Chandigarh, April 12
High velocity winds, rain, accompanied with hailstorm last night threw normal life out of gear in the tricity today. Uprooted trees and electricity poles led to power failure in almost all the sectors of the city, and many areas have not received power supply till this evening.

The situation was compounded by the fact that the electricity department was on a strike against the failure of the authorities to release the salary of the employees for the month of March. Till afternoon, no complaints were being heard on the complaint numbers.

A large number of houses in the city went without electricity, water and telephone connections. In some areas, the damage to electricity poles was extensive and tree branches were entangled in wires.

The UT police control room number received as many as 19 calls last night from harassed residents complaining of uprooted trees and cars stuck in water. Eleven of these calls were regarding electricity failure while two were from residents complaining of short circuits. Another two calls were of complaints regarding street light failure, broken poles and trees fallen leading to road blockage. A large numbers of calls were from the southern division of the city.

The control room of the fire station also received four calls in police lines, Sector 26. In the morning hours, traffic signals in almost all the traffic light points were also not working.

Umesh Kumar, resident of Sector 33 D, said that there was no electricity till Thursday evening and the helpline numbers of electricity department were of no use as nobody was attending the calls.

Rohit Sharma, owner of a software firm in Sector 20, said that as there was no electricity in their office, he was left with no other option but to close his office today. Rekha Sharma of Sector 30 B said that after last night’s power cut, it was only today afternoon that the power supply was resorted in their area.

rush for minority status
20 city schools submit applications in last two weeks to circumvent RTE Act
Sumedha Sharma
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 12
With the Supreme Court verdict exempting minority unaided schools from the purview of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, city schools have made a beeline for seeking minority status. While schools like Guru Harkishan Public School and St Joseph have recently attained the status, 20 other schools have applied for the same in the last two weeks, with five doing so today.

Interestingly, while three schools have claimed to be catering to Christian minorities, a majority have applied under the category of Sikh-specific institutions.

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia and comprising Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Swantanter Kumar said the RTE Act would apply uniformly to government and unaided private schools, except unaided private minority schools.

Though a majority of schools choose to be quiet on the issue, sources reveal that the schools had expected this turn of events and had taken a collective decision in the last meeting of the Independent School Association to apply for it. Many of them even gave out reserved seats under the RTE to students of a particular category to fulfill the requisite percentage of minority students.

Independent School Association president HS Mamik refused to comment, saying he was yet to review the decision, but another office-bearer of the association revealed: “All 70 members of the association have decided to apply for the status. We are not doing it to escape the RTE, but the day-to-day intervention and blackmail by the education department. Even if we become minority institutions, we will still abide by our social responsibilities.”

The move, however, has baffled both the education department and the five existing minority institutions. “The applications prove their intentions. They never wanted to implement the RTE and kept fighting just to gain time till they arrived at this decision. Now, even when the court wants them to admit students, they have stooped so low. A majority of these schools have been around for 20 years, but it’s only now that they have woken up to being minority institutions,” said a senior UT official.

Chandigarh, April 12
With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh scheduled to reach the town to inaugurate the silver jubilee celebrations of the zonal cultural centres at the Parade Ground tomorrow, major inconvenience is in store for residents.

In order to ensure foo-lproof security for dignitaries and for the general public at large, the Ambala- Panchkula commissionerate police has made detailed and elaborate security and traffic arrangements besides putting some restrictions on the movement of vehicles on roads from 4 pm onwards.

Restrictions will be imposed on the routes from Shakti Bhawan roundabout to Shankla roundabout, from Shahkti Bhawan roundabout to Tawa roundabout, from Tawa roundabout to Sector 4 and 5 red lights to Shankla roundabout and from the Zirakpur-Panchkula border to Majri Chowk.

The police has further directed the VVIP pass holders and media personnel to follow the route shown by blue colour. Similarly, general pass holders should follow the route shown by red colour.

Meanwhile, the Chandigarh police has also appealed to the commuters to avoid reaching the city from Delhi side or those leaving the city towards Zirakpur on the Chandigarh Ambala Highway after 6 pm as the Prime Minister will be arriving at the city airport at 6 pm. The traffic will be affected due to security arrangements for the VVIP visit.

