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DAV-10 shuts door on trouble-makers
Chandigarh, March 13 Lawrence Bishnoi, whose name had figured in a number of cases of student violence, is among those on whom DAV gates have been closed forever. College principal AK Nanda said they had details on incidents of violence reported in and outside the college and those booked by the police. Seventeen incidents of violence were reported at the college between 2009 and 2011. Nanda said the college was under the process of verifying details of youths booked by the police and those found to be frequent trouble-makers would be barred from admission for the next academic session. The name of SOPU loyalist Bishnoi, who was an undergraduate student at the college, was a frequent one that appeared in the list of the Chandigarh Police in the last three years. “We have checked with the college records. Bishnoi has not filled in his examination form, which makes him ineligible for appearing in the final examination,” the principal said. The college today permanently closed the entry through which armed assailants barged into the college. The principal also expedited the process of replacing non-functional CCTV cameras with new ones. Meanwhile, no arrest was made even 24 hours after the shootout, although police officials maintained that raids were being carried out at different locations in Chandigarh and Punjab to nab the accused.
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Once a centre of learning, Chandigarh is a hub of violence now; 40 cases featuring students in clashes registered since 2005
Chandigarh, March 13 More than 40 cases featuring students in clashes have been registered since 2005. Not a single example in terms of mild punishment like suspension has been set to dissuade students from setting wrong examples for fellow students. Despite major announcements by Panjab University (PU) and the Chandigarh Police, there has been no check on the free movement of students in this category. Certain names are being repeated in different incidents. The involvement of PU student leaders in incidents of violence has always been seen. Robin Brar and Vikramjit Singh, both active SOPU leaders at PU, along with other assailants, have been booked for the shootout at DAV College. When contacted, the university authorities did not even know whether these students were enrolled at the university. While Robin is SOPU’s campus president, Vikramjit is party president. Dean Student Welfare (DSW) AS Ahluwalia said, “Before taking any action against them, we need to check whether they are PU students or not.” The list of regular offenders in student politics is growing bigger and more uncontrollable, with no strict action being taken by the PU authorities against those involved in incidents of violence. The names of student leaders and their supporters who have figured in different police cases keep on resurfacing. Despite making announcements of initiating action against student offenders within seven days, the PU authorities have failed to take cognisance of any incident. There has been no logical follow-up to the clash at the Student Centre on February 3 this year. The authorities have not taken strict action against any student involved in violent activities on the campus in the last few years. Records show that the police registered over 40 cases of criminal incidents on the campus in the last few years. Almost all cases are linked to heinous crimes like attempt-to-murder, criminal intimidation, rioting and culpable homicide attempt and under the Arms Act. Four criminal cases were registered in 2005 and 11 students arrested. The year 2006 witnessed a rise in number, with seven cases registered and 31 PU students held. Seven cases were registered in 2007 and 27 students nabbed. In 2008 and 2009, the number of cases was eight and four, respectively, with 22 and seven arrests, respectively. More than four cases cases were registered in 2010 and 2011. Requesting anonymity, an MA-II student said, “It is surprising that the names of student leaders involved in incidents of violence are flashed by the media as if they are heroes. It seems that the authorities are scared of them. Instead of setting an example by punishing such students, the authorities hold them in high esteem whenever student activities are planned on the campus.” Another student said, “The role of the police during student elections last year was appreciable. ‘Goondas’ were kept under control. The action needs to be initiated again.” A former campus president said, “Students need love and counselling and not the police.”
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CBI sleuths arrest policeman for taking bribe
Chandigarh, March 13 The CBI arrested a constable of the summon staff, Mange Ram, for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 12,000 from a businessman. The CBI had received a complaint from a Sector-18 resident, Vipin Mahajan. It laid a trap at Sector 22 and caught Mange Ram red-handed. The entire money was recovered from his possession. CBI sleuths said the constable was demanding a bribe of Rs 20,000 from Mahajan for sending a report in his favour to a court at Rohini in Delhi and then settled for Rs 12,000. The constable told the complainant that if the amount was not paid, he would prepare an adverse report and get him arrested. The court in Delhi had issued a bailable warrant against Mahajan in connection with a financial dispute. The bailable warrant was scheduled to be delivered to Mahajan through the summon staff of the Chandigarh Police and constable Mange Ram started demanding bribe. CBI sleuths also conducted a raid at the residence of the constable at Krishna Nagar, Dhakoli, Mohali. The arrest of the constable came as a huge embarrassment to the UT police as two persons of the same branch were arrested last month. On February 25, the CBI had arrested head constable Vajinder Singh and booked ASI Desh Raj for accepting a bribe of Rs 3,000 from Rupesh Tangri, a PO, at Sector 46. The ASI, who had arrested more than 200 POs, had not been arrested so far.
