Panchkula, November 22
A 24-year-old woman was found murdered at Sector 21 in Panchkula early this morning. Identified as Jyoti Rani from Bunga in Hoshiarpur, she was working with a private security agency at Mohali.

Her throat was slit and her skull was badly damaged. The police said a sharp-edged weapon was used to eliminate her.

Jyoti was putting up as a paying guest in house no 3295, Sector 21-D, Chandigarh, where she had shifted two months ago.

The body of Jyoti has been kept in the mortuary of the General Hospital in Sector 6, Panchkula, for post-mortem which will be conducted on Friday. The police will also send her clothes to the CFSL, Madhuban.

A passerby saw the body at around 5 am and informed the police. Her parents were also informed. The deceased had two mobile phones, which were missing and were switched off. At the time of her death, Jyoti was wearing a green top and a pair of black jeans.

“The police asked us to reach the Panchkula police station. They informed us about the incident,” said Jyoti’s father Buti Ram.

Buti Ram is a tailor and has three children. Jyoti was the eldest of the all. Her younger brother was also murdered.

“Investigations are on. The family of the girl reached the city this afternoon. A case under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Parul Kush.

Jyoti had called up her father yesterday at around 7 pm saying that she would come home this Saturday. “She had last gone home on November 15 and did not show any signs of fear,” said Buti Ram. “I didn’t know that it would her last call,” said inconsolable Buti Ram. 

Chandigarh, November 22
Under suspension Superintendent of Police (SP) Desh Raj today claimed that the conversation between him and complainant Anokh Singh did not reveal the demand of illegal gratification and the bribe money was “planted”.

In his petition for regular bail filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court through counsel SK Garg Narwana, Desh Raj said: “The entire recorded conversation nowhere reveals that any illegal gratification was demanded by the petitioner for doing any corrupt practice in discharge of his official duty or to give any undue advantage to the complainant by taking bribe and by misusing his position.”

Taking up his petition against the Central Bureau of Investigation through its superintendent, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice. Describing himself as a victim of internal police politics, Desh Raj said he has been falsely implicated at the instance of the complainant in connivance with the local police with a malafide intention of harassing and humiliating him.

Garg added the FIR was not a convincing document and no reliance could be placed on it. “The story propounded in the FIR is false, frivolous and fabricated.” Grag went on to say that the complainant was facing the departmental inquiry, initiated on the basis of special report submitted by the petitioner. “So, there was no occasion for the petitioner to go beyond the official record submitted by him to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Chandigarh…. The question of favouring the complainant in his departmental inquiry in which the petitioner had already submitted the special report does not arise at all.”

Another ground taken for seeking the bail was that “no recovery whatsoever was affected from the petitioner to connect him with the commission of crime. No bribe money was recovered from the possession of the petitioner. The recovery of alleged bribe money has been planted upon the petitioner. The alleged recovery is shown from the drawer of a table.” 

Chandigarh, November 22
For 80-year-old Onkar Nath, who has already been fighting the pain of tumour in the bone of his right leg, the challenges seem endless. Not only he has to lay pressure on his recently operated leg to sit on his son’s scooter every time he comes to the PGI for a check-up, but also dares to walk up to the patients’ lift in the New OPD block from the parking area with his bandaged leg.

80-year-old Onkar Nath on his way to the New OPD block in the PGI with a bandaged leg. Tribune photo: S Chandan

This is the plight of a majority of patients, even those with chronic ailments, who visit the city’s premier healthcare institute, the PGI, in the absence of wheelchairs and trolleys.

The situation was no different for 75-year-old Kapil Dev, a resident of Pinjore, who came to the neurosurgery department of the PGI for check-up. “He underwent neurosurgery six months ago following an accident which resulted into clotting inside his head. He contracted infections post surgery and is unable to walk and move easily,” said his 40-year-old daughter Rekha.

Sitting on a pavement outside the New OPD block, she said: “We waited for over two hours for a wheelchair but could not find any. Ultimately, my son and I took him to the OPD with great difficulty,” added Rekha.

For another patient of neurology, Sunita, a resident of Anandpur Sahib, the wait did not prove to be of any help. Despite suffering in pain for more than one hour, she could not find any stretcher trolley or a wheelchair. While her husband, Satish Kumar, consoled her by saying that she may find a trolley while moving out of the block after the check-up, she had to even struggle while returning from the OPD. A visit to the New OPD block at the PGI today also revealed that some attendants, who could manage to find a wheelchair for their patients, had a tough time moving the same. While some trolleys had twisted wheels, obstructing its movement, many wheelchairs had loose rims and broken arms. 

