Chandigarh, October 3
In yet another incident of an assault on the police, a traffic constable was slapped in full public view at the grain market roundabout in Sector 26 here today. The constable, Des Raj, was regulating traffic when he signalled a carriage auto to stop for checking. However, the driver raced ahead. He later managed to stop the auto driver and a verbal duel followed. The auto driver then beat up the constable.

The incident occurred at 11 am when the constable chased the auto, which did not stop on being signalled. The constable managed to stop the auto at some distance as there was heavy traffic at the roundabout. The driver of the auto, Alauddin, got out of the vehicle and argued with the constable and allegedly misbehaved with him. The scuffle soon turned violent and the constable was beaten up in full public view.

The traffic constable then called up the police control room and nabbed the driver, Alauddin, who is a resident of the Bapu Dham Colony. The police reached the spot and arrested the auto driver in a case of obstructing a government servant from performing duty and assault on a public servant under Sections 332 and 353 of the IPC. A case has been registered at the Sector 26 police station.

The medical examination of the constable was conducted at the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital in Sector 16.

Chandigarh, October 3
The UT Administration today chargesheeted former general manager of the Lake Club Rajiv Tuli in connection with a high-voltage pool party at the club.

The Administration also cancelled the membership of Sanjay Singla, official caterer of the Lake Club, who had booked the club for an event management company. The Administration has written to the Excise Department to act against those who had forged the excise permit.

The UT Finance Secretary said after receiving a report from the Director, Sports, Sunil Bhatia, the Administration chargesheeted Tuli and gave him 14 days' time to file his reply. He said they

had, however, revoked Tuli's suspension and transferred him from the Lake Club to the Sports Complex, Sector 42.

Earlier, ADC Mahavir Kaushik had submitted his fact-finding report in connection with the pool party held at the Lake Club on August 19. In his report, he stated that there was an oral understanding between Harjeet Singh, owner of the event management company, Sanjay Singla, official caterer of the Lake Club and officials of the club.

Kaushik had stated that Singla had made organising parities his "business" and had booked 10 parties since March. Besides, the organisers held a commercial party in the name of "social get-together".

The report had highlighted that the organisers violated the Excise Act and tampered with the excise permission document by changing permission of five beer crates to 45 crates. A DJ was also used in the "silence zone".

Chandigarh, October 3
Over 600 girls of the Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College for Girls, Sector 26, screamed to a deafening pitch as the auditorium reverberated with their shouts as soon as the UT SSP gave a clarion call to the girls to raise their voice against eve-teasing during an interaction today.

“Scream at the top of your voices till you are heard and the eve-teaser is put behind the bars,” said UT SSP Naunihal Singh, who showed a glass to the girls in a jampacked auditorium and said, “Scream loudly so that this glass breaks.”

“I give you three chances; scream loudly so that this glass breaks. You should realise that women have an advantage over men. Your screams should be loud enough to scare away eve-teasers,” he said.

The interaction with college students was part of an ongoing campaign of the police to encourage girls to raise their voice against eve-teasing. During the past one week, 36 girls have complained to the police control room regarding eve-teasing. Eighteen cases have been registered and 24 persons arrested so far.

Chandigarh, October 3
The Chandigarh domestic airport is all set to get a modified bay layout by March next year. At present, the domestic airport has three bays - two for big aircraft and one for small aircraft. A bay, also called the "apron area", is a specified area where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refuelled and boarded.

Under the new bay expansion plan, the city airport will get two modern bays. In all, there will five bays, four of which will provide parking space to big aircraft. Two of these will be connected through aero bridges, on which civil and electric work is under way at the airport.

These two bays will be prepared using the "self-manoeuvring technique", also called the "power in and push back" practice. Under this system, when an aircraft prepares to take off from its bay, it is pushed back with the help of heavy tractors on the runway from where it can take off.

Officials at the airport said this facility was commonly used in the Delhi airport and other international airports. The facility aimed at utilising ground space optimally. The department was in the process of procuring heavy tractors to toe aircraft, the officials said.

The remaining three bays, including the one for small aircraft, will be at some distance from the departure area. The airport authorities have written to all carriers to arrange air taxis to faliciate their customers.

