Inconvenienced Hundreds of commuters harassed as CTU buses remain off road Commuters fleeced by auto-rickshaw operators as 1,900 employees of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking proceeded on a day's strike The Chandigarh Administration sticks to 'no work no pay' rule Patients and their attendants at the city's three hospitals worst affected Deepak, a patient, and his two family members, had to pay Rs 25 each from Mani Majra to the PGI. For going to the PGI and returning, the family spent Rs 150, whereas commuting by a CTU would have cost Rs 50

Chandigarh, January 4
Hundreds of commuters, including schoolchildren, were at the mercy of auto-rickshaw operators as the public transport system in the city remained crippled due to the CTU Workers' Union strike.

Unaware of the strike, a number of commuters remained stranded at bus stops across the city. "The CTU also suffered a considerable loss. The administration should have made alternative arrangements," said Harish, who had to go from the Sector 43 ISBT to the Sector 17 ISBT.

Hardening its stand, the Chandigarh Administration decided to stick to the 'no work no pay rule' for all the 1,900 striking employees.

Cashing on the situation, the auto operators charged up to five times more fare from commuters. The worst affected by absence of CTU buses were patients and their attendants at the PGI, the GMCH-32 and the GMSH-16. Seeing surge in the demand, a number of auto operators from Panchkula and Mohali shifted their base to the city today.

Both the local and the long route buses of the CTU went off the road. The union did not allow the buses to move out of the depots.

The commuters alighting from the long route buses at the Sector 17 ISBT and the Sector 43 ISBT also remained stranded.

The one-day strike was the outcome of the impasse between the Chandigarh Administration and the CTU Workers Union over the purchase of new 98 buses.

The CTU workers Union had again announced to go on a day's strike on January 21.

The striking CTU employees were demanding changes in the annual maintenance contract (AMC) and purchase of front engine buses. Bhupinder Singh, president of the CTU Workers' Union, said if the Chandigarh Administration did not respond to their demands, they would again go on a day's strike on January 21.

Chandigarh, January 4
Cold wave tightened its grip in the city, with maximum temperature dipping to 8.4 degrees Celsius, lowest in the past 10 years.

As mercury plummeted to the record low, the city remained colder than Shimla, where the maximum temperature was 13.1 degrees Celsius.

The sky remained overcast. The minimum temperature recorded today was 3.4 degrees Celsius.

Weathermen predicted that the minimum temperature would plummet further in the coming days. On January 6, 2007, and January 24, 2008, the temperature dipped to zero degrees Celsius.

Met director, Surinder Pal, said the weather conditions would go from bad to worse in the next 48 hours. Both the maximum as well as minimum temperature can also plummet tomorrow. However, he predicted that the weather and visibility would improve after January 7.

The maximum temperature on December 29 was recorded at 20.3 degree C, which suddenly went down to 12.7 degrees Celsius the very next day. The first day of the year was colder at 11.3 degree Celsius, with the minimum temperature being recorded at 4.2 degrees C.

Meanwhile, the inclement weather grounded all flights at the domestic airport. As many as 18 flights were cancelled due to poor visibility.

Chandigarh, January 4
Power consumers in Chandigarh will have to shell out more for electricity in the next financial year as the UT Administration is in the process of proposing 10 to 15 per cent hike in the power tariff.

The UT Administration will propose a hike in power tariff under different slabs for domestic and commercial categories.

A senior official of the UT Administration said they would submit the annual revenue requirement (ARR) and a tariff petition for 2013-14 before the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) by January-end.

Sources said that for preparing the petition and to finalise the power tariff hike figures, the administration has already hired a consultant. Officials are in touch with the consultant. The report will be submitted in a couple of weeks to the administration. The administration will submit its petition before the JERC on the basis of the report. UT officials maintained that every year, the expenditure of power purchase, fuel cost and sundry expenses also increase resulting in power tariff hike.

Last year, the UT Administration had hiked the power tariff between 10 and 25 per cent under various categories.

Power demand to go up
If UT officials are to be believed, the demand for power is expected to reach 400 MW in summer. It was 350 MW in 2012. The UT Administration is gearing up to meet the increased power demand. In the Union Budget, the administration would seek more funds the government.

Panchkula, January 4
The police has booked the brothers of Doon MLA Ram Kumar Chaudhary for shielding him in the Jyoti murder case.

