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UT officials to lose extra security, perks
Rajinder Nagarkoti
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
With the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashing the Chandigarh disturbed area notification, officials of the UT Administration and the police are all set to lose the extra security cover, allowances and perks.

Sources said these facilities had been extended to officials of the UT Administration and the police since they were serving in Chandigarh, which had a tag of a disturbed area.

At present, besides senior IAS and IPS officers, state cadre officials and SHOs get a personal security officer (PSO). The sources said with the quashing of the disturbed area notification, a majority of the officials would lose the PSO cover.

With the quashing of the notification, the UT officials, who earlier have the privilige to retain the government accommodation in their parent state, along with the government accommodation in Chandigarh, will now have to surrender the accommodation in their parent state.

The sources said foreign tourists, who earlier needed CID clearance to visit the city, may now be exempted.

According to petitioner Surinder Bhardwaj, the disturb area tag was a hurdle for the tourism industry. Often when a tourist planned to come to Chandigarh, information on the Internet made him change his/her plan.

Quashing of disturbed area tag

Admn's take

Shivraj PatilSince the High Court has quashed the disturbed area tag of Chandigarh, the Administration has to follow the direction. However, the tag had been retained for some specific reasons. There have been intelligence reports regarding infiltration from border areas. If anything untoward happens in the future, who will be responsible for it?

— Shivraj Patil, UT Administrator

KK Sharma We are yet to receive the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and only after receiving a copy of the judgment, will we be able to comment on the issue.

— KK Sharma, UT Advisor

The Administration will anaylse the judgment and then hold a meeting to decide the future course of action.

— Anil Kumar, UT Home Secretary

 

How UT defended the tag

  • Though there may not have been any major instances of disturbance of public order in recent years, it cannot be guaranteed that such instances will not occur in the future
  • Chandigarh has the unique distinction of housing the governments of Punjab and Haryana and there are a number of constitutional, political and government functionaries residing in Chandigarh who have been on the forefront of the fight against terrorist activities
  • Intelligence inputs received from time to time are indicative of the fact that efforts are being made by anti-national elements to create disturbance in the area
  • Chandigarh also houses the Burail Jail where certain "high profile" prisoners from the terrorism era are lodged

Powers under the 1983 Act

  • The Administrator may, by a notification in the official gazette, declare that the whole or a part of the Union Territory of Chandigarh is a disturbed area
  • Any magistrate or police officer not below the rank of Sub-Inspector or Havildar in case of the armed branch of the police may, if he is of the opinion that it is necessary to do so for the maintenance of public order, after giving due warning, fire upon, or otherwise use force, even causing death, against any person who is acting in contravention of the law in force in the disturbed area
  • Any magistrate or police officer not below the rank of Sub-Inspector may, if he is of the opinion that it is necessary to do so, destroy any arms dump, fortified position or shelter from which armed attacks are made or are likely to be made or any structure used as a training camp for armed volunteers or utilised as a hideout by armed gangs

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Boost for Union Territory’s green initiative
Administrator Shivraj Patil inaugurates Paryavaran Bhawan
Rajinder Nagarkoti
Tribune News Service


UT Administrator Shivraj Patil at the rooftop of Paryavaran Bhawan. Tribune photo: S Chandan

Chandigarh, September 19
UT Administrator Shivraj Patil today inaugurated Paryavaran Bhawan, an energy-efficient green building, at Sector 19 here. This is the first-of-its-kind building of the UT Administration.

This state-of-the-art building has many features of a green building like the "earth air tunnel-forced ventilation system". The tunnel has been dug 25 ft under the building and the air will be circulated in various rooms of the building through pipes.

The terrace has reflective white tiles, to reflect back heat and thus reduce the need for artificial climate-control measures. Special green blocks have been used in the entire parking and pavements, which shall ensure a green cover all around the building as well as allow rainwater to percolate into the earth for recharging of groundwater.

UT officials said these green features had been incorporated with technical help from The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI), New Delhi.

An official of the Engineering Department said Paryavaran Bhawan had been constructed at a cost of Rs 11.45 crore and had a total plinth area of 87,674 sq ft. The building will house the offices of the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee, the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Forests and Wildlife and the Department of Environment of the Chandigarh Administration.