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Leopard still stuck in pipe
Chandigarh, March 13 The forest department put a cage in front of the pipe to catch it in case it ventured out. A live chicken was hung at the opening to lure the hungry animal. Santosh Kumar, Chief Wildlife Warden, said the pipe was closed from the other side and they put a cage on the only entrance, along with the chicken, to attract the leopard. He further said they tried to scare the leopard with crackers, but to no avail. Water was also put inside the pipe, but it did not work, he added. As the there were a number of cables inside, stopping them from using a tranquiliser, it would be difficult for them to administer the antidote in time, he said. It could have died, he added. Sources said wildlife officials thought of making some other entry points, but later realised that they could not make those as it could have damaged the IAF runway, used as a back-up landing field for aircraft. Besides the UT wildlife department, a fully equipped team from the Chhat Bir zoo, comprising veterinarians and animal handlers, were also deployed there. The first alert about the leopard came about two weeks ago, when the IAF ground staff spotted it near the runway. On Monday, wildlife officials spotted it.
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MC incurs loss of Rs 96 lakh, courtesy liquor vendors
Chandigarh, March 13 In the report, an objection has been raised to the fact that the authorities have not recovered the rent of the land allotted to them for setting up temporary liquor vends at various sites in the city. A senior official said notices had been served on the defaulters a number of times, but nobody had deposited the amount with the authorities concerned. Though the authorities had the provision to seal the vends to recover the rent, but as land had not been allotted for temporary sheds last year, such action could not been taken against any defaulter by the authorities. The then MC Commissioner Roshan Sunkaria had deputed special enforcement inspectors in 2010 to recover pending dues. He had directed the officials that if pending dues were not deposited by any vendor in time, the vend be sealed. MC records revealed that a report was prepared and tabled in the General House in 2010, according to which Rs 1.52 crore was pending from 24 defaulters in the last three years. The then Mayor Anu Chatrath had directed the MC authorities to recover pending dues from the defaulters by imposing a 24 per cent interest, as fixed by the Administration. The authorities were also instructed to issue notices to the defaulters, with a 48-hour ultimatum, to deposit the pending dues with interest, failing which the shops would be sealed. As per the report, Rs 35 lakh was pending against five vend owners. Of them, the one at Bapu Dham, against whom Rs 3.55 lakh was pending, had already shut shop. The report said notices had been issued to four defaulters to clear dues, failing which strict action would be taken against them. Their vends were at Palsora, Sector 48, opposite Kala Gram and beside the road separating Sectors 45 and 46. As per MC records, the rent of liquor shops was Rs 15,000 in 2007, which was later revised to Rs 30,000 for liquor shop and Rs 25,000 for ‘ahata’.
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Admn to purchase power under three-slab system
Rajinder Nagarkoti Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 13 Divulging details about the system, a senior official of the electricity department said the consumption of power was less during morning hours and at night. Earlier, the Administration used to pay the same price for 24 hours to the power generation companies, but now it has realised that at night and in the morning there is less consumption and less power is required. Keeping this thing in mind, the Administration has invited tenders under the three-slab system so that it has to pay less during morning and night hours. The department has made arrangement to receive 30 MW additional power from Jammu and Kashmir under an exchange programme from May 1 to August 31 and the same amount of power will be returned in winter. MP Singh, Superintending Engineer of UT’s electricity department, said besides the power purchase, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has two power purchase agreements with the NTPC for purchase of power from Feroze Ghandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station Stage-IV and Rupsiabagar Khasiyabara Hydro Project through which about 6 MW power would be made available from the financial year 2015-16. On a new high Last summer, the demand for power was around 324 MW. This time, it is expected to be around 350 MW. The Administration is receiving around 220 MW from different sources — 47 per cent from Mohali (PSPCL), 48 per cent from Nalalgarh and 5 per cent from Dhulkote (BBMB).
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Parking Woes Working on options to divert flow of traffic; Chandigarh Tribune carries Part III of its special series Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 13 Multi-storeyed parkings Gurdev Studio After much delay, the architecture department has approved a three-level underground parking to accommodate 900 vehicles. After certain changes in the design, the final drawings have been sent to the Municipal Corporation so that work on the project can be started. The proposed site has been slightly re-located so as to adjust certain structural changes. UT officials disclosed that the three-storeyed underground parking would not disturb the heritage of the area and it would also not block the view of the visitors.
