Chandigarh, May 29
The Chandigarh Administration has created a jigsaw puzzle of assigning top departments to the UT officers as is evident from the frequent reassigning of jobs to them. Amusingly, in order to justify its "whimsical" decisions, the administration is giving contradictory justifications.

Sample this: Six months ago, UT-cadre officer Satyagopal, chairman of the Chandigarh Housing Board, was given the additional charge of local self government, law and justice, employment and labour. While giving these charges, it was said "smooth functioning of administration" was the reason behind changes.

In its latest order, these have been taken back, saying " The CHB is an important wing of the UT Administration, which is executing a number of important projects. Satyagopal has onerous duties of supervision and monitoring of these projects." This time the UT Administration has maintained that these changes have been made for purely administrative reasons.

In December last, the Administration had started sidelining Haryana-cadre Home Secretary Anil Kumar by taking away seven major departments from him and had distributed them among the UT-cadre officers, including CHB chairman Satyagopal.

But last week, suddenly the UT Administration planned to revert to the old system by giving back these departments to UT Home Secretary Anil Kumar. On Monday, the UT Administration distributed four departments to Home Secretary Anil Kumar and to Punjab-cadre Finance Secretary VK Singh, leaving only CHB and food and supplies department wit Satyagopal.

But people are not ready to believe these reasons of the UT Administration. An official said earlier the UT Administration had attempted to sideline Punjab and Haryana-cadre officers and taken back major departments from them, but when the state government of Punjab and Haryana raised this issue, the UT Administration took a U-turn and decided to restore old system.

Sources said that six months ago when the major departments were taken back from Home Secretary Anil Kumar and were given to Satyagopal and others, the CHB was there at that time as well and executing all major projects. Therefore, the reason that recent reshuffling was done to strengthen the CHB working is only an "excuse" to hide the actual reason, he added.

On this issue, UT Advisor KK Sharma is not ready to give his comment. Despite number of calls and SMSes sent to Sharma, he did not reply once. 

Chandigarh, May 29
With the Delhi Government reducing the petrol price by Rs 1.26 a litre by slashing 20 per cent value added tax (VAT) on the amount increased, the city residents hope that the Chandigarh Administration would follow suit by reducing the increased VAT that comes to Rs 1.29 a litre.

“Instead of following Punjab, the UT officials should take a decision like Goa and Delhi governments and roll back the 20 per cent VAT being charged on the increased component in petrol price after the recent hike of Rs 7.50,” said Ravinder Sharma, a resident of Sector 23.

Compared to the Capital where the petrol prices before today’s decision to slash VAT was Rs 73.18, the petrol price in Chandigarh is already on the higher side at Rs 74.17.

The price of petrol minus VAT was Rs 61.80. But in a double whammy for the city residents, they are being forced to pay 2 per cent central sales tax (CST), as the product is transported from Haryana in the absence of an oil depot here. The CST on petrol comes to Rs 1.20 and on diesel to around 70 paise. The oil depot of the OIC and BPL in Sector 25 was closed in 2009, resulting in levying of the CST.

On the pattern of Punjab, 20 per cent VAT was being levied on petrol that comes to around Rs 12.37. Before the recent hike of Rs 7.50 in petrol prices, ther VAT was calculated at Rs 11.08. UT Finance Secretary, VK Singh, said the UT follows the Punjab pattern. “There was no proposal so far. But we would examine the issue,” he said.

Ajay Jagga, president of the Chandigarh Unit of the Janata Party, said if Goa could reduce the VAT on petrol to 0.1 per cent reducing the petrol prices by Rs 11, the rate of VAT could be reduced to 5 per cent on petrol in Chandigarh, bringing down the petrol price by around Rs 9. “This will also raise the sales as the tourists and transit visitors will prefer to buy fuel from Chandigarh. There is no dearth of budget for Chandigarh, as it is hardly spent on time and is virtually consumed at the end of the financial year, that, too, with the instructions of the Chandigarh Administration,” he said.

“If the UT decides to slash the VAT on the increased amount, the petrol prices could come down by Rs 1.30. And if the oil depot in Chandigarh were revived, the prices of petrol could further come down by Rs 2,” said Amanpreet Singh, general secretary of the Chandigarh Petroleum Dealers Association.