Solar plant opened

The UT Administrator also inaugurated a 50 kWp solar photovoltaic plant at the UT Secretariat building in Sector 9. Patil said the available space on the rooftop of the Secretariat building and that of the nearby building could be utilised to install more solar panels in the second phase to meet the energy needs of the UT Secretariat 

24 ACs installed

  • Though the building has many green features, the authorities have installed 24 air conditioners in various rooms. Officials said the air conditioners had been installed in only those rooms where the air system pipes could not be laid
  • While the Administrator was inaugurating the building, lights were on in many rooms
  • The project was proposed in 2005.
  • The third and top floor of the building is incomplete

Special features

  • The terrace has reflective white tiles
  • Special green blocks have been used in the parking area
  • The building will have an "earth air tunnel-forced ventilation system"

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Eight college students suspended for ragging
Amit Sharma
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
The Chandigarh College of Architecture has suspended eight students for their alleged involvement in a ragging incident at the boys' hostel in the college. Acting on a compliant submitted by a first-year student, the college swung into action and formed a committee to probe the incident.

The first-year student was allegedly ragged by his seniors on Monday night. The next day, he submitted a compliant against them to the college authorities.

Sources said the student made a complaint to the Principal alleging that he was ragged by his seniors throughout the night. “The student complained that his seniors kept him awake throughout the night and did not allow him to study,” the sources said.

The suspended students are from different classes and are residents of the same hostel.

This is probably the first time that a ragging incident has come to light at the Chandigarh College of Architecture and a group of students has been suspended for it.

College Principal Pardeep Bhagat, while confirming the incident, said all eight students named by the victim were immediately suspended and an inquiry had been initiated into the incident. “The vigil in the hostel during night hours has been increased,” the Principal said.

However, the Principal refused to divulge the contents of the complaint, stating that the matter was being investigated.

Sources said the hostel staff had also been asked to verify whether some other students had also been ragged in the hostel.

The college provides a five-year course in Bachelor's of Architecture, admission to which is made on the basis of the AIEEE, conducted by the CBSE.

How to curb ragging

  • Anti-ragging squads should be set up in colleges and hostels
  • There should be round-the-clock vigil by teams to check ragging
  • Ragging complaint drop boxes should be installed
  • Anti-ragging display boards with helpline numbers 

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Many private schools closed today
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
Many private schools in the tricity will remain closed tomorrow, courtesy the Bharat bandh call given by some political parties. While no holiday has been declared in government or government-aided schools, all four missionary schools — St John's, St Anne’s, Carmel Convent and Sacred Heart — will remain closed tomorrow. The examination, which was scheduled for tomorrow, has now been postponed to September 29.

All three St Xavier schools (Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula) will also remain closed. The school authorities said the decision had been taken in view of the likely transportation problem due to the bandh. The other schools that will remain closed tomorrow are British High School, Little Flower School, Gurukul and Hallmark School, Panchkula.

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COMMUNITY

Fungal infections on the rise
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
Punjab with its cotton producing districts like Ferozepur, Faridkot, Mukatsar, Bathinda, Sangrur, Ludhiana, Gurdaspur and Mansa has a high prevalence of fungal infections including nose and para-nasal sinuses. Though there is no specific data regarding the impact of disease in the state yet any patient with features of sinusitis from is required to be specifically screened for fungal sinusitis, said Professor Ashok Gupta of the otolaryngology department, the PGI, on the eve of 3-day ENT Surgical Workshop to be started here tomorrow.

Nearly one thousand delegates from national and international institutes are likely to participate in the event. The surgical feast is also decorated by the presence of various experts in the field like Padamshree Dr JM Hans, Dr V Anand, Dr Davinder Rai, Dr Meghnadh, Dr Arvind Soni, Dr Janaki Ram and Dr Imtiaz M Qazi.

The incidence of fungal infections involving nose and para-nasal sinuses is on the rise. In India, which is already an internationally acclaimed endemic region for fungal sinusitis, the incidence of fungal sinusitis in immune competent patients is also showing a rise, said Dr Gupta.