HS Toor, Director of the Chandigarh domestic airport, said with the new bays, the airport would be in a better position to handle air traffic and even meet the future demand. He said the budget for the new bays had been be pegged at around Rs 10 crore.

He said the area near the old building of the airport had been cleared to provide the required space for the new bay layout, work on which had been started and was expected to be completed by March next year. “There will be no interruption in the existing operations during the work," Toor said.

Chandigarh, October 3
The security staff of Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Shivraj Patil may land in trouble as a complainant, Om Prakash, who was allegedly beaten up at Patil’s public darbar on October 1, today filed a complaint before UT DGP PK Srivastva seeking strict against Patil’s security staff. The DGP has marked an inquiry into the matter to DSP Ashish Kapoor. Now, statements of witnesses who were present at the public darbar will be recorded.

Srivastva said they had received the complaint and were investing the allegations levelled against the security staff of the UT Administrator.

The complainant, Om Prakash, along with his wife Sunita Sharma, met with the DGP at the UT Police Headquarters in Sector 9. He submitted his complaint to the DGP and a copy of it was also submitted to the officials concerned at the Sector 3 police station.

In his complaint, a copy of which is available with the Chandigarh Tribune, Om Prakash has alleged that on October 1, he had attended the public darbar in connection with the kidnapping of his son. He alleged that after the public darbar was over, one of the security personnel, attached with the UT Administrator, beat him up.

He alleged that after the incident, many people, including employees of the UT Administration, gathered near the venue of the public darbar. He doesn’t know the name of the person who allegedly beat him up but can identify him, he added.

Om Prakash had stated in his complaint that after the incident he also called up police control room on 100 after that a PCR reached the UT Secretariat and took them to the Sector 3 police station.

In the wake of the recent controversy arising at UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil’s public darbar, the Administrator has now told the UT officials to properly scrutinise complaints before finalising the list of complainants. Sources revealed that Patil is not happy with the level of complaints, which are put forth at the public darbar.

Though the IT Department of the UT Administration verifies complaints and also seeks replies from the departments concerned before the holding of the public darbar, now, the Administrator has told the officials to properly filter the complaints before including them in the list to be taken up at the public darbar.

A senior official of the UT Administration said after the recent public darbar, the Administrator had old a meeting with the UT officials in which he told them that they should address minor complaints at the department level and include only those complaints in the public darbar which are of serious nature.

Sources revealed that he also told the officials that in the complaints related to the policy matters, they should inform the complainants in advance that their case fell under the policy matters.

Moreover, the Administrator is also not happy with the quality of complaints reaching the public darbar. Recently, a resident had approached Patil with the complaining that there is leakage in his house.

Panchkula, October 3
In a major development in the Tejas Gaba kidnapping case, the CBI today filed the closure report. It was after the CBI failed to get any clue about the child’s whereabouts and lay hands on any evidence in the case that the closure report was filed.

In fact, the CBI had failed to achieve anything substantial even during the remand period of the high-profile criminals involved in the case, who were arrested in the case.

Eight-year-old Tejas was waiting for his school bus at Paruthi Chowk on the morning of December 12, 2008, along with his mother, Neena Gabba when he demanded a packet of chips. When his mother went to fetch one, a Honda Accord stopped nearby and a person alighted from it and grabbed Tejas’ arm. When his mother reached the spot and reacted, the person pulled out a revolver and fired a shot on the ground close to her feet. He forced Tejas in the car and sped away.

The Panipat police and the CBI had made tall claims about cracking the Tejas kidnapping case but had failed to achieve anything.

Chandigarh, October 3
Terming budget allocated to the UT Administration insufficient, it has decided to demand Rs 500 crore more under non-plan from the Union Government.

At a meeting of the Finance Department, the officials decided that the money was required to pay increasing salaries of the UT employees, to compensate landowners in connection with land-acquisition cases and to fund urban development projects.

For the current financial year, the Union Government had given Rs 2916.01 crore. Under the plan head, the UT Administration had got Rs 737.23 crore whereas under the non-plan head the Administration got Rs 2178.78 crore.