Hotel Taj The multi-storeyed parking is only at a planning stage. The parking has again been planned for 900 vehicles. A survey by RITES has indicated parking requirement for 3,300 more vehicles. The present availability was for around 7,000 ECS (equivalent car space). Officials said that the project would be approved once the multi-storeyed parking near Gurdev Studio became functional. “It will be pointless to start work on the parking lot as success of the underground parking approved near Gurdev Studio is yet to be gauged. The existing parking in front of Hotel Taj is not utilised. Bank Square The planning of the parking lot has not taken off as the MC has termed the proposal as non-feasible. Sahib Singh The pilot project of the parking near Sahib Singh in Sector 17 that was approved in 2007 never saw light of the day. The contractor to whom the work was allotted by the MC backed out of the project on a plea that the cost of the project had increased manifold during this period. Then the administration directed the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation to recover Rs 3 crore from the contractor to whom the work of multi level parking of Sector 17 was allotted, as charges for shifting of electricity cables from the site. But the case has now gone in arbitration. For the record Initially, the MC had proposed six multi-level parking projects, but it has ultimately come down to four. Records of the Municipal Corporation reveals that in 2005 a proposal was mooted in the finance and contract committee meeting for the construction of four multi level parking lots in Sector 17, including near Sahib Singh, in front of Taj Hotel, near Bank Square and near Gurudev Studio. After this, a survey was conducted about the multiple increases of vehicles in the city and on the basis of its report, the house committee decided that initially the work of a single parking be taken up in Sector 17 and on the basis of its success three more parking lots would be constructed later on. Besides this, multi level parking for Sector 34 and Mani Majra were also approved but their drawings are yet to be approved.
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Underpass proposed near Neelam Cinema
Chandigarh, March 13 The existing over bridge in Sector 17 was part of the plan to provide obstruction-free movement to pedestrians. As per the proposed plan, another bridge on the road stretch connecting KC theatre with Taj, Chandigarh, is being constructed. Read Tomorrow: Public reaction to the existing problem of parking in Sector 17 and expected solutions
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Shabnam Virmani impresses with her soulful sufi singing
Chandigarh, March 13 Opening up with Dohas, Shabnam doled out the mystic utterances of Kabir in her soulful voice while playing the tambura. Most of her singing was in the Malwa tradition of Madhya Pardesh. Undeniably one of the few female maestros to have studied and imbibed the philosophy of Kabir, Shabnam attempted to share all those insights through her singing, be it the composition ‘Mara bharya samand mein heera’, ‘Sat re bachan’ , ‘Ghanori jayo re’ or ‘Mein balihari jaon mera Satgur aangan aya’. Having established an instant rapport with the audience, she explained the rich conceptual content of the lyrics in Avadhi or Brajbhasha in chaste English and repeatedly saluted the vision and wisdom of Kabir. Jogi Premji and Gopal Sharma provided musical accompaniment on Dholak and Manjira. Chief guest Dheera Khandelwal, IAS, herself a prolific author, honoured the artists. In an impressive speech, she emphasised on the need to imbibe the philosophy and ideals of Kabir whose teachings had been influencing of the life of the masses across centuries. She also complemented Shabnam for her endeavours to popularise Kabir through her films and propagate the morals preached by him. Later, in the second session, Ustad Moora Lala Marwada from Kachh (Gujarat) presented Kabir bhajans in Gujarati folk tradition. Gifted with a high ranged voice, the singer brought alive the mystic fervour in his renditions of Kabir bhajans ‘Mann laago yaar faqiri mein, mein vaari jaaon mein balhari jaaon’, ‘Ulta pan gagan mein’ He also sang the Meera classic ‘Mora chit laga re faqiri mein” and was accompanied by Prem ji, Sukhdev, and Bhika Bhai on Dholak, Jhanj and Manjira respectively. Dahnpat Singh, IAS, honured thje artists. Earlier in the day, a documentary ‘Chalo Hamara Des’ on the life of Kabir, produced and directed by Shabnam Virmani, was screened at the venue. As per Kamal Tewari, akademy chairperson, the finale to the festival will be provided with Kabir vani recitals by Mahesha Ram and Padamshri Prahalad Tipanya. Earlier, at 11.00 PM, two films on Kabir, titled ‘Kabira khada bazzar mein’ and ‘Koi sunta hai’ will be screened at the Tagore theatre.
