Chandigarh, November 6
Government Multi-Speciality Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, has started eight of its departments from the new OPD block, putting to risk the lives of hundreds of patients as the new block has failed the fire safety test.

Interestingly, the new building is yet to be formally inaugurated. The violations were pointed out by the fire department in July this year, but the departments were shifted to the new building last month, without any rectifications in the building.

The OPDs currently being run from the new block are medicine, skin, orthopaedics and physiotherapy, paediatrics, psychiatry, surgery, ENT and eye. Interestingly, ever since these OPDs have been shifted to the new block, the number of patients visiting the hospital have increased manifold.

After conducting an inspection of the new OPD block, the fire department had refused to give clearance to the building. The violations, as pointed out by the fire Department, include a corridor connecting the emergency wing with the OPD block, which will be a hindrance for the fire tender to reach the CSSD department.

This department houses the autoclave unit of the hospital where the surgical instruments and linens are sterilised at a very high temperature. The nursery where newborns are shifted is also located next to the CSSD on the upper floor. In case of an emergency, it will be impossible to reach there because of the location of both the units.

When contacted, Dr Rajiv Vadera, Medical Superintendent, said: “The building has not been handed over to us by the UT engineering wing. The fire safety violations cannot be removed until the building is handed over to us.”

The new OPD building has also blocked some locations in the hospital building which were earlier accessible to fire tenders, said the fire department officials. In fact, there is only one entry and one exit point at the emergency wing, making it difficult for the fire fighters to evacuate the premises in case of an emergency. 

Chandigarh, November 6
Thieves managed to sneak into the residence of a Punjab MLA last night and managed to decamp with chairs kept in the lawn.

The theft took place on Monday night and 47 chairs were stolen from the Sector 18 residence of MLA Jagmohan Singh Kang.

Interestingly, the security guard and the personal security officer (PSO) of the MLA were on duty when the thieves managed to decamp with the 
chairs.

The chairs were found missing in the morning by head constable Gurmukh Singh of the Punjab Police who was on duty and he reported the matter to the police.

Inspector Harjit Kaur, station house officer (SHO) of the Sector 19 police station, said the chairs were bought at the time of the elections and were kept in the lawn. There are no closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the MLA’s residence.

A case under Section 379 of the IPC has been registered at the Sector 19 police station. 

Mohali, November 6
It was a cricket match with a difference. For, in this match, victory or defeat did not matter. Unlike any other match between the two arch rivals — India and Pakistan — this match, played at Yadavindra Public School (YPS), created euphoria and bonhomie among cricket buffs.

The host team of YPS defeated the Zaman Park Cricket Club, Pakistan. The cricket match, aimed to promote better relationship between the two nations, witnessed former students of Aitchison College, Lahore, representing the club and enjoying the game against the team half of their age. The motivated young side registered a 21-run win over the rivals, but for visiting side, this defeat had a ‘pleasure’ of its own.

“A match is always about winning and losing, but we are here to enjoy the game. Although we dropped some of our key players due to health reasons, but the match was good. And the young guns were hard to handle,” said Javed Zaman Khan, the oldest member of the squad.

This is his fifth visit to India and second to Mohali. “It was in 1953 when I made my maiden visit to play a friendly match with Doon International School. We won the match by 10 wickets and after that I came to India on a regular basis. We have our club in Zaman (locality’s name). it has produced three test captains, including Imran Khan, his cousin Majid Khan and Javed, ” said Javed Zaman Khan.

Earlier, the squad had played a friendly match at Patiala and now will move Jalandhar for another friendly match. “It is good to be here. India and specifically Punjab is like our second home. We are facing no problem of language and are free to express ourselves. It’s a mixture of changing trend and the two countries are still together,” said Adnan, a member of the Zaman Park Cricket Club.

“The match was good and we were facing them for the first time. We may have won the match, but they turned out to be tough rivals to defeat,” said Arsshh Goel, captain of the home team.

