Chandigarh, May 25
Government houses in the city meant for "migrant labour from Jammu and Kashmir” have either been sold off illegally or have been sub-let. Some of the houses are under illegal occupation.

To make matters worse, the Jammu and Kashmir Government feels "helpless" in initiating action against the culprits. The UT Administration, too, is yet to explain under which policy were the houses given to the J and K Government.

Miffed at UT inaction, Justice Rajesh Bindal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the UT Home Secretary to appear in person “to explain as to why the Administration is sleeping over the matter, where it has been found as a matter of fact from a report furnished by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir that persons are living unauthorisedly in houses belonging to the Chandigarh Administration”.

It has been asked to elaborate on the action being taken for the eviction of occupants and also on sub-letting and selling government properties.

The J and K Government had earlier informed the court that 60 houses in Sectors 29-B and 26 and Bapu Dham Colony were “in possession of certain persons, which were initially given to the J and K Government”.

Justice Bindal asserted: “From the contention of counsel for the J and K Government, it is apparent that the government is feeling helpless in taking appropriate action in accordance with law against persons who are in occupation of government accommodation meant to be used as a night shelter during the period of insurgency in J and K.

“The fact is that the persons are in occupation of the properties for the past more than 25 years, some of which have been sub-let and have been sold as well.”

The scam surfaced during the hearing of a bail application filed by Rajinder Kumar of Sector 29, accused of trespassing in a house owned by the UT Administration, but handed over to the J and K Government. He was booked in 2011 on a complaint by the Assistant Labour Commissioner, J and K.

It was alleged that the original occupant Baldev Singh had entered into an agreement with the petitioner and handed him the possession of the house.

Chandigarh, May 25
The day-old delight has turned into anxiety for over 5,000 tricity students who have excelled in the CBSE Class X examination, the results of which were declared late last evening. They will now have to scramble for the 500-odd Class XI seats in private schools of the city.

The education board declared the results only yesterday, but many “popular” schools have nearly completed the admission process for Class XI and only a handful of seats remain for the CGPA 10 scorers.

“We had a party at my place last night because I scored CGPA 9.6. The celebrations were meaningless as I went to some good schools for admission today, but was told that there were only two to three seats left in the medical stream and several CGPA 10 scorers had applied for them. I had not scored much in the pre-boards, so I did not take provisional admission but I am regretting it now,” said Gurpreet Kaur, a student of a Panchkula school.

“I was thrilled to get CGPA 10 and wanted to study commerce in a Sector 7 school, but was turned away from the reception itself as there was no seat,” said Raman Singh, student of a government school in Sector 35 .

Private schools in the city went ahead with provisional admission in March, filling 2,500 seats out of the 3,000 available. “This is the flip side of high merit as cutoffs soar. With over 400 students getting the perfect 10, it is going to be difficult for others who have also performed well. I had to turn away many candidates. Even schools are wondering how to break the tie if two students get the same CGPA,” said Madhu Bahal, principal of KB DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 7.

“A lot of parents tried getting in touch with me, but we can’t do anything. The CBSE allows us to give preference to our students in Class XI admissions and has given a nod for provisional admissions. We can’t turn out the children already enrolled with us. The board can best answer this question,” said HS Mamik, Vivek High School director and Independent School Association president.

These students may have to go to government and model schools, which will have a tough time handling the rush. “Since morning over 50 students with a score of CGPA 10 have approached me for admission to the science stream and I told them that the education department has not started the admission process yet. It's going to be tough to accommodate all these students as we have limitations of seat and infrastructure,” said Anujit Kaur, principal GMSSS, Sector 16.

Chandigarh, May 25
The UT electricity department has started cuts ranging between two to four hours, especially in southern sectors, villages and colonies. The reason behind more cuts in these areas is due to the large number of population and power consumers compared to northern sectors.

Sources in the UT Administration revealed that the UT could not withdraw more power from the northern grid to maintain the balance of supply in the northern region, hence the cuts.

The Administration adopts a particular method to impose the cuts. An official said if the authorities imposed a two-hour cut in the northern sectors like Sectors 7 and 8, they would be able to save less electricity as the number of consumers are "very less" in these sectors. But if the cut was imposed in Sectors 45, 46 or 47, the authorities would be able to save more electricity as there were more power connections.

