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CBI still silent on role of high-ups in teachers’ recruitment scam
In a scathing indictment on March 30, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, while transferring the case to the CBI in Delhi, categorically stated, "It is a case where several high-ups are involved and the impartiality of the investigation has seriously been compromised, when despite giving material available with the investigating agency, the loose ends have not been tied up and even the tighter ends seem to have loosened." More specifically, the education department, which was involved in the recruitment scam, and the home department, which oversaw the functioning of the police, was at that point of time, headed by Haryana-cadre IAS officer Ram Niwas, who was then UT Home-cum-Education Secretary. The high court judgement specifically pointed to then UT Administrator Gen SF Rodrigues and UT Adviser Pradip Mehra for having changed the recruitment criteria before and after the recruitment test, which incidentally, was never publicised for the benefit of the applicants. "An affidavit dated November 19, 2011, was filed by CBI inspector Ravinder Kush and it was stated in the affidavit that the criteria which werre changed on the recommendations made by the UT Administrator and the change was never intimated to candidates. Even the criteria were again changed on the approval of Mehra. The CBI concluded that the selection criteria has been changed arbitrarily and the changes were not communicated to the applicants," the judgement read. It was based on this affidavit by the CBI that the high court ordered that the investigation of the case be handed over to the Delhi branch of the CBI. However, even the Delhi branch of the CBI had so far not questioned any of the former senior officers, other than Samwartak Singh. The high court judgement had also pointed that officials with the Administration stood to benefit from scuttling the investigation. While lambasting the CBI, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Mahesh Grover, had stated, "It is necessary to restore the confidence of the people in the justice dispensation system, which has been blatantly put to sword by officials with the UT Administration
who stood to benefit from scuttling the investigation and ironically, with the willing hand of the CBI, which apparently had not taken its image of being a premier impartial agency seriously." "Though the CBI report, recommending the registration of a case against Samwartak SIngh and other public servants, was initially accepted by SP CBI Amitabh Dhillon (a Haryana-cadre IPS officer then posted with the CBI in Chandigarh and now with the CBI's Delhi office), the CBI took a complete somersault and diluted its stand by saying the charges were arbitrary, but not criminal, so as to be sufficient to fix criminal conspiracy," the court had stated. "Sufficient amount of suspicion has been aroused in the mind of the court, indicating a complete cover-up by the CBI, Chandigarh, and a shoddy investigation by the UT police," the court had stated. The UT police had first registered the case on September 5, 2009, against Hardev and Jolly, but had given a clean chit to Samwartak Singh, who was the DPI (Schools) at that point of time. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had transferred the investigation to the Delhi team of the CBI and ordered it to conduct a fresh probe. The high court had acted on a PIL, claiming that the police let off high-ups in the case. In 2009, the Chandigarh education department had initiated the process of recruitment of 536 teachers for different government schools. It was alleged that Jolly and Hardev had approached one of the candidates with an assured job in lieu of Rs 4.5 lakh. The UT police had registered a case at the Industrial Area police station and arrested them. Further inquiries had revealed that Jolly was constantly in touch with Samwartak Singh and hundreds of calls had been exchanged between them. However, investigating the matter, the Chandigarh police had let off Samwartak Singh and filed a charge sheet in court only against Jolly and Hardev. "The court, therefore, cannot shut its eyes to this unabashed attempt to scuttle justice. The CBI chose not to go deeper into this matter by merely accepting the fact that the allegations of bribe had already been looked into by the UT police," the court had said.
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Teachers’ efficiency under scanner
With the right to education Act coming into force, clearing a teacher eligibility test is now mandatory for all recruited and aspiring primary and middle school teachers in the country. Those recruited can do so within five years while it is a prerequisite for aspiring teachers, according to the qualifications specified by the National Council of Teacher Education. Given to fact that not many aspirants have cleared the test, hiring over 800 new teachers for government schools in the city is going to be a Herculean task. "We may not have it in full spirit, but when we go ahead to ensure the teacher-student ratio mandated under the Act, we will be required to hire a minimum of 800 teachers. Unlike private schools, we cannot overlook the Act. But when the performance is so low, we wonder where will we get teachers from," a senior official with the education department has said. The test consists of two papers, one on testing teaching capabilities required for teaching up to class V and the other on capabilities for classes VI to VIII. While five per cent teachers have cleared one paper, only two per cent have been found eligible for teaching up to class V. "The performance has dipped since last year. The test states where our teachers are. They may have been around for years, but fact that they have failed to clear the test proves that they are yet to master their subjects. Such teachers cannot be entrusted the future of education. We think that it is the institutions giving degrees which need to rethink their training patterns," a senior CBSE official in Delhi has said. The Ministry of Human Resource Development has decided to give feedback to teacher-education institutions after the test so that those can improve. In the application, the CBSE has introduced a column this year, wherein aspirants will have to mention their college, institutions or university from which the degree or diploma in education has been obtained. The board will analyse the results of the institutions and forward those to the ministry. The feedback will then be shared with the institutions to improve their teaching programme.
