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Chaos unplugged
Chandigarh, January 23 Union minister and local Member of Parliament Pawan Kumar Bansal raised a point in the House on the legitimacy of the subcommittees. In the past 15 years, the UT Administration had not prescribed rules for constituting those. Bansal asked the grounds on which the MC planned to increase the number of subcommittees from 12 to 15 when there were no norms for those. He asked Mayor Raj Bala Malik to correspond with the UT Administration to frame norms on subcommittees for the smooth functioning of the House in the future. BJP councillors alleged that wrong practices were followed by the House for the past 15 years by authorising the Mayor to constitute subcommittees, though there was no such provision in the MC Act. Opposing this, Congress councillors referred to the proceedings of the House in the previous 15 years, in which each House had Nominated councillors supported the resolution to empower the Mayor to constitute subcommittees, which was passed by the House unanimously. The Mayor assured councillors that there would be a fair selection of subcommittee members. Referring to Section 42 of the MC Act, BJP councillors Arun Sood stated that the House could not delegate the power to constitute subcommittees to the Mayor. Supporting the move, BJP councillors Divesh Modgil and Saurab Joshi suggested an amendment and tabled the issue in the House for a unanimous decision. When the Mayor opposed their suggestion, the BJP councillors came into the well of the House and demanded the consideration of their proposal. Congress councillor Subhash Chawla said the MC Act was silent on norms for constituting subcommittees. Sood said the party would submit a memorandum in this regard to the UT Administrator and request early action on it.
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Milkha donates ’60 Olympics shoes for charity auction
The shoes would be put up for auction during the sports memorabilia organised by Bose. The actor had told Milkha that he had auctioned kits of other well-known sportspersons. “There was a time when I used to walk a lot barefoot as I did not have shoes. Some things are priceless, but when it is a noble cause, those become a ray of hope for others,” said Milkha. “I do not want someone needy to walk barefoot. I hope that the charity auction will fulfil someone’s dream to run,” he said. “Rahul visited me about two months back and asked for the shoes. When I asked him the reason, he said there was a charity auction for the benefit of the blind and other children. I gave him the go-ahead,” said Milkha. “I am not sure of attending the auction, but am leaving for Mumbai tomorrow for the shooting of my upcoming movie. I have sentiments attached to my kit, but am happy that the pair will be used for a noble cause,” he further said. Earlier, the legendary athlete had donated a pair of shoes to the National Sports Museum. “I donated the pair so that youngsters saw the kits I wore,” said Milkha.
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A sketch is out
Panchkula, January 23 Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Maneesh Chaudhary formed a special team, headed by Kalka Assistant Commissioner of Police Krishan Hooda, to nab the accused. Four youths robbed RK Garg, a businessman, of Rs 4 lakh and jewellery. They also stabbed him in the abdomen before fleeing. Garg was operated upon at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Chandigarh, where his condition was stated to be out of danger. Today, the police scrutinised the antecedents of salesmen working with Garg’s company, dealing in tobacco products. The crime was suspected to be the handiwork of an insider, who was sure that Garg had a big amount at the house, said police sources. Garg collected cash from agents everyday and deposited it in the bank. The cash collected on Saturday could not be deposited and was at home when the robbers took it. When contacted, the DCP said it was premature to arrive at any conclusion yet. The case was being investigated taking all aspects into consideration, he
added.
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The elderly easy target of criminals
Panchkula, January 23 Another couple was made hostage at their home by the criminals before decamping with jewellery worth over Rs 12 lakh in May, 2009. On August 20 last, a domestic help had murdered a 65-year-old woman in Sector 12 when the family had gone outside for an evening walk. Before this two years ago on June 6, 2009, a servant, along with his accomplices, made hostage an old couple RS Mittal and his wife Sarita Mittal living in Sector 6 of cash and jewellery worth over Rs 12.5 lakh. Major-Gen Dhingra (retd) and his wife, both over 60, were killed by their servant in May, 2007, at their house in Sector 25. The accused in all three cases have been nabbed. The elderly people who are living in city have to be extra cautions for their safety, said DCP Manish Chaudhary. It should be ensured that the door is bolted from inside at least after the dusk as was not done in the current case. The door was not bolted by the Gargs and the criminals had no problem
while intruding into the house, he said. While the door should not be opened on strangers in any case, the well-off couples can also opt for an anti-intrusion system which helps in keeping anti-social elements at bay, suggested the
DCP.
