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Power shocker for pvt schools
Chandigarh, March 12 Under the 0-150 units slab, the Administration has proposed a hike of 117 per cent by increasing the power tariff from Rs 2.30 per unit to Rs 5 per unit. Similarly, the Administration has proposed a hike of 48 per cent under the 150-400 units slab by increasing the rates from Rs 4.20 to Rs 6.25 per unit. Consumers using 400 units or above will have to pay Rs 7 per unit instead of Rs 4.40 per unit, a hike of 60 per cent. There are around 90 private schools and 10 private colleges in the city. Most of the schools and colleges consume more than 400 units of power. The burden of inflated bills is likely to be passed on to the parents. UT Superintending Engineer (Electricity) MP Singh said the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission had directed the Administration to charge commercial tariff from the private educational institutions, therefore in the Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) and tariff petition for 2013-14 submitted before the JERC, the Administration had proposed to charge the commercial tariff from these institutions. HS Mamik, president of the Independent Schools Association, Chandigarh, said it was unfair to charge commercial tariff from private schools. On an average, a private school is paying Rs 2 lakh per month as electricity charges. He said if the Administration would impose commercial tariff, the electricity bills of private schools would also increase. The increase in power tariff could further lead to hike in school fee, he added. He said they would oppose the move in the JERC’s public hearing session. The petition filed by the UT Administration reads: “The domestic supply will be applicable on government educational institutions, including schools, colleges, universities, hostels, canteens and residences attached to educational institutions. Private education institutions will be billed under the non-domestic tariff.” “Commercial tariff will be applicable on private schools/colleges, coaching institutes, other than those run by the Administration,” the petition reads.
Tariff schedule
Domestic power tariff is applicable on government recognised schools, colleges, universities, ITI hostels, canteens and residences attached to these institutions. Private educational institutions not recognised by the Chandigarh Administration will be billed under the commercial category.
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NCB probe leaves much to be desired, says court
Aneesha Sareen Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 12 Calling the investigations of the case as perfunctory, callous and leaving much to be desired, the court stated that the investigating officer was greatly remiss in performance of his duties. The observation by the court came in the wake of the ‘lackadaisical’ approach of the prosecuting agency while seeking to invoke Section 59 (1) and 59 (2) of the NDPS Act (failure of officer in duty or his connivance at the contravention of the provisions of this Act) against Saji Mohan. The court has acquitted Saji of these two charges for want of prior sanction while convicting him in the main case of drug pilferage registered against him. The court observed: “The prosecution sought to invoke Section 59 of the Act against the accused performing duties imposed by the Act, but no prior sanction of the appropriate government under Section 59 (3) of the Act was sought.” Moreover, the chargesheet under these sections was filed on September 10, 2009, and the sanction order was not even sought to be produced before January 6, 2012, the court observed. “Though it is amply proved on record that accused Saji Mohan and Balwinder Kumar, on whom duty was imposed under the Act, wilfully aided, connived at contravention of provisions of the Act, previous sanction of the appropriate government for the prosecution of accused Saji Mohan and Balwinder Kumar under Section 59 of the Act has not been obtained, therefore no conviction under Section 59 of the Act can be ordered against Saji Mohan. The sanction order is not prior to filing of the chargesheet, so cannot be looked into. Accused Saji Mohan and Balwinder Kumar are acquitted under sections 59 (1) and 59 (2) of the Act for want of prior sanction,” said the court. The court yesterday sentenced Saji Mohan and former superintendent Balwinder Kumar to 13 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh each on them. The court also sentenced drug peddler Naseeb Chand to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh on him. The court also sentenced accused Naveen Kumar, the then PSO of Saji Mohan, to six months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000. As per the case, Saji Mohan along with four others pilfered 60 kilogram of heroin from 13 unclaimed seizures, which were stored in the storeroom of NCB headquarters in sector 2, in August 2009. The ATS Mumbai had first booked the IPS officer in January 2009 when he was caught with 12 kg of heroin following which the NCB Chandigarh had begun investigations which revealed that Saji Mohan, during his tenure as NCB director here mixed slaked lime in the drugs - keeping aside the ‘pure’ for his personal gain. Action recommended against witnesses
Coming down heavily on witnesses for trying to misguide the court, the court had recommended action under Section 193 of the CrPC (punishment for false evidence) against five witnesses. The court held that Virat Dutt Chaudhary, retired assistant commissioner, central and excise department, and inspector Pushpdeep Singh, have knowingly and wilfully given false evidence in judicial proceedings by falsely stating on oath that recovery of 10 kg of heroin in August 2008 in Ramkot was an 'unclaimed seizure'. The court also held that witnesses MMS Bhandari, SI Rakesh Kumar Roshan, HC Vijay Pal Singh and accused Balwinder Kumar prepared a false document. The place of sealing and sampling of 60 kg Heroin recovered from Indo-Pak border on May 15, 2008 was wrongly recorded. Moreover, intelligence officer MMS Bhandari is proved to have taken the signatures of Balwinder Kumar, SI Rakesh Roshan and HC Vijay Pal Singh on back date. “They fabricated false evidence for the purpose of being used in any stage of judicial proceedings. Similarly, prosecution witnesses Virat Dutt Chaudhary and Pushpdeep Singh prepared a false document showing recovery of 10 kg of heroin as 'unclaimed seizure', though in fact Heroin was supplied by accused Nasib Chand. These witnesses have knowingly and wilfully fabricated false evidence for the purpose of being used in judicial proceedings. “It is, therefore, necessary and expedient in the interest of justice that an inquiry should be made into the offence inder Section 193 of the IPC which appears to have been committed. A complaint in writing is, therefore, separately being made under the provisions of Section 340 CrPC against the witnesses,” said the court.