A case under Section 216 (harbouring a criminal) of Indian Penal Code has been registered by the Baddi police against his two brothers for concealing facts regarding Chaudhary’s whereabouts.

The police said the two, Harbhajan Chaudhary and Madan Lal Chaudhary, were at large.

S Arul Kumar, Superintendent of Police (SP), Baddi, confirmed to have booked Chaudhary's brothers.

He added, “We got some clues during the raids."

Even after 48 days of the murder, the police is clueless about the whereabouts of Ram Kumar Chaudhary and his accomplices. Not only Chaudhary, but even the other accused have not been nabbed by the police.

On December 21, the Panchkula police had gone to the residence of Ram Kumar Chaudhary with the arrest warrants against him and his accomplices, Gurmeet, Dharampal and Paramjeet.

Jyoti, 24, was found murdered in Sector 21, Panchkula. She was putting up as a paying guest in Sector 21 Chandigarh. Her father, Buti Ram, had stated that she was handling the financial matters of Chaudhary during the elections.

Case registered
A case under Section 216 (harbouring a criminal) of Indian Penal Code has been registered by the Baddi police against the MLA’s two brothers for concealing facts regarding Chaudhary’s whereabouts.

COMMUNITY

Newborn dies at General Hospital
Parents accuse doctors of negligence
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, January 4
In yet another incident at the General Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula, a one-day-old girl died allegedly due to the negligence of doctors.

Mohammad Naushad, a resident of Rajiv Colony, Sector 17, claimed that he lost his one-day-old girl child due to the callous attitude of doctors, who did not attend to her despite knowing that the condition of the child was deteriorating.

Rabia, the mother of the child, had given birth to a girl on Wednesday. It was their first girl child after two boys.

Naushad said the staff also lost the complaint that he had submitted at the office of the Principal Medical Officer. It was after a fresh complaint was submitted, that the staff accepted it.

“When the child's condition deteriorated, I informed the doctor on duty about it. The doctor confirmed that the child’s condition was deteriorating, but left after saying that,” said Naushad.

He said, “My wife called other doctors, but no one listened to her saying that it wasn’t their duty.”

She said, “Only because we people are poor, we are not taken seriously. Our lives are not precious?”

Dr Usha Gupta, Principal Medical Officer of the hospital, said: “An enquiry will be ordered and action will be taken against those found guilty.”

Chandigarh, January 4
The sports wing of the UT Education Department has spent a total amount of Rs 6, 47,884 in last three years to send various teams of non-recognised games in national level tournaments.

Notably, these games are not covered under the gradation policy and also not entertained under various scholarships schemes. The games, including choi kwang do, table soccer, squay martial art, dodgeball, kick boxing, thjang ta martial art, gathka, jump rope, football tennis, tennis vollwyball, jeet kune do and cycle polo are notrecognised but the UT Education Department despite knowing the fact has sent these teams to participate in national games held in different parts of the nation. In an RTI query, it was reveled that the during the year 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12, the education department has spent the above mentioned amount in order to provide kits, reservations and other facilities to the the teams.

all about the grants A grant of Rs 43.54 lacs and 5.20 lacs were granted to SGFI during the year 2009-10 and 2010-11, respectively. No grant was given during the year 2011-12 and 2012-13 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

The education department claims to be affiliated with the School Games of Federation of India (SGIF) but in reality the Ministry of Youth affairs and Sports has stopped funding to the organisation since 2011. The SGFI is not even affiliated with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

“It is a sheer eye wash in name of promoting the games. The players get no benefits after representing the city in these games. The certificates or participation holds no value and moreover the department is spending government’s treasure on such games,” said AK Jindal, an RTI Activist.

On other hand, an official of the SGFI said: “The SGFI has started certain games in order to promote sports among youngsters. We don’t work under the aim to only uplift the recognised games. We have less number of sports and more youngsters opting for games, so the organisation just introduced new games. There is no harm, as we have limited number of sport for large interest. The players sometimes don’t know about the difference between recognised or unrecognised games, so we always suggest them to go through the rulesby opting for them,” said PS Brar, one of the joint secretaries of the SGFI.

When asked about how a private body enjoying governmental benefits, he said, “Ours is not a private body but an NGO supported by the government funds which are used in the promotion of sports,” said Brar.

