Chandigarh, October 4
The Principal Accountant General (Audit), UT, has detected a serious anomaly in the refund of earnest money totalling Rs 35 lakh to the applicants who failed to attend auctions for vanity numbers of six series in 2011-2012. The irregularity has been detected close on the heels of an embezzlement of Rs 23.68 lakh unearthed at the RLA.

Not only anomaly in the refund of earnest money, but the AG has also pointed out misappropriation of government receipts worth Rs 8.33 lakh. The audit observations about the financial irregularities have been submitted to the Chandigarh Administration for necessary action.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mohammed Shayin, said the audit observations were being looked in to.

It has been pointed out that according to the General Financial Rules, the RLA was supposed to forfeit the earnest money of the absentee applicants but instead the earnest money was refunded to them during the auction for six series, i.e. CH 01 AH, CH01 AJ, CH 01 AK, CH 01 AL, CH 01 AM, CH 01 AN held during 2011-2012.

Sources in the administration said the RLA had admitted the flaw. It has been further pointed out that 23,565 receipts generated through computers as counters for collection of cash for the issuing of licences were not accounted for in the daily counter-wise cash receipt statement, indicating misappropriation. Instead of generating the counterfoils of receipts, the data of the receipts was stored in computers.

The RLA has admitted that it's a serious lapse on the part of the system administrator, SPIC. The AG's apprehension of the audit regarding the misappropriation of amount received against the missing receipts has not been ruled out by the department in its reply to the audit. The matter is being thoroughly investigated, confirmed a senior UT official.

Chandigarh, October 4
A 30-year-old balloon seller was found murdered in the high security area near the Punjab Chief Minister's residence at Rajendra Park, near the civil secretariat, Sector 1, here this afternoon. The victim, Tej Partap Singh's throat was found slit and his body was lying at a distance from the helipad. A helicopter was scheduled to land at the time the body was found.

The deceased was a native of Uttar Pradesh and resided at Nayagaon along with his brother who later identified his body. He had been staying there and selling balloons for the last seven years.

The police found a bicycle and some balloons near the body. Currency notes were also found scattered at the spot. Preliminary investigations suggest it is a case of enmity though robbery has not been ruled out completely.

The police said Tej Pratap was murdered while he was returning to his residence at Nayagaon. A passerby noticed the body and called up the police control room. A tattoo, 'Tej Pratap', was engraved on his right arm.

The police shifted the body to the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital in Sector 16.

The deceased is survived by his wife and two children. A case of murder under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered at the police station, Sector 3.

Inspector Neeraj Sarna, SHO of the Sector 3 police station, said they were examining all angles and the murder seemed to have taken place last night.

Chandigarh, October 4
With the fuel prices skyrocketing, there has always been a need to search for alternative means of transportation, and human-powered transport is commercially the most viable option. Working on similar lines, a team of the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) has developed an environment friendly vehicle, ‘The Machine’, which runs on human power as well as electricity and can reach a speed of 50 kmph.

The eight-member team comprises Bheeny (its captain), Abhishek Sharma, Hardik Batra, Nitin Kaushik, Umendra Kumar Sharma, Siddhant Jandial, Rohit Nagpal and Harendra Pratap Singh.

Abhishek said their three-wheel vehicle was very cost effective and could reach a speed of 50 kmph, depending on the pedalling power. “The vehicle runs on human-battery hybrid power and is capable of seating two passengers,” he said. The vehicle has a 400-watt motor and a 24-volt battery.

Bheeny, who is the only girl member in the team, said the vehicle was certainly the best option for short-distance transportation within the city. “It can replace motor-powered vehicles, thus reducing fuel consumption as well as environmental pollution,” she said.

Describing the design of the vehicle, the members of the team said they had used the fairing (poly carbonate sheet) for improving its aerodynamics.

They stated that they had customised the vehicle for pleasure driving and it was comfortable to ride, reliable and had safety features too. “For safety, we have added rollover protection and side-impact bars in our vehicle,” said Hardik.

The vehicle is all set to perform at the event called Efficycle, which is scheduled to be held this month. It would witness participation from 62 teams from across the country. Vehicles’ performances would be judged on several parameters.

