|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
BSP councillor puts Bansal in spot
Chandigarh, April 30 A battle for taking credit for the approval of the project to provide amenities in the Deep Complex took centre stage on the floor of the MC House today when BSP councillor Jannat Jahan Ul Haq took on Mayor Subhash Chawla, a Congress leader, and MC officials for eulogising the role of Congress MP Bansal in the matter. Jannat questioned the inclusion of Bansal’s name in the agenda of the MC House meeting for providing water supply and sewerage in the Deep Complex area. “It was only with the efforts of BSP supremo Mayawati, BSP MPs and councillors that the residents of the Deep Complex will be able to get the basic amenities. If at all credit has to be given to someone, it should be given to the BSP or UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil for approving the project, but in no way to Bansal.” She said initially when she had approached Bansal for the facilities, he had flatly refused. Hitting out at the Mayor, she said, “You are the Mayor of Chandigarh and not Bansal's representative.” She said if Bansal wanted to take credit, he could get his statues installed in the city. As Jannat raised her voice against Bansal, all Congress councillors, including the Mayor, became mute spectators in the House. Mayor Subhash Chawla assured her that her objection would be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. On providing basic amenities in the Deep Complex, BJP councillor Davesh Moudgil said if the Administration and the MC could provide facilities to people living outside the lal dora and in a colony, which was illegal, then they should also consider the demands of residents of group housing societies in Sectors 48, 49, 50 and 51.
He demanded that the issue of maintenance of roads, water supply and sanitation inside societies should be looked after by the MC and not the residents. Finally, the MC
passed the estimate of providing basic amenities to the residents of the Deep Complex.
Heated debate over
Madhu Bansal’s name
A heated debate was witnessed in the House when BJP councillor Arun Sood accused Bansal’s wife Madhu Bansal of ordering the demolition of a day market in
Mauli Jagran. On Sood’s allegation, Congress councillor Pardeep Chhabra strongly
objected and demanded that Sood should take back his words. After that Congress and BJP councillors started levelling allegations against each other over the day
market issue.
What kicked up the war of words
“Pawan Kumar Bansal, Union Minister-cum-local MP, visited the Deep
Complex, Hallomajra, along with the Finance Secretary, UT, and the Commissioner, MC, on October 5, 2012, and it
was decided that an estimate for providing water supply and sewerage in the Deep Complex area shall be submitted
to the Chandigarh Administration on a priority for appropriate decision and release of funds”, read the agenda for
the MC House meeting, which was objected to by BSP councillor Jannat Jahan Ul
Haq.
House bursts into laughter The House burst into a laughter when BJP councillor Arun Sood brought to the notice of the House an interesting case in which the owner of a house in Sector 37 complained to MC officials that he was challaned for watering his lawns whereas, in fact, it was a pet dog which had urinated on the spot.
Two-minute silence
|
|
Thieves take away ATM containing Rs 16 lakh
Panchkula, April 30 The ATM belonged to the State Bank of India
(SBI). No guard was deployed at the ATM booth. Before committing the theft, the miscreants covered the CCTV camera installed in the booth with a yellow tape. Surprisingly, the ATM was fixed with just nuts and bolts and was not fixed properly in a foolproof
way. Preliminary investigation by the police showed that the machine was
taken away after removing the nuts and bolts and cutting the wire. A customer found the machine missing in the morning and asked nearby shopkeepers about it following which the police was informed. "It seems that the crime was committed by at least five persons since the ATM is very heavy and at least five persons are required to carry it from inside the booth.
They must have then taken it away in a vehicle," said a police official. The major clue that the police could have worked on was the footage of the miscreants pasting tape on the camera, but the hard disk which had the recording went along with the machine. "We are trying our best to crack the case. The miscreants will be traced soon," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Ashwin Shenvi. An amount of Rs 10 lakh was loaded in the machine yesterday. The police is also working on the theory that it could be the handiwork of some insiders, who were aware of the cash transfer and the mechanism of the machine.
No security guard
|
|
3 kids fall off overloaded van, hurt
Panchkula, April 30 Of the three, a six-year-old child suffered injuries while the other two suffered minor bruises. The victim, Arunima, was taken to the General Hospital where she was treated and discharged later. Students were packed like sardines in the van. A woman caretaker, Rajinder Kaur, was also sitting in the vehicle. Sources said Virender Kumar, who was driving the van, was a guard and not a professional driver. The driver, Sukhwinder, was away on some other work. "The children were packed in the vehicle; the back door suddenly opened and three children, who were sitting near it, fell. People rushed to the spot and called an ambulance," said Vishnu Kumar, an eyewitness. Taking a serious note of the issue, Panchkula Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashwin Shenvi directed the SHO of the Sector 14 police station to register a case under Sections 279 (rash driving) and 337(causing hurt by an act endangering the life or personal safety of others) of the IPC after a complaint. These students, who stay in a children's home, study in various schools in Panchkula. The van of the Home drops and picks them up. Superintendent of the Home Kamla Rathi reached the spot and said the children were safe. She claimed that the van was carrying 12 children. However, eyewitnesses said there were over 15 children.
