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PU Student Council elections on September 2
Chandigarh, August 26
Acting on the recommendations of a report prepared by its special wing, the UT Police has decided to come down hard on the habitual troublemakers to make student elections violence-free. The police has handed out a list of 22 recommendations which form the basis of the PU election security policy. Constant surveillance has been put across as the key deterrent to check violence. The recommendations have been forwarded to the police officials on duty. The PU authorities have also planned to install CCTV cameras, besides regular inspection of hostels and banning car rallies on the campus. “We are keeping a close watch on the campus and monitoring the movements of student leaders, their campaigns and even their vehicles. The entry of outsiders is being cautiously allowed,” said Gurmukh Singh, SHO, Sector 11 police station.
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40 vehicles on police radar
The occupants of these vehicles have been involved in incidents of violence during the elections to the Panjab University Campus Student Council. As per the report prepared by the UT Police, the occupants of the listed vehicles, a majority of which are SUVs and high-end cars, were allegedly seen carrying arms and creating ruckus on the campus. These cars, though not banned, will remain on the police radar and will be allowed entry on the campus after thorough verification of antecedents of the occupants. Police officials will exercise the freedom of random checking after intercepting and impounding vehicles. The car carrying firearms and weapons, including ‘kirpans’ and swords, will be impounded and the driver and owner will be arrested, the police said. The police will also keep a tab on outsiders on the campus and also against those attempting to smuggle liquor. Interestingly, the Student Organisation of India (SOI) having the backing of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) seems to have left the big university names of PUSU and SOPU far behind in the number of vehicles which are under constant police surveillance from today onwards. The police has listed 19 vehicles of SOI activists, one of SOPU leader and another eight of PUSU members. One vehicle each belongs to leaders of the HSA and the INSO. A majority of these cars are registered with Punjab followed by Haryana. “The politics on the PU campus is still the forte of students hailing from prosperous families of Punjab.
A majority of these are troublemakers,” said a PU official.
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Mohali now state’s second most urbanised district
According to figures released by the Punjab directorate of census operations, the district’s urban population nearly doubled over the decade and its ranking has gone up from tenth in the 2001 census to seventh in the 2011 census in terms of percentage of urban dwellers in the total population. This massive urbanization is being attributed to a large number of major projects coming up in the district, especially in the periphery of Chandigarh. Of the total number of mega projects under execution in Punjab, roughly 60 per cent are concentrated around Chandigarh. For those who are unable to own real estate property in Chandigarh, owning a house in peripheral towns like Mullanpur, Kharar, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and Banur is the only option left for many, resulting in an influx of population into urbanized areas around Chandigarh. Gurpreet Singh, a senior town & country planning department official, said according to the
2008-2058
According to the 2011 census data, the growth rate of the urban population in the state was 25.72 per cent - over thrice that of the rural growth rate of 7.58 per cent. The data reveals more than one-half of the residents of Mohali, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar districts are now predominantly urban.
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UT Police gets leads in ATM fraud cases; 2 held in Kangra
Chandigarh, August 26 The Himachal Police in Kangra arrested two persons yesterday who allegedly used to defraud victims through fraudulent ATM transactions. Police sources said accused have given enough lead linking them to the ATM frauds in Chandigarh. The UT Police will be sending a team to Kangra for interrogation of the accused. The accused have been identified as Ram and Munish, both natives of
Bihar. At least 36 people having accounts in several banks were duped of around Rs 9 lakh through ATM frauds in the city. A majority of the ATMs were of the State Bank of India. As per the FIR with the UT Police, registered in August last year, huge transactions were made from ATMs situated in Sectors 37, 36, 47, 22 and 17 in which the victims lost lakhs through ATM cards without their knowledge. As per the CCTV footage available with the police, two suspects were visible at the time the money was withdrawn. ASP Desraj Singh, who is heading the investigations, told Chandigarh Tribune that they have received some inputs from the Kangra police of their involvement in ATM frauds across Chandigarh and a team will be dispatched shortly for verification. “We are verifying the inputs and a team will be dispatched to Kangra to interrogate the two accused,” he said.