Patients’ pain

There are a total of 250 wheelchairs and 500 trolleys in the PGI. These have been allotted to the New OPD block, the General Emergency and some other departments. In the absence of designated place to station trolleys and wheelchairs, patients and their attendants have to struggle to find the same

Neither the General Emergency nor the New OPD block has a designated space for trolleys and wheelchairs. Even the recently constructed Advanced Trauma Centre lacks the facility

There are no sheds available in the hospital where these trolleys and wheelchairs can be protected from moisture during rain and at night

There were many such patients who kept waiting outside the patients’ lift for their turn to go to the upper floors. There is only one patients’ lift in the emergency and the New OPD block for over 500 patients visiting the PGI everyday 

Rush to blame

We keep adding trolleys and wheelchairs regularly. Also, a number of people donate the same. The cause of shortage of wheelchairs and trolleys is the high number of patients visiting the PGI everyday. Overcrowding is a big challenge for the PGI and the occupancy of trolleys and wheelchairs remain high among the indoor patients~ — PGI’s official spokesperson 

Chandigarh, November 22
"Infosys has recorded the fastest revenue growth from Chandigarh," said

S Gopalakrishnan, president designate, CII, and executive co-chairman, Infosys Limited, during Destination IT @ North.

Gopalakrishnan said, "This speaks volumes of the potential of the region. As Tier 1 cities are getting more crowded and costlier, Tier-2 cities like Chandigarh, Mohali, Baddi and Panchkula can become an information communication and technology (ICT) hub," he said.

He stated that the immense talent pool with great enthusiasm backed by conducive infrastructure, low costs and supportive governments were some of the advantages of the region.

Elaborating on the IT sector in India, he said, the IT sector in the country had grown manifold in the past 12 years. "It stood at 8 billion dollars in 2002, now stands at 100 billion dollars and is projected to touch 300 billion by 2020," he said.

Gopalakrishnan during his speech also mentioned that the number of patents filled by companies in last five-years had increased 30 times. He said the IT sector was providing employment to 25 lakh Indians and over 60, 000 non-Indians.

"As per the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the IT industry in India, despite challenging global economic environment, will grow by 11 per cent in 2012-13 which was between 16 per cent and 17 per cent last year," he said.

Adaish Partap Singh Kairon, Minister of IT, Food and Civil Supplies, Punjab, invited Infosys and other ICT companies to come to Punjab and set up their units.

Citing an example that highlighted the need for expanding the IT sector in the region, Kairon said many employees of Infosys from Bangalore and Pune approached him for getting them transferred to Chandigarh, however, Kairon said he always told them that they needed to bring Infosys to Punjab. "We will support you with good infrastructure, connectivity, favourable policies and well-trained manpower. We are trying to put in place the best possible infrastructure and most congenial business climate for the growth of ICT in the region," he shared.

Chandigarh, November 22
"The software export from Chandigarh witnessed an increase from Rs 926 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 1,300 crore in 2011-12," said UT Adviser to the Administrator KK Sharma terming Chandigarh as a destination for IT companies during a conference on information technology in Chandigarh.

The Adviser said the IT sector contributed a lot to the economy. “The export figures in comparison to last year has increased from Rs 926 crore to Rs 1,300 crore in 2011-12," he said.

Sharma added that they had decided to set up a committee that would have officials from Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana.

“The event aim at integrating the working of all three governments to project the region as an information communication and technology (ICT) hub," he said.

He added that the governments were buying IT products and services to improve their functioning and put e-Governance in place. “This will certainly boost the ICT sector in the region and make it an attractive destination and today’s event is a step to enhance ICT development," Sharma said.

Omkar Rai, director-general, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), during the inaugural session said, “The tricity started software exports in 1998. In 1998, the export was Rs 30 to 40 crore, but now the exports are Rs 1,900 crore," he said.

He said today the STPI in Mohali was the top exporter of software among the Tier 2 cities in Northern India. “Due to the entrepreneurial nature of its workforce, the local industry contributes 50 per cent of the total revenue," he added. UT Administrator Shivraj Patil, who was to grace the occasion as the chief guest, did not show up.