Chandigarh, October 4
Even six months after the announcement was made, the Municipal Corporation Mayor is yet to hold an open darbar to resolve public grievances on the spot. On March 9, an official communication was sent by the public relation office of the corporation stating that the Mayor had decided to hold open darbars in every ward to hear to the problems of the residents.

The Mayor had said that these darbars will be held in the community centres of each ward, and area councillors and officers from all the departments of the corporation would be involved involved in the process to resolve the problems of the people on the spot.

It had been announced by the Mayor that the first open darbar will be held on March 24 and four wards will be covered every month. In the statement, she further elaborated that proper minutes of the darbar will be prepared and will be circulated to each councillor, concerned departments of the Municipal Corporation and Chandigarh Administration for implementation.

Till date, not even a single darbar has been held by the Mayor for redressing the grievances of the public. It may be mentioned that the first open darbar, which was to be held in March, was postponed by the Mayor for April. No date was finalised for the darbar by the Mayor as the officials had a very busy schedule and, resultantly, neither the mayor nor the officials took any initiative to hold the darbar.

MC Mayor Raj Bala Malik was not available for comment despite several attempts to reach her.

Chandigarh, October 4
The UT Education Department has placed a proposal with the Chandigarh Administration to provide one-time cash subsidy to parents for buying schools uniforms for their children. The officials of the department said the proposal was aimed at avoiding delay in distributing uniforms to students in Chandigarh.

At present over one lakh students of classes I to VIII are being provided uniforms free of cost. Under the new system, which is likely to be followed from the next session, the department will open joint bank accounts of all students and their mothers to transfer the fixed amount in the accounts. In case, if the mother of a student is not there, father or guardian will be the joint account holder with the student.

As per the estimates of the department, the cash subsidy will range from Rs 700 to Rs 1,000 per child. Out of the total amount the Sarav Shikshya Abhiyan (SSA), Chandigarh, will contribute Rs 200 per child and the rest will be borne by the Education Department. The budget for the subsidy has been pegged at around Rs eight to nine crore.

The officials said a similar cash-subsidy model, which was running successfully in Delhi schools, had been closely studied before the proposal was placed.

An internal committee of the department has given a number of recommendation like ensuring enough purchase centres for buying uniforms and ensuring good quality of material for the uniforms. A school-based inspection committee will also be formed to ensure that all students come in proper uniform.

Chandigarh, October 4
About 2,700 CTET candidates have applied for the 654 posts of JBT teachers, advertised by the UT Education Department last month. The teachers will be recruited on contractual basis and the last date to submit the fee was Thursday.

This time the candidates were required to fill up their applications online and as per the data received, 2675 applicants had already submitted their application and fee till October 3. "The number of application is expected to cross 3000 because many candidates submitted their fee on the last day on Thursday," said Deputy Director, Education department, Chanchal Singh. The fee confirmation list with the detailed particulars of the cadidates will be displayed on October 9, followed by the display of provisional merit list on October 16.

The original documents will be checked during the first round of verification on October 30 and November 1 at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10.There will be more than one round of verifications, if required. All the details will be placed on the website www.ssachd.nic.in. Meanwhile, the recruitment of trained graduate teachers is also going on. Recently the certificates of over 4400 candidates were verified.

Chandigarh, October 4
The UT police today began a probe on the complaint of Om Prakash, a Hallomajra resident who was allegedly beaten up at UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil's public darbar by the security staff.

Yesterday, the DGP had marked an inquiry into the matter to DSP Ashish Kapoor.

A senior UT police official said that they are preparing a list of witnesses who were present outside the venue of the public darbar at the UT Secretariat. The police is also checking the recording on CCTV cameras installed near the lifts on the first floor of the UT Secretariat.

The official said that the police has sought help from the media persons who were present on the spot to cover the public darbar proceedings. He also said that if necessary, the police would record their statements as well.

The complainant, Om Prakash, had alleged that on October 1, he had attended the public darbar in connection with the kidnapping of his son. He claimed that after the public darbar was over, one of the security personnel, attached with the UT Administrator, beat him up.He also said that after the incident, many people, including employees of the UT Administration, had gathered near the venue of the public darbar and he doesn't know the name of the person who beat him up, but can identify him.