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12th plan
Chandigarh, January 23 This is nearly double the amount of Rs 2,100 crore, which the UT had got in the 11th Plan. Health, education and infrastructure are the core areas given top priority in this UT draft. “The draft is ready. After getting the nod of the UT Administrator, it will be sent to the Planning Commission in between 10 and 15 days,” VK Singh, UT Finance Commissioner, said here today. “We have proposed to spend a major part of the amount demanded in these three sectors. For us, the major task is the completion of the Government Medical College and Hospital,” VK Singh said. “The Administration will also plan another ITI, polytechnic colleges and the building of the UT College of Business Administration and Commerce in southern sectors. Roads and other infrastructure are also high on the agenda,” he added. VK Singh said the annual budget amount under the Plan head for the next financial year was between Rs 760 crore and Rs 800 crore, between 15 and 20 per cent more than that
for the current fiscal, which was Rs 661.89 crore, he said.
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Water audit in the offing
Chandigarh, January 23 The House accepted the recommendation and the engineering department was expected to table the report before the next meeting of the House, to be conducted in the end of February. His reaction followed the submission of a report in the House, which showed that at least 10 per cent of the approximately 210 tubewells in the city had to be bored afresh every year. The water table was depleting fast in certain parts of the city. The House sought the data for a clear picture on the issue. Councillors expressed astonishment over report details, which said the city lost between 2.5 and 3 metres of water in tubewell pipes every year. Criticising the authorities for not chalking out proposals for recharging groundwater and utilising a water-harvesting system, Bansal asked officials to shortlist sites for recharging groundwater and get MPLAD funds released. He questioned why the authorities had no check on routine wastage of water, including washing of vehicles and watering of gardens, in the city. MC chief engineer SS Bidda stated that the authorities had installed a tertiary water system for watering purposes, increasing the quantum of drinking water. He said the department was installing new tubewells for increasing water supply next summer. He admitted that there was no special checking in winter on wastage of water. Opposing the issue of the installation of five tubewells, BJP councillor Asha Kumari Jaswal referred to the JNNRUM report of 2007, in which the Centre had disapproved the installation of fresh tubewells. Supporting her point, nominated councillor Surinder Bahga said that there would not be shortage of water in the city if the authorities adopted a water-harvesting system on a large scale. Congress councillor Subhash Chawla suggested that a vision document be drafted to meet water requirements of the city. A number of councillors spoke on the issue of water shortage.
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MC House meeting
Chandigarh, January 23 Criticising the norms tabled in the House for outsourcing sanitation services, members unanimously referred it to the sanitation committee for consideration, as there were a number of shortcomings in it. Nominated councillor, Dr Amrit Tewari, suggested that a nodal official should be appointed for monitoring of each sector. Referring to a visit in his ward, Congress councillor Subhash Chawla informed that out of 20 sweepers, only eight were found on duty. Even the area health inspector was clueless regarding the rest of them. Similarly, BJP councillor Saurab Joshi complained that as per the MC records, 50 sweepers were deployed in his ward but during inspection, he had never found such a huge number of them working. The councillors also demanded that there should be clause in the norms for the monitoring of sweepers by the area councillors. Besides this, they pointed out that the majority of contractors violate the norms of maintaining attendance register, most of the sweepers do not carry their identity cards and contractors also do not provide proper functioning material to the sweepers. MP Pawan Kumar Bansal also said there was hardly any supervision of the department on the sweepers who were outsourced. He also pointed out the mismanagement of the garbage bins in the city. Sidelines
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Excise Dept challans MG Supermarket
Chandigarh, January 23 While the officials of the health department have collected samples from the manufacturing unit and MG Supermarket, the officials of excise and taxation department have confiscated laptops, documents and account books of the units to check sale and VAT details from all outlets of the unit. “We have issued challan to MG Supermarket, as they could not produce stock registers, which are mandatory to maintain as per the Excise Act. Further, we would verify details of accounts and stocks of all outlets with the regular account books to check tax details,” said Naresh Dubey, Assistant Commissioner of UT excise and taxation department. When asked whether or not the raid was conducted following some complaint, Dubey maintained that it was a routine checking.