A senior official of the UT Administration said that they reviewed the budget amount and decided that they need Rs 500 crore more to meet ever-rising financial demands.

For the medical and health services, the UT Administration had received Rs 87.69 crore for medical education and research, trauma hospital, mental health institute and for the government institute for mentally challenged children.

The UT Administration had received Rs 45.27 crore for housing for government employees, residential houses for police personnel, the Burail Jail building and houses for Scheduled Castes.

Besides, the UT Administration had also received Rs 246 crore under the urban development head for state capital projects, JNNURM schemes, work at the Punjab and Haryana High Court complex, basic amenities for economically weaker sections, solid waste management and allied activities and other administrative work.

Mohali, October 3
The Medicity project in Mullanpur area is planned to be expanded by 150 acres to provide more and comprehensive medical facilities to people.

Sources said today that the process of acquisition of additional land had started, as Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was interested in making the Medicity project a unique one.

The Punjab government had already allotted 50 acres of land to the department of atomic energy free of cost for setting up a state-of-the-art cancer hospital in the Medicity.

The area is being developed by GMADA, which had now been asked to build a boundary wall around the 50 acres of land allotted for the cancer hospital. The hospital would be set up on the lines of Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital.

Sources further said on September 30, Dr Naresh Trehan, a well-known cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgeon, was reported to be speculating on the idea of setting up a specialised hospital in the Medicity.

It is learnt that while 50 acres of land had already been allotted for the cancer hospital, two pockets, measuring about 28 acres and eight acres, are lying vacant.

GMADA had earlier acquired 97.425 acres falling in Ferozepur Bangur village for the Medicity project.

Chandigarh, October 3
In the wake of the scrapping of the day market project at Mauli Jagran by the MC General House, the MC authorities are in a fix over how to avoid possible audit objections against the project on which Rs 21 lakh had already been spent. The authorities will be mooting a proposal at the next House meeting that instead of scrapping the day market project, the House should recommend certain modifications in it.

Sources said during the last House meeting held on September 28, the authorities had failed to table the proposal as Mayor Raj Bala Malik had refused to take up the issue. A senior official said if the Mayor permitted the issue would be discussed at the next meeting of the House.

The authorities are likely to propose that as 40 per cent work of at the market project had been completed at a cost of Rs 21 lakh, the House should rethink its decision of scrapping the project. The project could be completed with necessary modifications as recommended by councillors. The authorities are also going to make a query that from whom the money, which had been spent on the project so far, would be recovered as neither the contractor nor the officials had cancelled it?

The official said there were apprehensions that during an audit of the corporation work, objections would be raised as to why the day market project was cancelled after spending Rs 21 lakh on it.

The minutes of the House meeting held in August where the day market project was cancelled were approved by the last House meeting and have been sent to the UT Administration for final decision.

In 2009, a proposal for the construction of 136 booths was approved by the General House and its construction commenced in 2011 with the approval from the Chief Architect of the UT. The authorities earmarked one acre for the project with a budget allocation of Rs 65 lakh.

According to the records of the corporation, for three years, the Chief Architect had made various modifications to the day market project after which the final approval was given to it.

Chandigarh, October 3
Jai Bharat Company has refuted allegations levelled against it at the last General House meeting of the municipal corporation (MC) on the installation of defective water chlorinators in the city.

In a communication to the Mayor and MC Commissioner, a company representative stated that the water chlorinators, which were installed in Mauli Jagran, belonged to some other company. The company has also sent the copy of communication to all councillors to clarify its position.

In the last General House meeting, BJP councillor Saurab Joshi had raised an issue that a majority of the chlorinators installed in tube-wells of the city are non-functional. He also objected to the allotment of the work to this company. — TNS

Chandigarh, October 3
The School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh, in collaboration with UNICEF, New Delhi, organised an eight-day national capacity development workshop for district-level managers on reproductive and child health (RCH) planning that concluded today. The workshop was attended by around 20 participants from Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal.

The workshop was structured to improve knowledge and skills of district-level managers for planning and implementation of reproductive and child health programme under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). The participants were trained on various interventions available under the programme. The methodology was based on principles of adult learning. It built the understanding for better delivery of RCH interventions as reflected by the participants.

