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Decomposed body of SI found
Chandigarh, March 9 The body, suspected to be two-day-old, was recovered by the police at around 3 pm. Preliminary investigations revealed that his death occurred due to the consumption of certain poisonous substance, although no suicide note was recovered from the spot. Interestingly, the 1993-batch inspector was expected to get a promotion tomorrow for his achievements. Vishal was a former Ranji player from Jammu and was also the captain of the Chandigarh Police cricket team. He was found dead by his team members, who had come looking for him at his residence to take him along for a practice session. A member said, “He had been skipping the practice for the past several days. He was not even attending our calls. We got worried and decided to check at his residence. The door did not open when we rang the bell and knocked the door. After getting no response, we called the PCR number. The policemen broke open the door and entered only to
witness Vishal’s body.” The victim was living alone at the residence since January 25. His wife and two children are presently residing at the Sector 26 police lines with his mother-in-law, who is an inspector. “I learnt about the incident around 4 pm. My daughter and her kids are putting up with me since January 25.Vishal was staying with his parents, who left for Jammu and Kashmir to attend the funeral of their relative on Monday,” said Geeta Devi, mother-in-law of the victim. She said “Vishal was undergoing medication at the de-addiction centre of the PGI. He was under regular surveillance of doctors after he had started drinking heavily.” A fellow player said the victim had quit drinking a month ago and was concentrating on the game. During a recent match, Vishal had represented the administration’s team against Media XI where he scored 39 runs off 16 balls. According to sources, many international cricket players, during their visit to the city, especially asked for his services. “The body was recovered in a highly decomposed state. During the time of the incident, he was alone and no suicide was recovered from the spot. A forensic team has taken samples, but we can say that consumption of poisonous substance led to cracks in his body. He was very hard working and known for his cricketing skills,” said Sukhbir Rana, station house officer of Sector 36 police station.
Third suicide by policeman this year
Last year’s suicides
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CCTV project hits roadblock
Sources said due to technical and financial reasons, the Haryana Government had turned down the proposal of the Rs 2.35-crore project. Sources added that the state government had asked the Haryana and Panchkula police to submit a fresh proposal mentioning the places where these high-resolution CCTV cameras were to be installed. At present, the outdoor surveillance system in Panchkula is very poor. The Panchkula police, too, had installed CCTV cameras at five roundabouts a few years ago, but due to non-maintenance, these had become non-functional. Besides, someone had stolen four CCTV cameras from one of the busiest roundabouts of Panchkula. There were four CCTV cameras installed on the roundabout of Sector 11-15, but someone had stolen these cameras. At present, only one pole is there on the roundabout but there is no camera. According to the proposal forwarded by the Panchkula and Haryana police 90 high-tech automatic number plate readers (ANPRs) and CCTV cameras were to be installed to upgrade its outdoor surveillance system. A senior official of the Panchkula police said they had planned the installation of the CCTV cameras which could be panned, tilted and zoomed to help the police in keeping an eye on the city. The ANPR can capture the image of a moving vehicle and also the driver, he added. In this plan, the Panchkula police had proposed that a private company should be hired for installing CCTV cameras at the busiest points in the city, which would be connected with the monitors in the Panchkula police control room. From these, “monitor cops” could view the activities going on these places round the clock, sources added.
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PU fails to declare results
Amit Sharma Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 9 While the university had claimed that this year all results would be declared in time, it has been over two months since the examinations have been over. Whether it be the delay on part of the teachers or the overburdened examination branch, the wait of students appears to be long, as it would take another 10 days to declare the results. While the students would soon start preparing for the current semester exams, they don’t even know whether they have passed the previous exams. The delay in declaring the results can further burden students in case they get compartment in any exam as now they would have to prepare for both the current semester and the previous exam together. Deepak Kaushik, president, Panjab University Staff Association (PUSA), said there was staff shortage in the examination branch and the employees were overburdened. “The PU authorities never consulted us before fixing any deadlines. After switching from the annual examination to semester system, the work has doubled. However, the university has failed to realise this fact.” A PU official said the Syndicate had specified that one clerk and an assistant would handle the examination work of only 3,500 papers. But they were handling more than 8,000 papers. The process involves submission of forms, data recording, dispatching roll numbers, getting question papers and answer sheets and tabulating the entire data. SS Kashyap, Deputy Registrar, Examination, said they had not received results from the secrecy branch of the university. “We receive the results from the secrecy branch and further declare the results. However, we have not received the results of a majority of the departments. As soon as results are sent to our department, the result would be declared,” he said. This is not the first time the results have been delayed. Every year, the PU makes tall claims of reforming the system, but has failed to declare results on time.
