Chandigarh, September 5
Punjab, Haryana and the UT Administration failed to reach a consensus on the Kajauli waterworks dispute at a meeting held today. The Punjab and Haryana governments were at loggerheads during the meeting over the distribution of water between the two states.

The meeting was attended by the Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Haryana, the UT Adviser, besides other senior officials of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. Haryana once again demanded 40 per cent share in the 80 MGD of water from the Kajauli waterworks (Phases V, VI, VII and VIII).

Sources said Punjab told Haryana to get its share of water from phases V, VI, VII and VIII by laying separate pipelines. However, Haryana maintained that it would not allow Punjab and Chandigarh to lift any water from Bhakra before fixing its share.

Haryana also objected to Punjab’s proposal for laying a wider pipeline for phases VII and VIII of the Kajauli waterworks. The sources said Haryana accused the UT Administration of reaching an "understanding" with Punjab without involving any of its officers to allocate the entire water of phases V and VI to Punjab.

A senior official of the UT Administration said both states had no problem in giving water to Chandigarh. However, they were yet to solve their differences.

At the meeting, the Punjab Government agreed to a proposal of the UT Administration for widening the diameter of the pipeline to be laid so that instead of 40 million gallons per day (MGD) of water, 80 MGD could be carried through the pipeline.

The matter had reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court through a writ petition filed by Mohali councillor Kuljeet Singh Bedi seeking directions to expedite the construction of phases V and VI of the Kajauli waterworks, which would bring in an additional 40 million gallons of water per day to the tricity. 

Chandigarh, September 5
Mystery continues to shroud the death of a school student, Nitika, as her postmortem examination conducted today could not ascertain the exact cause of her death. Sources said the death of the student was suspected to be due to cardiac arrest. Though poison was not detected in the preliminary postmortem report, doctors said this angle could not be ruled out. The police has sent her viscera samples to the CFSL, Sector 36, to ascertain the exact cause of her death.

Nitika, a 14-year-old Class X student of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19, died under mysterious circumstances yesterday on the school premises. She collapsed all of a sudden during the recess. She was taken to the GMSH-16, where she was declared dead.

Her postmortem, which was delayed yesterday due to her family’s initial disapproval, was conducted in the Sector 16 hospital this morning, after which the body was handed over to her family members who cremated her at the Mani Majra cremation ground.

The relatives and parents of the deceased were in a state of shock over her sudden death.

“She was a bright student and had big dreams,” said a grieving relative.

Her father Ankush Kumar said Nitika was an adorable child. “Every day in the afternoon, I used to pick her up from school. My wife is yet to come to terms with her death,” he said.

“We refused the postmortem yesterday because we knew it was a case of natural death,” said the father.

Meanwhile, the viscera samples of her body have been sent to the CFSL, Sector 36. “The report will take a few weeks to come. Before that it will be difficult to ascertain the cause of her death," said Rajeev Vadhera, Medical Superintendent, GMSH-16.

Chandigarh, September 5
Campaigning for the Panjab University (PU) student council elections came to an end today with student parties visiting various departments to make last-minute efforts to woo voters.

Hectic campaigning was seen on the campus today. Student leaders of all parties were seen visiting all departments to garner support. There was less pomp and show and stress was on one-to-one interaction with students this time.

Leaders and party supporters started campaigning early this morning so that they could cover the maximum possible number of students to garner support.

NSUI leader Jaswinder Singh said on the last day of campaigning, he went across the campus and met as many students as he could with the party’s manifesto in a bid to garner support. “I apprised the students of the party ideology,” he said.

Tents put up by student organisations wore a deserted look throughout the day as party supporters and leaders were moving on the campus in a bid to woo the voters.

ABVP leader Dinesh Chauhan said while a group of his party supporters went to various departments to interact with students today, others informed the voters about the polling procedure.

Security beefed up The police has stepped up security arrangements on the PU campus in view of the coming student council elections. Over 800 police personnel will be deployed for security arrangements on the PU campus and city colleges on September 7. As many as 562 police personnel, including nine DSPs and 19 inspectors, will be deployed on the PU campus on the day of polling.

Panchkula, September 5
Panchkula is set to get Haryana’s first poison collection centre at the General Hospital in Sector 6 here. Till now only New Delhi, Chennai and Ahmedabad have poison centres. Panchkula will be the fourth city in the country to have such a centre.

In a bid to ensure that victims who take poison do not die while being taken to hospitals, a round-the-clock phone helpline facility will be provided to guide attendants of such patients on what needs to be done to reduce the effect of poison.