Among the north-Indian states, Punjab with its cotton producing districts like Ferozepur, Faridkot, Mukatsar, Bathinda, Sangrur, Ludhiana, Gurdaspur and Mansa has a high prevalence of this dreaded disease that any patient with features of sinusitis from these area are specifically screened for fungal sinusitis, he said.

Fungal sinusitis is classified broadly into the invasive and non-invasive forms. The invasive disease which is commonly seen in immunocompromised and even immunecompetent individuals is the most dreaded form which can even have a mortality rate of hundred per cent if not timely intervened.

Explaining the symptoms of diseases, Dr Gupta said the immunocompromised patients, usually presents as nasal discharge, facial pain, sudden vision loss, ulceration in the oral cavity and nose. This patient can deteriorate within hours and land up in intensive care unit. Any immune compromised patient like diabetics, transplant recipients, those with any haematological malignancies, HIV, when present with a palatal ulcer should be immediately screened for mucormycosis which is the most dangerous invasive fungal disease as this is the time when the patient can be saved by radical surgery, he advised.

Later, in untreated patients when the brain also gets involved the patient develops altered sensorium, seizures and loss of consciousness. This is a stage when the disease becomes virtually incurable and the patient usually expires in a few days.

On the other side of the spectrum is the non-invasive form called the allergic fungal rhinosinusitis. This disease occurs due to allergic reaction to fungus. Even though the name indicated that this is a very benign disease, this can occur in any age group and is very common in Punjab where the environmental load of fungal antigens are very high. Patients present with nasal obstruction, discharge, nasal polyps, widening of distance between eyes and even loss of vision. Endoscopic sinus surgery followed by steroid therapy is the treatment here. Patient requires life-long follow up as this disease has the tendency to recur even after having cure for many years.

The PGIMER, Chandigarh, is an internationally accepted research centre for fungal disease due to the endemicity of the disease. The department of ENT provides all the services to patients with fungal sinusitis in diagnosing, treatment and follow up.

All the surgeries like ethmoidectomy, maxillectomy, endoscopic debridement are done here with facilities for routine nasal endoscopy during the follow up, said Dr Gupta.

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chandi kotla
Only five tents for landslide victims
Hina Rohtaki
Tribune News Service


Affected residents in a small tent in Panchkula on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph

Panchkula, September 19
The insensitivity of the district administration can be gauged from the fact that it is not providing sufficient tents to the victims, who have lost their houses in the recent landslides at Chandi Kotla village. As a result, more than a dozen people have been packed like sardines in a small tent there. Only five small tents have been provided for the residents of over 50 houses.

After the landslides, around 50 houses at Chandi Kotala village near Chandimandir collapsed and some developed deep cracks five days ago. After an alarming situation for the whole village, the administration evacuated the houses and nearly 100 villagers were shifted to some other place.

The sarpanch of the village also met the Panchkula Deputy Commissioner and MLA DK Bansal in this regard today.

“It is very difficult to adjust in these small tents. The administration should be wise enough. For so many villagers, just five tents,” said Rajo Devi, a villager.

Another villager, Khalil Ahmad said, “The situation is all the more worse when it rains. A day before yesterday, it rained heavily and we know how we all cuddled inside the tent. No one could sleep properly. At least big tents should have been provided.”

“Not even two beds can properly fit into the tent. We all have to sleep on the floor. The administration should have thought a little about how would elderly people sleep,” said Bhago Devi.

She further added, “Most of our family members including children sleep outside in the mosquitoes. It gets cold also late night.”

When contacted the Deputy Commissioner, Ashima Brar, she said, “More tents would be provided to the villagers.”

The situation has become worse after the rain. Due to the heavy rain, only we know how we all cuddled inside the tents. No one could sleep properly. At least big tents should have been provided.

Khalil Ahmad, a villager

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Rain leaves roads in bad shape
Aarti Kapoor
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
It has been nothing less than a nightmare for all those who have been commuting on roads for the past few days. Owing to moderate showers, which had lashed the city during recently, huge potholes dot the roads where water logging is major problem most of the time. These roads not only offer a bumpy ride but also are an eyesore for people living in the vicinity.