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Prez visit: Flight timings rescheduled
Chandigarh, March 12 The ATC Chandigarh's notice, which has been issued to all the airlines, has separate flying times. Till March 14, the runway at the airport has been closed from 10 am to 11.45 am. On March 15, the day the President arrives, there will be no landing and takeoff from 9.30 am to 12 pm and from 1.50 pm to 2.30 pm at the airport. While no major inconvenience is expected till March 14, the arrival and departure of almost all the morning and afternoon flights will be hit on March 15, said airline officials. Several flights operating during these hours have already changed their timings. For instance, Go-Air has preponed its arrival of the Mumbai-Chandigarh inbound flight from 11.05 am to 9.55 am. Its departure for the same route has been rescheduled from 11.35 am to 11.45 am. This schedule is till March 14. For March 15, this flight will arrive and take off between 12 pm and 1 pm. Similarly, Air India’s flight arrival from Delhi has been rescheduled at 12.05 pm instead of 10.35 am. The same flight will take off from Chandigarh at 12.45 pm. However, on March 15, its arrival is rescheduled at 12.20 pm and departure at 1 pm. An airline official said except these two flights no other flight is disturbed till March 14. But, a major reshuffle is expected on the day of the president’s arrival, for which the customers will be informed much in advance.
Mock drill at PGI
A mock drill is also planned at the PGIMER on Wednesday as a part of the preparations for President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to the PGIMER during its annual convocation on March 15. Union ministers will accompany the President. A mock convoy of VVIPs will visit the campus via the defined route (the main gate) and security arrangements will be checked.
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Patients forced to drink unsafe water
Chandigarh, March 12 The water in the tank near Nehru Hospital is exposed to rain and dust. The water is being directly used by hundreds of patients and their attendants (see picture). There are no water filters at the New OPD block and the water taps are close to toilets. The problem was highlighted in these columns earlier. However, the authorities have failed to take steps to improve the quality of drinking water. Even the water coolers, which come with in-built filter, are not being used. On the contrary, filters are optimally being used at the director's office as well as at the office of the medical superintendent.
The staff members prefer to carry water from home. At the New OPD block, which is visited by more than 5,500 patients everyday, water taps on all the floors are located next to the toilets. The situation is similar at the oral health science centre and the Advanced Paediatrics
Centre. At Nehru Hospital, finding a water cooler is a challenge. Sweepers use drinking water taps for washing their swabs.
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Prestigious tag continues to fascinate former Mayor
Chandigarh, March 12 Requesting anonymity, a resident of Sector 10 said the former was misleading the public. When contacted, Raj Bala Malik said she forget to change the board outside her house and assured that she would change it immediately.
Not punishable
The law says that displaying wrong information is misrepresentation. The affected person can lodge a complaint against the person who is displaying wrong information to the competent authority. The competent authority can take action against the person. But misrepresentation is not an offence under Indian Penal Code, hence not punishable.