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Panjab university
Chandigarh, January 23 The incident occurred at 4 pm when the was being held at the Dasehra Ground in PU to decide on their demand for better wages for mess workers. Hasmeet Singh, general secretary of the Revolution Youth Association (RYA), alleged that the proceedings were disturbed when the mess contractors intervened and attacked their workers. Over 12 workers were allegedly attacked with rods and sticks. “We were holding a peaceful meeting to decide on better wages when the workers are attacked. Sukhdev Singh of AICCTU sustained injuries,” alleged Hasmeet. Police, however, said the workers entered into a scuffle with the contractors during the meeting which turned violent. “We arrested members of both the parties who were engaged in scuffle as a preventive measure,” said Inspector Gurmukh Singh, SHO, Sector 11 police station. On January 5, the mess workers had staged a protest and submitted a memorandum to the authorities demanding fulfilment of their demands.
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Violation of Norms
Chandigarh, January 23 The officials of the estate office sealed the parts of the building in the morning. “The notices were served on the owner of the shops five years ago. However, the owner did not stop misusing the premises,” said an official of the department. Under the rules, the basement of commercial buildings can be used for only storage purposes whereas the upper floors can not be used to run shops. Meanwhile, the estate office also served notices on the owners of two restaurants, Lobby and Barbeque Nation, in Sector 26 and a shop, namely DCA, in Sector 7, directing them to remove the building violations on their own from the rear of their SCOs within one month. “If they fail to remove the violations, the department will initiate appropriate action against them,” said Rahul Gupta, UT Assistant Estate Officer.
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Maneesh likely to be new SP (Traffic)
Chandigarh, January 23 On the communication of CCA, the UT Administration had sought reply from Maneesh Chaudhary and thereafter Maneesh had submitted his reply and informed the UT Administration about his willingness for joining as the SP (Traffic). Sources further added that now the UT Administration has forwarded the reply of Maneesh Chaudhary to the CCA for the appointment. The Haryana government had sent the panel of three IPS officials, Maneesh Chaudhary, Hemant Kalson and Rajender Kumar. For the post of SP (Traffic), the UT Administration had forwarded the same panel to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Earlier the UT Administration had informed the Haryana government to either submit complete ACR of these three IPS officials or sent the fresh panel after fulfilling the required documents. But the Haryana government had sent the same panel after completing their ACRs. Before this panel, the UT Administration had raised objections in the earlier panel of three IPS officials, Sibhash Kabiraj, Saurabh Singh and Rajender Kumar. Thereafter, the Haryana government had sent the fresh panel. The government had sent the panel to replace earlier SP (Traffic) Hardeep Singh Doon. At present, DIG Alok Kumar is holding charge of the SP (Traffic).
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Adhere to road safety rules, says IGP
Chandigarh, January 23 A street play by an NGO, “Aavahan”, was the highlight of the closing ceremony, as performers exhibited significance of complying with traffic rules and hazards of drunken driving through an enactment. Students of DAV School, Sector 15, performed a cultural programme on the occasion. Inspector General of Police (IGP) PK Srivastava, who was the chief guest, said the police had tightened its grip around drunken drivers and over 50 persons are challaned in a day when their special drives are held during weekends. He appealed to the general public to adhere to the road safety rules. Besides, prizes were given to winners of various activities held during the week, including painting competition, blood donation camp, training workshops for TSR drivers, heavy and light drivers, and rickshaw pullers. The Road Safety Week is observed in January every year all over the country to inculcate the culture of road safety among the citizens. During this Road Safety Week, different cultural and other activities were also organised by educational institutions, social organisations, corporate organisation, transport department, traffic police and other socially conscious citizens in order to raise the level of awareness on road safety, which included a seven-day road safety exhibition at the Sector-17 Plaza, a scooter rally by girl students to promote wearing of safety helmet, road safety workshops for auto drivers, rickshaw pullers, school bus drivers, bus and truck drivers, trauma response workshop for PCR and traffic police personnel, conference on road safety and traffic management, regular public announcement on road safety on major light points/intersections and penal discussion on road safety at All-India Radio and BIG FM to raise the level of awareness on road safety.