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Constable assaulted by 2 drunk men
Chandigarh, May 30 The incident occurred at 2 am, when the constable was informed of a ruckus. As constable Birender went to the spot, he noticed two men creating a nuisance and abusing loudly. Two women were accompanying them. The constable asked them the reason when they started to abuse and assault him. One of them punched the bonnet of the vehicle and hit it hard, causing a dent. The police arrested the two men, identified as Raman Khurana and Vikrant Passi of Sector 33. In the mid-thirties, they were related. They were employed in construction with a real estate firm. The police got their medical examination conducted at the GMSH in Sector 16 and they were found to be under the heavy influence of liquor. The police registered a case under Sections 332, 353 and 186 of the IPC at the Sector-17 police station. They were produced in court, which sent them to judicial custody.
Seventh incident
This was the seventh incident of assault on policemen in the last two months May 13: PCR constable Sandeep Kumar, deployed at Mani Majra, assaulted by a man in an inebriated state May 13: Traffic policeman allegedly assaulted at a 'naka' set up to check the use of black film on vehicles at the Sector-43 roundabout May 9: Assistant sub-inspector Avtar Singh, posted with the PCR, hit by a jeep at a 'naka' on the transport light point May 7: Constable with traffic police hit by an SUV at a 'naka' set up to check the use of black film on vehicles at the road separating Sectors 25 and 38 April 6: Four youths from Ferozpur attack and tear the uniform of constable Ashok Kumar at the night food street in Sector 11 following an argument April 22: Four youths attack and try to run their white BMW over constable Bhim Singh, attached to the security of UT SSP Naunihal Singh, on the road separating Sectors 10 and 16
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Chandigarh scan
Nurses’ agitation continues
Nurses at GMCH 32 continued their hunger strike on third day demanding filling up of vacant posts to meet the large deficit in staff. They also demanded implementation of recommendations of the pay commission regarding grade pay of staff nurses from 2006 and payment of arrears accordingly; appointment of sanitary inspectors to supervise the work of house keeping; and starting of nursing college in the GMCH 32. Sanitation campaign
An awareness campaign-cum-cleanliness drive was organised in Sector 10 on Wednesday by the Sanitation Wing of Municipal Corporation. The campaign was in addition to the regular sanitation with special emphasis on the cleanliness of back lanes in the sector.
Elected
The following have been elected office-bearers to the House Owner’s Welcome Association; president Sadhu Singh; senior vice-president PC Mittal; vice-president Col KS Cheema; general secretary TS Gill; joint secretary BK Gupta and finance secretary Sandeep Garg. The following have been elected office-bearers to the Chandigarh SC and ST Employees Welfare Association: president Sukhdev Singh; general secretary Jagat Ram; senior vice-president Gurmeet Singh; vice-president Ramesh Chander; and cashier Raj Pal Singh. The following have been office-bearers to the UT Public health Workers Union: president Amrik Singh; general secretary Jaspal Singh and teasurer Avtar Singh.
Relieved
Chandigarh Administration has relieved SS Khara, PCS, Joint Secretary Finance, to enable him to join his parent State of Punjab. The Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh, has also given the charges of Joint Secretary Finance, Joint Secretary (Urban Planning, Engineering and Technical Education), head of department Government College of Art and the work relating to Home-II Branch to TPS Phoolka, PCS, Director Transport.
Return from goodwill visit
A 14-member Yuvsatta’s friendship delegation comprising of students, teachers, social activists and media persons returned from a goodwill visit of Nepal here
on Wednesday. HVP (Hindu Vidyapeeth), Nepal and JCYCN (Jagriti Child and Youth Concern Nepal) two organisations promoting value education, human rights and youth activism for betterment of society organised this visit of Yuvsatta
NGO members.