Mohali, November 22
To provide a platform 
for the networking international and national researchers, a three-day 3rd Biennial International Conference on new development in drugs’ discovery from natural products and traditional medicines commenced at NIPER  at Sector 67, here today.

On the first day, Dr Nitya Anand, FNA and former director, Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow, who inaugurated the conference, explained that how the subject of natural product research can  be integrated with modern science and technology.

"Our country has vast and unique resources of natural product from medicinal plants, these should be harnessed," he said.

During the conference, the delegates would have a comprehensive coverage of eight different scientific aspects of natural product-based drug discovery.

The organisers claimed that about 200 delegates which included well-known scientists and speakers of international repute like Professor Linder from Sweden, Professor Etoh from Japan, Professor Juaristi from Mexico, Professor Naresh Kumar from Australia and Professor Ramesh Gupta from USA, have been participating in the conference. Earlier, Prof KK Bhutani, officiating director, NIPER, said this conference series started in 2008.

Chandigarh, November 22
"Regular exercise and learning skills such as music and dancing that involve the attention and functions of all portions of brain are the best methods to prevent memory loss," said experts at the PGI.

“In the current lifestyle adopted by a majority of people in India, only 90 per cent of brain is put to work which can lead to memory loss,” said Dr Dheeraj Khurana from the department of neurology, PGI, while addressing mediapersons today.

Defying the myths about memory loss, the experts said everyone experienced memory lapses and forgetfulness from time to time and some decline in memory ability was part of aging.

“For example, as an individual approaches middle age, his or her ability to recall newly learnt information may begin to slip such as recalling names or specific words. These memory problems do not get worse over short periods of time and do not interfere much with the ability to do daily activities. In contrast, the memory loss in Alzheimer's disease is much greater than expected for age. The memory lapses are more frequent and severe and interfere with the ability to manage daily activities,” said Dr Manish Modi.

Dr S Prabhakar, head, department of neurology, said, "It is normal to occasionally forget appointments or phone numbers. However, a person with Alzheimer's disease may forget things more often. The disease prevents the person from making new memories."

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a specific type of dementia. It is a progressive, degenerative disease that causes slow decline of nerve cells in the brain. Individuals with the disease experience progressive and irreversible loss in thinking abilities, including language and memory. Changes are also witnessed in mood, personality, sleep-wake cycles and behaviour.

Patients in early stages of the disease may have awareness of their memory and other deficits. However, awareness of memory and other problems generally decreases as the disease progresses.

There is no single test that can determine if someone has Alzheimer's disease and the diagnosis requires a full physical and neurological examination to rule out other causes of dementia.

There is no medical curative treatment currently available to cure the disease. However, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved four drugs that may temporarily relieve some symptoms of the disease or slow its progression which include donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine.

Mohali, November 22
The performers from Mexico, who came to participate in the Chandigarh International Folk Festival, are fascinated by our own ‘desi’ bhangra and they have termed it as a ‘dance of life’. Diana and Bibiana, who came from Mexico to perform in the 4th Chandigarh International Folk Festival at Chandigarh University, Gharuan, said the most fascinating thing, which they found in India, was Punjabi folk dance bhangra.

“It’s colourful, energetic and lively. We are fascinated by the dresses of the bhangra dancers," said Diana and Bibiana adding that they would love to learn bhangra. Similarly, Irish performer Murray Mollay, was surprised when he visited the Golden Temple two days ago. “Our visit to the Golden Temple would be a lifetime memory. I found the concept of Sikhism very interesting, especially the five articles. I was told about their significance," said Mollay, who mesmerised the young audience with his daredevil sword swallowing performance at the festival. He added that this was his first performance in front of Punjabi audience.

“This is my first performance in Punjab but it would not be the last one. I would love to come here again," said Mollay. Another performer, Ulises, who is from Mexico, found the Punjabi food and hospitality the most fascinating. “We all loved the Punjabi food, which we found to be spicy, tasty and similar to the Mexican food and the Punjabi hospitality is certainly unmatchable," said Ulises.

Chief guest Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Punjab Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister, emphasised on the need of encouraging such international cultural exchange programmes to promote mutual understanding and goodwill among countries. Students of the university enjoyed the performance of the foreign performers. 