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No triangular contest in Mohali: Bir Devinder
Mohali, January 23 “A candidate who has stakes in the liquor business is issuing coded receipts to the voters. On showing the receipts, the voters are issued liquor bottles from liquor vends,” he alleged while addressing a press conference. Claming that the voters in the Mohali constituency wanted a change and the PPP fitted in the situation, he said: “After conducting a tour of different areas he has realised that instead of the triangular contest, the contest was between the PPP and the Congress and the SAD candidate was nowhere in the picture”. A large number of government employees, retired pensioners, educationists, and employees of multi-national companies would be the game changer, he claimed. “The companies, which have acquired the rural land, should be asked to invest some money in the uplift of villages and should give jobs to the local people”, he added. He also promised to install captive power plants for the industries and establish an educational hub in the city.
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‘Dolly’ boost for BSP’s Manav
Mohali, January 23 “My passion to serve the downtrodden has brought me back to the political arena though I suffered defeat in the recently held Chandigarh MC elections,” he says. He particularly targets voters living in slums that dot Mohali’s periphery. “We are hopeful of performing well as a substantial number of migrant labourers and members of the minority community reside in neglected areas of the constituency. No government has bothered to uplift the downtrodden”, Manav points out. The former Ranji player was ecstatic today with former “Yess Boss” contestant Dolly Bindra here to campaign for him. “ She is like a sister to me. Her joining the campaign will give me an additional impetus”, says Manav. Speaking to mediapersons, Dolly said: "I am a huge fan of Behanji Mayawati. She is a charismatic leader and the work done by her in Uttar Pradesh speaks volumes of her administrative skills."
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Satpal Jain canvasses for SAD candidate
Zirakpur, January 23 Addressing a press conference here today, Jain said the Punjab and Haryana High Court today dismissed the petition filed by an independent candidate Deepinder Singh Dhillon. He said the BJP also warned the PPCC president, Capt Amarinder Singh, to mend his ways in addressing his political opponents. Meanwhile, after expelling from the Congress, Dhillon, who is an Independent candidate from the Dera Bassi constituency, today claimed that during the 2009 elections nobody from the party was ready to contest the byelection after the death of Capt Kanwaljit Singh but the party gave him the ticket and he contested fearlessly.
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Results of panchayat poll declared
Chandigarh, January 23 The names of the elected candidates from the rest of the panchayat samiti seats are as under: Anil Kumar (611 votes) from Raipur Khurd, Devi Dayal (492) from Mauli Jagran-1, Kavita Devi (427) from Mauli Jagran-2, Manjit Kaur (591) from Dariya-1, Shingara Singh (1027) from Dariya-2, Kiran (665) from Kishangarh/Bhagwanpura-1, Satbir Singh (929) from Kishangarh/Bhagwanpura-2, Kamaljeet Kaur (847) from Khuda Alisher, Santokh Singh (607) from Khuda Ali Jassu, Malkit Singh (642) from Khuda Lahora, Uday Singh (1345) from Uday Singh. Those, who had been elected unanimously in the panchayat samiti elections, were Roop Chand (Kaimbwala), Ranbir Kaur (Sarangpur) and Surinder Kaur (Dhanas). The names of the elected candidates in the Zila Parishad’s nine seats were Major Singh (1592) from Dhanas/Sarangpur, Surjit Kaur (1364) from Khuda Lahora-Khuda Jassu, Gurdyal Singh (1293) from Khuda Alisher, Sunita Devi (696) from Kaimbwala, Manoj Kumar (2067) from Kishangarh, Kamaljit Kaur (2081) from Dariya and Harbhajan Singh (1280) from Mauli Jagran. While Bhadur Singh was elected unanimously from Raipur Kalan. There were total 15 panchayat samiti and 10 zila parishad seats on which as many as total 58 candidates were in the fray.