A proposal has been finalised by the Health Department, which will soon be sent to the Haryana Government for approval.

“We have finalised a proposal for setting up a poison information centre at the General Hospital. We will have a separate department with a separate staff, who will be trained to handle poison-related cases,” said a senior official of the department.

He said, “There are cases where it takes time to bring a person who has taken poison intentionally or by mistake to a hospital and he may die on the way. The centre will provide a 24-hour helpline facility to extend help to the attendants of such patients.”

Though the hospital already has treatment for poison, but its scope is limited as it takes a lot of time to know which type of poison is there in the body, which often delays treatment.

“The poison collection centre will have doctors specifically trained to deal with poison-related cases,” said another official of the Health Department.

The centre, which is likely to come up this year, will also provide consultancy to callers, guiding them on how to avoid poisoning and unnecessary hospital visits.

“If the government accepts the proposal, the centre will be of great help to the entire region,” said Dr Sunil Gambhir. –– TNS

Mohali, September 5
It was an entirely different ground for India’s former hockey skipper Rajpal Singh when he was assigned the task of supervising a special police naka at YPS Chowk, Phase 7, here today.

Punjab Police DSP Rajpal Singh was as alert and agile in his new role as he used to be on the hockey ground while representing the country.

“Duty is duty”, said a visibly elated Rajpal Singh while checking vehicles entering the town. “It’s my new ground and I am new to it. The difference is that instead of a hockey stick, I have a gazetted officer’s stick in my hand,” said Rajpal.

Many of those stopped at the naka turned out to his fans, and were elated to see the hockey star there. However, DSP Rajpal did not let any offender go scot-free.

“I have given instructions to my colleagues to issue a challan to every traffic offender,” said Rajpal Singh, while removing a black film from a four-wheeler at the naka.

Some fans were seen requesting him for autographs and Rajpal happily obliged them.

“It’s a memorable moment for me as the black film of my car was being removed by India’s former hockey captain himself. I clicked his picture using my mobile phone while he went about his job,” said Harjinder Singh, a resident of Kharar.

Rajpal is on a one-month field training here after having been appointed as a DSP in the Punjab Police.

Chandigarh, September 5
High drama was witnessed at the market of Sector 22-C when the officials of the UT Estate Office visited a coaching institute to execute the demolition orders passed by the Estate Office.

When the team, including ADC Mahavir Kaushik, reached the institute to execute the demolition orders, as there were bylaw violations in the building where the coaching institute was being run, the owners of the building locked the gates from inside and did not allow the officials to enter the building.

Due to this action of the building owner, more than 50 students also faced inconvenience as they were also locked inside.

The team had reached Dr Khera's Institute, SCO No. 2409-2410, in Sector 22 C around 10.10 am along with police officials.

The owner of the institute maintained that he did not receive any notice from the Estate Office. He also maintained that the estate office never heard his side of story.

On the other hand, the officials of the Estate Office maintained that they had issued a demolition notice to the institute. Finally, around 12.20 pm, the team returned without carrying out any demolition at the institute.

A senior official of the Estate Office said there were violations in the building bylaws at the institute and the Estate Officer had passed the demolition orders. He added they had given one week's time to the owner of the institute to either remove the violations or get the building plans approve from the senior officials of the Estate Office.

Chandigarh, September 5
While a large number of case of dog bite are being reported at the local health centres, many city residents have become victims of attacks by monkeys, rats, cats and mongooses over the past two years.

Over 500 cases of attacks by monkeys, cats and mongooses had been reported in the city last year while the number of such cases has reached 400 this year.

Among these cases, the monkey-bite cases had remained the highest both the last year and this year. A total of 151 monkey-bite cases were reported at the government dispensary at Sector 19 last year while the number has already reached 110 so far this year.

According to medical experts, rabies caused due to the bites of these animals can prove to be equally harmful as that of the bite of a rabid dog. The appropriate immunisation against rabies is a must for even a small scratch caused by these animals.

Many patients have been treated at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32; the PGI and private hospitals as well for animal bites over the last one year.

The best precaution against rabies is the immunisation of the victim immediately after bite. The bites of these animals can prove to be equally poisonous as that of a rabid dog, said Dr Poornima, in charge of the Sector 19 dispensary.

According to the experts, the spread of rabies in the body is slow, yet if unattended, it can cause major difficulties to the victim. The virus travels through the blood of the victim and it can reach the brain and settle there before attacking the nervous system.