Barely any road or round about has been left in the city, which remains unaffected from the rain fury. Huge potholes, caved in sections bore testimony of the havoc wrecked on the roads. Majority of the slip roads, constructed in the past were washed away during this monsoon. The bad condition of most of the roads and the round about exposes the claims of the Municipal Corporation and that of the UT Administration engineering department.

In the last Municipal Corporation house meeting, the Chief Engineer had assured that after rains the work of re-carpeting of roads will commence but due to extended monsoon the condition of roads had gone from bad to worst.

In the last two months during monsoon, three major roads caved in on the prominent roads of the city. During last week, the road, which caved in on Dakshin Marg, had been dug out for repair but till date work has not been completed.

Interestingly, the patch-work, which was done by the authorities after heavy showers last month on few roads have also been washed away after heavy shower last week.

During a visit to various parts in southern sectors it was found that most of the slip roads are under construction as the authorities have not carpeted them. Residents of Sector 51 complained that a number of accidents happened during night hours as there is hardly any streetlight in the area and adding to the woes of the commuter are that no slip road has been carpeted. Even the V-5 internal roads of the most of the Sectors including 15, 24, 34, 35, 44, 50 and 52 huge potholes have been formed after the rain. Thick cover of mud and slush on the roads has spelled doom for road users especially two-wheelers, who faced difficulty in driving on these roads.

The authorities concerned have failed to clear the sand from the roads, which further created problem after being dried in the sunshine.

Re-carpeting of roads in the city is done on the pick and choose basis said Sachin, a resident of 21.

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Health teams create awareness on dengue
Twenty cases have been reported from Union Territory this season
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
Twentythree cases of dengue have been reported from different parts of the city this season so far. The figure is alarming when compared to the last year’s figures when the first case of dengue in city was reported on September 26. While nine fresh cases were reported at city hosptials last week, the number of such patients was 14 the previous week.

In 2010 and 2009, nearly 25 cases each had been reported in the city by this time.

Today, teams of health officials visited the motor markets and schools of the city to create awareness among people about the disease. Two more months of the period known to be conducive for infections remain.

According to health experts, the dengue virus is transmitted by an infected female mosquito, aedes aegypti. It breeds in and around houses in urban and semi-urban areas. It bites during the day, especially at dawn and dusk. On the other hand, the anopheles mosquito, which transmits malaria, bites during night time. The aedes aegypti mosquitoes are generally confined to indoor environments.

The only preventive steps that can be taken against dengue are to destroy breeding grounds of mosquitoes. Open overhead water tanks, coolers, containers, used tyres, pots and other articles lying unattended provide suitable breeding grounds of aedes aegypti.

Fact file

  • Dengue occurs in tropical and subtropical areas
  • Symptoms appear in 3 or 14 days after mosquito bite
  • These range from mild to high fever with severe headache, pain in eyes, in muscles and joints and rashes.
  • No antiviral medicine for dengue is available
  • Prevention include spraying kerosene oil over stagnant water, wearing full-sleeve shirts and covering legs fully

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Five-day theatre festival from September 21
Bollywood actors, well-known directors to stage plays
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
Bollywood actors Arundhati Nag, Seema Biswas and Yashpal Sharma would be the highlights in the five-day Chandigarh Theatre Festival to be held at the Tagore Theatre from September 21.

The festival aims at presenting the best contemporary productions in theatre from across the country.

The festival will start with the play ‘Jivito Mrito’ (Vivadi Theatre Group, Delhi) directed by Anuradha Kapur. Seema Biswas will play the lead role.

On September 22, ‘Piya Behroopiya’, directed by Atul Kumar, will be presented by Company Theatre (Mumbai). It is based on one of the Shakespeare`s best-known comedies “The Twelfth Night”.

On September 23, an experimental play ‘Kalpataru’ will be staged by Delhi-based director Dadi D Padamjee, who is s a leading puppeteer in India and the founder of The Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992.

The play is based on nature and life and will be staged through shadow puppets, projections and music.