Former player of the Pakistan team and chief executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board Majid Khan also marked his presence at the YPS grounds. “It is a great step towards improving the standards of the game. The young side is giving a good fight to the experienced team,” said Majid Khan.

Chandigarh, November 6
After a delay of more than two-and-a-half month, the UT Administration has finally written to the police to register an FIR against the Lake Club’s official caterer.

The administration has written to the police to register an FIR against caterer Sanjay Singla for tampering with the excise permission.

Singla and organisers of the ‘pool party’ had got permission of five cartons of indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) and for five cartons of beer from the UT Excise Department. But later, Singla and the organisers allegedly tampered with the permission letter and added ‘4’ before ‘5’. Against the permission of five cartons of beer, a permit of 45 cartons was in possession of the organisers.

An UT official said by changing the permit figure from five cartons (60 bottles) to 45 cartons (540 bottles), more liquor was available for the guests at the ‘pool party’ at Lake Club. Though the permission for 60 persons could be given at the venue, there were more 200 persons in the party and accordingly, the demand of liquor also went up, the official added.

The UT Administration had already chargesheeted former general manager of Lake Club Rajiv Tuli. The administration had also cancelled the membership of Sanjay Singla, official caterer of the Lake Club, who had booked the club for an event management company.

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

Mohali, November 6
Twenty-two quintal of sweets which was being prepared under unhygienic conditions was destroyed by the health officials during a raid in Jagatpura and Kandala villages today.

The sweets were lying in the open. Patisa, apart from other items, was also destroyed.

SDM Lakhmir Singh, who was a part of the raiding team, said the sweets were being prepared in sheds. The sweets were unfit for consumption as these were being prepared under unhygienic conditions. The place, where the sweets were being prepared, was bolted from inside and on seeing the officials, the workers tried to flee. The police rounded up a few workers.

Chandigarh, November 6
Members of the Chandigarh Club, including president Sandeep Sahni and former president and councillor Mukesh Bassi, today met officiating UT Adviser Satya Gopal and demanded that before finalising the lease money of the club, the Administration should give a patient hearing to them as well.

Club president Sandeep Sahni said the club promoted social, cultural and sports activities, therefore Chandigarh Club should not be equated with the commercial ventures. He added that their club provided services to only members at subsidised rates, therefore the Administration should not hike the lease money of the club. Former president Mukesh Bassi said the lease was renewed in 2005 and the club should not be clubbed with other clubs, whose lease had not been finalised. He added that the Adviser had assured them that the Administration would consider their point.

The UT Administration has proposed a hike ranging from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per month. 

Chandigarh, November 6
A year after the registration of a cheating case against a Panchkula-based hotelier, Jatinder Sangari, the UT Police has cancelled an FIR registered against him following an inquiry report.

The ADA (legal) said, "Based on an inquiry report by DSP EOW, it is recommended that the FIR under the sections of cheating and forgery registered at the Sector 19 police station in December last year against Jatinder Sangari should be cancelled."

In the inquiry report, the DSP EOW stated that no offence of cheating against Shagari was made out.

“The allegations of the complainant, VP Goyal, that the property was sold to him fraudulently by Sangari by hiding facts is not true,” stated the inquiry report.

As per the case, which has been cancelled, the complainant, VP Goyal, lodged a complaint of cheating and forgery in May, 2011, against Kiran Gupta and Jatinder Shangari. He alleged that a false undertaking had been given to him and that the ground floor of the SCF would be vacated and given to him.

A case was registered at the Sector 19 police station on December 31, 2011, following which Jatinder and Kiran were arrested.

Countering the allegations and questioning the police’s case, Joginder Singh Sangari had alleged that his son Jatinder had purchased 50 per cent share in a shop in Sector 20 from Kiran Gupta in 2010 and further sold it to Ved Prakash Goyal. Jatinder had received the physical possession of the first and second floors, but had only received symbolic possession of the ground floor as it was occupied by a wine contractor who was running a liquor shop.