However, it can remain dormant for months and sometimes even for years. The brain and throat of such victims get swollen and they can feel difficulty in breathing and drinking, said an expert.

While 4,700 dog-bite cases had been reported at the dispensary last year, the figure has reached 3,700 so far this year. 

Chandigarh, September 5
The members of a 45-year-old man's family, who died at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, here today, created a ruckus outside the emergency ward alleging negligence on the part of doctors.

The deceased, Raj Kumar Sharma, was a diabetic and was brought to the hospital on Tuesday morning after he complained of severe pain and swelling in his legs.

Alleging delay in his treatment, Sharma's son-law Vinod said the hospital staff remained ignorant of his pain and refused to attend to him. "The nurses kept telling us that surgeons will attend to my father-in-law. He continued to suffer for over 24 hours."

Sharma, a Kharar resident, died at around 1 pm. He worked as a gate man at Chandigarh Railway Station.

The hospital officials, meanwhile, said the family has not filed any complaint and no inquiry has been marked in this regard. AK Janmeja, Medical Suprintendent, Government Medical College and Hospital-32, said, "We are not aware of any such complaint since none from the family approached us to file a complaint. "

Chandigarh, September 5
Alleging police inaction in a dispute over a shop, more than 70 residents today protested outside the Sector 39 police station and blocked the road, leading to a traffic jam. High drama was witnessed when the residents got agitated over the death of a scrap dealer and demanded action against a shopkeeper of Sector 37.

Chote Lal, a scrap dealer, had died of cardiac arrest last evening. His family and friends alleged that he was under severe stress as Kakkar, a shopkeeper based at Sector 37, was not vacating his shop despite the fact that he was paid Rs 3.5 lakh by Chote Lal for the shop. It was also alleged that Kakkar had forged the papers and Chotte Lal died of tension.

The residents demanded action against Kakkar and gheraoed the Sector 39 police station. A huge posse of force was deployed there to control the agitating mob.

Police officials summoned Kakkar and questioned him. It came to light that the dispute over the shop was pending trial in the district courts and the shopkeeper had filed a case against Chote Lal.

"We are investigating stories of both the sides. There is a matter pending in the court so there was little that the police can do in this case," said a police official.

The crowd was dispersed later in the day.

Chandigarh, September 5
Genetic tests for 27 rare neurological disorders, including Parkinsen's and Alzheimer's, will now be available at the Neurology OPD, PGIMER, from September 6.

With the launch of these tests for patient care here today, the PGI has become the first public institution in the country to offer the service.

The cost of each of these tests will be nearly half what is charged at private labs and the reporting will be done by experience neuroscientists, said PGI officials.

The tests include genetic testing for epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, ataxias, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, migraine and retinitis 
pigmentosa.

Each of these 27 tests, which cost between Rs 6,000 and Rs 10,000 at private laboratories across the country, will cost between Rs 3,000 and 5,000 at the PGI.

"These tests will primarily be introduced for patient care. But each of these tests will boost the research work at our institutes. The facility is available at various government institutions in the country. However, the utility has remained restricted to research work," Dr S Prabhakar, Head of Department of Neurology, said.

These tests are available at private labs and hospitals in Delhi and Mumbai at exorbitant rates and are not within the reach of needy patients, said an official at PGI.

A national seminar was organised at the Department of Neurology today to review the emergence and advancements in the field of molecular diagnosis.

The experts gathered for the seminar concluded that genetic testing was complex, not well defined in Indian law and accreditation requirement was lacking.

Chandigarh, September 5
Nearly 30 out of every 100 women in the tricity have been suffering from recurrent miscarriages over the past two years, according to experts at Max Hospital, Mohali.

While a number of couples these days are resorting to surrogacy, following two or three miscarriages, timely treatment can easily help women to sustain their pregnancies even after frequent miscarriages, said a senior consultant, Dr Preeti Jindal, while addressing media persons here today.

The key causes for miscarriages among women aged between 30 to 35 years are deficiency of iodine and low intake of folic acid. Consulting experts at recurrent-miscarriage clinics immediately after a miscarriage can help in early detection of the cause.

The investigations for the determination of cause for recurrent miscarriages take two months and the treatment costs a total of Rs 5,000, including the required tests and medication.

"For those women, who are prone to miscarriages and conceive in late age like after 35 years, fall in the 'High Risk Pregnancy' group. In such cases, amniocentesis test should be conducted so that the status of foetus normality can be gauged. The test, called amniocentesis, is a certified preventive tool," said Dr Jindal.