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Age row dogs football tourney
Chandigarh, March 9 Junior players were borrowed from all possible quarters to meet the requirements of the missing players for the event, which concluded here today. In yet another twist to the sordid tale of a forced event, the teams were charged an entry fee of Rs 1,500 against the announced charges of Rs 500 only. To make matters worse, the organisers reduced the price money from the earlier announced amount of Rs 1 lakh to a mere Rs 10,000 for the entire team, meaning a player earned only Rs 500. Just to complete the formality of having organised a tournament, the association had roped in clubs not even registered with the association. General secretary of the Chandigarh Football Association, Rakesh Bakshi, meanwhile, denied that any junior player participated in the event. His claims were denied by the participating
teams and even a former Indian team captain Harjinder Singh. A number of players who participated in the tourney are school students (junior level). As per the existing rules, if they play in the senior category, they cannot be part of the junior-level championship again. Importantly, players from boys (u-16) football team, who are set to represent the city in the All India football championship for boys (u-16) later this month, also participated in this championship under the nose of the officials.“The organisers have made a mockery of a tournament by allowing small children to participate in the tournament for the seniors. In the first place, these are kids,” said Harjinder Singh, the former Indian captain and a coach. Objections were raised against Panjab University team playing against
AG (Haryana) for having fielded outsiders in its team. A player registered with the Delhi Football Association was being allegedly played by the PU team. It is worth mentioning that the local team, till date, has never won any tournament at the senior national level. The senior league is the first step to select the senior level team for the prestigious Santosh Trophy. In the early 90s, the city team managed to clear the league stage of the tournament, but after that no such achievement was made.
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World Glaucoma Week at PGI Eye specialists say it is leading cause of irreversible blindness Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 9 The experts say glaucoma refers to eye conditions that damage the optic nerve, which carries visual information from the eye to the brain. In many cases, damage to the optic nerve is due to increased eye pressure. “Low vision and blindness can have devastating consequences. Those can lead to loss of independence and reduction in the quality of life,” said Dr Sushmita Kaushik of the advanced eye centre. She said various factors were responsible for the disease. She further said, “People above 40 years of age and having a family history of glaucoma or those suffering from diabetes mellitus are at a greater risk of being affected. Everybody should get their eyes checked periodically.” Speaking to mediapersons, she said most patients were unaware that they could be suffering from glaucoma because of the late onset of symptoms. Around 11.2 million Indians were suffering from this eye ailment, of who about 1.1 million had lost their vision. According to experts, childhood glaucoma was a serious paediatric condition that many parents were not familiar with. She said the glaucoma clinic at the advanced eye centre had more than 21,000 registered patients, who required lifelong care. She added that around 200 new patients, including two or three children, were being added every month. “Half of them have primary glaucoma, for which there is no known cause,” Kaushik said. According to the World Health Organisation, three lakh children worldwide had developmental glaucoma, of whom two-thirds were blind. According to doctors, early diagnosis could reduce the progression of the disease and all it took to prevent such a condition was a regular eye check-up. In 2008, an Asian survey presented at the World Ophthalmology Congress in Hong Kong had made the revelation that over 74 per cent Indians did know what glaucoma was. It had added that over 72 per cent had never undergone an eye pressure test or tonometry, that determined fluid pressure inside the eye. According to doctors, increased pressure within the eye was a sign of glaucoma. It had been pointed out in the study that between 2010 and 2020, India would be the world’s glaucoma capital. It had been noted that only 10 per cent of people with glaucoma were diagnosed here, compared to 50 per cent in Europe. It had also been pointed out in the study that the number of blind persons in India was 12 million at present and was predicted to rise to 24.1 million in 2020. According to the study, arouns 3.6 million people could be saved from blindness in 2020 alone by implementing strategies to prevent blindness due to glaucoma.