He said many representations to the UT Administrator and UT officials on the issue of disparity in diesel prices had fallen on deaf ears. From the 41 filling stations, around 12,700 kilo litres (KL) of petrol and 4,000 KL of diesel is sold.

The Petroleum Dealers Association has been urging the administration to revise the tax structure as they were losing Rs 15 crore annually on account of most customers buying diesel from Punjab, where it is cheaper.

Chandigarh, May 29
In a major relief to over 800 constables waiting for the past over 25 years to get promoted to head constables, the UT Administration today approved the promotions and allowed the UT police to follow the Punjab pattern.

A total of 75 per cent of the vacancies for head constables will now be filled on the seniority basis of the constables, while 25 per cent seats will be reserved for those constables who clear the B1 test.

The decision is likely remove grievances of the constables who were waiting since 1988 to become head constables in the force. The promotions were stuck all these years owing to legal hurdles. Many constables had gone into litigation against the government's decision that 100 per cent of the promotions will be based on the B1 test alone and the seniority will not be taken into account. The constables were fighting to get promoted on the basis of seniority. Many of these constables had moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

UT Inspector General of Police PK Srivastava said it had been with great effort that the final decision had been taken and the promotions should clear the backlog of the UT police. The UT police had requested the administration to formulate a scheme to reach a decision on the pending promotions, which had caused much frustration and resentment amongst the lower-rank policemen all these years.

Police sources said the orders had been issued by the UT administration to fill around 650 vacancies of head constables of the police. While there are over 800 constables in waiting, 75 per cent of the backlog would be cleared following the decision today.

The UT police today held a General Sampark Sabha of 450 constables, where the UT IGP and other senior officers informed them about the decision and the proceedings were explained to them.

The decision brought a cheer to the constables. "I had lost all hope of becoming a head constable as 25 years is a long time. I am happy that I will at last be promoted in the last few years left in my career," said a constable.

Chandigarh, May 29
A police team was despatched to Shimla to arrest the suspect who is involved in the accident in which Jaspal Bhatti’s brother-in-law was killed last week.

Sub-Inspector Rajiv Kumar, in charge, Sector 43 police post, said the family was unable to bear the expenses of private hospital so they took him to a hospital in Shimla where he has been admitted. He sustained multiple fractures in the accident. He also developed a clot in the brain.— TNS

Mohali, May 29
In a clear case of carelessness, the main sewerage and storm water drainage line of the town have got damaged, resulting in the blockage of the line and caving in of soil due to leakage of sewer water at least at six points here.

Sources claimed that GMADA officials were responsible for the damage, as they ignored all information provided by officials of the local water supply and sanitation division regarding the location of the sewerage line before starting the work of laying an underground 66-kv power cable.

"Now it would cost nearly Rs 6 lakh to us on the repair job. The leakage of sewer water following the damage resulted in at least six deep pits at various points," said Jagdish Singh Dhami, executive engineer, Water Supply and Sanitation Department.

Meanwhile, Jatinder Mohan, executive engineer (electrical) GMADA said they (GMADA) were held responsible falsely, as the cable had touched the line only at one point. "I admit that at one point the damage was done while laying the cable but what about the other five points, where the cable has been laid several feet far from the line," said Jatinder Mohan.

At the traffic light point of Sector 69, 70, Phase 7 and 8 (where the repair work was on to clear the blockage of sewer line), two 6-inch pipes, having power cables, were clearly seen having been put into the main sewer line, which is said to be a sheer violation of rules and regulations.

"Putting power cables in sewerage water line itself shows the carelessness on part of GMADA officials. Leave aside any coordination between the departments, they (GMADA) did not even bother to take no-objection certificates from the departments concerned before starting the job," said another official of the water supply department.

"We have sent several communiqués to GMADA, cautioning them about the location of our main line and possible damage before hand but to no avail," claimed Dhami. Of late, the overhead high-tension wires are being replaced with underground cables by GMADA. 