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Sunshine, at last
Chandigarh, January 23 However, the Met Office has predicted that chilly winds would continue to lash the region for the next 48 hours in view of the heavy snowfall in higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. There would not be any major change in the day and night temperatures, the office added. The maximum temperature on Monday was recorded at 20.6 degrees Celsius, one degree above normal, and the minimum temperature was recorded at 4.9 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal. The maximum relative humidity was recorded at 91 per cent while the minimum was recorded at 34 per cent. Director, Met Department, Chandigarh, Surinder Pal said as the western disturbances, an upper-air-cyclonic formation, over the region has cleared the day and night temperatures would rise considerably. He said, as there were chances of western disturbances appearing again there were chances of light rain on January 25. The weather office has predicted mainly clear sky with mist or haze occurring during morning and evening hours. The maximum temperature would hover around 21 degrees Celsius while the minimum temperature on Wednesday would be around 5 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, in view of the dense fog conditions persisting in the northern region, 12311 Howrah-Kalka Mail arrived late by three hours and 15 minutes while 12925 Bandra-Chandigarh Paschim Express was also late by one hour and 45 minutes. Similarly, 15011 Lucknow-Chandigarh deluxe train also arrived late by one hours and 35 minutes, said Chandigarh Railway Station Superintendent Parveen
Kumar.
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High-tension lines cause of concern
Panchkula, January 23 This, however, also has raised a question mark over the opening of the bypass in the near future. The NHAI authorities are busy giving final touches to the road before opening it for the public. It was a few days ago only that two local residents brought to the notice of the local electricity department that they had felt some vibration while passing through the road in the Ghatiwala area in Pinjore. Following this the officials visited the site and found that the distance between the road surface and the wires was dangerously short. The NHAI project director Anil Dahiya said the distance between the road surface and the wires at this place had been maintained at 7.5 metre. The maximum height of a truck is supposed to be five metre, hence the distance between the road and wires will not pose any threat to the commuters. The director of the HVPNL, R K Arora, however, said the required height of such wires at highways is required to be at least 12.5 metres. Even for a plain areas like playground or agriculture fields the height of wires is required to be 8.5 metre, he said.
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Bhukkal to preside over R-Day celebrations
Panchkula, January 23 While tableaux from different departments will be displayed on the occasion, cultural programmes will be presented by schoolchildren.
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Car catches fire
Zirakpur, January 23
He alighted from the car and raised the alarm. The Fire Department was informed about the incident and a fire tender reached the spot and doused the fire.
— TNS
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CHANDIGARH SCAN
Students win laurels
Students of the BBA Club of GGDSD College, Sector 32, brought laurels to the college by securing second position in the zonal round of “United Minds”, a business simulation competition, featuring over 60 teams from the northern region, organised by IIM- Bangalore in association with the United World School of Business, Gurgaon. The competition involved teams competing over five levels in which they had to take various financial, marketing and operational decisions with the aim to maximise their shareholder value. The team, including Siddharth Grover (BBA-III), Kanav Bakshi (BCom-III) and Ankit Arora (BBA-III), will now represent the college at the national level at IIM-Bangalore in March.
Quiz on environment
The department of environment, Chandigarh Administration, in collaboration with the department of botany, Panjab University, organised an Enviro-Quiz Competition-2012 (Hindi medium schools) on Sunday and Enviro-Quiz Competition-2012 (English medium schools) on Monday, respectively, in order to enhance the horizon of information on environmental issues among school students. Seventeen schools from Hindi medium and 22 schools from English medium participated in the competition, which was organised at the Golden Jubilee Hall, Panjab University. Team of Government High School, Sector 40-A, comprising Komal, Shubham and Salman won the first place. The second place was bagged by GHS, Mauli Colony, comprising Manoj Kumar, Sachin Srivastava and Velnurugan. Pawan Kumar, Umesh and Ramandeep from Government Middle School, Maloya Colony, stood third in the competition.