UT SP (Security) RS Ghumman said that commuters were requested to avoid plying on the road from 6.20 pm to 6.50 pm and from 7.40 pm to 8.10 pm to avoid inconvenience. Those who are taking the Kingfisher flight to Mumbai after 7 pm should reach the Chandigarh Airport by 6 pm as there is all possibility of traffic jam after that.

“Commuters should avoid these routes and must reach airport by 6 pm if they have a flight to catch after 7 pm, otherwise they will not be able to reach on time. We will try our best to reduce traffic inconvenience but since it is a VVIP visit, traffic restrictions will be imposed,” he said.

The UT Traffic police has also tied up with the Punjab police for traffic diversions.

“The traffic will be stopped for a minimum period of 10 minutes when the cavalcade will pass through the route,” added Ghumman.

Chandigarh, April 12
In a peculiar situation, the parents of a 20-year-old patient at Government Multi-speciality Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, refuse to take him home, citing paucity of space at home.

The patient, Sunil, who is being treated for chickenpox for the last four months, is putting up in the general ward of the hospital. Since the patient was fit enough to be taken care of at home, doctors told his family to take him away, but due to the negative publicity in the Bulbul case, they are apprehensive to prevail upon the family.

His family has flatly refused to leave the hospital, the nursing staff on duty said. “Whenever his parents are asked to take him home, as long stay at hospital can lead to infections, they start cursing us and accusing us of harassment,” said a nurse on duty.

“He has got chickenpox now, but his family is still not ready to move him home even though it can spread to other patients in the ward,” the staff said.

Sunil, a resident of Sector 26, was admitted to the PGI in October for the treatment of head injury. After stabilising him, doctors put a tube in his windpipe and sent him for nursing care at the GMSH on December 2 due to paucity of space at the PGI. He goes to the PGI regularly for follow-up treatment.

“We know that Sunil is improving, but we cannot take him home. What if he requires emergency treatment in future,” said Ajaypal, Sunil’s father, adding that “I have no space for him at my two-room set with my another married son staying there.”

Doctors at the hospital, requesting anonymity, said Sunil’s condition had improved considerably. He now needed a homely atmosphere to recover faster. Moreover, prolonged stay at hospital could lead to infections, which his family refuses to understand, they said.

This is, however, not the only case when a patient has refused to get discharged from the hospital. “We face similar situations frequently,” the doctors said. Last month, an undertrial was brought to the hospital for treatment and he threatened the doctors and other staff members when he was being discharged.

Chandigarh, April 12
The UT police today filed a chargesheet in court against five staff members, including two doctors of Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, for negligence in the Bulbul case.

The case was registered in October 2010 after a Bihar resident, Bulbul, suffered the trauma of losing her newborn owing to negligent hospital staff.

The police had registered a case against 10 employees of the hospital, but the chargesheet was filed against five employees today in a case under Sections 304 A and 201 of the IPC.

Chandigarh, April 12
The OPD services will remain closed at Government Multispeciality Hospital, Sector 16, and civil dispensaries on April 13 and 14 being holidays on account of Baisakhi and Dr Ambedkar Jyanti respectively.

However at the GMCH, Sector 32, the OPD services will remain closed on Baisakhi only. The OPDs at PGI will remain open on both days.

The emergency services will be available as usual at all medical facilities.

Panchkula, April 12
The promising career of two youths was cut short as their car fell into a gorge near Berwala in the wee hours of today. The victims have been identified as Brahmpal, a resident of Jalandhar, and Ramandeep of Manimajra. The other four occupants of the car, identified as Inderjeet of Raipur Rani, Varun of Malad (Maharashtra), Amandeep Saini and Kuldeep, received minor injuries.

The incident came to light at about 10 am when some passersby spotted the car in the gorge and informed the police. The police immediately reached the spot and recovered the body of Brahmpal. Ramandeep’s body could not be recovered as his body was trapped under the debris and slush. The police had to take the services of divers to recover his body.

Inderjeet and Varun told the police that the incident occurred at about 4 am when their Indigo car fell into the gorge.

All the victims were aeronautical engineers and were posted at the Chandigarh Airport.

Investigation officer Brij Pal said the car skidded and fell into the gorge. All the occupants were friends and were returning from Morni. Inderjeet was driving the car. The youths were between 27 and 30 years of age.