Nearly 30 per cent of the patients visiting the special miscarriages clinic at Max hospital in the last one year were found to be suffering from genetic abnormality.

Another 20 per cent were suffering from thrombo philias, a condition where woman's blood thickens to an extent that the foetus gets inadequate supply which further results in miscarriages.

Other causes of miscarriages include diabetes, thyroid and congenital disorder in uterus. Recurrent miscarriages lead to depression among women and the family tends to lose hope for child, said Dr Jindal.

Mohali, September 5
For the first time in the region, big outdoor LEDs will be installed in the town. The screens, costing over Rs 3 crore, will display information of public interest given by the Punjab Government and the municipal corporation, apart from commercial advertisements.

Such screens have been installed only in cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Mumbai so far. The screens have been proposed to be fixed at three busy road crossings. The two sites identified for the purpose are Phase VII-VIII traffic lights and the YPS roundabout. The third location, Phase III-V roundabout, could be changed later.

Joint Commissioner of the civic body, JC Sabharwal, said the government was interested in the project that would give a modern look to the town and tenders for its work had been called. The contract would be for a period of seven years.

It is learnt that each screen will measure 22 ft by 9.9 ft by 0.82 ft.

The screen will display corporation, Punjab government and public messages free for 40 per cent of the total running time. The rest of the time will be used for commercial advertisements. The contractor will have to run the full LED screens for at least 15 hours everyday which can be extended to 24 hours.

The advertising agency will procure, install and maintain the LED screen at its own cost and will also pay the necessary regular expenses throughout the contract period.

The screens will be mounted on a unipole structure. The installation process will have to be completed by the contractor within two months of signing the agreement with the corporation failing which the allotment would be cancelled. The offer of installation will be given to the bidder who quotes the highest licence fee, which will have to be paid on a monthly basis.

The corporation has fixed the minimum monthly licence fee for each LED screen at Rs 25,000. On completion of the agreement, the LED screens will revert to the corporation and become its property.

Chandigarh, September 5
Two head constables of the UT police were today rewarded for their honesty and good work done in returning cash and valuables to their owner.

Yesterday, Head Constable Dalbir Singh and Head Constable Ranbir Singh of the police station at Sector 19, Chandigarh, were on beat patrolling duty in Sector 21 when they found an unclaimed bag containing Rs 52,500 and medicines.

Both the police officials informed the Police Control Room through their wireless set about the bag. On checking the bag, one blood report of Ajit Kumar, which was issued from the Biochemical Lab of PGI, was found. After verifying the number mentioned in the blood report, the address of the owner of the bag was procured from the PGI. Ajit Kumar was informed and his bag was handed over to him after due verification.

Recognising their honesty, DIG Alok Kumar today rewarded both of them with commendation certificates, Class-I, along with Rs 1,000 each.

Chandigarh, September 5
Municipal corporation issued 100 challans to the shopkeepers in Shastri Market, Sector 22, today. An encroachment drive was carried out by the MC under the supervision of MC Additional Commissioner Lalit Siwach.

Panchkula, September 5
In connection to the fake IPS officer case, the police today said his wife, too, will be arrested soon.

“His wife knew about her husband’s misdeeds. She would tell people in her circle that her husband has considerable influence and can get their work done easily. Moreover, he (accused) had been arrested by Chandigarh police, earlier as well.” said Inspector Dharambeer Singh, in-charge of Economic Offence Wing.He added, “His wife is absconding and she will be arrested soon.”

It was on August 30 when a fake IPS officer, identified as Aman Kumar, and three others were arrested by the Panchkula police. The accused used to extort money from people under the pretext of being an IPS officer.

The police has recovered Rs 1.32 lakh and 13 tolas of gold worth Rs 4 lakh from him. The accused had recently duped a Mohali-based person of Rs 60 lakh. The police also said they have received a number of complaints from the local residents saying that they have been duped of Rs 20 lakh each. The victims have been identified as Amarinder Singh, Amandeep, Avtar, Seva Singh and his son Amandeep.

"He did not even spare his own people. He duped a person, who had sublet the MDC house of Rs 20 lakh. The accused said he can get him (victim) a piece of land," said another officer.

The police has also revealed that his monthly income was around Rs 50 lakh. The accused had also married a Chandigarh-based girl on August 13 under the pretext that he was an IPS officer.

Aman has been arrested twice, once in Chandigarh and in Kurukshetra, under the same charges but was released on bail.