Awarded
Art historian, Padma Bhushan Dr B N Goswami, was conferred the Tagore Akademi Ratna from Sangeet Natak Akademi, a press release said here on Wednesday. The award that carries a citation, a shawl and a purse of
Rs 3 lakh was conferred on him by two SNA (Sangeet Natak Akademi) executive members-Kamal Tewari and Bhai Baldeep Singh at his residence on Monday. Apart from his illustrious career as an art historian,
D Goswami has been working to bring visual and performing arts closer, and help them enrich and grow under each other’s influence. His efforts were visible in this year’s Chandigarh Heritage Festival that brought the works of three Akademies-Sahitya, Lalit and
Sangeet Natak together to put up a series of outstanding performances under his advice.
Young entrepreneurs
Three young entrepreneurs from the city, Anupama Arya, Poonam Khurana and Jai Prakash Hasrajani, will be part of the 25-member delegation from the country to participate in the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Summit, scheduled
to be held in Mexico from June 2 to 5, 2012. All three entrepreneurs are members of the Young Indians, a youth body of the Confederation of Indian Industry. Talking to mediapersons here on Wednesday,
they said that the opportunity would enable them to learn from the other 400 delegates participating in the summit from around the world, and share inputs to be presented to the G20 leaders at the end of
the Summit.
Mohali scan Blood donation A blood donation camp was organised at Phase VIII Industrial Area, on Wednesday by Eureka Electrosoft Solutions Private (EESPL), a company run by young engineers that provides services in the area of Electronics. A Medical team from Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH-32), Sec 32 collected the blood. Panchkula scan
‘Mockmun’
The ‘Mockmun’ that was held at Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 15, concluded on Wednesday, a press release said. The agenda of the general assembly was International Cooperation on Countering Terrorism and the Human Rights Council discussed over the violations of human rights while countering terrorism. As many as 72 delegates participated representing 18 countries.
Placement drive
RV Technologies visited SRM Global Group of Professional Institutions for campus placements for B Tech-CSE, IT final year engineering students. Total 148 students participated in the campus recruitment drive. As many as 11 students got selected from the Institution.
Awareness campaign
An awareness campaign against the ill effects of tobacco was organised by emax group of institutions here on Wednesday. Teams led by various faculty members carrying “Say No to Tobacco Box” were spread awareness among the youth and migrants on various places of city. —
Tribune Reporters
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Water woes dog city, mc makes tall claims
Chandigarh, May 30 When contacted, MC Commissioner VP Singh said the city received 88 MGD of water supply from the Kajauli water works and tube-wells today, which is sufficient for the city. He said the residents were facing water shortage due to misuse of water in the city, as the supply does not decline in the summer season. He said instructions had been issued to the public health department to take stringent action against violators from tomorrow onwards. Whereas the ground reality in the city is different from what the authorities are claiming. During a visit to Sector 21, residents said they had called a water tanker from the public health department in the morning, as there was no water supply on the ground floor of the area. A delegation of the residents today met the MC Commissioner to acquaint him with the problems of their sector. President of the Residents’ Welfare Association of Sector 7, NK Jhingan, said the situation of water supply in 1,500 government houses had deteriorated is the past one week. He said the water tank storage, which was a standby arrangement of the campus, had just three feet of water today, which clearly proves the picture of water shortage in the city. He said for the past fortnight, a number of complaints had been lodged with the corporation, but all in vain and above all there is no official in the department concerned who could inform the residents as to why this problem arose this year. Sailing in the same boat are the residents of Sector 32 where the problem of low pressure is being faced by the public for the past one week. A majority of the residents prefer to call water tankers to meet their day-to-day needs or wake up early in the morning to store water in their buckets. Mani, a resident, said from the past two weeks, she had been busy in lifting the buckets of water to the second floor of her house, as there was no water pressure on their floor. Complaint centre The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has set up a water supply complaint centre at the maintenance booth, Sector 15, for the convenience of residents of the city. The complaints regarding the supply of water could be lodged on telephone number 0172-2540200 located at the complaint centre between 6 am to 9 pm daily.