Yet another interesting play will be staged by Banglore-based Ranga Shankra Theatre’s production ‘Bikhre Bimb’ on September 24. Directed by Girish Karnad, the play is hailed as one of the landmark plays of recent times and will feature prominent film and theatre actor Arundhati Nag, also one of the founders of Ranga Shankra. The festival will conclude with the play ‘Yaar Banaa Buddy’, featuring Yashpal Sharma and directed by Nadira Zaheer Babbar (Ekjute Theatre Group (Mumbai) on September 25.

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BJP Yuva Morcha demands FIR against PM
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
Workers of BJP Yuva Morcha today marched to the Sector 34 police station demanding registration of an FIR against the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his involvement in the coal scam. Party supporters protested against the infamous coal scam worth trillions of rupees.

They raised slogans against the government and its insufferable attitude towards the common man. An effigy of Manmohan Singh was placed on a horse cart and dragged till the police station.

Inspector Kirpal Singh, SHO, Sector 34 police station, said the police have received a complaint against the Prime Minister from the BJP and have sent it for taking a legal opinion.

The police, however, said prima facie the complaint does not fall into their jurisdiction and will be forwarded to the Delhi police. “We will decide further course of action only after receiving legal opinion.

A party leader claimed that it was under this weakened leadership of Dr Manmohan Singh that such insufferable amount of corruption has housed the government. Hence, he should be investigated under the charges of the penal code that would be framed by the FIR.

Sanjay Tandon, the state president of the BJP, said the coal scam is unprecedented and broken all the previous records of corruption committed by this government. He also added that the scam occurred right when he was the in-charge of the coal ministry and it became the PM’s moral responsibility to resign from government.

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FDI in retail
City traders to observe half-day bandh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
On a call of the Bhartiya Udyog Beopar Mandal, the local traders will observe a half-day bandh on September 20 against the decision of the Centre to allow 51 per cent FDI in multibrand retail. The city traders will observe half-day bandh from 10 am to 2 pm.

Charanjiv Singh, president of Chandigarh the Beopar Mandal, said at a recent meeting they had decided to stage a symbolic protest against the 51 per cent FDI in retail and all the market associations of the city had pledged to support the half-day bandh.

Jagdish Kapoor, president of the Sector-19 Market Association, said they had met the representatives of all the market associations of the city and they had agreed to hold a protest on Thursday against the FDI in retail.

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Play ‘Baaki Itehaas’ staged
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
The play “Baaki Itehaas”, written by Badal Sarkar and directed by Lakha Lehri, was staged as part of the ongoing Gursharan Singh Naat Festival at Punjab Kala Bhavan today.

The play is a beautifully story about man and mankind and depicts how a man in trying to give a meaning to his life tortures the rest of mankind.

The play highlights how man after reaching a stand-still in his life and in search of a new goal discovers means for own destruction.

The play was adapted from the original script and was re-scripted to suit the present dismal life in society. The story was told through middle class characters, who continued with their endeavour to attain prosperity even with their dead dreams.

Street play staged

A street play ‘Kaisa Ho Prajatantar’ was staged today at Sector 17. The play highlighted the high level of corruption and other ailing problem which have engulfed the country. Caste divisions, religious riots, terrorism, Commonwealth Games, 2G specutrum scam and Coalgate were some of the issues highlighted during the play.

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Give info on digging borewells in advance: DC

Mohali, September 19
To avoid any untoward incident, the district administration has issued directions regarding taking mandatory safety measures while digging bore wells or tubewells by any person.

Mohali DC, Varun Roozam, issued directions that the authorities have to be intimated at least 15 days before starting any digging work.

“One has to intimate the district collector, district magistrate, sarpanch of the respective gram panchayat, nagar council and of that health department at least 15 days before starting such work. Apart from it, the work should be got done by only registered drilling agency,” said Roojam.

He also ordered to take proper safety measures at such site, which included proper fencing around the site and having steel cover being tightened with bolts and construction of cemented platform around the site.

He also ordered the officials to prepare a report of all such sites where fresh digging has been taking place and the status of safety measures.