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Making UT model solar city
Chandigarh, March 9 Santosh Kumar, Director, UT Department of Science and Technology, said in big houses solar panels with a capacity to heat 400 litres of water per day (200 litres for bathrooms and 200 litres for kitchen) would be installed at big houses while for smaller houses, the equipment would be of 300-lpd capacity. A 100-lpd system approximately saves 1,200 units of electricity per year. “A sum of Rs 3.5 crore has been sanctioned for the project,” said Santosh Kumar, adding that only single-storey houses would be equipped with the solar systems in the first phase. For private houses, the administration has come up with a subsidy plan by arranging a subsidy amount of Rs 64 lakh from the Centre with which solar water-heating systems of 2,60,000 LPD of capacity would be installed in different sectors of Chandigarh. “With this arrangement, we manage to give a total of 55 per cent of subsidy (30 per cent by the Centre and 25 per cent by the UT administration) immediately to a customer,” claimed Santosh Kumar. Earlier, the customer has to wait for at least six months for the sanction of subsidy after filing an application. The arrangement has been made to encourage the solar system in the city, said Santosh Kumar. He also added that now the number of applications for the installation of solar systems has witnessed a manifold increase. “In comparison to 30 or 40 applications in the past some years, the number has crossed the figure of 300 this year,” said Santosh Kumar. Even the cost of the solar panels has also come down with the usage of ‘evacuated tube technology’, the price of which is around Rs 30,000 (without subsidy) in comparison to a ‘flat plate collector’, which costs around Rs 50,000. The experts claimed that the system recovered its cost within three years after its installation by saving electricity and cooking gas. “After the installation of solar water-heating systems in two sectors, we will cover other sectors within five years,” claimed Santosh Kumar, adding that the city would be developed as Model Solar City through the Chandigarh Renewal Energy, Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST), which would implement all the solar projects here. So far, systems with a total capacity of 63,800 LPD have been installed at various places in the city which has already saved about 1965.60 lakh units of electricity, said Santosh Kumar.
OTHER SOLAR PROJECTS FOR CITY
Santosh Kumar added that the administration has already got sanction of Rs 19 crores from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for the solar projects in the city. The projects, for which the sanction and funds from the Central government has already got, included 100 kw SPV power plant (Rs 2.5 cr) at Model Central Jail, Burail, Sector 45, 50 kw plant (Rs 1.25 cr) at Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 46, 10 kw plant (29 lakh) at Judges houses in Sector 19 and 50 kw plant (Rs 1.10 cr) at Paryavaran Bhawan, Sector 19. While the Detailed Project Reports (DPR) for two SPV power plant-one of 500 kw (Rs 7.92 cr) and another of 800 kw (12 cr) at Government College for Girls, Sector 11 are under examination. Similarly the DPRs of two SPV plants-- 600 kw plant (Rs 9.25 cr) and 795 kw (Rs 12.6 cr) at Punjab Engineering College, Sector 12 and one plant of 435 kw capacity (Rs 6.95 cr) at Government College for Men are pending for examination.
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Celebrations across the city
Chandigarh, March 9 Chandigarh’s ‘gehri’ route from Sector 8 to Sector 11 and Sector 35 witnessed heavy rush with youngsters hanging out of their cars, driving
from one sector to other. The youngsters were even seen moving across the city on horse-carts. The PU campus was also draped in colors. Though the students were playing Holi for the second-day yet their enthusiasm was no less. The girl students were allowed to move out of the hostels. The groups of the students drove across the campus honking horns and applying colors on each other. It was free for all, as revelers could be seen hanging outside the widow panes of their speeding cars while guzzling liquor, and hurling eggs on others. Even the girls did not lag behind as many of
them could be seen waving hands while hanging out of widows of their cars. In the housing societies at tricity, the residents decided to celebrate Holi while organising the community gathering. The residents danced to the tunes of the old bolywiood holi songs and had feast. Many others in the tricity, preferred to venture towards uphill. This led to the big rush on the roads towards Pinjore, Kasauli, Barog, and Morni. The youths could be seen dancing while playing on their car stereos on roadsides. Some of the residents, however, decided to celebrate Holi visiting the
religious places in the morning.
