Chandigarh, February 11
Despite a series of inconclusive deliberations with city schools, the UT administration, in a surprise move, notified the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act today, leaving behind utter confusion.

Schools will now be required to reserve 25 per cent of their total seats in their entry level classes (nursery in the case of most schools and KG and even Class-I in the case of a few) for children belonging to disadvantaged groups. As per the notification, admissions for these category students are required to be completed by March 15. They have further been directed to apprise the UT education department of the left-over seats by March 17.

Interestingly, the decision comes into immediate effect at a time when admissions to nursery classes have been competed in most schools.

The decision has raised eyebrows among private schools as they are yet to be provided with data of eligible children, neighborhood limits and reimbursement details etc. This ‘hasty’ notification is being critiqued by schools, considering that the UT Administration has so far not completed child mapping or an official survey, both mandatory exercises before making admissions, to identify the eligible children for this Act. Though the department has failed to compile survey results for the last one month, it has reportedly issued public notices asking people to approach nearby schools in case they think themselves to be eligible.

Chandigarh, February 11
A day after the Union Home Ministry ordered the transfer of UT Advisor Pradip Mehra, another UT Administration official, Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) Chairman Mohanjeet Singh has been transfered to Delhi. His successor is yet to be announmced.

During his tenure, construction activity of the monopolisitic construction arm of the UT Administration had virtually came to a standstill. The 1991 batch IAS officer’s tenure will be remembered for reducing a “cash-rich” organisation to a pauper. Yet, he had gone on record to blame the UT Finance Department for the fragile financial condition of the CHB while accusing the former of retaining funds amounting to Rs 621 crore generated through a tie-up between the CHB and the Parsvnath Developers Limited for the high-end residential Prideasia project in the IT Park here in the joint escrow account.

CHB’s lacklustre performance on the construction front against its mandate coincided with his joining the administration in July 2007.

With housing being reduced to a dream for the middle and lower middle class sections of society in the city, the CHB had nothing much to offer to the common man. Pricing of two-bed room apartment for its housing scheme in Sector at Rs 50 lakh and scheme’s brochure at Rs 1,000 each came under sharp attack from a cross section of society.

The actual construction work on the Sector 63 housing scheme for general public launched in 2007-08 yet to see the light of day. The UT employees special scheme,whose draw was held last year seems to be meeting the same fate.

The slum rehabiliation project of the UT Administration, which the CHB is coordinating, is stuck midway on account of shortage of funds.

Chandigarh, February 11
After creating adversarial circumstances that forced Dr HSJ Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital director Dr Krishan Gauba to leave, certain students of University Business School (UBS) have now kicked off a protest seeking ouster of their department director.

A day after being allocated Rs 1 lakh for their placements, nearly 20 girls of Masters of Commerce (E-commerce), UBS, today staged a protest outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office alleging misbehaviour by the department faculty members and demanding ouster of their director. From better placements to having a projector in their class, MCom students are now demanding the ouster of their director.

University authorities have suspended the classes of MCom (e-commerce final semester) till Monday.

The UBS director, who is abroad, is likely to return on Monday. Vice-Chancellor RC Sobti said he failed to understand the students.

“We have already allocated Rs 1 lakh for placement of MCom (e-commerce). They will be provided a classroom with LCD as was requested by them. Meetings were held twice with the students, which were convened by the Dean University Instructions (DUI). Yesterday, the students said they had no grievances and their problems were solved. But today they suddenly resumed their protest,” said Sobti.

He added that the students could have been instigated to continue with their protest by some people. “I don’t know what to do now,” said Sobti.

Leaders of the Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) and National Students Union of India (NSUI) were spotted counselling the students and urging them to end their protest.

Student leaders had been criticised in the past by PU teachers for forcing the dental college director to resign “ungracefully”.

“A student of dental college, who is a part of a youth organisation, was instigating and misguided by UBS students. We have asked them to end their protest,” said Vikramjeet, campus president of SOPU.

Meanwhile, a UBS faculty member said: “We are fed up with these girls, who are being instigated by a Senate member for their political interests. Primary demands of these students like a class with an LCD, etc are very petty. They should be ashamed of targeting their director and faculty members, who have such an impeccable record.”

Chandigarh, February 11
In order to contain the number of multi-drug resistant (MDR) cases among tuberculosis patients, the country is all set to introduce GeneXpert, a test that can identify tuberculosis and check the resistance to multi-drugs within 90 minutes.

Medical diagnosis laboratories in the country normally take around three months to prepare a report. The early diagnosis will help start the treatment of such patients immediately.

Over 99,000 patients are diagnosed with the MDR in the country every year and require medication worth Rs 1 lakh over a period of two years.

This facility is initially planned to be provided at 10 places across the country, including four national medical diagnostic laboratories of Delhi, Agra, Chennai, and Bangalore, said Prof D Behra, Director, LRS Institute of Tuberculosis and Respirator Diseases, (LRSITRD), New Delhi.

Dr Behra, who was here recently, said no accredited or reliable private laboratories could run such tests in the country as of now.

The union ministry of health, however, was in the process of setting up 43 laboratories all over the country.