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Anna’s supporters find new ways to show solidarity
Chandigarh, August 26 Children, youngsters and elders, all participated in the competition and painted Anna’s face, meanwhile, other participants wrote anti-corruption slogans. Rahul Bhartiya, coordinator of IAC, said that the competition witnessed hundreds of participants expressing their imagination about Anna and his campaign against corruption. In the evening the ‘Mehndi walas’ from Sector 22, also made designs on the palms of the volunteers participating in the protest. “I am Anna” was written on the forearms. Interestingly, the ‘mehndi wala’s also donated their one-day income to IAC for carrying out the protest staged in Sector 28 outside the residence of local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal.
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GMCH doc complains to visiting MCI team
Chandigarh, August 26 Confirming to Chandigarh Tribune, Sehgal said she had submitted her complaint to one of the senior members of the MCI team, Dr DK Singh, anaesthesia department, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), who was one of the members of the inspection team inspecting GMCH-32. The other members are Anju Jain and Megha Chandra. Alleging that the scheme is meant to benefit the administration’s “chosen” ones, Sehgal said, “I am placed on a senior rank according to the list released by the UPSC and all those who have been given benefits under the re-designation scheme have now become senior to me”. She said she had raised objections to this and had met everyone concerned in the administration and was given a verbal assurancethat the things would be put in the correct perspective. She said however, nothing was done by the top brass of the administration. “I am left with no other option but to seek the MCI’s help. I hope justice will be delivered to me”, she said. Sehgal said as per the personnel department no such scheme had been formulated by the Punjab Government for doctors working in various medical colleges and hospitals, and therefore, formulation of the scheme was not in consonance with the notification dated January 13, 1992 issued by the Government of India. She said even the finance department vide order dated May 30, 2008 had rejected the proposal; and approval of the department of personnel had not been obtained while formulating the Career Advancement Scheme (re-designation scheme). Keeping in view the above circumstances, it is advised to reconsider the scheme and, if need be, steps may be taken to rescind the same. The UT Administration had launched the re-designation scheme for the faculty members of GMCH-32. Through the scheme, the faculty members were given higher designations, though not promoted in the literal sense of the term. Faculty members on lower ranks in the UPSC list, therefore, were given higher positions without the related incentives of the re-designated ranks. No one in the administration or the hospital was willing to comment on Sehgal’s complaint. She had approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for this issue but was given no relief.
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Radio auto operators unhappy with fare hike
Chandigarh, August 26 While the administration has hiked the fare from Rs 10 to Rs 13 for the first kilometer, the operators have demanded that Rs 40 should be fixed and the fare should be Rs 40 for the first 3 kilometers. The operators are also not happy over the administration's decision to keep the charges same for the subsequent kilometers of travel, at Rs 8. The radio auto operators had recently written to the UT administrator for revising the rates of the radio autos.Col VS Dhillon, managing director of Tricity Tours and Travels, said that the UT only revised the fare from Rs 10 to Rs 13 for the first kilometers, however, the charges for the subsequent kilometers has not been revised. “Earlier, we used to get Rs 8 per kilometer now also we are charging the same fare”, he said. The operators claim that the fare system should be on the pattern of Ludhiana where the passengers are charged Rs 50 for the first 3 kilometers and Rs 12 for subsequent kilometers. “We have quoted Rs 40 for the first three kilometers and at least Rs 10 for subsequent kilometers”, he said. The matter has been taken up by the radio auto operators with the administration and they are soon planning to meet the UT advisor to Administrator in this regard. Presently, there are two radio auto operators, Tricity and Yo Yo services, providing services with over 20 radio autos, however, they claim that if the rates are not revised then they will be forced to shut down the services.
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105 vehicles challaned
Chandigarh, August 26 More than 105 vehicles were challaned for the violation of wrong parking. Till date this year, the police has challaned more than 5,936 vehicles for parking violations.