|
|
In Tangle: Solutions Even as the situation near schools in the city remains chaotic, the Chandigarh Traffic Police and the UT Education Department have not been able to come out with a concrete solution to manage the problem of traffic congestion and parking near the schools. In the last few years, a number of proposals have been mooted by the traffic police as well as the UT Administration to manage the situation. The Chandigarh Traffic Advisory Committee at its meetings too has deliberated upon the increased need of regulating traffic near the city schools. However, most of the proposals are still on paper with the authorities failing to reach a consensus on implementing them. Several proposals initiated by the Chandigarh Traffic Police too are pending with the UT Engineering Department for years, forcing the local residents and schoolchildren to bear the brunt every day.
High Court judgment flouted
In 1995, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had issued detailed directions in a case — Nimit Kumar versus Chandigarh Administration and others — pertaining to the management of traffic in and around the school premises. The judgment clearly said that schools were responsible for the management of traffic around their premises.
Excerpts from the judgment
“All the educational institutions owned by the government or private sector shall provide due parking space in their buildings. They shall further ensure that the traffic entering their buildings and leaving the said building is properly controlled and managed by their own staff. Efforts shall be made to avoid parking outside buildings as far as possible.” The judgment further added that the competent authority and enforcing agencies shall create self-sufficient main parking spaces in all the areas wherever it is possible and workable. The administration may even specify the parking for a particular class of persons if the situation so demands.
Pending proposals of UT traffic police
Unimplemented proposals
Last year, the Chandigarh Traffic Police held a meeting with the representatives of various schools and educational institutions to discuss solutions to the growing problem of traffic and parking chaos outside schools. After detailed deliberations, the following proposals were approved for implementation. However,
the issues discussed have all been forgotten.
Ground reality
Even though the above judgment was delivered more than a decade ago, a majority of the schools are blatantly flouting norms and no steps have been taken whatsoever to ensure proper parking space in their vicinity. Most of the schools have not hired adequate staff to man the traffic around schools and consider it the sole responsibility of the traffic police to regulate the chaos of vehicles. The Chandigarh Traffic police with a strength of 400 personnel is inadequate to man traffic near the schools in the city.
The issues were…
Panchkula
Small measures
Administration not of much help
The administration has coordinated with the transport and police department to chalk out solutions. But in reality, not even a single policeman has been deployed outside the schools by the police department.
Admn should review situation regularly: Schools
School authorities claim that they have done whatever they can to reduce traffic chaos. They feel that the administration can at least review the situation regularly.
Parents suffer the most
Parents say that the tussle between the school authorities and the administration has been responsible for their woes. It is an uphill task to drop and pick up their wards.
Role of police crucial: Admn
The administration claims that the main role in easing out the congestion outside the schools is that of the traffic police and policemen should be deployed outside schools during the peak hours.
Police ready to train school staff
However, the police department claims that they are short of manpower and can only help train staff members sent by the schools. Rajbir Deswal, Commissioner of Police, said that they were ready to train the school staff to man the traffic. He said that policemen would be deployed to assist them. Mohali
Deputing staff doesn’t work: Schools
School authorities themselves manage the traffic congestion outside their schools. The schools depute two to three teachers or other staff members during the peak hours. “The system works to some extent because nobody listens to the instruction of our staff members” was the common statement of most of the school authorities.
Mohali police doing little
Mohali police has done little to solve the problems of the schools. GS Bhullar , SSP, Mohali, categorically said that it was the responsibility of the schools to provide parking space to the parents and other visitors. “It’s not possible to depute two to three policemen outside every educational institute,” said the SSP.
What should be done
Schools having space on their premises should use it for parking school buses and other vehicles. The schools should take steps to identify students coming from the same localities and encourage the car-pool system. One-way system should be introduced by the police during the peak hours outside those schools that have narrow roads. At least one policeman should be deputed so that the commuters and parents abide by the rules. The parents should avoid bringing their vehicles outside the schools. Instead, they should park them at proper parking lots close by and walk down to pick up and drop their children. (with inputs from Vivek Gupta,
Akash Ghai and Hina Rohtaki) Concluded
|
|
forgotten promise
Chandigarh, April 30 On Councillor Mukesh Bassi’s call to give a one-month salary to the victim’s family, Mayor Subhash Chawla also announced a financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh on behalf of Union Railway Minister and local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal. Councillors also agreed to give their one-month salary of Rs 5,000 to the victim’s family. Nominated Councillor Sat Paul Bansal announced a further Rs 50,000 assistance, while BJP Councillors Rajesh Gupta Bittu and Deshraj Gupta contributed Rs 25,000 each. Bassi informed the House that he had collected Rs 75,000 from his friends and various associations. He said a total amount of Rs 5.5 lakh would be given to the victim’s family on humanitarian grounds and further assistance would be sought from the
UT Administration. The MC House resolved that all the councillors would meet UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil on this issue and would request the Administrator to give a government job to Harpreet’s widow and compensation to his family. Congress Councillor Pardeep Chhabra said the MC Commissioner had the authority to appoint any person for six months on the contractual basis. Nominated Councillor MP Kohli appealed to the victim’s family to avoid a DDR and legal demand notice, as the MC was cooperating with them. MC Commissioner Vivek Pratap Singh said they would take up the issue of providing of a job and a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family with the UT Administration. Victim’s uncle Pritpal Singh Sodhi welcomed the councillors’ efforts for taking up the issue and also thanked Councillor Mukesh Bassi for initiating the move for providing financial assistance to the family. “I, however, request the MC to provide a government job to Harpreet’s widow, he added.