Chandigarh, May 29
The team of the Chandigarh Football Academy (CFA), representing the nation, has touched new heights by barging into the semi-final of the ongoing Manchester United Premier Cup - 2012 South East Asia Finals, being held in Indonesia.

Becoming the first national team ever to reach the semi-final of this edition of the international tournament, the team has marked its presence in top four after playing two draws and winning two matches.

No matter what the situation is, soccer players of the CFA seem to know how to react and dribble across every hurdle that comes in their way.The local team, under the guidance of former international and captain of Indian Football team, Harjinder Singh, is the first team of the nation to reach the semi-final of the Manchester United Premier Football Cup.

During their matches in the league stage, the local team registered two wins and played two draw matches against top teams of Asia. In their first match, the CFA team defeated Thailand 1-0 in a closely contested match. In another 25-10-25 minutes clash, the team managed to play a draw against strong contenders Malaysia 1-1.

With one win and a draw, the team faced host team of Indonesia in their next encounter and successfully managed to beat the team by a margin of 2-0, while in their last league encounter, the local lads played a goal-less draw against Singapore to top the points' table.

The team will face the top team of the second group in their semi-final encounter to be held tomorrow.

Notably, three players were dropped from the squad. Sanjeev S of Bangaluru failed to get access to his passport as his residential address was changed, while Sumit Rathi and Vikram Singh are dropped due to chickenpox.

Chandigarh, May 29
Taking no lessons from incidents caused by illegal digging carried out on its land in the past, the MC authorities have not formulated a policy on the same. In a classic case of ignorance, the department concerned is clueless about the fact that the owner of a renowned dhabha in Sector 28 has been carrying out digging on MC land adjoining his shop to construct a water tank.

During a visit to Sector 28, it was found that the owner of the shop has dismantled the paver blocks on the pathway adjoining his shop to construct a water tank for his restaurant. The labourers said they had been working at the site since yesterday. The owner of the shop, Inderjeet Singh, said he was renovating the water tank of his shop and no new construction was going on.

Municipal Corporation Additional Commissioner Lalit Siwach said a team of officials visited the site in the evening and asked the owner of the shop to stop the work. He said as no permission had been granted to the shopkeeper for the construction of the water tank, legal action will be taken against him.

The officials said permission could not be given for any such digging as there are no provisions in the said norms.

Panchkula, May 29
The demand for removing scrap dealers from Khokhra village, who were polluting the area by burning plastic wires, had once again come up during the public grievances committee meeting held at the mini-secretariat here today.

Residents alleged that even though the Deputy Commissioner on April 25 had directed officials concerned to deal with the situation, nothing has been done so far.

Presiding over the meeting, local MLA DK Bansal directed the Sub-Divisional Magistrate Kalka, Pollution Control Board, to take steps for eviction of the scrap dealers from the area, who have grabbed the government land in and around Khokhra village. He also urged the officials to ensure that the scrap dealers do not spread pollution in the area and for this they could take help of the police department.

Meanwhile, former councillor Jalmegha Dahiya alleged that fruit vendors were parking their rehris on the dividing road of Sectors 9 and 16, thus obstructing the smooth flow of traffic, besides endangering lives of two-wheelers, who get hurt due to the haphazard parking of cars on the road during evening.

Deputy Commissioner Ashima Brar directed the SDM (Civil) to submit a detailed report after inspecting the area. Estate officer HUDA informed that challans were being issued to the rehri owners. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Parul Kush (Jail), also directed the officials concerned not to allow the parking of rehris on the main roads.

Bansal also directed the officials concerned to fill tanks on daily basis in the Morni block, which has acute shortage of water. About 15 different complaints from various parts of the districts had come up during the meeting and nine cases were solved on the spot.

Chandigarh, May 29
The UT Estate Office today carried out a demolition drive at the flat of an MLA in Sector 4 here.

Chandigarh, May 29
The parking contractors will not entertain the free parking passes issued by the Municipal Corporation from May 31 as the authorities are soon going to issue instructions in this regard to them.