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‘It’s mismanagement by MC’
In the last 30 years, this is for the first time that residents of Sector 21 are facing problem of low water pressure on the ground floor of the residential area. He said after 8 am, it had become an onerous task to get the water for washroom or bathing these days, as the supply discontinued after 8 during morning and evening hours. He objected why the authorities do not stop the usage of water at the construction sites of the sector where the contractors install motors to increase the water pressure — Jaswant Singh, a resident of Sector 21 For the last two days, the water supply in the sector has improved but there is no improvement in the condition of water, which is still muddy and it could not be used for any domestic work. He said a majority of the residents were purchasing filter water for their children or filter it twice to make it suitable for drinking or for other domestic works — Mohammad Quasin, a resident of Sector 45 Last week I arranged a private water tanker for the residents of my area at a cost of Rs 500, as there was no water supply. But it is not possible for me to spend every week to meet the water needs of the residents, as this is the responsibility of the authorities to provide us alternative source if there is any disruption in the water supply. He said if no concrete measures were taken by the authorities than the day is not far when the residents have to purchase Bisleri water bottles for meeting drinking and other needs at home — Kishore Kumar Sethi, a resident of Sector 32 There is total mismanagement by the authorities in managing water supply needs of the city. He said crores of rupees had been spent by the MC in installing pipelines but till date no step has been taken by the authorities to promote its utilisation in the residential areas. He said why the corporation constructed treatment plants in small organisations to meet their day-to-day water needs and avoid wastage of drinking water. Referring to the claim of 16 hours of water supply in the city, he said the situation has arisen when the authorities have failed to even provide routine water supply to the residents. — PC Sanghi, Foswac president
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Mohali reels under acute water scarcity
Mohali, May 30 Ravinder Singh Buttar, who resides on a second floor in Sector 69, lamented that scarcity of water in the area has become a biggest problem of the residents of upper floors. “For the past 10 months, I have not used fresh water as taps run dry on the second floor round the clock. We have to depend on water in the overhead tanks. But these days one can not use water from tanks during noon or after that, as it becomes hot due to heat,” said Ravinder Singh. Another resident, Mandeep Singh, said mostly tenants were staying on the upper floors. Most of the landlords use to fill overhead tanks once in a day with boosters or motor pumps. But in such a hot weather, one tank is not enough for three floors in a house. Moreover, the facility of boosters or motor pumps is not available at every house. In such cases, the situation of residents has worsened, said Mandeep Singh. The water supply in the area is being looked after by
GMADA. Giving reason behind the acute shortage of water in the area, Ashok
Virdi, executive engineer of GMADA, said about three tube-wells, which used to supply the water in the area, have gone dry. We have to drill new tube-wells here in the area to maintain the supply, he said. When asked when the work on drilling the tube-wells would start, Virdi said the case had been forwarded to the chief engineer. It would take at least two months to start the work, he said. On the other hand, Mohali town has been facing water shortage by 10 MGD as against the present demand of around 24 million gallons per day
(MGD), the availability of drinking water is only 14 MGD. The figures are for the area falling within the municipal council limits.
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Residing in colony a blessing in disguise
Chandigarh, May 30 While visiting a number of colonies in the city, it was found that in majority of them, tap nozzles were missing and water kept on flowing day and night. Residents are least bothered about the wastage of water, as the corporation had not installed any water meters in these colonies and the residents have not to pay anything for this colossal wastage. Whereas, in some of the colonies, if the taps were in order, dwellers seldom bothered to close them when not in use. Resultantly, there is wastage of million of gallons of the precious water. A few of the residents of the colony said every month, the authorities installed new taps in their colony but some unsocial elements stole them to make easy money. The residents also stated that whenever they tried to check their nefarious activities in the daytime, they became active during late night hours when they were helpless to act against them.
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Maximum cases reported from Phase XI
Our Correspondent
Mohali, May 30 The consumers were told a fine of Rs 500 would be imposed if they were again found violating ban orders and finally connections would be cut. Executive engineer Anil Kumar said violations were more in small-sized houses where water was given for free by the government. No bills were issued to residents living in houses measuring up to five marlas. He said there were 9,336 free domestic connections in the town. The maximum were in Phase XI where the number stood at 2,941 followed by 1,167 in Phase I. In Phase X, the number of free connections was 1,109, in Phase VII 918 and in Phase IX 909. Other areas had lesser number of free connections.