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Property dealers demand rollback in collector rate
Panchkula, March 13 Suresh Aggarwal, president of the Haryana State Property Dealers Welfare Association, said after showing an increase of about 20 per cent in the prices of the residential plots in the district, the markets had again taken a dip. Aggarwal said the collector rate announced by the administration for the 2011-12 fiscal had not only hit the business in the residential properties, but also the industries as well as commercial properties in the district. He said there was a 50 per cent increase in the collector rate of residential properties as one had to pay stamp duty as the government had fixed the collector rate at Rs 48,000 per square metre in 2011-12 as against Rs 32,000 fixed in 2010-11. Similarly, the collector rate on industrial and commercial properties had also been increased by 200 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively. Property dealers, developers, agents and advisers have strongly opposed the substantial increase in the collector rate of property. Aggarwal said the collector rate, which became effective from April 1, last year, had hit the real estate hard. He said due to this the government had also suffered losses in the revenue due to the decline in the sale and purchase of properties in the district. He demanded that a meeting of the district revenue officials should be convened to review the collector rate. He said the three-fold increase in the collector rate for industrial plots had badly hit the industrial activity in the district as it had made difficult for the new manufacturers to pay the exorbitant collector rates. He said the hike in commercial and residential properties had also affected the forthcoming auction of plots by HUDA.
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CMA calls on Governor
A delegation of the Chandigarh Management Association (CMA) met the Punjab Governor and Union Territory Administrator, Chandigarh, Shivraj Patil. A delegation under the leadership of president, CMA, and Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges (AGC) Dr Anshu Kataria apprised the Governor about the activities undertaken done by the CMA. Madhuklika Kak, secretary general, and Brig SS Sahni were also part of delegation. The delegation informed the Governor about the history, objectives, and activities of the 46-year-old association. The Governor appreciated the initiate taken by the organisation. Women’s Day programme
Northern regional office of the Bureau of Indian Standards, Chandigarh organised a special programme on Woman's Day exclusively for its women employees , here today. KK Narang, Dy Director General, BIS, while inaugurating the programme, urged all to help in bringing the changes required for the betterment of the society. She also stressed on the need of educating girls for making a better society.
Students do school proud
Two students of Bhavan Vidyalaya have made the school proud by excelling in the International English Olympiad. Ayushee Arora, class IX, has made a mark, by receiving the Scholarship for Excellence in English (SEE). Ajeya Kannan another student of class IX has performed outstandingly by achieving the 5th rank in the International English Olympiad (IEO), scoring 49/50. The SEE is a national level scholarship given to 100 students across the country excelling in English. The IEO is an international level olympiad contested by thousands of students across the world.
Interaction with Anupam Kher
In a bid to spice up the literacy scene in the city, the recently-formed Chandigarh Literary Society will organise its first event with an interaction with actor Anupum Kher who is also the author of the book “The Best Thing About You is You!” The event will be held at the UT Guest House on March 15 at 5.30 p.m. The chairperson of the Chandigarh Literary Society and Haryana’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sumita Misra informed that Anupum Kher would share his life experiences which culminated in this inspirational book. KK Sharma, Adviser to the UT Administrator, will be the guest of honour. The function will be open to all book lovers, Misra added.
CBM president elected
Charanjiv Singh today was declared unopposed president of Chandigarh Beopar Mandal (CBM) for two years (2012-14). Satpal Gupta, chairman of the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal, with the concurrence of other election committee members, declared Charanjiv Singh the president. Today, the last date of withdrawal of nominations, Anil Vohra withdrew his nomination, leaving only Charanjiv Singh in the contest.
Workshop
The CII Avantha Centre for Competitiveness for SMEs organised a workshop on e learning at workplace today. The session was widely attended by representatives of various industry houses in the tricity, wherein they were informed about the two modules of e- learning developed by CII Avantha Centre, which provides anytime, anywhere learning. — Tribune Reporters
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Disposal of municipal solid
waste Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 13 The suit will be filed in the special environment court at Kurukshetra on the charge that the two were responsible for unscientific disposal of municipal sold waste in Panchkula. As the sanction has been granted by the Haryana Pollution Control Board chairman, the two face proceedings for violation of the municipal solid waste (management and handling) rules. The State Pollution Control Board’s Regional Officer Sumeet Amrohi in this regard supplied information to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The affidavit came during the hearing of a PIL filed by the residents’ body of Sector 23. They were seeking directions for shifting of the site for the disposal of the municipal solid waste from Sector 23. On the previous hearing, the board officials had stated that neither the HUDA, nor the MC, had taken appropriate measures to handle the issue. Therefore, notices had been issued. The board authorities had informed the Bench that directions had been issued to HUDA and MC authorities that the temporary site in Sector 23 be properly covered with layers of earth and bacterial solutions, while micro nutrients be sprayed on a daily basis so as to minimise the odour problem. The Bench, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Mahesh Grover, has now posted the matter for May 5 for further hearing.