Chandigarh, October 4
The UT estate office today issued a 15-day notice to the inhabitants of three slum colonies - Pandit Colony, Kuldep Colony and Mazoor Colony - in Sector 52 to remove their shanties or face demolition. The notices are part of the drive undertaken by the Chandigarh Administration to shift the eligible slum dwellers to the flats constructed under the rehabilitation scheme by the CHB.

A team led by Inspector Ravinder Sharma today pasted notices in the colonies. Out of around 400 tenements in the three colonies, 71 have been allotted flats under the rehabilitation scheme.

The issue was discussed at a meeting chaired by the UT Administrator. It was decided that the estate office should speed up the process of allotment to the slum dwellers and vacate the encroached land.

Chandigarh, October 4
Reviewing the ongoing work of slum rehabilitation project, UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil today observed that the proposed water supply to the slum rehabilitation scheme by providing a tube-well and boosting systems is not an assured system of the water supply.

Even if any pipeline is to be laid in this regard, the same should be provided by the municipal corporation (MC) to ensure that the municipal water reaches all slum rehabilitation colonies.

The Administrator also instructed that individual plastic water tanks provided over the rooftop of small flats may be dispensed with by providing common overhead water tank, so that the space available can be utilised for solar water heating system. In this regard, the MC should work out the modalities to charge water consumption charges on average basis.

Patil asked officials to ensure completion of the remaining work in a stipulated time, so that 10,016 constructed flats can be handed over to beneficiaries at the earliest.

Earlier giving brief regarding the slum rehabilitation project, Satya Gopal, chairman Chandigarh Housing Board, said the Chandigarh Administration decided to rehabilitate all existing slum dwellers of 18 colonies at eight locations in the city in 2006.

The Chandigarh Administration further notified small flat schemes for providing a one-time solution to the problem of settlement of slum dwellers. The Chandigarh Housing Board was designated at the nodal agency for implementation of the slum rehabilitation scheme by the Chandigarh Administration.

Chandigarh, October 4
From giving examples of the hit songs of Bollywood films to urging girls to break glass with their screams, the ongoing campaign against the eve-teasers in the city by telling girls to raise a voice continued today with the UT SSP Naunihal Singh asking the girls at MCM-DAV College in Sector 36 to be inspired by ‘jhansi ki rani’.

“You should all take inspiration from ‘jhansi ki rani’. If she had a sword to fight off her enemies, you should all use mobile phones as your sword and use it to call the police and to take video recordings of eve-teasers. If the sword was the shield of ‘jhansi ki rani’, let mobile be the shield of modern day girls,” he said while addressing the girls at the college.

This was the fifth such interaction of the UT SSP with the college girl students ever since the last one week when the drive picked up.

One of the college girls said that eve-teasers are usually on vehicles and flee after passing a comment at high speed. “Most of the them are on their bikes and flee before we realise what has happened. What should we do in such cases?” The SSP said girls should note down the number of the vehicle and call the 100 number, immediately.

The SSP also asked the girls to make maximum use of their sixth sense in identifying an eve-teasers.— TNS

Chandigarh, October 4
The UT police control room today received a call from a girl that a traffic policeman eve-teased her near the Canara Bank at Sector 17. A police team reached the spot and conducted investigations. However, the girl was not found there.

DSP (Central) Ashish Kapoor has written to the SP (Traffic) Maneesh Chaudhary to conduct an inquiry into the complaint. It will be investigated as to which traffic police officers were posted on duty at Sector 17 at that time.

Last week, a home guard volunteer with the UT police was dismissed for eve teasing a girl student of Government College Sector 11.

Chandigarh, October 4
Taking a serious note of the walkout by MC officials during the recently held general house meeting, the Adviser to UT Administrator today reprimanded the officers and directed them to deal all issues raised by the Councillors with sincerity and efficiency.