A health specialist from UNICEF, Dr Jagdeesan M, answered queries of all participants. He stressed on the use of local language while designing community health messages and to monitor activities continuously.

Panchkula, October 3
No longer will Rajesh Sharma (58), a physically challenged person, has to pay obeisance from outside the Mansa Devi temple during navratras, as the Mansa Devi authorities is constructing a ramp to facilitate physically challenged persons this navratras.

The navratras will begin from October 16 and the authorities are gearing up for the fest.

“The work of constructing the ramp would be completed within 10 to 12 days. So, with the onset of navratras, we would have a ramp, particularly for the physically challenged and senior citizens,” said DP Dattana, chief executive officer of the Mansa Devi shrine board.

The ramp is being constructed from the community centre till garbgreha. It is located near the VIP gate.

“Not only this, we have fixed up with some NGOs that have decided to provide wheel chairs to the needy,” said an official of the shrine.

He further added, “It was when we received a number of requests from the physically challenged persons, pregnant women and senior citizens that we took this decision.

“Every year during the navratras, I used to stand outside and pay my obeisance,” said Vijay Singh Chauhan, a physically challenged person and a resident of Sector 14, Panchkula.

Dera Bassi, October 3
Leaders of various political parties and residents assembled in Dera Bassi and opposed the state government’s decision to scrap the Dashmesh canal project.

Addressing mediapersons, leaders and residents said as the government decided to scrap the Dashmesh canal project, lakhs of people of Mohali district, particularly farmers of Dera Bassi and Banur areas, who are already facing shortage of irrigation and drinking water, would be affected.

A 31-member Dashmeh canal constructing committee, SAS Nagar, was also formed on the occasion. Representatives of the Congress, BJP, CPI, CPM, BSP, PPP and SAD were included in the committee. The members of the committee said they would meet Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and demand the construction of Dashmesh canal soon.

They said people of this area were already facing shortage of drinking and irrigation water. Notably, this project was proposed in 1980 and was a part of the SYL canal and it was planned that the canal was to take water from the Anandpur Sahib Hydel Channel to Dera Bassi and Banur areas.

The irrigation department had acquired a total of 1,350 acres of land for the project and built some portion but had never put it in use. Now, the government is planning to transfer the acquired land to GMADA by presenting an example that most part of Mohali area had come under housing projects.

Mohali, October 3
To keep a check on incidents of crime in residential areas during late night hours, high-tech close circuit television cameras (CCTV) would be installed at security gates in the town.

Giving details, Mohali Deputy Commissioner Varun Roojam said he had already directed a private firm to install the high-tech CCTVs at each security gate in the town.

A meeting with officials of the firm in this regard was held today in which we have directed the firm to install the CCTVs as soon as possible, said Roojam, adding that the firm has again appointed guards to man the gates during night hours.

These would be high-tech gadgets with provisions of night vision and recording. The firm would be responsible for the entire expense on the project and its further maintenance, said Roojam.

There are as many as 69 security gates in the town, which had been set up by a private firm in November, 2009, to check the incidents of vehicle and house thefts. Notably, the project had started drawing flak for one reason or the other.

Panchkula, October 3
The Panchkula General Hospital, Sector 6, would be the first hospital in Haryana to have a maternity hospital in its vicinity. A proposal by the health department has been mooted and an application for the allocation of space has been moved to the authorities at the hospital.

The decision was taken in order to facilitate women who are expecting and provide them better facilities.

A decision in this regard has been taken and it has been finalised that a separate maternity hospital will be constructed in the vicinity of the hospital. An application has been moved by the health department and sent to Civil Surgeon VK Bansal, said an official of the health department.

He further added, “Every time the labour room is packed like sardines. There have been cases where a pregnant woman is rushed to the hospital, but she has to wait till the bed is vacant. So, this decision has been taken to provide them better facilities.”

The hospital will consist of 100 beds and special staff apart from the gynaecology department.

Civil Surgeon VK Bansal confirmed the development. “Yes, we have received a communication from the health department and we would be sending our suggestion to them soon,” said Bansal.