Mohali, April 12
Residents of several parts of Mohali remained without power and water for the entire day today as a number of electricity poles have been uprooted in the area following the hailstorm last night.

At a residential locality in Phase IX near Punjab Cricket Association, where three electricity poles were uprooted, the power could only be restored in the evening today.

While senior officials of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) claimed that they have deputed the entire staff to repair the lines, the residents of the locality were miffed, as no official from the local electricity department had visited the area till today afternoon.

“Whenever we contacted them, we were told that they (the electricians) were busy at the PCA stadium for some repair. They are least bothered about our plight,” lamented Rajesh Kumar, a resident of the locality. Another resident of Phase 9, Mohali, said that the power supply to their locality had not been resumed till the night time, even as an IPL match was being played nearby under floodlights.

Similarly, Rukman Singh from Sector 68 said that there was no electricity and water in their colony for the past 16 hours. “The power had gone at around 9 pm last night. Despite several complaints nobody turned up to restore the supply,” said Rukman Singh.

“I could not send my children to school today as there was no water and power in our locality in the morning,” said Jyoti Bala, a resident of Phase VII, where the power remained suspended for at least 12 hours since last night.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, an official of the department admitted that several electricity lines, cables and transformers got damaged during the storm. “Though we have managed to restore the power supply in several areas, there are some parts which are still without power. We are trying our level best,” said the official.

Chandigarh, April 12
Two vehicles got stuck into a dug-up pit left un-repaired in Sector 38 here today. Though the occupants of both the cars escaped injuries, the vehicles were damaged in the incident.

Few months ago, a sewerage line was laid in the area and during the process a municipal corporation contractor had dug the road going towards the rear side of a gurdwara in Sector 38 B. After laying the pipe the pit was filled with sand.

Yesterday after the rain, the drivers of the vehicles were caught unawares as the vehicles got stuck in the sand -filled pit.

“I was going towards my home in Sector 8 at 3 am when one of the tyre of my Zen car got stuck in the ditch. The whole area was submerged in rainwater. Fortunately, the spot was near a turn and the speed of my car was slow otherwise I would have been hurt, said Ashish.

Dr Harmandeep Brar, a resident of Sector 38, got his Ford Endeavor stuck when he tried to cross the muddy road. I was returning after dropping the kids at school and found that one tyre of the SUV car was stuck into a corner of the road. Presuming that the road cut was safe to cross, I tried to cross the spot but my vehicle got stuck into the muddy ditch, said Brar.

Municipal corporation superintending engineer Mukesh Kumar said he would look into the matter and action would be taken against the guilty.

Chandigarh, April 12
Under current circumstances it will not be possible for the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation to convert any part of Sector 17 into a vehicle-free zone. This was the consensus among all members of the Contract and Finance committee of the MC, at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Mayor Rajbala Malik here today.

After the meeting, the Mayor directed the officials to consult the chief architect of the Chandigarh Administration to provide alternative site for the purpose. The committee members said that all open spaces in and around Sector 17 were in the possession of the Administration. The corporation had no land to make any alternative arrangements for parking of vehicles, in case Sector 17 was declared a vehicle-free zone, said the members.

However, a few members opined that employees and shopkeepers regularly visiting Sector 17 should be deprived of monthly passes issued to them. The suggestion was opposed by some of the members at the meeting. The meeting was held following the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Chandigarh administrator Shiv Raj Patil had asked the corporation officials to prepare a draft to implement the court’s directions.

At the meeting the members were apprehensive of litigation after the corporation initiated any such move as many of the parking sites in the said area had already been auctioned. Some the members even contended that there was enough space for pedestrians in Sector 17 at present. The parking conditions in Sector 17 are much better than many other markets, they said.

It was also pointed out that if the court felt that there was limited space for pedestrians, certain spaces could be earmarked in the parking zones for pedestrians.

Officials said vehicle-free zones could not be created till enough alternative spaces were not provided around Sector 17. The issue could be solved once underground multi- storeyed parking lots were built.

Chandigarh, April 12
Despite a decision taken by the committee formed by Panjab University for declaring the results of around 310 clerical posts before April 12, the university has failed to declare the results. The issue of declaring the results at the earliest was raised in Senate after which a committee was formed that recommended immediate declaration of results.