Sanitation campaign
A sanitation campaign was flagged off by Satish Kainth, Deputy Mayor, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, in Sector 29 on Monday in the presence of staff of the sanitation wing of the civic body for the upkeep of sanitation. Safai karamcharies of the sanitation wing took out a rally by carrying placards depicting the message for the residents to cooperate in maintaining the sanitation of the City Beautiful.
Tributes paid
On the occasion of 115th birth anniversary of Subas Chandra Bose, students of the Desh Bhagat Group of Institutes paid rich tributes to him at Sector 8-C, Chandigarh, on Monday. Chairman, Dr Zora Singh, and vice-chairperson Tajinder Kaur participated along with all staff members of the organisation.
Sharma to unfurl Tricolour
Adviser to the Administrator KK Sharma will unfurl the national flag on the Republic Day function at the Sector-17 parade ground. UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil, who has the additional charge of Governor of Rajasthan, will unfurl the National Flag on the Republic Day function at Jaipur. So, KK Sharma
will preside over the “At Home” function, which is going to be held at the Punjab Raj Bhawan guesthouse.
— Tribune Reporters
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Submit grades, not indicators: CBSE
Chandigarh, January 23 The schools have been informed through a letter received yesterday that the CBSE has finalised the software for all schools to upload assessment data and download their list of candidates along with roll numbers. The schools have been aksed to submit collective grade in co-scholastic areas like sports, as the board will provide descripive indicators like team spirit, endurance, etc. “While schools were asked to give these indicators last year, the board had to do it, as there were many spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and variations in the descriptive indicators provided by the schools,” read the letter. The move has rendered the board’s efforts to get class X students’ credit for co-scholostic attributes meaning less but officials blame it on the schools. “We know what we went through last time. A majority of the schools goofed up on descriptive evaluation last year, which delayed the results. We had to spend nights in rectifying their results. This year also their attitude was not, too, encouraging, so we decided to simplify the process by exempting them from the descriptive indicators,” said CBSE regional director RJ Khanderao. The schools have, meanwhile, welcomed the move, saying its has simplified the evaluation process. “A majority of indicators like attitude towards life did leave schools in a tight spot. It’s good that the board has woken up to the practical aspect of the evaluation and taken this step. Filling over 80 columns per child not only reduced teachers to glorified recordists but also increases the probability of
error in evaluation,” said a member of the Independent School Association. Following failure of region schools to grade students of class X properly on 80 different descriptive co-scholastic indicators, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has asked them to only submit grades and not the specific indicators for which the grades were granted
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Only 700 apply for second semester
Chandigarh, January 23 Though officials have extended the last date of application to February 29, the application process is yet to pick up, leaving officials perturbed. “It is shocking that only 10 per cent of those who appeared for the first semester examination have come forward to apply for the second semester. We think that students are still in the annual examination system hangover where they would apply for the next academic schedule only after declaration of the result. We have put notices in this regard on PU website and notice boards, but have not got encouraging response so far,” said a senior official. This is the first year that Panjab University held semester system in postgraduate classes. While officials claimed that the examination was smooth, many college teachers and principals feel that the varsity went ahead for the system unprepared. “There was no briefing of students about the conduct and effects of this new system. All that they were told was an exam of half syllabus will be held in December and remaining syllabus will be covered in April exam. They are clueless that they have to fill forms twice and even pay twice. A majority of private candidates come from far flung villages of Punjab and are not net savvy, so they are unaware of filling separate forms for the second semester,” said a college representative of the Senate.
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VC pays surprise visit to administrative block
Chandigarh, January 23 Sobti had been getting complaints that given to scheduled power cut, employees were habitually signing off an hour earlier. Reacting to same, Sobti reached the Registrar office and “confiscated” attendance registers. On conclusion of official timings, he made all employees to sign on a blank paper, which were then tallied with the register and guilty were identified. “Nobody can be allowed to disrupt any decorum. Once in a while, an employee can go early and that too with consent of his immediate senior but not everyday,” Sobti told the employees.
— TNS
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Chandigarh, January 23