Chandigarh, November 22
Tribal dances of Arunanchal Pradesh will enthral the local crowd during the three-day Chandigarh Carnival, starting from tomorrow at the Leisure valley. Over 300 young dancers from Arunanchal will stage tribal dances during the carnival. Prominent among the tribal dances is a dance by "Nyishi" tribe, which is also called "Nyashang". Nabam Tapang, a young performer, says Nyishi is the most populous tribe in Arunanchal and also known for its culture and customs.

"In the festival we would present many dances, which are usually performed during our main festivals and marriages," he said. Wancho tribe's bamboo dance promises a lot for the visitors. Techi Tat, who belongs to the Wancho tribe, says the balance and rhythm in the dance movements makes the dance interesting.

Among the rare tribal dances, performance by Khampti tribe seems to be very interesting. Member of the tribe Pinthi Mang said that our ancestors came from Myanmar about 200 years ago, therefore, there was a lot of Burmese influence on their language, costume and other culture. Other tribal communities who will perform during the festival are Adis, Galos. Dadojano, one of the performers, said the festival was a great opportunity for them to show their culture, dresses and music. "Most of our dances are rhythmic and soft but there are some martial art forms, which are full of aggression and speed."

Special mask dance from Sikkim, to be performed by a professional dance group tomorrow evening, will be one of the main attractions during the festival. AK Malhotra, general manager of CITCO said the mask dance would provide a spectacle and demonstrate perfect footwork and grace. Major highlights of the festival will be a carnival parade, to be started tomorrow at 10 am from the Lesiure valley. During the next three days, the people can enjoy amusement parks, fun games and camel riding, folk dances.

The musical nights during the carnival will see the performance of sufi singer Satinder Sartaj and bollywood singer Alka Yagnik. Sartaaj will perform on November 24 while Yagnik will perform on November 25.

Chandigarh, November 22
St John's High School,Sector 26, is not providing enough benefits to the minority community," the Chandigarh Administration has stated in an affidavit filed before the National Commission For Minority Educational Institutions, New Delhi, in the case, challenging the minority status of the school.

The reply was filed by the Chandigarh Education Department in September this year. The Chandigarh Administration has stated in the affidavit that the school was "rightly established by the members of the religious minority community, however, it does not fulfil one of the guidelines required for determining the minority status that is "the education institute was established for the benefits of the minority community."

The administration has stated in the affidavit that "the school has kept only 5 per cent seats reserved for the children of the minority community, which is not the appropriate percentage." The affidavit further states, "There is no mention in the memorandum of the Congregation of Christian Brothers in India that the school has been established for the welfare of the students belonging to Christian community."

It was in August 2006 that the school, managed by the Congregation of Christian Brothers in India (West Bengal), applied for the minority status certificate with the National Commission For Minority Educational Institutions (New Delhi). Considering the application, the commission had granted minority status to the school under Section 30 of the Constitution of India in March 2007.

However, in February this year, an ex-employee of the school, the main complainant in this case, had filed the petition before the commission, asking for the cancellation of the minority status of the school. After the commission admitted the case, notices were issued to the school as well as the Chandigarh Administration to file the reply. The hearing of the case is scheduled to take place on December 18. 

Chandigarh, November 22
Classes were disrupted for the two hours at seven private-aided colleges in the city as the teachers were participating in a protest against the non-implementation of the Pension and Gratuity Scheme, which was enacted in 1999 by the Punjab Government. The classes remained suspended from 11 am to 1 pm today. This was the second time in a week when the classes were disrupted as the teachers had gone to strike. The strike was observed across Punjab. Earlier, the strike was held on November 20 following which the classes had come to a halt.

The protest was held on a call given by the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU). The students said many teaching days had gone waste due to the festival season and now the protest had affected their studies. "The December exams are approaching and the syllabus of many subjects is yet to be covered. The delay will leave no
time for the preparation of examination," said Amandeep, a student of DAV College, Sector 10.

Shikha, a student of SD College, Sector 32, said, "Students were aware of the strike following which they preferred to remain absent from the college." Interestingly, the UGC clearly states that there should be minimum 180 teaching days in an academic session. The PCCTU has decided to intensify its agitation. The PCCTU president R Prashar criticised the Punjab Government for dilly-dallying in implementing the long-pending demand. Iqbal Preet Kaur, president of the DAV College Teachers Union said the Joint Action Committee of working and retired employees of Chandigarh colleges would start the chain fast from November 23 to 26 in front of the office of the DPI (Colleges), Punjab. 

