave them encouragement. “It’s a crucial year for us since we have to get ourselves placed with jobs. We have left other options of top hospitality institutes and got enrolled in Panjab University’s newly launched UIHMT. We hope that university would make efforts to get us placed and being a part of PU would benefit UIHMT students,” said another student.
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AICTE norms changed
Chandigarh, January 10 Anshu Kataria, chairman, Aryans Business School, Chandigarh, said with such norms, the autonomy of business schools in running the institute would be over, affecting not only the business schools but MBA aspirants also. However, these norms does not affect the IIMs and business schools that are affiliated to universities.
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Invited
CHANDIGARH: SK Sharma, professor at Panjab University, has been invited to a meeting of experts from 25 countries being held at Hanoi, Vietnam, on January 13 and 14 to discuss the roadmap problems and recent developments in carbon-foot printing, water-foot printing and sustainable development. Sharma will be leading the Indian delegation. The meeting has been organised by International Standards Organisation. He will also lead the Indian delegation to the ISO meeting on greenhouse gases being held in Italy from January 18 to 21. Representatives from 127 countries will deliberate on the new international standard on carbon foot printing and water foot printing. Nominated
SM Kant, director, Youth Welfare of the Panjab University, has been nominated as “observer” for the National Youth Festival to be held at Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, from January 18 to 22. The Association of the Indian Universities (AIU), New Delhi, has been organising the inter-university youth festivals annually since 1985 with the financial support from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Gurpurb celebrated
Birthday of Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji will be celebrated at the Gurdwara Sri Mukatsar Sahib on the Panjab University campus on Tuesday. The celebrations will include religious discourses, followed by a langar.
— TNS
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Several places in the region were under a blanket of thick fog cover that led to cancellation of flights for the sixth day in the city today and adversely affected vehicular and rail traffic.