Chandigarh, September 5
Panjab University (PU) is all set to host the student council elections on September 7 with a total of 13,723 voters. They would be casting their votes in 169 polling booths across the campus.

The University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) holds the maximum number of votes with 2,581 students in the department, followed by the department of laws with 1,241 votes.

The list of voters was finalised by the university today, along with the distribution of polling booths.

The entries in the departments will be closed at 10 am on the day of polling and the students have to reach their polling booths before the scheduled time. There will be 169 polling stations for voting in 56 departments of PU having the strength of 13,723 students.

The elections will be held for all four posts of the Panjab University Campus Student Council (PUCSC) and 112 department representatives (DR) will also get elected on the same day.

The departments with the large number of students include UILS with 850 votes, chemical engineering with 648 votes and physics department with 539 votes.

In order to avoid any untoward incident on the day of polling, vehicles without stickers will not be allowed to enter the campus. The students, in order to evade any embarrassing situation, are advised to carry their identity cards for verification on the campus, said officials.

Security personnel would also be deployed outside every department to avoid any incident of violence. Meanwhile, the elections in the city colleges affiliated to PU will also be held on the same day.

This is for the first time that the university will be including expenses incurred for organising parties to celebrate success in the account of the winning candidate.

Chandigarh, September 5
A day after the Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) exposed the controversy regarding the pending hostel and mess dues of Panjab University Student Union (PUSU) leader, members of PUSU demanded that the nominations of candidates of SOPU should be cancelled, as they held a protest on the PU campus in violation of the code of conduct.

PUSU leader Sukhjit Singh Brar alleged that SOPU and university authorities are hand in glove, as according to the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, one cannot stage a protest or strike in the university campus, however, the protest was held in front of the dean student welfare (DSW) office.

Terming it as cheap politics, Brar said he was not running away and had assured that he would pay all dues to the university.

The PUSU leader stated that they have enough proof to expose SOPU, however, they want to concentrate on winning the elections and fulfill the promises made to the students as mentioned in their manifesto.

Brar said the PUSU-NSUI alliance had submitted a complaint against the SOPU-HSA for the violation of Lyngdoh Committee rules. PUSU demanded that the entire panel of SOPU-HSA alliance should be cancelled.

Chandigarh, September 5
While all student organisations are busy attracting voters to ensure their win in the forthcoming elections, a group of 10 students under the name “Students for Society (SOS)” are busy spreading awareness among the students to think before they vote. These students have pledged not to exercise their vote, as they believe no student organisation has fulfilled their promises in the past.

Sachinder Pal Singh, an MPhil student in economics department and general secretary of the society, said they were counselling students to vote for the organisations, which they think had worked for the students’ cause and had fulfilled the promises made in the past. The student bodies attract the voters by throwing lavish parties and organising trips, however, after winning, nobody even bothers to fulfill the promises made to the students, Singh said. Other members of the society are visiting all departments requesting the students to utilise their right to vote by making a choice of candidate rather selling their vote to any student party. We are requesting the students to cast their votes keeping in mind the ideologies of the student parties, Singh said.

The members are building their network among the students and have asked them to spread the message.

“We are informing the students about the society’s motives and background and hope to spread the awareness even after the elections,” said one of the members.

The organisation is also campaigning against violence spread by the student parties in the campus and is requesting the students to ensure violence-free elections.

Chandigarh, September 5
The three-day off announced by the Panjab University in lieu of the student elections is driving residents of hostels towards their home.

September 7 being a holiday due to the student elections followed by three more holidays is giving a tough time to the parties to ensure that hostellers stay back.

The PU’s decision to announce September 10 (Monday) as a holiday in the view of student elections has added to the worries of student organisations banking on the hostel votes in the student elections.

Although the party loyalists would stay back to support the leaders, the students disinterested in the elections have started moving back to their hometown to enjoy the long weekend.

Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) president Manoj Lubana said with only two days left for the elections, they were making each possible effort to convince the hostellers to stay back. “We are not emphasising that the students should stay back and vote for our party, but we are encouraging them to exercise their right to vote,” Lubana said.

Echoing same sentiments, Panjab University Student Union (PUSU) leader Sumit Goklaney said the party’s girls’ supporters in the hostels have been assigned the duty to ensure that the girls stay back and vote for the party, similarly, in the boys’ hostels, the students are being convinced to stay back.

One of the hostel wardens said Thursday being a working day, the students were expected to leave the campus by evening.