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516 challaned for riding without helmet in P’kula
Panchkula, March 12 “The drive was conducted to spread awareness among women and minors, and to penalise male violators,” said Commissioner of Police Rajbir Deswal. The police also impounded nine vehicles for which the drivers could not produce required documentation. Panchkula Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashwin Shenvi said it was a successful drive and will be conducted in future too. Over 150 policemen deployed at the various nakas during the drive were especially asked to behave politely with violators and inform them about the importance of wearing helmets. ACP Nupur Bishnoi conducted rounds of the city colleges spreading awareness among girl drivers. Parents of underage
riders pulled up
During the drive, the traffic police found 25 minors driving two-wheelers. Instead of challaning them, the police called their parents to the spot and pulled them up for
letting their children drive vehicles. “We told the parents we were letting off the children today, but the next time we will challan them,” said Inspector Mukesh Kumar, in charge of the traffic wing.
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Mayor stirs up hornet’s nest
Advises Haryana, Punjab to shift their capitals Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 12 Chawla said despite the city being the capital of the two states and a substantial number of state-level offices located here, the two states were not sympathetic towards the city residents' water requirements. The residents include top bureaucrats and the chief ministers and ministers of both the states, he added.
Recently, at a meeting between the chief secretaries of Punjab and Haryana, the UT Adviser and other senior officials of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, the officials of the Haryana Government had demanded 40 per cent share out of the 80 MGD water from the phase V, VI, VII and VIII of Kajauli Water Works. Haryana had maintained that they would not allow Punjab and Chandigarh to lift water from Bhakra before fixing Haryana’s share. Haryana had also accused the Chandigarh Administration of reaching a sort of understanding with Punjab, without involving any officers of Haryana, to allocate the entire water of Phase V and VI to Punjab.
No objection to Patil's speech in Assembly
Mayor Subhash Chawla has no objection to the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil’s speech in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha where Patil had demanded that Chandigarh should be transferred to Punjab. Chawla said Patil delivered his speech as Punjab Governor not as UT Administrator. The BJP district presidents BC Puri, Ravikant Sharma, Devi Singh, Shakti Prakash Devshali and Bhajan Singh Maru strongly condemned the Patil's statement.
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No cases in past 72 hours due to nakas: Police chief
Tribune News Service
Panchkula, March 12 “In the last 72 hours, not a single case of snatching was reported due to these nakas,” he said. Interestingly, just after the nakas were lifted today, a person claimed he was robbed of Rs 10,000 at gunpoint by an auto-rickshaw driver near the road separating Sectors 9 and 10. However, upon investigating, the police found the loot was stage managed. The police could not find any substance in the 'victim's' claims after visiting various spots and interviewing him and his employer. The complainant, Lucky, who works at a factory in the Industrial Area, Phase 1, alleged he was on his way to deposit Rs 10,000 in a bank in Sector 8, when he was robbed by an auto-rickshaw driver. “During investigations, we found the complainant had concocted a story,” said Inspector Navin Sindhu, Station House Officer of the Sector 5 police station. While half the money was Lucky’s salary, the remaining was of a colleague. The police suspected he concocted the story as he had lost the money. The police said, after completing investigations, Lucky could be booked under Section 182 of the IPC for misguiding them.
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3 receive burn injuries in brawl
Mohali, March 12 While Sandip sustained burn injuries on his face and an arm, the other two received burns on their arms. All the three youths are residents of Badi Kror village. In their respective statements to the police, both Manpreet Singh and Major Singh accused each other of throwing the acid. Major Singh alleged he along with Sandip Singh was going on a motorcycle when they entered into a brawl with Manpreet Singh. “Manpreet, who was on a cart, had a bottle of acid that he threw on us. During the fight, some drops also fell on his arm,” alleged Major Singh. On the other hand, Manpreet alleged that Major and Sandeep used to harass him and tried to burn him with acid. “When I tried to save myself, the acid also fell on them,” he said. A case has been registered against Manpreet Singh.
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Poor response to auction of vanity numbers
Chandigarh, March 12 During the auction of the previous CH01 AR series, the RLA had received 816 applications. Barring the first auction of the CH 01 AR series, which attracted 106 bidders and was ultimately cancelled, on an average around 700 applications are received for such auctions. The previous auction for the CH 01 AR series was held on February 18. For applicants' convenience, the RLA has decided to accept applications on March 16 till 4 pm.
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MC drive: 105 encroachers issued challans, cabs impounded
Chandigarh, March 12 During the drive, four maxi cabs, one dumped car, 20 toolboxes, old
tyres, rehris, etc, were confiscated. Besides, 40 "rehris" were impounded from the main roads of Chandigarh. The Municipal Corporation also launched a stray cattle-catching drive in Indira Colony and Mauli Jagran Colony. The MC staff impounded nine head of stray cattle.