“An action would be taken against those found flouting the norms,” said he. — TNS

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EDUCATION

Right To Education Act
Plan to fill 2,500 posts
Vivek Gupta
Tribune News Service,

Chandigarh, September 19
The UT Education Department has placed the proposal to fill more than 2500 required posts for the effective implementation of the Right To Education (RTE) ACT. As per the latest estimates prepared by the department, it needed to create 2576 posts to adequately maintain the required norms of the act. The proposal includes the requirement of staff at the directorate level as well as at district education office level. The major problem, however, is the requirement of staff in government schools, which are suffering due shortage of teachers.

The current student-teacher ration in the government schools of Chandigarh is not less than 1:50 or even much more in many schools of the adjoining area. As per the recent reports carried out by Chandigarh Tribune, 93 students were found in a single section of the first class in a government school at Mauli Jagran. The present strength of teaching staff is not more than 4300 against approximately 1.4 lakh students.

While taking this into consideration, the department has asked for creating additional posts of principal, head teachers, JBT teachers, nursery teachers, masters or mistresses (TGT cadre), computer instructor, accountant, clerk, librarian, lab attendant. Nearly half of the 2576 recommended posts belong to TGT and JBT teachers category.

Senior officials of the department said the proposals had been prepared on the basis of requirement sent by every government school. After its finalisation at the department level, the proposal would be sent to the Government of India for sanction. They, however, said that the overall process might take some time but the efforts were already being in the direction

While talking to some educationists in the city, officials said that the government must act swiftly for the effective implementation of the act.

RTE activist Pankaj Chandgotia said the deadline for the implementation of the RTE Act would be over by March 31 next year but many of the important components of the act were still on the proposal stage.

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Regularisation of teachers
Contractual teachers asked to submit service details
Vivek Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
The issue of regularisation of contractual teachers has again gained momentum after the UT Education Department has asked all its teachers, working in government schools on contractual basis, to submit details regarding their date of joining, years of service in different schools besides their overall performance report. As per the information, the required information is already being compiled in the District Education Office.

Chanchal Singh, Deputy Director (school education), said the issue of regularisation of contractual teachers could not be ruled out but nothing could be said as of now as the matter was under process.

In any case, the department should have the data of all its employees, he said.

The department at present has about 1000 contractual teachers. About 500-600 are recruited under the Sarav Shikhsa Abhiyan (SSA) and 180-200 are employed under the DEO panel and about 300 are recruited as guest faculty.

The issue of regularisation of the SSA teachers has been going on for the last one year.

In February this year, UT’s SSA society had urged the Government of India to take adequate steps to regularise the SSA teachers.

Since 2005, the department has recruited more than 1100 SSA teachers but half of them left the job for better remuneration and service condition in the neighbouring states.

Arvind Rana, President, SSA teachers’ Welfare Association, said it was a welcome step by the Education Department. Our issue had remained pending for long and because of it many of the SSA teachers left the jobs due to the lack of job security, he added.

“If the government wants to retain the contractual employees then it has to take adequate steps to regularise us,” said Rana, adding, that the decision had already been endorsed by the education secretary and the Chandigarh Administration.

According to the information, the government is in process to recruit another 800 SSA teachers, including JBT and TGT teachers, on contractual basis, which will almost double the number of contractual employees.

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PU senate elections
Results of 4 reserved seats declared
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
The results of the four seats, reserved for Panjab University teachers in the Senate, was declared today. Karamjeet Singh has made it to the Senate from professor arts constituency, meanwhile, Rupinder Tewari won the elections from professor science constituency. The results of the two other seats reserved for readers constituency in arts and science was also declared.

Karamjeet Singh from the UBS department defeated former Panjab University Teachers Association (PUTA) president Akshaya Kumar, who was from the department of english, and SK Chadha of the UBS department. While karamjeet got 70 votes, Akshaya got 51 votes and Chadha managed to draw 34 votes.

Karamjeet Singh had won the Senate elections in 2008 from reader constituency with the maximum margin of votes. Singh was backed by Keshav Malhotra who is a close associate of Ashok Goyal.