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Enthusiasm all the way
Mohali, March 9 In most of the cases, children and the young boys and girls were seen soaked in vibrant hues. Families were also seen enjoying the festival of
colours. Fourth Commando Battalion, Commando Complex, Phase XI, also celebrated
Holi. The police, however, played a spoil sport for the Holi revelers. Various nakas were setup up in the different parts of the town to check reckless driving and
rowdyism. Harpreet Singh, SP (City), said the SHOs of all the police stations were out on the roads to check
rowdyism. He said that the police had issued 20 challans and impounded 13 vehicles under Section 207 of the Motor Vehicle Act.
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One stabbed, over 120 injured on Holi
Panchkula, March 9 Around 120 people were injured in various accidents in the Panchkula district on the day of Holi. The injured were discharged after the first-aid at the General Hospital, Sector 6. Besides, 36 vehicle drivers were penalised for reckless driving and eight vehicles were impounded. Various check-points were setup across the city to check the menace. For the entire day, the police was seen chasing youngsters driving cars and two-wheelers.
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DCP wants status reports every week
Rajinder Nagarkoti Tribune News Service
Panchkula, March 9 A senior police official said that now the investigation officers would submit the details of case seizures on weekly basis to the DCP office in which they would mention about the place from where case properties were seized and beside this the officer would also mention about the present condition of property. The officials, who would not submit the details, a show-cause notice would be issued to them. Record of case properties would ultimately help the police during the trail in district court, official added. The Panchkula police had filed a chargesheet against Sukhwinder Singh, former in charge of the judicial “malkhana”, recently, where the police keeps case properties, managed to sell as many as the 631 case properties without letting his colleagues get a whiff of it. The missing case properties included cash Rs 12,28,901 and gold and silver jewellery, beside a number of other items. The accused was arrested on November 19, 2011, following the complaint of a Panchkula police official, Gurdev Singh, to whom the accused was not giving the charge of the “malkhana”. Gurdev Singh brought the discrepancies in case properties to the notice of the Panchkula DCP, Maneesh Chaudhary. The accused was later arrested. During the interrogation, he confessed that he had given money to his brother-in-law who further purchased a truck in which Sukhwinder was a partner. He also bought some properties in his sister’s name and sold a truck to a scrap dealer in Saharanpur.
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FICCI organises seminar on I-T growth
CHANDIGARH, March 9 Among others who spoke on the occasion were Puneet Vatsayan, chairman, The Hatch & Angel Investors Consortium, Partap Aggarwal, MD, IDS Infotech Ltd, Manipal Dhariwal, CEO, Sebiz, Mohali, and Ajay Srivastava, joint director, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Mohali. — TNS
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CLTA holds protest march
Chandigarh, March 9 Over fifty trainees and their parents took out a march from the CLTA grounds in the evening and reached the Sector 17 plaza demanding the reinstatement of the director coaching, Gurvarinder. It was the seventh day of protest by the trainees and their parents after Gurvarinder resigned from his post on Friday alleging undue interference of chief operating officer. While trainees and their parents have been asking the authorities to reappoint Gurvarinder, the CLTA has appointed international tennis coach Gajendra Singh as the new director coaching. The agitating trainees also boycotted the practice sessions today to register their protest. The parents of the trainees said that nothing short of reappointment of Gurvarinder Singh would be acceptable as any change would affect the training process of their wards.
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Chill will be back, nights to get colder
Chandigarh, March 9 The weather office has predicted rain or snowfall in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, causing a further decline in minimum temperature. There will be no major change in the maximum temperature, which will hover between 26 degree Celsius and 28 degree Celsius. The maximum temperature on Saturday will rise by one degree to 26 degree Celsius. The minimum temperature will decline by one degree to 10 degree Celsius on Sunday. The sky will be mainly clear. The weather will remain dry, with mist or haze during mornings and evenings. The night temperature was recorded at 11 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal. The maximum temperature was recorded at 25 degree Celsius, two degrees below normal.
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Oath taking on march 14
Our Correspondent
Mohali, March 9 Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal, today, reviewed the arrangements at Chapparchiri, where the senior officials of the district were present to get directions from SAD president. The government had, earlier, built a memorial of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur at this place. National level leaders of the BJP and Chief Ministers of some states would be among those attending the oath taking ceremony. Talking to media persons, Sukhbir said that the people had brought the SAD-BJP combine back to power in the state because of the development that took place in Punjab and the people-friendly policies of the government. Among those who accompanied the Deputy Chief Minister were Bikramjit Singh Majithia , national president of the Youth Akali Dal, Dr Daljeet Singh Cheema, Janmeja Singh Sekhon, and Kiranbir Singh Kang, senior vice-president of the SAD.