A senior official has said that it had been decided that rather than issuing orders for cancellation of free passes after getting approval for the minutes of the yesterday’s meeting at the next general House scheduled for June 19, the Mayor will approve the minutes tomorrow and the cancellation orders will be issued to the contractors day after that. — TNS

Panchkula, May 29
Irked over the notices served by the district town planning department, the residents of Manav Colony near Saketri, organised a dharna at Mini Secretariat this morning.

The people raised slogans against the town planning department at Secretariat building and stopped their protest only after the local MLA DK Bansal assured them that they would not be harassed by the DTP officials.

Notably, the DTP had served notices to several residents who had constructed the houses in the area despite stay by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. DTP Hitesh Sharma said the court had granted status quo at the site and no further construction could be carried out in the prime land of MDC Sector 2.

The residents alleged that DTP officials were harassing them by putting up notices at their doors at late night hours and alleged that DTP officials also misbehaved with them. They claimed that they possess proper documents including the registries in their favour but still the department was harassing them.

They also alleged that electricity and water connections have been disconnected.

MLA Bansal told the protestors that he had already raised the issue of disconnecting power and water connection in the meeting of the Haryana Public Undertaking Committee of the State Assembly. He said that he had requested the senior officials of the state government to restore the power and water connection till the final decision was not taken over this issue.

Panchkula, May 29
Hundreds of investors who have put in their life’s savings to own a dream house to be constructed by the DLF in the Pinjore-Kalka Urban Complex project, which has been stayed by the Apex Court, have now formed an association to safeguard their interests.

More than 200 allottees from various parts of the country, after contacting each other through Facebook, have formed an association “DLF Valley Panchkula Allottee Association” to take stock of the situation arising out of the Apex Court order.

A spokesperson of the association, Dr RS Negi, said after the stay, the realtors had issued letters to the allottees that they would not be responsible for the delay in the completion of the project. He said there were more than 1,200 investors in Phase I and II of the project and the allottees have invested about 90 per cent of the cost of the flat or villas, which were to be handed over to them in March, 2013. He said as per the agreement if the project was delayed, the realtors would have to give them rent of the flat.

Notably, the stay on the construction by the Supreme Court (SC) in the Pinjore-Kalka Urban Complex project had spread panic among HUDA and other realty giants in the area. While HUDA is yet to launch its residential and commercial projects in the urban complex, big realtors, including DLF and Ireo, have already come up with integrated townships spread over about 200 acres each.

The newly formed association include president Satish Malhotra, vice-president Phool Kamal Kalra, general secretary Surinder Kumar Kalra and treasurer, Dr Deepak Gupta. The core committee members of the association include Lalit Gupta, Vineet Kanwar, Ramesh Goyal, Arvind Arora, JS Kalra, Pankaj Sood, Subhash Monga, Sangeeta Sharma, SC Kalra and Dr Deepak Gupta.

Mohali, May 29
St Soldier Public School, Phase VII, here have a double delight, as their two students, Amaninder Singh Mavi and Nancy Kanwar, finished toppers in the medical and humanities streams, respectively, in the CBSE class XII board examinations in Mohali district, which were declared yesterday.

Mavi scored 95.4 per cent marks, while Nancy secured 92.4 per cent marks in their respective streams.

In the non-medical stream, Jaspal Singh made Doon International School, Sector 69, proud by securing top position in the district with 92.4 per cent marks, whereas Komal Preet of Lawrence Public Senior Secondary School in the commerce stream with scoring equal percentage (92.4 per cent).

Mavi, who has already got 54th rank in PMET, expressed his satisfaction over his achievement. “Though I wanted to remain the overall topper in the tricity, I am happy with my performance,” said Mavi, who said he had achieved his aim of becoming a doctor with his impressive rank in the PMET. Another student of the school, Manasi Mittal, has also obtained 199th rank in the PMET.

Nancy Kanwar, the topper of the district in humanities, said her aim in the life was to be IAS officer. “I am happy with my result, as I will now get smart phone as a gift from my parents. The success has boosted my confidence and I would now start extra hard work to achieve my ultimate aim,” said Nancy, a daughter of an IT professional.

In the medical stream, other students who got above 90 per cent included Khushdeep Kaurhas (94.8 per cent) and Manasi Mittal (93.4 per cent).