Till now the hospital authorities have thought of giving space near the gate, so that it takes less time for the pregnant women to reach. There have been many incidents where the women who are expecting before reaching the ward have delivered the child at the gate only. We have thought of constructing the hospital at a place, which is closer to the gate, said an official from the hospital.

Chandigarh, October 3
Spending several lakhs in election campaigning and then escaping without any action wont be possible for candidates contesting student elections anymore.

Now, candidates will have to mention the name of the party they are affiliated with on the nomination papers, based on which all the expenses made by the particular student party will be added to the expense of the candidate. Presently, the candidates don’t mention the name of the student party they are affiliated with on the nomination papers.

A report by Chandigarh Police on student elections had mentioned the names of student parties that violated the Lyngdoh guidelines. However, no action could be initiated against the candidates as the names of the parties they are affiliated with are not mentioned in the nomination papers.

Dean Student Welfare (DSW) AS Ahluwalia said that the candidates contesting the elections never mention the name of the student organisation from which they contest election.

“During the audit of expenses made by the candidates during student elections, the candidates claim that they spent less then Rs 5,000 and all expenses were made by their parties,” the DSW said.

However, the Panjab University now has decided to add another column in the nomination papers in which the name of the student organisation from which the candidate is contesting is to be mentioned.

The DSW said that the move will help in curbing the candidates' overspending in the elections as all the expenses made by the party would be added in the candidate’s expenditure.

Interestingly, the Panjab University Campus Student Council (PUCSC) president Satinder Singh who was a Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) candidate, claimed that he spent only Rs 3,700 during the elections. Similarly, Kuldeep Sheoran, a Hindustan Students Association (HSA) candidate, who won the elections (in alliance with the Students Organisation of Panjab University) declared his expenditure as Rs 4,500 only.

Chandigarh, October 3
The University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) is back again with its annual event EffiCycle 2012, a collegiate design competition in which 62 teams would showcase their innovative 3-wheel vehicles.

Efficycle tasks undergraduate engineering students to fabricate prototypes of 3-wheelers which are powered by human-electric hybrid energy. The event aims to promote environment sustainability and encourages innovative designs.

Surabhi Godara, a member of the organising team of the UIET, stated that this year 129 teams from across country had registered for the event, out of which 62 teams have been shortlisted for the main event. The teams which have been shortlisted include IIT Roorkee, IIT Patna, IT-BHU Varanasi, IIT Kanpur, BITS PILANI, Anna University and IGIT Delhi.

“The design proposals of all the teams underwent strict evaluation, based on several technical and managerial parameters, and 62 teams were shortlisted," members of the organising team said. The two-day qualifying round for the event was held in July.

Chandigarh, October 3
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is all set to organise National Informatics Olympiad 2012-13 in collaboration with the Indian Association for Research in Computing Science (IARCS), Mumbai.

The olympiad will be held in two stages. The first stage, which will be held at the zonal level, will take place on November 3 this year.

Chandigarh's KBDAV Centenary Secondary School is one of the 40 centres selected by the board for the zonal exam which is open to all the students of classes VIII to XII in schools affiliated with the CBSE as well as other boards.

CBSE officials said that the zonal level examination would be a written test to judge the aptitude of the students, their logical competence, problem-solving skills, and critical thinking.

The candidates who qualify in the first stage will appear in the second stage examination which be held on January 19, 2013,. The exam will be based on programming skills. The winners at this level will get a chance to be selected for the International Olympiad.

CBSE officials said that interested schools in Chandigarh can forward the list of their candidates who wish to participate in the first stage examination at the local centre, KBDAV, along with the examination fee before October 20.

Question papers from previous years and other training details are available at the Olympiad website: www.iarcs.org.in.

When the candidates go to the examination centre to write the examination, they should carry with them a bona fide certificate with their photograph attested by the principal of their school.

Chandigarh, October 3
Auditions for the Zonal Youth Festival were held today by Panjab University.The auditions were held at the Student Centre.

Dr Surinder Sharma, cultural adviser to the PU Vice-Chancellor, said that students from all the departments were invited for the auditions for dance, singing, and theater performances and participated in large number. — TNS