The owner, Kiran, had given an undertaking to Jatinder that she would hand over the vacant possession of the ground floor after it was vacated by a tenant.

After Jatinder’s father Joginder moved the Police Complaint Authority, it was ordered that the criminal case of cheating against the owners of the property was found to be entirely baseless and preposterous.

The police officer, SI Gurbaksh Singh, kept the complaint pending for more than seven months, then proceeded to make arrests of Kiran Gupta and Jatinder.

He deliberately kept his eyes shut to the bare facts of the case.

“Even though the case has been cancelled there has been no action against SI Gurbaksh Singh who kept his eyes shut to the facts and falsely implicated us in a cheating case. Moreover, there has been no action against the complainant who got us arrested by giving a false complaint,” said Joginder Singh Sangari.

Chandigarh, November 6
Students of Northern India Institute of Fashion Technology (NIIFT) will have to wait for a long time before they get their degrees from the Punjab state government-run institute. The institute had affiliated to the Punjab Technical University (PTU) so its students are awarded degrees instead of diplomas but the institute’s initiative has failed to take off.

The Punjab Industries Department, which runs the institute, is now looking at collaborating with an international design institute, after its affiliation to PTU did not come through. Having already set up a few student exchange programmes with a UK-based institute, NIIFT is now looking at an international collaboration to offer the degree courses.

Official sources informed The Tribune that the reason why affiliation to the PTU had not taken shape was that PTU wanted NIIFT to lower its fees and bring it down by almost 100 per cent, in accordance with the rules of the university. Presently, NIIFT charges a fee of Rs 90,000 per annum, which will have to be reduced to Rs 43,000 per annum if it agrees to become an affiliate of PTU. “NIIFT does not receive any funds from the state government and earns its revenue from the fees it collects. It would not be possible for the institute to cut down its fee,” said a senior official.

The state government had said that during the current academic year, NIIFT would begin to offer degree courses and not diplomas, for its various educational programmes. The three centres of NIIFT at Mohali, Ludhiana and Jalandhar were to be affiliated to Punjab Technical University (PTU) in order to award degrees to students training in various fashion courses. The government also said that those who had earlier completed their diploma courses from these institutes too, would be eligible to get degrees after attending a one-year bridge course.

Initially the Punjab Industries Department had tried to get affiliation for its NIIFT centres, from National Institute of Fashion Design (NIFD). The Board of Governors of NIFD had approved that the NIIFT centre at Mohali be affiliated to NIFD but after the Board raised the fee for affiliation to Rs 100 crore from Rs 60 crore, the Punjab Industries Department decided to drop the proposal.

Meanwhile, the State Industries Department is upgrading the three centres. A new building has been built in Mohali with the state-of-the-art equipment at an estimated cost of Rs 21 crore. A new building for the Jalandhar centre also, is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 25 crore. The course curriculum has also been revised and is in consonance with the curriculum offered at the National Institute of Fashion Design (NIFD) centres.

Chandigarh, November 6
The second-day of Panjab University’s ongoing media festival ‘SOCH’ remained eventful.

Students from over 10 colleges in Chandigarh and various departments in the university turned up to participate in events such as Rang-e-junoon (T-shirt and face painting), Brain Teaser (quiz), Doodle-Do (cartoon making), Graph Shop (graphic designing) and Speak Sans Study (extempore), the themes of which were disclosed on the spot.

While ‘Rang-e-junoon’ was based on ‘painting dreams,’ Doodle-do asked students to sketch cartoons on political satire. In graphic designing, participants were asked to creatively play with the use of colours in event poster design using software’s like quark, Corel, Photoshop or MS Paint.

Last event of the day, Rangmanch, invited students to perform skit on social networking sites.

The day closed with the announcements of a musical night by Punjabi singer Vinaypal Bhuttar, of the fame ‘Aam jehe nu,’ which was the crowd puller on the eve. 

Chandigarh, November 6
Now knowing what’s happening on Panjab University campus is just a click away as the students of School of Communication Studies have come up with Campus TV on YouTube.