Chandigarh, November 22
Now, the school management committees (SMCs) of the government schools will buy school uniforms for the students. Earlier, the Education Department had proposed one- time cash subsidy, which was to be transferred in the joint account of students and their mothers for buying the uniform. After a series of meetings with the heads of the schools and with the department's senior officials, it was decided that the school management committees would be responsible for providing uniforms.

"The decision has been taken to make the system more efficient," said a senior official of the department. According to him, every government school has a school management committee, which was constituted after the implementation of the RTE Act. "Each committee at the school level comprises the head of the school, teachers, parents and they will be responsible for providing uniforms to schoolchildren," said the official

Budget and other modalities will be finalised in a month. "We will make sure that all the SMCs are clear about their responsibilities so that they could start the process of buying the uniform from the next academic session," said department sources.

There are more than one lakh students in Chandigarh who are being provided school uniforms free of cost by the department. However, the schools had already started the process of opening the joint bank accounts.

The department officials said the exercise of opening the bank accounts would continue because the exercise was very important for other welfare schemes of the department.

Chandigarh, November 22
Learning a lesson following the unearthing of the cheating racket during its MD/MS examinations held on November 10, the PGIMER has now invited tenders for procuring jammers and bug detectors for the exam rescheduled for December 8.

The institution today invited short-term bids for these “high-tech” security gadgets to be introduced during the exam on its official website.

The bug detector, which costs nearly Rs 25,000 per unit, can detect hidden devices easily during the scan even when the device is in power-off mode. The bug detector scans cellular signals and frequencies and possesses real time GPS tracking system.

During the racket busted by the CBI in the exam held on November 10, seven candidates were caught using sophisticated devices.

However, in the absence of any security arrangements at the centres, another group of suspected candidates escaped the vigil easily. So much so, that the institution was forced to cancel the exam to ensure that none of the beneficiaries of the racket could clear the exam.

Officials at the institute said that in addition to metal detectors and jammers, the bug detectors would be used at all the centres. The bug detector will overcome the limitations of metal detectors in locating the non-metallic hidden devices. The bug-detector has a special feature, which can locate even the deactivated hidden cameras or other devices.

In addition to installing “high-tech” security gadgets at the exam centre, the PGIMER will depute senior faculty members as invigilators, during the rescheduled exam, in a move to strengthen vigil.

Unlike in the exam held on November 10, which was cancelled following unearthing of the cheating racket, where the invigilators constituted staff from the respective centres, this time, the PGI faculty would keep a close watch on the candidates.

In addition, the PGI has also constituted a flying squad to be deputed at the 10 exam centres. The flying squad will constitute a team of senior faculty members from the PGI.

A total of 5,700 candidates had appeared in the exam held on November 10. The admit cards of the candidate issued during the previous exam will be considered valid for the rescheduled exam.

Chandigarh, November 22
It seems that office of the UT education department is in no mood to highlight laurels bagged by the local sportspersons in various national and local tournaments for general public.

Except having an adequate staff, the department has failed to update the information on ‘sports’ achievements on its website since 2008-09. In addition to this, the office also failed to update the facilities provided to the local sportspersons in various schools and only carries information regarding the participation of a total of seven events in national school games during the year 2008-09.

Interestingly, the department has appointed two nodal officers, for upgrading the site informing the latest news but after visiting the site, one can easily see the effort of the officials. On other hand, the officials continue to pass the buck over the issue.

“Our job is over, once we handover the results to the Public Relation Officer (PRO) of the department. I think the PRO is the official, who is responsible for updating the website,” said Rajeev Tandon, assistant education officer.

“The department has appointed two officials for updating the sites. I am not the respective person to keep the site updated. You (the reporter), can contact these two officials about the query. All the data have been provided to the officials well in time. And no doubt, the site needs to be upgraded,” said Rajpal, PRO.

On other hand, an official of the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Sector 9, said: “The respective authorities or officials have been provided with a direct access to upgrade the site. The contents are maintained by the respective department whereas the designing and hosting part is being headed by us.”

Meanwhile, according to the Director Public Instructions, this is a clear case of neglection and the department will look into it.

“I was unaware about this. This case cannot be negelected and the department will upgrade the site soon,” said Uppkar Singh, DPI, Education Department.