On the demands raised by the fellows during the Senate meeting held recently for declaring the results at the earliest, a committee under the chairmanship of GK Chatratha, a fellow, was formed which, in a meeting held on April 9, recommended that the results must be declared by April 12. The exam was held on February 26.

Panjab University Staff Association (PUSA) president Deepak Kaushik said that it was decided that the result should be declared within two to three days.

“We also met the Vice-Chancellor today and demanded that as per the recommendations of the committee no further delay in declaring results should be made,” Kaushik said.

PU Registrar AK Bhandari, when contacted, said that he has received a nod from the VC office and the results will be declared before the coming week. Meanwhile, the university has also decided to extend the date for inviting applications for the various teaching and non-teaching posts advertised recently. These include 130 posts of clear and data entry operators, and Director Public Relations. — TNS

Chandigarh, April 12
The Director, Health and Family Welfare (DHS), has issued directions to all doctors to put up information on their non-availability on any working days from civil dispensaries on a display board well in advance.

It will help in avoiding harassment to patients who visit the dispensaries while doctors are away for meetings or any other essential work. The TNS had highlighted the problem in the issue yesterday when doctors at all 20 Ayush dispensaries in the city were not available due to a training programme. Thousands of patients had to return as no such prior information was given to the public.

An order of DHS said the there should be a display board in each dispensary with the name of the doctor, timings and facilities available there. — TNS

Chandigarh, April 12
Dr Margaret Chowfin Mamgain, the founder presient of YWCA, Chandigarh, and Ashiana, the children home at Panchkula, passed away at the age of 95 at Udaipur, Rajasthan, today.

Chandigarh, April 12
The issues between the PEC authorities and Senate members seem to be deepening further as a day after witnessing opposition by the Senate members for calling a sudden House meeting without providing the agenda at the stipulated time, the PEC authorities today again called the meeting, terming it an ‘emergent meeting’, and tabled the same agenda in the meeting. A few members today also boycotted the meeting.

Sources said that the members were informed in the morning that an emergent meeting has been called to discuss the items of emergency nature and the items which are to be presented to the Board of Management in the meeting scheduled for April 17.

Elected Senate member RR Singh today wrote to the Registrar complaining that the agenda items that were not urgent till yesterday have suddenly become urgent. Singh in his communication mentioned that he wouldn’t attend the meeting, as it was a dishonour to the Senate members.

Siby John, another Senate member, mentioned that the agenda during the meeting was correction of results of four students which was pending with college since January. “The results of December exam were declared in January which was passed by the Senate; however, a few students pointed out mistakes in the results and sought correction. It is surprising that the issue that was pending from the last few months was converted into an urgent item just for holding the meeting,” he said.

The members have stated that they would continue their protest against the practise followed by the PEC by ignoring Clause 1.7 of the PEC Senate Manual which states that the members should be delivered the agenda atleast seven-days before the meeting.

When contacted, PEC Director Manoj Dutta he refused to comment over the issue.

Chandigarh, April 12
Members of the Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) staged a protest outside the Vice-Chancellors office today over demands that included installation of high-resolution CCTV cameras in campus and adding more space in the PU library for the increased rush of students during exams. Later, in the evening, a meeting of students with the PU authorities was held and most of their demands were met.

Students raised slogans against the authorities claiming that they have been unnecessarily delaying the demands raised by the students. PUSU leader Sumit Goklaney said that the CCTV cameras installed on the campus are of low resolution and fail to catch clear images following which they demanded that all the CCTV should be replaced with better quality cameras.

Students also demanded that the shops in all the girls hostels, which have no scheduled time for opening and closing, should be issued notices to open during the scheduled time or else their contract should be cancelled. During the meeting held with the university authorities, the demand for adding more space in the library was met and students were assured that the additional space in the library with a seating capacity of 200 students would be thrown open soon.

The demand of students to open the common room in boys hostels round the clock was put on hold as the university has decided to consult hostel wardens before approving the demand. Goklaney said that the university officials revealed that they are in process of procuring new CCTV cameras for the campus.

PUSU also demanded that a mechanism for student-teacher feedback should be introduced in the university at the earliest.