Kashmira Singh, Superintendent, Enforcement Wing, said they were regularly conducting anti-encroachment drives. They were now focusing on the markets of Sectors 15, 17, 19 and 22, he added.
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Accused wants to join HP budget session
Panchkula, March 12 Chaudhary, in his application, has stated that being the MLA from the Doon constituency, Himachal Pradesh, he may be permitted to join the budget session from March 12 to April 9. The court has kept the case for March 14. Earlier, Chaudhary was permitted to be taken to Himachal Pradesh for the oath-taking ceremony. — TNS
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From Schools CHANDIGARH: The Tribune Model School organised its kindergarten annual function Song & Rhyme Day amidst a great excitement and fervour. The programme commenced with the unveiling of portrait of the founder of The Tribune Trust Sardar Dayal Singh Majithia, followed by lighting of the lamp by the guest of honor Bonny Sodhi accompanied by the chairperson of the school Chand Nehru and principal Vandana Saxena. The toddlers were adorned in colourful dresses and the whole campus came alive with melodious recitals based on the value of 'Right Conduct'. The themes included universal love, care of myself, politeness, love for animals, love for nature. Vandana Saxena encouraged the students and thanked the parents for being supportive. Montessori graduation celebrated
MOHALI: Ryan International School, Mohali, celebrated its montessori graduation on the theme, ‘Mom- The magic bond’. Mr Balbir Singh Sidhu was the chief guest on the occasion. The programme included the activities such as songs, dances, enactments saluting mother nature, mother India, Mother Teresa and the modern 'super mom who juggles and performs multitasks'. The other highlight was international mother’s fair where in students gave message of peace in French, Spanish, Latin and Urdu. The achievement awards were given to students excelling in different areas. The Ryan Prince & Ryan Princess award were bagged by Abhinav Kapoor and Jasleen Kaur, respectively. In his address, the chief guest appreciated the efforts put by students and teachers. Mind Tree School opens
in Kharar
A new school “Mind tree” is going to start in Kharar from the upcoming session. While announcing its launch here in Chandigarh, the chairman of the Mind Tree school, Sanjay Kumar said that the school was operating two campuses in Ambala, at present and had been consistently rated as Ambala’s best school. He added, "At Mind Tree School our vision is to provide the quality education at a reasonable fee to the residents of Kharar". According to him, the school follows a unique workbook concept where the studies at kindergarten level is scientifically designed. Mind Tree goes beyond the bookish parameters of knowledge & provides right blend of academics, extracurricular & sports. This blend ensures holistic development of the child. School also boasts of modern infrastructure with one of the biggest auditoriums & indoor sports facilities. Sanjay added that Mind Tree School would open new vistas of quality for the residents of the region and parents can look forward to effective learning for their children. School will maintain an ‘English-centric’ approach in its method of instruction. The school is also planning to launch skating & shooting academies.
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Government Schools
Chandigarh, March 12 While the education department is hopeful of filling up the seats by next month, the trend however indicates a gradual shifts in the parents' preference from the government schools towards private schools. The head of a school said that the craze for the English medium education in private schools was playing the spoilsport. "While this trend has been going on for the last so many years. But since the reservation under RTE Act has come into process, people from middle class as well as froml economically weaker section are opting for private schools." The schools were pre-nursery seats are still vacant include GMSSS-19, with 23 seats vacant out of total 46 seats, GMSSS-20, with 19 seats vacants out of 45 seats, whereas GMSSS-37 has nearly 15 seats vacant. The trend is more or less the same every government school. A school official said the early beginning of the admission process in government schools was also one of the reasons for the vacant seats. "Till the last year, our admission process used to begin from March onwards, but this year it we started the process from December onwards. While the admissions are still on, many are still unaware about this information", she said. Many of them also said that the neighbourhood criteria had also restricted the admission to students from within one km of jurisdiction. "We will allow the students from other areas if we will have vacant seats by April, since RTE act itself clearly directs the schools not to refuse admission to any student", said a school principal. Overall, the Chandigarh government schools have around 3000 seats for the entry-level classes.
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PU students stage protest
Chandigarh, March 12 The PUSU president Yadwinder Singh Dhaliwal said that they had submitted memorandum regarding the problem of these students, however, the authorities failed to show any concern, following which they staged a protest. “The GATE qualified students are not getting scholarship amount, so we are here to stage a protest in this regard”, Dhaliwal said. The students said that the university had promised that all arrears will be released by March 31. Another organisation Indian National Students Organisation
(INSO) protested over various demands of research scholars. The INSO president Somvir Singh said the hostel facility should be provided to the research scholars on individual basis and at normal charges rather than sharing basis or guest charges as soon they get enrolled for the research. The students also demanded that an online grievance cell to address the problems of the students should be created. Somvir further said, “Financial assistance to research scholar for the participation in national and international seminars should be provided by the university”. The students demanded that nominal fee should be charged from the research scholars for their participation in the conferences organised by
PU.