Meanwhile, cuts were today again imposed in Sectors 41, 45 and 46, Manimajra, Chaman Colony, Ambedkar Colony and many other areas.

Chandigarh, May 25
Tightening the noose around defaulters, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) has recovered a whopping Rs 13.40 crore from allottees across the city.

In many cases, allottees of residential property had been sitting over the money for the last 20 years as the interest on penalty kept accumulating.

After conducting a survey of its properties, the CHB had prepared a list of 13,672 allottees who had defaulted on the payment of instalments, ground rent and rent of lease property.

Though most of the recoveries pertain to residential property, about Rs 13 crore against commercial property is still to be recovered.

Out of the total dues of Rs 41 crore, the total amount recovered so far is Rs 13.40 crore.

MM Sabharwal, Secretary of the board, said the officials concerned had been regularly contacting the defaulters to deposit their dues or face action.

“There have been encouraging results. The drive started in February this year and we are hopeful of bridging the gap between the outstanding and recovered amount,” he said.

The CHB had identified over 14,947 defaulters who have not deposited their rent, ground rent and instalments (penalty and interest) under 125 housing schemes of the board covering economically weaker sections (EWS), low income group (LIG), medium income group (MIG) and higher income group (HIG).

Compared to residential properties, the recovery from cooperative housing building societies was just Rs 1.84 lakh out of the total outstanding dues worth Rs 4.69 crore.

Against the commercial properties, not a single penny has been recovered against a defaulting amount of Rs 13.49 crore.

In the past, the defaulters were issued notices and repeated reminders, but to no avail.

This time, the officials started contacting the defaulters. There are 13,605 defaulters in different rehabilitation colonies alone.

The Secretary said after May 31, the CHB could also cancel the allotment if the allottee failed to deposit the pending amount.

Panchkula, May 25
On a call given by the BJP chief Nitin Gadkari and Janata Dal (United), the state BJP would launch a public campaign in Haryana on May 27 and 28 to make the national strike against the recent petrol hike on May 31 a success.

Stating this in a release to the media here today, former Ambala MP and state BJP spokesman Rattan Lal Kataria said that he would visit various towns in Yamunanagar, Ambala and Panchkula district on two days. He said the people were agitated over the huge increase in the prices of petrol and the Congress party was trying to shed crocodile tears by demanding the roll back of increased prices.

Demanding an immediate roll back of the increased prices, Kataria said that this the was the seventh increase since the formation of the regulatory commission on November 9, 2010. He said that the fuel was Rs 52.91 paise per litre then and was increased to Rs 55.57 on December 16, 2010. There was another increase of Rs 2.50 per litre on January 1, 2011 and yet another one (by Rs 5 per litre) on May 15.

He claimed the international price of petrol was 147 dollars per barrel which has now come down to 116.47 dollars per barrel. He also said that the increase in the petrol prices was unjustified and should be taken back immediately.

Lashing out at the Congress-led UPA government, Kataria said that the Congress party was so busy in celebrating three years of its rule at the centre on May 22 that it forgot about the problems being faced by the common man.

He alleged that the petroleum minister also moved on for his foreign trip after giving the green signal to oil companies for increasing petrol prices.

Chandigarh, May 25
A day after his protest resignation was accepted, inspector Amanjot Singh joined the departmental inquiry against him today.

He joined duty at the Police Lines in Sector 26 here.

He was served a two-month notice, in which he could reconsider his resignation.

He had alleged that he was targeted by the UT SSP and ASP (Central) Desraj Singh, who marked a departmental inquiry against him for alleged insubordination.

The resignation was accepted yesterday after a number of meetings of the UT IGP with other officials.

The resignation of the inspector, whose name was recently recommended for a gallantry award, has resulted in a strong reaction from all quarters.

Advocate Anupam Gupta said the resignation was a huge loss to the police and there was a sorry state of affairs in the police.

“It is unfortunate that a young and talented official has resigned due to factionalism and targeting. His work has always been outstanding,” he said.