A student of Doon School, Jaspal Singh, claimed that he did not go for extra coaching. “I have already cleared AIEEE and BITS examinations. I wanted to be an IT professional,” said Jaspal, while giving credit of his success to his teachers and his hard work.

Komal Preet, a topper in the district from Lawrence school, now wanted to do her BCom from Sri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi. “My aim is to be a successful business woman. I am elated with my success, though nothing was planned from my side. I just did my hard work and got good result,” said Komal Preet.

Apinderjit Kaur also brought laurels for Lawrence school with her 94.8 per cent marks in the medical stream.

Meanwhile, as many as seven students of Gian Jyoti Public School, Phase II, scored above 90 per cent marks in the medical stream. The shining students of the school in the medical stream included Jatin (94.8 per cent), Tania Chadah (94 per cent), Sakshi Kalra (92.4 per cent), Manisha Jandoria (90.8 per cent), Priyadeep Kaur (90.4 per cent), Imranjot Singh Sekhon (90.2 per cent) and Sahil Gupta (90 per cent).

In the non-medical stream, Rupinder Kaur Gill secured 90.2 per cent.

A total of four students of DAV, Mohali, got above 90 per cent in science stream. These are Surabhi Puri (94.4 per cent), Subhijit Kaur (93.6 per cent), Deepika Sanghi (91.4 per cent) and Ravneet Kaur (90 per cent), while from Shivalik Public School, Phase VI, two students, Amitoj Kaur and Aditi, secured 93.4 per cent and 92.2 per cent marks, respectively, in the medical stream.

Chandigarh, May 29
Sector 25-based Jawahar Navodya Vidyalaya has achieved what none of the government schools could manage i.e. 100 per cent result. The alma mater to a majority of EWS students, the school has come with flying colours in the CBSE class XII board results this year also.

“A majority of our students are first generation learners from their families and the fact that they have achieved marks well above 80 per cent is worth appreciating,” said principal Pawan Sharma.

Navodya Vidyalaya is a co-educational fully residential school, it is an autonomous body under the Ministry of HRD and department of education and literacy, managed by the Navodya Vidyalaya Samiti. The school has the highest number of EWS students, who not only hail from the city or region but distant corners of the country.

Chandigarh, May 29
The recent decision of the Postgraduate Government College for Girls, Sector 42, to use Rs 200, which is being deducted every month from teachers under the name staff fund for staff farewell and welcome parties, have left the teachers fuming.

Interestingly, the college has decided to deduct the amount from the salary of the teachers to ensure that every teacher contributes to the fund. The college has a tradition of collecting staff fund and it was Rs 100 earlier and was collected from the teachers individually, however, from now onwards, the college has doubled the amount and decided to deduct it from the salary of the teachers.

One of the teachers said the college’s advisory committee took the decision on their own, which was further imposed on the teachers. “The decision to double the charges was taken by the committee without consulting the teachers and later was announced during the staff meeting held on the last working day of the college,” said a teacher.

The teachers stated that the college is trying to impose the fund on them by deducting money from their salaries.

When contacted, college principal Mani Bedi said it was the committee’s decision and the teachers were later asked to come up with their suggestions or objections. “The decision to deduct money from the salary account of the teachers was taken after the teachers who were made in charge of collecting the money used to get humiliated as they had to repeatedly ask the teachers for money. In order to avoid this harassment, we decided to deduct it from their salary,” Bedi said.

Chandigarh, May 29
Panjab University has formed a six-member committee to probe into the complaint lodged by the Panjab University Students’ Union (PUSU), accusing PU of sharing confidential data related to applicants appearing for the common entrance test (CET) with the Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU).

PUSU leader Sumit Goklaney said the incident had raised a big question on the authenticity of the PU authorities, as revealing names and phone numbers of the applicants appearing in the examination is illegal. A strict action should be taken against people involved in such acts. This is a sensitive issue and a high-level independent inquiry should be conducted, he said.

Good luck SMSes were being circulated by SOPU to the CET candidates a day before the examination, following which PUSU demanded an inquiry in the incident.— TNS