Before the GeneXpert technology was introduced in the country, these laboratories would provide the report of MDR cases within 48 hours, added Dr Behra.

The country has already crossed the target for the detection and treatment of new tuberculosis cases, as prescribed by the World Health Organisation.

“Against the target of detecting 70 per cent new cases and treating 85 per cent, we have detected 72 per cent cases this year and the cure rate is as high as 88 per cent,” said Dr Behra, adding that for 2011, India had set a target of 90 per cent for the detection of cases.

At least 1.96 million new cases of tuberculosis were reported every year, he added.

The silver lining, however, was the fact that for every one lakh people, only 168 were affected with the diseases, while four decades ago - between 1960 and 1970 - the number was as high as 564, he said.

Zirakpur, February 11
To solve the problem of traffic congestion on the busy Chandigarh-Ambala highway at Zirakpur, the GMR, the company undertaking maintenance of the Ambala-Chandigarh highway, has decided to widen the stretch between Zirakpur-Patiala traffic light point and Zirakpur-Kalka traffic light point.

A GMR official stated that the project report was sent for the approval and Rs 11 crore would be spent on this project.

Earlier, the Zirakpur Municipal Council had written to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for an NOC to beautify the space beneath the flyover.

The GMR official said the higher authorities had rejected the proposal of the MC and planned to beautify the area itself.

Notably, traffic jam is a routine affair on this stretch. In the absence of the proper parking, the commuters park their vehicles on the roadside while visiting the market.

The traffic police fails to control the traffic movement every day which causes inconvenience to the commuters passing through this stretch.

However, shopkeepers in the market said their business was affected due to the parking problems. They demanded that the local administration should provide them with a site for parking.

SDM, Dera Bassi, Puneet Goyal stated that the matter was discussed at a recent meeting held in Mohali. He said after the widening of the stretch, the problem of traffic jam would be solved.

Chandigarh, February 11
Justice Ranjan Gogoi will be administered oath as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court tomorrow at 10 am by Haryana Governor, Jagannath Pahadia. 

The oath ceremony will be held at the Haryana Raj Bhawan. His warrants of appointment have already been received after the clearance of his name for elevation. Currently functioning as the Acting Chief Justice after the retirement of Justice Mukul Mudgal on January 3, Justice Gogoi’s name for elevation was cleared by the Supreme Court collegium at a meeting held in Delhi in December last.

Mohali, February 11
Patients belonging to the economically weaker sections have been hit following the closure of a jan aushadhi store on the premises of the Civil Hospital in Phase VI here.

Senior officials of the Health Department had ordered the closure of the store after patients had complained of some alleged irregularities in the functioning of the set up.

A round-the-clock jan aushadhi store was inaugurated by Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister for Chemicals, Fertilisers and Steel, at the Civil Hospital here on February 23, 2009. The prime objective of opening such a set up was to promote the sale of quality generic drugs that were available at far more cheaper rates as compared to branded medicines and consumables.

Mohali Civil Surgeon Dr PK Shridhar, when contacted, said complaints were received alleging that the store in charge was not issuing bills for the medicines sold to patients and also did not have the required manpower for running the set up. The matter was brought to the notice of the higher authorities who had then ordered the closure of the store. Jan aushadhi stores in Patiala and Ludhiana had also been closed, added the Civil Surgeon.

Dr Shridhar further said that the higher authorities had asked him to look for other options of opening a store on the guidelines of jan aushadhi so that patients did not suffer. A meeting was held to discuss whether such a store could be opened with the help of Rogi Kalyan Samiti and NGOs.

According to the Civil Surgeon, the owner of the store had gone to court against the orders of the Health Department. The court had granted him stay orders against vacating the building, but had asked him to stop the operation of the shop.

About a year ago, the health authorities had issued a warning to the owner of the store, who was asked to be more cautious while selling medicines after a patient had alleged of having been given a wrong medicine. Meenakshi, a resident of Phase III-B2, had said in February last year that she had aborted her 54-day-old foetus after she was allegedly given a wrong medicine by the shop on the hospital premises.

She had then made a complaint to the managing director of the PHSC after which an inquiry was initiated. However, this inquiry did not make much headway as the person running the store reportedly kept denying of having sold any wrong medicine to the pregnant woman.

A fine of Rs 10,000 was later imposed on the owner on charges of running the store in a lax manner. 

Mohali, February 11
Five months after the Punjab Forest Department lodged an FIR against Manga Singh and Varinder Singh for allegedly indulging in illegal sand mining, the Mohali police today registered a cross case against the forest officials for allegedly threatening the suspects.

As per the complaint lodged by Varinder Singh, Forest Range Officer Guraman Singh, guards Devinder Singh, Sahib Singh and Amrik Singh, along with six other persons, fired in the air to threaten him and took away his tractor. On the basis of the complaint the police registered a case against the forest officials.

Divisional Forest Officer Vishal Chauhan expressed surprise over the police registering a case against the forest officials who were enforcing the law to check illegal mining.