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BJP workers protest outside DSP’s office
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 13 Tandon demanded that the police should verify all facts before taking any action. No arrests should be made during the pendency of the inquiry. He also demanded that the false complaint made by LK Khurana should be thoroughly probed and necessary action should be taken against him for making a false complaint. Police authorities assured that action would be taken only after thoroughly inquiring into the facts. If the complaint is found to be false, then action will be taken against the complainant. The police has booked two persons in the FIR registered at the Sector 34 police station. High drama was witnessed near the BJP office in Sector 33 day before yesterday when BJP workers beat up Khurana for attempting to burn an effigy of Sanjay Tandon, the president of the local unit of the party. Khurana was protesting because he was denied a party ticket. As per the FIR, a case of criminal intimidation has been registered against BJP workers Gurpreet Dhillon and Shera.
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Civil Hospital to be upgraded
Mohali, March 13 The work is likely to start in about a fortnight and tenders have already been floated. A sum of Rs 3.17 lakh will be spent on equipping the two rooms with latest gadgets. The hospital has three private rooms. Another Rs 2 lakh has been earmarked for landscaping the front lawns of the hospital. Bhalla said private security guards were also being hired for the hospital. An LCD was stolen from the hospital premises after the security guards were withdrawn by PESCO. The hospital need at least six guards (two on each shift) for round-the-clock duty. As the payment to the guards is made from the user charges of the hospital, the number of guards will depend on the wages to be paid to each one of them.
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Upset with VC, PUTA secy resigns
Chandigarh, March 13 A meeting of the executive committee of PUTA was held today to discuss the agenda to be taken up with the Vice-Chancellor regarding the issues, such as, need-based appointments, arbitrary formation of committees, and statutory mechanism to handle day-to-day problems faced by the university. Before the meeting proceeded, PUTA secretary Dr Mohammed Khalid brought to the notice of the members that the Vice-Chancellor has called all the members of the PUTA executive in his committee room for the meeting, in violation of the all the norms of PUTA constitution. PUTA secretary apprised the members that the VC went ahead with the meeting despite his reservations on the way the meeting was being called, by-passing his prerogative of calling the meeting. In protest against the move by the office of the VC, the secretary tendered his resignation. Khalid in his resignation mentioned that the VC’s step is against the autonomy of PUTA as its executive meeting can only be convened by the secretary who has been mandated by the university teachers. By directly convening the PUTA executive, the VC has deliberately bye-passed the elected position of the secretary. However, the PUTA executive, while expressing concern on the move of the vice-chancellor to call the meeting, succeeded in persuading the secretary to withdraw his resignation.
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Excellence is a lifelong pursuit, says expert
Chandigarh, March 13 Dr Mohan illustrated that excellence is intangible and does not permit any shortcut to achieve it. On the contrary, he advocated that the pursuit of excellence is an ongoing exercise and demands long-term commitment. He emphasised the role played by parents, teachers and educational institutions in bringing out the hidden excellence trapped inside all of us. He said that the alphabet ‘C’, signifying consciousness of purpose, commitment to purpose, and clarity of purpose, along with compassion towards fellow human beings, should be always remembered. He said that humility, gratitude and sharing were very important virtues and were not to be treated only as lessons in morality but as a way of life.
— TNS
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20 students selected in placement drive
Dera Bassi, March 13 More than 100 students from IT & CSE stream had participated in the drive. The company conducted a written test which was followed by one to one interviews rounds. 20 students were finally selected for free Industrial training and placements for their projects. Dr VP Batra, director of the group, said that the institutes under Punjab Group of Colleges, Lalru, were organising such drives from time to time and in the future, top priority would be to given
to such drives in the campus so that students could be placed in the reputed organisations. Chairman of the Group, Parmd Dhawan, congratuted
the selected students and wished them a bright future.
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‘Indians have helped in the growth of English language’
Chandigarh, March 13 The seminar was inaugurated by prof Anisur Rahman from Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi, who was also the keynote speaker. More than fifty delegates from various colleges and universities across the country are participating in the seminar. Dr Rahman highlighted the scope and history of Indian writings in English and stressed that the Indian writers had contributed to the growth and richness of the language. English was basically introduced for ‘civilising’ the natives of the colonies; however the country has imbibed and enriched it, he observed. More than fifteen research papers were presented by the delegates on a wide range of topics.
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142 students awarded certificates
Chandigarh, March 13 The event began with a documentary film showcasing the growth and achievements of the institute. The Chairperson of USOL, Prof Lalit Kumar Bansal, highlighted the achievements of the institute, specially mentioning the focus on the introduction of new market oriented programmes and the commencement of placement and guidance cell.
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