The race for the post of the in charge of the crime branch begun, with many inspectors actively lobbying for the post.

Mohali, May 25
Even as the residents of Mohali face a shortage of water, a tubewell in Phase III-B 1 is lying non-functional over the past many months because the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has still not replaced the parts which were removed from the tubewell after it developed a fault.

It is learnt that officials of the Water Supply and Sanitation Wing have been requesting GMADA authorities to replace the required machinery at the earliest so that water could be provided to the area, but to no avail. At least three letters have been written to GMADA officials in this regard over the past two months.

Sources said that the third letter to the authorities concerned was written on May 22 in which it was stated that the tubewell had developed a fault soon after it was installed. The machinery was to be replaced or repaired by the company as it was within the warranty period.

The letter further said that the matter was even discussed with a junior engineer of GMADA who failed to give a satisfactory reply.

It is of utmost importance that the tubewell becomes functional as the demand for water has gone up during the summer months.

Chandigarh, May 25
The municipal corporation (MC) will shell out Rs 8 crore annually for the maintenance of parks, greenbelts and open spaces in the city.

During a meeting of the finance and contract committee (F&CC), it was decided to hand those over to resident welfare associations (RWAs) for maintenance and upkeep.

During the meeting, chaired by Mayor Raj Bala Malik, officials were told to draft a detailed report on modalities and financial implications of handing over parks and table it in the next meeting, scheduled for June 11.

Members said RWAs which wanted to maintain parks on their own would get a grant of Rs 1.50 per square metre a month through cheque and the authorities would sign memoranda of understanding with RWAs.

According to MC records, there were 1,600 neighbourhood parks in the city. The authorities would initially approach all RWAs and a few parks would be handed over as a pilot project.

MC Commissioner VP Singh told the F&CC that the project was being run successfully by GMADA.

Chandigarh, May 25
Following a recommendation by the traffic police, the Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA) has cancelled the driver's licences of nine habitual offenders repeatedly challaned in the last five years.

The driver's licences of these offenders have been cancelled for six months. Till date, the traffic police had recommended the cancellation of 325 habitual offenders' licences.

This time, the police recommended the suspension of licences of Satish of Maloya village, Sukhwinder Singh of Sector 38, Azeem of Sector 52, Ajay Kumar of Mani Majra, Deepak Kapoor of Sector 27, Ramesh Kumar of Sector 20, Vishal of Mani Majra, Deepak Arora of Mani Majra and Parminder Singh of Sector 27.

They had been repeatedly challaned for overspeeding, drunk driving, using mobile phone while driving, jumping red light, wrong-side driving, driving without helmet, driving without licence or insurance or number plate not accordingly to pattern.

Chandigarh, May 25
The municipal corporation (MC) will cancel all works allotted to contractors if they do not commence those within a fortnight.

This was decided during a meeting of the finance and contract committee (F&CC), chaired by Mayor Raj Bala Malik, here today.

Members asked the authorities to impose hefty penalties on contractors if they failed to start and complete the work on time, according to terms of agreements.

The members complained that there was a lengthy list of works allotted a year back, which were yet to be commenced.

In the last three meetings, a number of councillors had raised the issue of laying of paver blocks and recarpeting of roads, which were pending for more than a year.

It was decided during the meeting today the authorities table the status report of all projects approved by the F&CC after three months.

The members asked the authorities to table the action-taken report on decisions taken by the F&CC in the last five months during the next meeting, scheduled for June 11.

The F&CC sought a current status report after the physical inspection of shops at Badheri, Buterla and Burail villages.

PATIALA, MAY 25
With the Patiala Municipal Corporation authorities adopting a completely irresponsible approach, the illegal slaughtering of the animals by the unlicensed slaughterhouses continues unabated alongside the boundary wall of the Patiala Bus Stand.

Not only the area stinks because of the butchering of the birds, goat and sheep in unhygienic conditions but also this menace poses potential threat of health hazard. Though civic functionaries have made tall claims to check the mushrooming of the illegal slaughterhouses but till date nothing has been done.

What is startling is the fact that almost a year back, the then Patiala Deputy Commissioner Dipinder Singh had issued instructions to the Municipal Corporation and the health department to take concrete steps to end the menace of illegal slaughtering of the animals, but to no avail.