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PGI to release postage stamp featuring Nehru Hospital
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 12 The event will commemorate the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the PGI, which started last year and will conclude in July this year. Through this stamp, the hospital has been recognised for its contribution in the national healthcare, said an official. Arrangements made to avoid inconvenience to patients
The main gate of the institute will remain inaccessible for the general public, including patients, for a few minutes during the VVIP visit on March 15. “To avoid any delay in the admission of patients, we will depute special staff at both the gates to assist patients in entering the hospital from the other gate. Our staff will ferry patients in the official vehicles to save their time,” said PGI Deputy Director (Administration), Chetan PS Rao. The VVIP convoy will enter from the main gate of the PGIMER and reach the Bhargava Auditorium for the convocation scheduled at 3 pm on March 15.
Four gold medallists
to be honoured
The PGI will honour four of its students for an outstanding research and academic excellence. The medals include Kataria Memorial Gold Medal to Dr Kanhaiya Lal Aggarwal, Major General Amir Chand Gold Medal to Dr Raguram Ganesomoni, R Nath Gold Medal to Dr Binu Kumar and Aikat Memorial Gold Medal to Saroj Adhikari. As many as 393 students will get degrees during
the convocation.
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Govt Home Science College students awarded degrees
Chandigarh, March 12 A total of 148 degrees were awarded during the convocation, 107 of them were awarded to the graduates (BSc Home Science and Fashion Designing), 10 degrees to the MSc, 11 students from Advanced Diploma in Child Guidance and Family Counselling were awarded diplomas and 17 students from Foods and Nutrition and three students from Fashion Designing were awarded post graduate diplomas. As many as 144 prizes were awarded to students of the college in various academic as well as co-curricular fields. Dr Girish Sahni, director, Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, was the chief guest on the occasion.
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Seven appear for director's post at PEC
Chandigarh, March 12 VK Singh, finance secretary-cum-secretary, Technical Education said that out of total nine candidates only seven appeared before the interviewing panel. "The interviews were being held, however, the final selection out of the candidates who appeared for the interview are yet to be made", Singh said. In December, 2012, the secretary of the technical education had written to all the peer engineering institutes, including IIT, NIT, DTU, BITS, CSIO and IMTECH to inform them about the constitution of the search committee, for the selection of the post of the director. The letter mentioned that the UT Administration was looking for an eminent person from the field of technical education, preferably from the IIT or the NIT. The administration had sought the recommendations of candidates from these institutes for the post. The director will be appointed for the tenure of five-years or till the director attains the age of 62 years, whichever is earlier.
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1,960 students take part in mega job fest
Chandigarh, March 12 The response was overwhelming as 1,960 students got themselves registered and 512 out of them were selected for the next round of the interviews, as reported by different companies. The candidates were shortlisted on the basis of direct interviews, written tests, aptitude tests and group discussions. Most of the students preferred to enrol in banking, insurance, accounting, finance, sales and marketing, aviation, hardware configuration, software and web designing. Aviators Hub provided the highest salary package of Rs 3.60 lakh to the students., whereas the maximum job openings were available in IT sector for which more than 10 companies took part in the event.
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Degrees conferred on 250 students
Chandigarh, March 12 Shivraj V. Patil,
Governor of Punjab and Administrator UT was the chief guest. As many as 250 degrees were conferred on the students of M Com, MSc (IT), BA, BCom, BCA. Neha Mayor, a student of MSc (IT) was awarded the roll of honour for her excellence in academics. Patil, in his speech, emphasised on the women empowerment in political, economical, spiritual areas and how laws and conventions were necessary to treat women at par with men. "Laws can give social, economical and political equality whereas spiritual equality can be obtained only by education through educational institutions", he said.
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Patiala college celebrates annual day
Patiala, March 12 The college principal Satinder Kaur read the annual report comprising the achievements of college in various fields. Addressing the gathering, the DC said the students should have a clear goal in their mind if they wanted to excel in life. He said that school education was even more important than higher education.
— TNS
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Addressing mediapersons, Chawla said both the states should agree to the UT’s share of water. In the absence of sufficient water, the city is likely to face an acute shortage of water in the summers, he added. 