The forest department has been alleging that the sand-mining mafia, who enjoy political patronage, was getting stronger in the forest area here. On the night of September 26 last year, four forest officials were allegedly assaulted and gunshots were fired in the air to terrorise them, who had seized a sand-laden tractor at a naka.

The suspects, who were driving the tractor, were identified as Manga Singh, a perpetual offender of sand mining, and Varinder Singh. “There are several cases of illegal sand mining against Manga and each time he is bailed out due to week offences slapped against him by the police,” said a forest official.

While forest officials were claiming that the police officials were reluctant to tackle the sand mining mafia, police officials have been claiming that the forest officials had fired in the air and thrashed the driver of the tractor trolley.

Chandigarh, February 11
In pursuance of the decision of the governing body in its meeting held on January 17, Dr Amod Gupta, professor and head, department of ophthalmology, has been appointed as dean of the PGI here today.

Dr Gupta, who has been holding the additional charge of sub-dean, will replace Dr V Sakhuja, who has completed his tenure.

Similarly, Dr Kusum Joshi, professor and head, department of histopathology, has been appointed as sub-dean of the institute for a period of three years with immediate effect.

Prof Gupta is a leading clinician and research scientist of international repute in the field of retina and uveitis with significant original contribution in the field of diabetic retinopathy, tuberculosis of the eye and endopathalmitis. He is recipient of the Dr RN Mathur Award and the AW Sherrit Memorial Award. He was president of the Viteoretinal Society of India and the founder president of the Uveitis Society of India.

Prof Joshi’s major research contributions have been in the field of breast pathology, oncopathology and renal and transplantation pathology. She has been honoured with the fellowship of Indian College of Pathologists, honorary consultant (histopathology) to the armed forces. 

Chandigarh, February 11
More than 250 delegates from India and abroad are expected to attend the three-day Paediatric Orthopaedic Society of India conference at the department of orthopaedics, Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here.

Dr Sudhir Garg, chairman of the organising committee, said the workshop would be conducted by the eminent personalities, including Dr Sanjeev Sabharwal from the US, Dr Sunil Dhar from the UK, Dr Abahy Khot from Australia, Dr Benjamin Joseph from Manipal, Dr Sanjay Sarup from Delhi and Dr Aleric from Mumbai.

The theme of the conference is “Limb Reconstruction Surgery in Paediatric Orthopaedics”.

Prof Raj Bahadur, director principal, GMCH, and an eminent orthopaedic surgeon of the region, said a large number of children our country suffer from limb deformities resulting from congenital malformation, infections and complex injuries.

Most of the times, many such deformities get neglected resulting in significant disability as well as more resistant to treatment.

The specialty of paediatric orthopaedics has an important role not only in the treatment of such deformities at the time of their occurrence, but also to guide and train a team of rehabilitation and occupational experts so that such patients can be rehabilitated into the mainstream of the society. 

Chandigarh, February 11
For his contribution in the field of orthopaedics, professor Raj Bahadur, director-principal of Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh, has been awarded the fellowship of the Academy of Science, Punjab (FPASc).

The award was given to him on the inaugural function of the 14th Punjab Science Congress of Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology (SLIET) at Longowal in Sangrur.

Professor Raj Bahadur has already been awarded fellowships of the prestigious academy of the National Academy of Medical Science (India) and the International Medical Science Academy.

Recently, he was awarded fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, UK, for having acquired distinction as a surgeon. 

Chandigarh, February 11
Perturbed over the “disgraceful exit” of their director-principal, Dr Krishan Gauba, after students demanded his ouster through protests, nearly 70 teachers of Dr HSJ Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Panjab University, delivered a representation to the university Vice-Chancellor asking him to reconsider Dr Gauba’s repatriation. However, the emotions of distress and anguish among teachers were missing in students of the dental college, who appeared rather relaxed today. In their letter addressed to the VC, the teachers claimed, “We can vouch for hardworking and diligent nature of Dr Gauba, who had worked tirelessly for the institute’s growth.”

When questioned by the correspondent, the teachers said they had been discouraged from talking to the media by Vice-Chancellor RC Sobti at a meeting held yesterday. Nevertheless, they went on to say that it had been 24 hours since they appealed to the PU authorities to “let Dr Gauba return to PGI with dignity.”

“We cannot do what student leaders did like going on a hunger strike. But we want the PU authorities to understand that they cannot let the director go in such a disgraceful way. He has been given a clean chit by the inquiry committee. Then why is he being forced to sit at home? A man, who has never taken a leave in the past five years, has been forced to proceed on leave. His resignation was not voluntary,” said a teacher on anonymity. Claiming that they do not want more controversies for the dental college, these teachers pleaded not to be named.

“Dr Gauba is our guru and he must complete the last two months gracefully. After being proved innocent, he must be forced to stay on leave,” added another faculty member. Reacting to the teacher’s plea, the VC today said, “I had been requesting the dental college faculty to talk to students and parents of their institute since one week now. Why has such a representation been given now?”

Meanwhile, the notice board outside the dental college and the student’s section notice board today displayed copies of a letter by Dr Gauba, in which he had requested PU to relinquish him of the charge and another letter in which he requested not to be appointed to set any question paper or act as an external examiner.