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Conference at PGI from today
Chandigarh, March 9 A number of international and national experts in the field of PID diseases will deliberate on various aspects. The meeting will benefit people working in the private sector and at academic institutes, resident doctors and research scholars. According to experts, PID diseases have been under-recognised and under-diagnosed for a long time. The Indian Society for Primary Immuno-Deficiency has been formed to promote awareness for early diagnosis and treatment. Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia will be the chief guest. The ICMR Director-General, Dr Vishwa Mohan Katoch, will be the guest of honour at the inaugural ceremony.
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MC issues challans to 105 junk dealers
Chandigarh, March 9 The officials, with a heavy workforce and 10 trucks, swooped down on the sites and seized the goods stored at the encroached land by the junk dealers. The goods of offenders were seized. A total of 105 challans were issued by the MC team. The anti-encroachment drive continued till the evening.
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Walk on cancer awareness
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IIT prof delivers
lecture at PU
Chandigarh, March 9 Dr Srivastava introduced the new and easy to use methods for strain estimation in rocks. The lecture showed how simple image processing techniques can be applied for the restoration of undistorted shapes off the rock layers. “These studies are significant in the potential areas of mineralisation and localisation of petroleum deposits,” he said. Dr SC Dhiman, chairman, CGWB, Ministry of Water Resources, delivered the keynote address of the workshop on artificial recharge and rainwater harvesting. He described at length the various aspects of ground water conservation and artificial recharge of ground water. He also stressed upon the environmental hazards caused by human intervention in the hydrogeological cycle. He called upon young scientists to actively associate themselves with water resources research and developmental activities. Dhiman apprised the audience about the lead role of the Ministry of Water Resources in encouraging school students to participate in water conservation. According to him over 2 million students across the country participated in the painting competitions related to water. AK Bhatia, regional director, CGWB delivered a lecture on ‘Water level behaviour in Punjab and Chandigarh’ and issues related to rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge issues. There was another lecture on ‘Status of Artificial Recharge and Rainwater Harvesting in Punjab’ by Dr KS Takshi, Director, Water Resources and Environment Directorate, Punjab.
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Pvt schools submit INFO
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 9 The schools had provided the details to education department earlier as well; however they were asked to re-furnish the information. A member of the independent schools association said that they prepared a fresh performa and sent it to the education department on the EWS seat details. “We hope that the education department would be soon ready with the modalities for the implementation of RTE,” he said. The department had sought details regarding the total number of seats offered by schools under the EWS category, the number of students who had applied, the number of students admitted, and the vacancies. The schools are waiting for the reimbursement to be given to them by the education department under the EWS category. “If the UT fails to finalise all the modalities before the beginning of the session, we would be forced to convert the seats reserved under EWS category to general category,” said a member of independent schools association.
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GGSCW students given warm send-off
Chandigarh, March 9 The second year students presented an array of dances, showcasing the wide multi-cultural student population. Bhangra and Punjabi dance performers brought the stage alive with their steps while students from Manipuri spread a wave of grace and gentility with soft musical notes. Western dance and Salsa were also performed. The event also included a modelling show by the final year students. Priyanka, an MCom II student, was declared Miss GGSCW-2012, followed by Aakshi of BCom III as and Tarandeep lamba of BCA III. Renowned singer Satinder Sartaj, who was the chief guest, set the auditorium on fire with his hit numbers and danced with the students. He wished all the students good luck for their coming years. Principal Dr Charanjeet Kaur Sohi advised the students to strike a balance between their personal and professional lives.
— TNS
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PU to host national seminar on Punjabi
Chandigarh, March 9 Dr VK Tewari, Dean, Language Faculty, and Dr Kewal Singh, Secretary, Punjabi Akademi, Delhi will be special guests during the event. A Sufi music programme will also be presented. More than 300 delegates from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and J&K will participate in the seminar and present their papers. More than three-dozen renowned academics residing in different countries will participate in this seminar.
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Panchkula, March 9