The Campus TV airs everything on campus from a cultural function to seminar, from students’ protest to debates on social issues.

Hit among the students, the Campus TV has crossed whopping 1.20 lakh video views and 8,500 channel viewers. The students, who recently telecasted the student council elections live, are busy filming the media fest ‘SOCH’ being held at the university. The Campus TV on youtube.com/ctv4u with a tagline ‘You Miss Nothing’ has been attracting students who are eager to know what’s happening on campus and watch the videos online.

Sukhjit Singh, an alumnus of School of Communication Studies and the innovative brain behind the Campus TV, started filming the events on campus around a year back when he was a student in the department.

“When we started the Campus TV, we started covering everything on the campus, from seminars to cultural functions. The rationale behind the Campus TV was to provide information on everything going on in the university, from news to fashion trend,” said Sukhjit.

The Campus TV has turned out to be a favourite among the PU students who even invite the team of Campus TV for covering their events.

Vivek Saini, a second year student of SCS, along with other students is running the Campus TV. He believes that it’s the best way to connect with the students who want to know everything about the university. “We gave an extensive coverage of the student council elections which was aired live,” Saini said.

Interestingly, the student parties also inform the team of Campus TV before staging any protest requesting coverage of the protest.

Aiming high, the students want to convert it into an independent online channel. “The trend of online media is catching fast and we aim to be an online channel with wider coverage,” Saini said.

Mohali, November 6
Classical dance, Sufi dance, ballet and street play marked the annual cultural fiesta ‘Panache’ of Manav Mangal Smart School.

The event began with the school presentation followed by a Sufi prayer dance. The students enthralled the spectators with a mesmerising performance on ‘Zaare Zaare’ ‘Mein usi ka noor chupa’. The ballet ‘true measure of beauty’ performed in Indian classical dance form focused on the value of inner beauty. ‘The fascinating world of mime’also earned big applause.

The dance ballet item ‘From darkness to light’ sensitised people about AIDS. Sanjay Sardana, director of the school, thanked the teachers and students for their efforts to make the event a success. 

Chandigarh, November 6
Dance, they say, can be cathartic and therapeutic. This conviction shone through as more than 600 children from Classes V to XI took the stage at a ‘Dance Ensemble’ put together by the Strawberry Fields World School this evening.

The energy and enthusiasm with which each of the dance sequences had been strung together amply demonstrated a deep understanding of the different notes of music, strung together with grace and rhythm. Transcending boundaries of language, culture and nationality, popular tunes and numbers from different music and dance forms were cohesively knit together in one consolidated viewing of ninety minutes.

The symphony of music set to the pace of fluid dance movements was evident as students showed their dexterous movements in the rock ‘n’ roll, jazz, salsa, Afro jazz, hip hop and contemporary forms. The choice of music was well synchronised, complementing not just the expressions of the dancers but also the mood of the audience. There was a kind of shared camaraderie between the dancers and their viewers with each participating and supporting the other with excitement and gusto.

The energy in the air was palpable and spirits elevated more so, when old Bollywood numbers were belted out, creating a sense of nostalgic remembrance. The highs and lows of the music notes were well planned and each sequence effortlessly flowed into the other.

The progressive refinement of dance steps was in synch with the seniority of classes with each age group showing their prowess and skills in a manner that was age appropriate. The psychedelic lights and the costumes lit up the stage complementing the dancers in myriad ways.

The show, which was choreographed by instructors from the Shiamak Davar’s dance school, had a sense of professionalism to it. The way the lights faded and emerged and the manner in which the dancers switched from one dance form to the other, keeping pace with the music, was a delight to watch. School dance shows have indeed come a long way from the theatrical dance dramas based on mythology and folklore to the more contemporary forms which are more global and easy to relate to.

These dance steps can be incorporated in the students’ own lives making them that much more relevant. And the end result is one that is full of positive energy and joy. A win-win situation for all, indeed!