The meeting was called by UT Adviser K K Sharma to resolve the impasse between the Councillors and the MC officials after the officials made a complaint saying the working environment in the Corporation was quite bad. Apart from all the heads of the department of the MC, the meeting was attended by the MC Commissioner and the UT Home Secretary.

After the officials explained to the Adviser the reason for leaving the general house meeting held on September 28, the Adviser said it was their duty to give replies to the queries made by the Councillors and any proposal tabled by the authorities. The Adviser also instructed the officials that they should carefully plan the work and implement them after seeking approval from the competent authority.

He also said that if they have any objection to the behaviour of the Councillors in the House, they could complaint about it to the MC Commissioner who is also present in the House. It may be added that in the last general house meeting, all the officials who were sitting in the officers gallery walked out from the house in protest against the unparliamentary language used by the Councillors.

Chandigarh, October 4
A minor fire broke out in the BSNL exchange office at Sector 49 this morning. Fire officials said the fire broke out due to a short circuit in a cabin adjoining to the general manager’s office on the second floor. Furniture, two computers and a laptop lying in the cabin got destroyed in the fire.

Officials revealed that two fire tenders were sent to the spot to douse the flames after receiving a call at 10:10 am.

Station fire officer Sham Singh said all fire safety norms were followed on the premises, but an inspection would be conducted tomorrow and if any discrepancy was found, a notice would be issued to the BSNL office.

Chandigarh, October 4
A30-yr-old allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his residence last night. The deceased, Suresh, 30, was suffering from depression owing to a matrimonial dispute.

In another case, a 40 year-old-man, Hira, committed suicide by consuming a poisonous substance. — TNS

Mohali, October 4
Two students of Government Primary School, Mataur, were seen covering their noses while passing in front of conveniences in the school, emanating intolerable smell.

“Leave aside using these toilets, we do not even want to come near them. We prefer holding on to our bladder and use the toilet at home,” said one of them.

In the absence of regular sweepers, sanitation has become a major problem in several schools of the town. During a random survey of over half a dozen schools across the town, The Tribune team found that only one school had a sweeper on its roll, which was insufficient to maintain eight blocks of toilets in the school. The school has more than 1,800 students. It was also found that all schools were having proper toilets, but lacks manpower to maintain them.

In some schools, members of the staff has been contributing money to arrange the sweepers, while in others the school authorities have been using school grants for the purpose. The toilets in Government Senior Secondary School, located in Phase IIIB2, were found to be in a pathetic condition. The school staff maintained that only one sweeper was provided by the authorities to look after eight blocks of the toilets.

“One can easily guess the quality of work in such conditions. The situation worsens when the sweeper takes a leave,” said a teacher.

Similarly, in Government Primary School, Mataur village, the toilets were found unclean. “We have no sweeper here, but we contribute to arrange a sweeper for the school,” said a staff member of the school. The school is having strength of 446 students.

The story was no different in other schools, including Government Middle School, Phase II; Government Primary School and Government Middle School, Phase I; Government High School, Sector 70; Government Primary School and Government Middle School, Phase VI. In all these schools, the staff has been paying from their own pockets for cleaning purpose.

Chandigarh, October 4
Even as a majority of government schools in Chandigarh have separate toilets for girls and boys, many schools, especially in the periphery, were found with sanitation and cleanliness issues, besides shortage of toilets, especially for girl students.

As on one hand, most of the urinals in the boys’ toilets were lying destroyed in Government Middle School, Sector 52, on the other hand, handbasin at the girls’ toilet was also found to be choked. Government Middle School, Palsora, too, had similar sanitation issues.

One of the toilets in Government High School, Dadu Majra, often remained chocked. Officiating in charge of the school, Bhupinderjeet Kaur, said sewerage connectivity of the toilets was irregular due to uneven levelling of the school. She also informed that while the school had separate toilets for girls and boys, the same was not available for staff.

A visit to the schools around urban slum areas like Mauli Jagaran found that excessive strength of students has put a lot of pressure on the existing infrastructure of the schools. For instance, Government High School in Mauli Colony has strength of over 3,800 students and despite the fact that the school runs in double shifts, the existing infrastructure, including toilets, are not sufficient.