PU officials said the rationale behind the elections being organised on Friday was that the students go to their hometowns after voting in a bid to ensure peace on the campus. This was the only reason Monday was declared as a holiday in lieu of which September 1 was already observed as the working day, officials said.

With a total of 13,723 votes registered at PU, around 6,000 are hostel residents who play a major role in deciding the fate of candidates contesting the elections.

Chandigarh, September 5
On the occasion of Teacher’s Day, 10 government schoolteachers were felicitated at a state award function organised by the education department of the Chandigarh Administration.

VK Singh, education secretary, was the chief guest on the occasion. He presented the awards to the teachers for their commendable services to students and society.

Those who were awarded, include Sudesh Raghav, principal of GMSSS-46, Anujeet Kaur, principal of GMSSS-16, Aruna Bhardwaj, principal of Gurukul Global School, Surinder Kumar, head of GMHS-38, Tarsem Kaur Bains, principal of SGGSS-35, Jagpal Singh, teacher at GMSSS-40, G P Paul, teacher at GMSSS-20, Ram Prakash, teacher at GMHS-28, Monica Chopra, teacher at GMHS-41, and Satya Prakash, teacher at GHSS-53.

Three commendation certificates were awarded to Gurmeet Kaur, Fine Arts teacher at GSSS, Khuda Lahora, Kanwaljit Kaur, music teacher at GMSSS-46 and Kiran Rattan, science teacher at GMHS -38. A special appreciation certificates were also given to nine JBT teachers and 10 Trained Graduate Teachers.

A colourful cultural programme was presented with ‘Saraswati Vandana’ by students of GGSSS-20B. A Rajasthani dance was performed by students of GMSSS-33 and songs were sung by music teachers of government schools of Chandigarh.

Speaking on the occasion, VK Singh said teacher should inculcate the sense of patriotism and social values in the mind of young students.

Chandigarh, September 5
The education department has plans to change the state teachers’ award policy from next year. This was stated by education secretary VK Singh during the state teachers award function held to felicitate government school teachers on the occasion of Teacher’s Day.

For last many years, the education department has been following pre-laid approach to select teachers for the award. Every year teachers are asked to apply for the award based on a certain rules framed for the purpose. Thereafter, the concerned high-level committee recommends few names for the award after screening the applications received.

This system, however, has attracted strong views from different quarters. Many observed that the current policy has not always brought attention on the deserving candidates for the award. Rather some ‘smart’ teachers manage to hog the limelight.

A teacher at today’s award function said the department should make a search committee every year, which should see the work of various teachers on ground and then recommend their names to the concerned high-level committee.

“There are many deserving teachers who don’t apply for the awards. It is therefore the responsibility of the department to identify the committed teachers rather than following the passive approach,” said a teacher.

VK Singh, during the function, said the department is in favour of evolving the state award policy and to felicitate those who really deserve the awards. “We would definitely work on this direction in near future and would bring out a strong and better policy for next year’s award ceremony,” he said.

Chandigarh, September 5
The sportspersons of various colleges celebrated Teacher’s Day with a cake cutting ceremony, during the ongoing inter-college competitions, at Panjab University campus here today.

The baseball players treated their coaches with special cake and dedicated songs to their coaches. “We decided that after our matches we will present a special treat to our gurus. It’s because of them that we are getting admissions, scholarships, guidance, and the chance to represent an institution,” said the group of players.

“They are not just our students, they are our identity. I am proud to be a teacher and all these players are my students,” said Dr Gurcharan Singh, physical education teacher at SGGS College, Sector 26.

Dr Safri Lal, head of physical education, SD College, Sector 32, said, “It feels great when one gets so much love that too not from one or two but from a number of students. Players are one who faces lot of difficulties in daily life. They pin their trust on us to overcome all difficulties,” said Dr Safri Lal.

“It’s because of our teachers that we are here today. We are spreading the same message. Being a teacher it’s not easy. But that is what life is all about. Welfare of these children is our responsibility and we will do our best to ensure that,” said Dr Soni Kanwar, boxing coach.

Chandigarh, September 5
The UT Cadre Educational Employees Union observed black day and hunger strike for few hours in protest of their long pending demands on the occasion of the Teacher’s Day here today.

Five members of the union went on hunger strike at the Rally Ground, Sector 25, along with other employees. They have demanded that the UT employees should be united on the issue of deputation of teachers from different states. The administration on the other hand has not taken any action yet. They have asked the authorities to take the issue on priority basis, he said. He also raised promotion issue of the TGT and teachers of other cadres.