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Commuters get reason to cheer
Chandigarh, May 30 A senior official of the UT Administration said one additional route would link the Industrial Area in Chandigarh (from near CTU workshop) over the railway line (parallel to the Chandigarh-Kalka road) and further link up Panchkula between Sectors 17 and 18. On this route, the authorities are planning ROB over the railway line. The second new route from the Ambala-Chandigarh road (National Highway 21) will link the Panchkula Industrial Area, Phase II, with the Hallo Majra light point, Chandigarh. The ROB on the existing rail crossing on the Chandigarh-Ambala track is the only hurdle to the route becoming operational. Sources added that the Railways have already floated tenders for the ROB. As per a traffic survey conducted by RITES, the consultancy arm of the Railways, over 70,000 vehicles enter Chandigarh from Panchkula on a daily basis and the number is growing. UT Finance Secretary VK Singh said the UT Administration and Haryana government had agreed for both routes and talks were on with the Railways for their consent on the first route. These alternate routes will take substantial traffic load off the main entry to Chandigarh from Panchkula through the Housing Board Chowk. The growing congestion of the Hallo Majra roundabout will also be tackled.
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50 candidates prepare for Senate elections
Chandigarh, May 30 Although the nominations for the elections are to be filled in August, over 50 probable candidates have already started their preparation for the elections by getting new voters enrolled and meeting people to ensure their
win. Prabhjit Singh, a sitting Senate member from Graduate constituency, said that as compared to the last elections, this time all the candidates are going to face tough fight with larger number of candidates trying their luck. “In 2008 there were 38 candidates, while, the number has already crossed 50 this time and is still increasing. However, I feel that the work done by me for daily wagers and teachers would certainly help me score over non-performer senate members”, Singh said. Another sitting member from graduate constituency said that though the number of candidates this time has increased, however, comparatively more voters have also registered which should balance the situation. Out of total 47 seats on which senate elections are held 15 are from graduate constituency. The scene in the college teachers’ constituency that has 8 seats reserved is no different as more then 20 candidates have already started their election
campaign. Dinesh Talwar, a sitting senate member from college teachers’ constituency said that voters recognise the candidates who have worked hard for the betterment of teachers and would certainly get credit for that. “I feel the new faces will not be making much impact on the vote bank of sitting senators. My voters will vote me for the work I have done for teacher fraternity which has helped me building trust over them in all these years,” Talwar said. RPS Josh, another senator from the same constituency said that new candidates would certainly attract the voters, however, the credibility of the sitting members would matter and they would have upperhand as compared to new ones. The Senate elections are going to be held on September 23.
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Deputation can be extended beyond five years: UT
Chandigarh, May 30 According to rules, which clearly says “the initial period of deputation may be extended up to five years by the administrative department concerned and in a rare case of special nature if exigencies so require in public interest, such period may be extended beyond five years.” In the departments like education, police, health and others, ignoring all norms and overstaying their stipulated period of deputation, there are more than 300 employees of Punjab and
Haryana, who have overstayed the normal deputation period of five years. Around 100 employees are here on deputation from more than 25 years. The rules mention that those who have served for a minimum period of five years in their parent cadre can be taken on deputation. However, there are a number of employees who have come on deputation to Chandigarh without spending five years in their parent cadre. The rules also state that no employee can be taken on deputation when the employee’s probation has not been cleared by the parent state. However, there are also cases where the employees have been working on deputation without their probations being cleared by their parent states. Recently, the Central Vigilance Commission had also marked an inquiry to the chief vigilance officer,
Chandigarh, on the issue of “overstaying” of employees on deputation in various departments of the UT Administration.
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ACs, computers gutted
Chandigarh, May 30 A fire team headed by station fire officer ML Sharma reached the spot at 5.20 pm after getting a call from the owner of the shop. Fire department officials said the fire broke out in showroom number 112-113 in no time, as cabins, flooring and ceiling were made of wood. Fire officials had a tough time in reaching the spot due to the parking menace in Sector 34. The operation to douse flames was completed by the fire team in more than an hour in which two fire tenders and one water boozer was
deployed.
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55-year-old woman falls from fifth floor, dies
Zirakpur, May 30 The police reached the spot and has sent the body for post mortem. Though it seemed like an accident, we have begun investigations,” said the police. On the other hand, some of the residents alleged that the grills at the balconies of the flats were not safe. “The height of these grills is very low and the chances of such accidents are high,” said a resident of the locality.
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Chandigarh, May 30
Chandigarh, May 30