Although he failed to reply the query that why the grant had been stopped by the Ministry of Youth affairs and Sports since 2011. Interestingly, these non-recognised games hold no importance as no international level tournament is conducted either by the IOA or any other recognised body.

Panchkula, January 4
The fire department of the Panchkula MC is still ill-equipped to deal with major fire incidents and ensure safety of its staff.

For 18 firemen, the department has only two fire-safety suits.

Recently, a fireman suffered burn injuries while dousing flames of an oil tanker.

The civic body has even failed to get hydraulic tenders.

When asked why the department was not purchasing the fire-safety suits, OP Sihag, executive officer of the Panchkula MC, said, "The firemen can take up their demands with me and we will purchase the suits soon."

The department does not even have a single hydraulic fire tender.

On being asked why the civic body was not making efforts to arrange the hydraulic fire tenders, Sihag said, " We have written to the government and the process is under way."

In December, a petrol tanker caught fire on the Panchkula-Barwala road near Mankiyan village and a fireman, Surinder, had suffered serious burn injuries as he wasn't provided with any fire suit. The fire broke out at 9 am and was controlled at 2 pm after the fire extinguishers were called from other places.

When a major fire broke out in the market of Sector 11 near a coaching sector, fire tenders from Chandigarh and adjoining areas had to be pressed into service as the fire department did not have hydraulic tenders.

"We have two fire suits which cannot save one from a major fire," said fire officer RP Dhull.

Earlier, Dhull had stated that the suits were meant to prevent minor fire incidents not the major ones.

Mohali, January 4
The meeting of the Zoning Committee set up in connection with the imposition of property tax in Mohali district, which was scheduled to be held here on January 3, has been postponed following the transfer of the director, local government, Punjab.

The director has been appointed the chairman of the committee, which will discuss a proposal on zones created in the area for imposing property tax. The MP and the MLA of the area are members of the zoning panel apart from the Deputy Commissioner, the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation and certain other officials.

A corporation official said the director of the local government had been transferred and the new incumbent was scheduled to take charge on Monday.

Sources said a telephonic message was received from the office of the director that the meeting fixed for January 3 had been put off. Later, the civic body wrote to the director’s office seeking a fresh date for the zoning panel meeting.

Chandigarh, January 4
A street play, "Astitva", which was staged at the Plaza, Sector 17, today brought alive several issues relating to women.

Performed by the city-based Manthan Theatre, the play highlighted the plight of women in Indian society and also recreated the recent episode of the Delhi gang rape.

The play also touched upon the issues of dowry, women education and asked everyone to stand up for their welfare.

The play, directed by Rahul Choubey, comprised of 10 actors who did well in catching the people’s attention.

The duration of the play was 30 minutes.

Chandigarh, January 4
Panjab University’s prestigious University Business School (UBS), which was once among the most sought-after business schools, seems to have lost its charm for the MBA aspirants. It is evident from the fact that the number of applications for admission has dropped below 3,000 in the past two years, which is not even half of the applications received in the past 10 years. Interestingly, while the number of applications received in the past few years was from 6,000 to 8,000, the UBS has received only 1,850 applications for the 2013-14 session.

The UBS, which was once one of the popular business schools in north-India, had received only 2,558 applications for admissions during the 2012-13 session and 2,858 applications during the 2011-12 academic year.

The number of applications during 2010-11 session was 6,078. Experts believe that the situation is alarming for the institute, which is also getting reflected through the placements made by the department in the last few years.

Hirdesh Madan, director of an MBA coaching institute, believes there are various factors that have led to the situation . “The admission window (days to apply) at the UBS is very less as compared to other leading institutes in the country, which even offer around three-months' time," Hirdesh said. Hirdesh said less number of students were applying for admissions at the UBS, which had resulted in the drop of cut-offs for admissions in the past few years.

Interestingly, during the first phase of placements of the current outgoing batch, only 40 students could get placements out of the 140 and the highest package offered was around Rs 8.3 lakh.

PP Arya, a former UBS professor, said the number of applicants applying in the past few years had declined, which might be due to an increasing in the number of MBA institutes. However, he said the quality of students being getting admitted to the department was the same. Arya, however, maintained that the UBS needed to revive its marketing strategy to compete with other leading business schools.

A senior professor at the UBS said politics within the department had affected the functioning of the school. The slow pace of placements has left students worried as they feel that they might get packages below Rs 8 lakh. “We are hoping that the companies, offering better packages, visit the department in the next phase of placements and maximum number of students are placed," said a second-year student.