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Inflated power bills shock residents of Sector 50
Chandigarh, August 26 Residents complained that the latest bills sent by the department far exceeded the actual power consumption. While the earlier bills used to be in the range of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000, the latest bills were as high as Rs 28,000. The residents complained that despite repeated requests to the officials concerned nothing had been done. It seemed that the meter reading had not been checked by the field staff concerned. The standard reply of the department officials was that the meter reading would be checked again. The officials said the meter readings would be checked again and the bill revised in the deserving cases.
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Good response forces IAF to change exam centre
Chandigarh, August 26 About 3,000 candidates from the region have applied for writing the examination. The Air Force Station, Chandigarh, is now changing the venue of the examination, as the earlier venue, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sector 47, does not have the capacity to accommodate 1,500 candidates. The examination will now be held at the Air Force School located in the Air Force compound, Chandigarh. The examination will be conducted in two shifts with 1,500 candidates in each shift. The examination is also being held in other major cities across the country to fast track the selection process for officers, including women.
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Posters mar Zirakpur flyover
The GMR, a company undertaking the maintenance of the Ambala-Chandigarh highway, had registered a complaint with the police, accusing the student organisations of defacing the flyover. The company in the complaint stated that the student organisations have defaced the Zirakpur flyover by pasting posters and banners. An official of the GMR, Vaibhav Sharma stated that they had complained to the police and officials of Panjab University regarding defacement done by leaders of the students unions.
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Sanitation given a miss here
Residents have also complained of poor sanitation, non-functional streetlights, badly maintained parks and problem of stray dogs. Many roads in the area have potholes, especially the B-road outside one kanal houses, and another B-road outside 10 marla houses. The parking areas are also in a state of neglect. Madanpur village, which is a part of Phase II, lacks a sewerage system. Sullage flows through open drains and heaps of cow dung are seen lying at many points in the area. Villagers are even deprived of piped water supply and a large number of them have to depend on shallow handpumps which reportedly discharge contaminated water. Streetlights and well-metalled roads are a distant dream for residents of the village. Manmohan Kaur, a member of the working committee of SAD, said sanitation was in a state of neglect. Safaikaramcharis came only once or twice a week. Parks in the area had become a breeding place for mosquitoes. Kuldeep Kaur, an area resident, said illegally parked luxury buses in the market caused inconvenience to shopkeepers and customers. People have started taking the place as a “mini bus stand”. Heavy vehicles have damaged parking lots. An official of the civic body said no complaint was received in connection with the non-functional streetlights. These were repaired within 24 hours after receiving complaints. Development at Madanpur village and maintenance of parks had to be done by GMADA. The civic body had no authority to remove illegally parked buses.
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Lawyers’ strike puts litigants to inconvenience
Panchkula, August 26 The advocates have been sitting on a chain hunger strike since August 24 in support of Anna Hazare’s Jan Lokpal Bill. On Friday, following the call given by the Panchkula district courts bar association, lawyers had suspended work. More than 500 cases were listed on Friday in 11 courts. A majority of cases had to be adjourned following the strike. Ramesh Chand, a Barwala resident, said though they also supported Jan Lokpal Bill, lawyers should not have suspended work. He added that he had come to attend a hearing in a property dispute case, but the court adjourned it. Sector 20 resident Naresh Kumar said lawyers should protest by wearing black badges.
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BSNL cable thefts hit work in offices
Mohali, August 26 In the past few months, the shifting of exchange from Phase X to Phase XI has led to many phones going dead due to underground cable faults. Officials in the BSNL said in the past few days, the cable had twice been stolen from an underground chamber. “A 1,200 pair telephone cable was stolen and it affected hundreds of phones in the area,” said a senior official of the BSNL. Station House Officer of the Phase VIII police station NPS Lehal said the phones were out of order for the past two days. However, no police complaint had been lodged. A senior BSNL official said the telephone lines had been repaired. — TNS
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poll time Both PUSU, SOPU promise more hostels for girl students Sumedha Sharma Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 26 Interestingly, the decade old rivals are united by a common cause this time i.e. lack of optimum accommodation for girls in PU. The party members, who had till date been toiling in hostels, retained their annual fervour and reached out to day scholars promising the same thing - more hostels for girls. Both parties chose to stick to usual face-to-face campaigning and barged into classrooms though much to the annoyance of teachers to woo the students.