Meanwhile, Akshaya’s defeat was surprise to everyone as in the recent PUTA elections Manjit-Akshaya group had registered victory.

In the professor science constituency, Rupinder Tewari of the biotechnology department was re-elected again. Rupinder got 20 votes and was closely followed by SK Mehta of the chemistry department who got 17 votes while the third contender Sukesh Sharma of the biochemistry department managed to get only 5 votes.

Among the arts reader constituency Dinesh Kumar of the law department won the elections and bagged154 votes against Pardeep Sharma who could muster 122 votes while Kuljeet Kaur Brar of USOL got 23 votes only.

In the science reader constituency MC Sidhu of the botany department won the elections by securing 92 votes followed by kamaljit Singh from the same department who bagged 55 votes while Amit Chauhan of the UIET department got 51 votes.

The last phase of the elections will take place for 15 seats of graduates constituency besides elections to the eight seats, each in arts college principals constituency. The elections to the teachers constituency will also be held on September 23.

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Students hold protest outside VC’s office
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
Over fifty students, pursuing five-year integrated course of BE-MBA from the University Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology today staged a protest outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office. They demanded that they should given separate degrees for the Bachelors in Engineering and MBA as placement companies were rejecting them just because they had a dual degree.

The students reached outside the Vice-Chancellor's office early in the morning with placards, which were highlighting their demands. The protest witnessed participation from both boys and girls of the department.

One of the students, participating in the protest, said the first batch of the five-year integrated course was going to pass in 2012, however, various companies visiting the campus for placements, had started rejecting the students. The students demanded that the first batch that would be passing out should get separate degrees for both the courses so that the students could easily secure placements.

“The demand was raised earlier also but nobody bothered to discuss the issue following which we decided to stage a protest," students said.

UICET chairperson RK Chhabra, when contatced, refused to comment over the issues. Dean Students Welfare (DSW) AS Ahluwalia arrived at the scene to pacify the students and later in the evening a meeting with the students was also held.

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Student council members give poll expenditure details
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
It's not just the Panjab University Campus Student Council (PUCSC) president who managed to win elections within the limit of Rs 5,000 but the general secretary and joint secretary also won the elections after spending within the stipulated limit even after the extravagant campaigning.

Going by the details of the expenditure submitted to the university authorities by the elected council members, all expenditure remained within the limits set by the Lyngdoh committee. The details of the expenditure come under four to five broad categories; those are charts, markers, tea and coffee, communication and miscellaneous.

Kuldeep Sheoran, an Hindustan Students Association (HSA) candidate, who was candidate of SOPU-alliance declared his expenditure as Rs 4,500 only.

While Kuldeep had spent Rs 3, 000 on the tent installed during elections, Rs 7,00 were spent on chart papers and sketch pens, the remaining amount was spent on tea, coffee and other refreshments.

Interestingly, the joint secretary Kanhaiya Lal's expenditure is pretty surprising as he managed to win the elections by spending mere Rs 1,500.

PUCSC president Satinder Singh had spent Rs 37,00 on the elections. Among the winning candidates only vice-president Seerta Arora is yet to submit her expenditure details.

If the candidates contesting elections fail to comply with the expenditure limit, the election of the candidate stands cancelled.

One of the student leaders alleged that it was impossible to contest the elections within Rs 5,000 and submitting the details of expenditure was just a formality.

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60 to take part in workshop at GMCH-32
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19
Over 60 participants including faculty members, representatives of schools of Chandigarh, the GMCH-32 and several other institutions are scheduled to participate at three-day workshop on “Biostatistical aspects of randomised clinical trials and medical ethics” at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32.

The workshop will be started on September 21 by the department of community medicine GMCH-32 with the support of Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi. Experts including Professor Arvind Pandey, Director NIMS (ICMR), Professor SN Dwivedi from AIIMS, New Delhi Professor Rakesh Aggarwal and Professor CM Pandey from SGPGI Lucknow, Dr Ajit Mukharjee from the ICMR, Dr Ashoo Grover from DHR Division ICMR Professor (Col) Gyanendra Singh from MLN Medical College, Allahabad will be deliberating their talks on various topics and will discuss technical issues.

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