School principal Rajesh Kumar said while the school had three toilets for girls and equal number of toilets for boys, but given to the total number of students, the school needs additional two to three toilets, especially for girl students.

DEO Ram Kumar said as far as sanitation and cleanliness issues of the toilets was concerned, it was the duty of the school head to properly maintain all toilets and other maintenance issues, for which they were also paid contingency funds. As far as the construction of new toilets is concerned, the department is already under the process to identify the schools requiring additional infrastructure.

According to him, as per our recent reports collected from the cluster heads, no school was found where there were no separate toilets for girls and boys. Drinking problem was also found satisfactory.

Panchkula, October 4
Rhea Batra, an 11-year-old student, is asked to use boys’ toilet, as the girls’ toilet is choked and messy at Government Model School, Sector 6. The toilets and drinking water systems of Panchkula government schools are in a shambles.

It seems that all government schools in Panchkula, be it government model schools in Sectors 6 and 7, Ralla village and others, all have toilets and drinking water facility just for the sake of it.

“The girls’ toilet is completely choked. So, whenever we need to go to the toilets, we are asked by teachers to use the boys’ toilet,” said a student of Government Model School, Sector 6, Panchkula, on the condition of anonymity.

He further added, “Even the boys’ toilet is not properly maintained.”

“I have told the school authorities a number of times to get the toilets corrected, but they say a plumber would take around Rs 2,000 and the school can’t shell out this much of amount for just maintaining the toilets,” said a sweeper of the school.

Not only this, two out of five to six taps were not functional.

“Most of the time, taps don’t function. And when they function, one can’t drink water because the sweepers don’t even clean the vomited stuff,” said a student of Class VIII of Government Model School, Sector 7, requesting anonymity.

When officials concerned were contacted, all gave a standard reply that they will look into the matter.

“We have got a six-month time and we have started the maintenance work too. Otherwise, we always make sure that the children get better facilities,” said Government Model School, Sector 7, principal, Dr Sneha Lata.

When contacted, district education officer (DEO) Nalini Mimani said, “I just know that the government schools were asked to submit an affidavit. Rest I am not aware of the complete issue. The district elementary education officer must be aware of the issue.”

Whereas district elementary education officer (DEEO) Parmeshwari Hooda said, “I have been posted here just two days ago. But I will surely look into the matter.”

Mohali, October 4
The SAS Institute of IT and Research in Phase VIII of the Industrial Area today suspended eight of its students following a clash between two groups of students on a minor issue.

Though both parties reached at a compromise when the police intervened, the college authorities took disciplinary action against eight students of MCA and BCA courses and suspended them.

Confirming it, institute director Sushil Narang said two groups of students created ruckus and indulged in a clash in the college this afternoon. “Some of the students sustained injuries and we have to call the police. One of the students was also shifted to a private hospital for treatment following the clash. We have suspended eight students in this connection,” said Sushil Narang.

DSP RS Sohal said some students were rounded up but they reached at compromise later.

Chandigarh, October 4
Hundreds of aspirants for admission to MD, MS and PG diploma courses in medical institutions faced a lot of inconvenience today, as even after waiting in queues for several hours, they failed to get the examination fee voucher required to fill up a form for the national eligibility-cum-entrance test - postgraduate (NEET-PG), as two branches of Axis Bank designated for the purpose received only 200 such vouchers.

NEET-PG, the eligibility-cum-ranking examination, will be conducted for the first time by the National Board of Examinations (NBE) as a computer-based test from November 23 to December 6.

The sale of information bulletin-cum-examination fee voucher required to fill the examination forms online started today.

The miseries of the applicants were not over at the bank only. Those who were able to get the fee vouchers found an error while submitting the examination form online at the NBE website.

“Whenever we tried to submit the form online, the page meant for filling up the fee voucher number kept on opening repeatedly. Even the candidate care helpline number: 0124-4517187 did not respond,” said Dinesh Chadha, a resident of Ropar district.

On the condition of anonymity, an official at Axis Bank in Chandigarh said the shortage of fee vouchers was due to the huge demand and a request in this regard has already been sent to the head office. It was expected that more vouchers will be available within a day or two.