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Scuffle evaded at PGGC-11
Chandigarh, August 26 Anticipating unrest between representatives of the Panjab University Student Union (PUSU) and Students Organisation of India (SOI), who were spotted shouting slogans in their respective groups and staring at each other, the college authorities informed the police. Few other student leaders were huddled in groups close to the gate, when a gatekeeper asked them to scatter. Not sparing even vehicles of faculty members, certain student leaders were spotted pasting stickers all over the campus and vehicles. These students were then called for a meeting by college principal, Dr JS Raghu, who cautioned them against defacing the campus. In stark contrast to the version of college officials, members of SOI and Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) had a different story to narrate about today’s situation. They complained that nearly 15 policemen entered the campus and showed lathis to scare them away. “Are we criminals that the police comes inside the campus to scare us? Members of our party were just standing in groups, when the police began threatening us of dire consequences. We have great regards for our college officials, but where is the need for the police to threaten us?” said Ajit, chairman of SOI at PGGC, Sector 11. Yet another student, Navjot Singh, added, “There should be same treatment meted out to all student organisations. There is no reason why one party should be favoured by the police or teachers.” Certain other students, including girl students, claimed that behaviour of the police was unjust. “I have a recorded video of certain faculty members favouring a particular organisation,” said a student present on the college campus. However, nullifying all claims of these students, the principal said, “There is no truth in any claim of these students. Instead the teachers have been complaining against the attitude of certain students. Yet, we have been dealing with them with patience and have been rigorously counselling them against defacing the college property. We will continue to counsel them and presence of the police within and outside the campus during poll is inevitable.” The student election convener, SS Sidhu, shared similar sentiments. He said, “When the police came inside the campus today, senior faculty members were also brought in to control the situation and interact amicably with the students. We also conducted an all-party meeting a few days ago and representatives of all parties agreed not to deface the campus or resort to violence.”
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Govt Home Science College announces student council
Chandigarh, August 26 The installation ceremony of the students’ council was held today wherein 24 students holding various designations took oath to do their best for the student community. In a function where UT finance secretary VK Singh and director higher education Ajoy Sharma were present, college principal Damandeep Kaur shared the college development. The principal, congratulated the elected council members and put “tilak” on the foreheads of the council members and Singh gave them respective titles.
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Contesting poll, not all-boys affair anymore
Chandigarh, August 26 Among the first woman presidential candidates contesting polls in a co-educational institute, Vasudha Sharma of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College (SGGSC), Sector 26, has kicked off campaigning in full swing ahead of the council elections slated for next week. “The student organisation I represent has launched a female presidential candidate for the first time in any co-educational college ever. Although the ratio of female voters is lesser in colleges, but boys have been giving a feedback that they want a sincere candidate to win. I am emphasising on lending the academic support to students by helping them with notes, etc, and not just promising more facilities,” said Vasudha, who represents the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). From discussing hostel problems with students to dealing with issues like child labour, both within and outside the college, Vasudha promises old timers a tough contest. “There are small things around us that tend to perturb. Students in the colleges feel that canteen operators must not permit small children to do any work, yet such incidents are noticed. I am not only concern about student issues but even the overall environment of the college,” she adds. In past, student polls at SGGS College, Sector 26, has been dominated by Khalsa College Students Union (KCSU), College Students Union (CSU) and a relatively new organisation, Youth Association of India (YAI), has been launched last year. This year, the ABVP has also announced its candidates at SGGS College taking the number of contesting student bodies to four.
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This list does not include the names of 14 students who have already submitted affidavits separately, assuring non-participation in any act of violence during polls. The police has already initiated the process of regular communication with the student leaders concerned.
We wish to prevent rather than cure. The UT Police is not just in touch with PU officials, but even student leaders. We are counselling and warning them against violence. The measures will prove deterrent and help us to have violence-free
elections.
Chandigarh, August 26
Chandigarh, August 26
Zirakpur, August 26
Mohali, August 26
Aim: “We find the way or make one”
Aim: Strive for student rights and unity