Chandigarh, January 4
NSS student unit of Panjab University carried out a cleanliness drive at the Student Centre, Panjab University, today. Braving the cold weather, the students volunteered to sensitise the workers and participated in cleaning the area around the Student Centre. Dean Student Welfare AS Ahluwalia motivated the students to carry the message to other members of the society.

The students did the job under the guidance of their respective programme officers and coordinator.

Post-lunch, the students were motivated to overcome their inhibitions and share experiences on stage. Volunteers like Sukhwinder Singh and Pawan Kumar entertained the students by singing songs.

Chandigarh, January 4
The Chandigarh unit of the ABVP held a candle march and a signature campaign at the Sector 17 Plaza in the wake of the Delhi gang rape. The ABVP members requested the people to join the noble cause in order to attain women security.

The ABVP unit also announced its helpline numbers for students and women. ABVP leader Dinesh Chauhan said they would popularise the helpline numbers in schools, colleges and the university.

Chandigarh, January 4
To ensure safety of students on the PU campus, the authorities today held another meeting with all the hostel wardens to workout a plan in this regard. The meeting was attended by the members of the PU student council. The authorities decided that provision of proper lighting would be made on the campus.

Dean Student Welfare (DSW) AS Ahluwalia said the areas with tall bushes and grass would be cleared and it had been decided to have a security post at the University's south campus -at gate opposite to Sector 24. "The meeting was held to finalise all the proposals and work out the cost for everything, so that the proposal could be sent to the Board of Finance for approval," the DSW said.

PU officials said the drop gates that had been installed at the entry gates of the PU campus would also be made functional to check the entry of outsiders. Officials have also decided that the newly recruited securisty guards, who have failed to join till date, should be given a deadline or recruitments should be made against those posts. The student council and various student parties have also been asked to give suggestions to ensure safety of girl students. — TNS

Chandigarh, January 4
There is a good news for the candidates, who appeared in the waiting list of the junior basic teachers' (JBTs) recruitment process. over 90 per cent of the 56 reserved posts under the ex-serviceman category are still vacant. Since the Education Department is on the verge of announcing the final merit list of general and other reserved categories, there are not much chances to fill up these posts.

According to officials, the department is thinking of filling these posts from the waiting list of different categories. "Although there is no final decision on this so far, yet there are chances that the posts may be converted for the candidates of other categories," said a official of the department. Among the 56 posts of ex-servicemen quota, 36 belong to general category, 19 for OBC, 9 posts for the SC category and 2 posts for physically handicap. After the final decision, which is likely to be announced very soon, the posts will be added to the respective categories and then will be offered to the candidates in queue.

As per information, there are a total of 654 JBT posts that will be filled through the ongoing process. Among them, 322 are from the general category, 166 from OBC, 85 from SC, 15 for phyiscally handicap and 56 for ex-serviceman categories. — TNS

Chandigarh, January 4
The recent appointment of the two candidates against the recruitment procedure followed in 2009 has put the Education Department in dock. Many feel that the appointment has endorsed the sanctity of the original recruitment rules of August 2007, which the department has continuously been evading right from the beginning of the recruitment procedure.

Ever since the matter came into the notice of public, the department kept on justifying its stand, stating that the original criteria was revised with the approval of the higher authorities and it was done in the larger public interest.

An official, however, asserted that the appointment as per the original criteria, which came after the court's intervention, diluted the department's present stand on the issue. "Now both the original criteria as well as the revised recruitment procedure exist parallel to each other. The situation will considerably weaken the department's stand in future litigations as well as give an edge to the investigating agencies," said an official

Many in the department feel that the matter would not have reached to this level if the department had adjusted the two candidates-Raminderjeet Kaur and Shalu Chawla- against the sanctioned vacant posts. However, the decision to terminate the two teachers out of the 536 seemed to have backfired for the department.A lot now depends on the outcome of the expelled teacher Arpana Mahajan's case, whose hearing is scheduled for the next week. Nobody in the department is now ready to speak in the matter. "We can't comment anything at this juncture because the matter is sub-judice in the Chandigarh Administrative Tribual. The department will, however, adhere to the judgement is, delivered in the matter," said, VK Singh, Education Secretary, UT.