A visit to the bus stand was enough to expose the claims of the civic authorities. As many as 12 illegal slaughterhouses were operational from the kiosks, alongside the boundary wall of the bus stand.

Animals are butchered in unhygienic conditions, in gross violation of the rules, laid in The Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976. Foul smell keeps emanating from these illegal slaughterhouses. Despite repeated requests, civic authorities have not taken any action against these slaughterhouses, shopkeepers in the vicinity of the bus stand said.

Chandigarh, May 25
In a bid to preserve the furniture designed by Le Corbusier, the alumni association of Post Graduate Government College (PGGC), Sector-11, is going to come-up with a furniture gallery in the college exclusively to preserve Corbusier’s art. The old furniture of the college would be put on display in the gallery which would be inaugurated on Saturday.

JS Cheema, president of the college’s alumni association, said that the idea struck them when they saw old furniture of Corbusier’s era lying in the college. “Although the UT administration is also trying hard to preserve the furniture designed by Corbusier, we decided to preserve it at our own level and display it in the college,” Cheema said.

Cheema said that the move should act as a motivation to other institutes and they should also come-up with such innovative ideas to preserve Corbusier’s art.

In the last few years, various committees have also been formed by the administration to prepare a list of the inventories by identifying the Courbusier designed furniture lying in the education institutes of the city and various government offices with an aim to preserve it as heritage.

The alumni association is not going to restrict themselves to the college only, but have also planned to look for such furniture in the city and if possible preserve it in the college’s gallery. “Although the UT Administration is preparing the inventory of Corbusier’s furnitures, we would try if more furniture could be displayed in our college,” Cheema added. The gallery would be inaugurated on May 26 which is celebrated as the Founder’s Day.

Chandigarh, May 25
In what can be dubbed as a success of the CBSE's ambitious continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE), counsellors have not received a single telephone call pertaining to post-result woes or examination stress.

"Students are stress-free and elated at the good results. Not a single passout has called me up to discuss post-result confusion or blues. I have got a call from Delhi, enquiring about the declaration of class-XII results. We expect a few calls on stream selection," said CBSE master trainer and counsellor Madhu Bahal.

"Last year, parents went into a frenzy and called us up. They finally got a hang of it now and were enjoying the grade system," said another counsellor.

The CBSE started its post-examination counselling today. The 15-day helpline was an outreach programme to help students and parents overcome post-result stress.

Avtansh Bahl

Chandigarh, May 25
Fondly known as Saupin’s asset, Avtansh Bahl is a talented musician and an avid reader. He has done his school proud by defeating all odds and scoring 10 CGPA.

He exhibits clarity, which is difficult. He wishes to be a chartered accountant and has worked out the way ahead.

He also wishes to be a musician. He shows control over the keys while playing the piano. He has won several awards for proficiency in general knowledge.

“Nothing is more important than reading as much as possible. There is no end to gaining knowledge,” he says smilingly.

His spirit is shared by Hitkarsh Chanana of St John’s School, who has secured 9.4 CGPA. Things are no different for Manoj and Ankita of a school at Mani Majra. In addition to physical challenges, they are battling poor financial condition.

Chandigarh, May 25
Government schools have put up a poor show, with only 44 of the 10,675 students getting 10 CGPA.

The results of 78 schools may look inspiring in terms of qualifying percentage. Barring two schools, others have secured a pass or qualifying percentage of above 95.

If quality is assessed, those have fared badly. The model school at Sector 37 has only one passout with 10 CGPA.

“It is discouraging. We are reviewing our results to find how many are in the category of nine or eight CGPA. We feel that more than 90 per cent have qualified, which is a big achievement. Our students appeared in board-conducted examinations. Had it been at our schools, we would have done better,” said a senior official with the department.

Only the model school at Sector 16 had 17 passouts with 10 CGPA. It was followed by the one at Sector 35, which had seven.

Principals felt they could not be compared to private schools. One of them said, “You should appreciate that our students have qualified. We struggle with staff and classroom crunch. We have not inflated internal assessment to get better results.”