|
|
playground issue
Chandigarh, April 30 The issue raised by former Mayor and councillor Pardeep Chhabra was supported by a majority of councillors who were present at the House meeting today. Chhabra said there were hardly any playgrounds in the city and children in various sectors of the city had complained to their respective councillors about the same. In 2011, he had forwarded a proposal for developing two playgrounds in his ward but to no avail, he added. Chhabra said being a former mayor and three-time MC councilor he expected the Chief Architect office to show some respect to him. Despite taking an appointment to discuss the playground issue, councillors had to wait outside the office, he said. “The Chief Architect should not only focus on big projects but should also consider projects related to the common man, such as playgrounds for children. The Administration, which is planning to give a further extension to her, should not do so,” Chhabra said in the House meeting. BJP Councillor Saurabh Joshi also raised the issue, demanding more playgrounds for children in the city. “Children are forced to stay indoors and play games on their computers, as the Chief Architect rejected the proposal for more playgrounds, citing the heritage status of the city,” he said. Congress Councillor Mukesh Bassi said the UT Administration should pass the pending proposal of playgrounds. In his ward, children were suffering due to absence of playgrounds, he said. Mayor Subhash Chawla assured the House that the issue of playgrounds would be taken up during the upcoming coordination meeting between the UT and MC. The MC Commissioner said the civic body would provide playground facilities in grounds where no horticulture activities were being done. Councillors could identify such grounds and the MC would consider their proposal, he said. Sumit Kaur, when contacted, said the decision for developing playgrounds was to be taken by the civic body. The Chief Architect office was only concerned with given permission for constructing cemented facilities such as basketball courts. She said in many cases objections against playgrounds were raised by the area residents. "I have written to the MC
Commissioner asking him to take a policy decision on this matter," said Sumit
Kaur.
Not for the first time
In the House meeting held in September 2011 too, councilors had rallied against the UT Chief Architect, Sumit Kaur. Alleging that her office was not taking any decision on a number of projects, councillors had demanded her repatriation. Without naming any councillor, former Mayor Pardeep Chhabra said in one of the wards seven playgrounds, including those of volleyball and badminton, were made, a few of which had not yet got a clearance from the Chief Architect office. In Ward No. 15 (Sectors 34, 35 and 44), represented by SAD Councillor Harjinder Kaur, there are a number of playgrounds.
|
|
Differences in SAD come to the fore
Mohali, April 30 Sources said, the former Union Minister, Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, who had contested the MLA elections from this constituency on SAD ticket and Kiranbir Singh Kang, vice-president of SAD and member of Political Affairs Committee of the party, have prepared separate lists of their favourite candidates for the forthcoming elections. While Ramoowalia has suggested Parminder Singh’s name, who is vice-chairman of the Punjab Labour Federation and also sarpanch of Sohana village as Zila Parishad candidate in his list, Kang has shown interest in Avtar Singh Mauli, sarpanch of village Mauli for the post. Notably, there are two seats of Zila Parishad in the district-Sohana (general) and Manauli (woman). Both the leaders have prepared separate lists of candidates for block samiti elections in the district. On being contacted, Ramoowalia said he was asked to prepare his list of candidates by the high command. “After holding five meetings and procuring intelligence report of proposed candidates, I am going to submit my list to Jathedar Ujagar Singh Badali today,” he said. When asked about the separate list of Kang, he refused to comment, saying, On the other hand, Kang also claimed that he was asked to prepare the list by high command of the party. “We have sent our list after shortlisting. The final call would be taken by president,” said Kang. A senior local leader of SAD, on condition of anonymity, said the division of leaders in the district was not a good sign. “This is election time and grudges should set aside by these leaders for the party’s benefit,” said the leader. On the other hand, the Congress is yet to open its cards as far as list of its candidates is concerned. “We will announce the names of our candidates in a day or two. Our list is ready. After his nod, the names of the candidates would be announced,” said Balbir Singh Sidhu, the Mohali MLA.
|
|
Girl survives fall from second floor
Mohali, April 30 The victim has been identified as Gurpreet Kaur. Gurpreet was immediately taken to the Civil Hospital, Phase VI, from where she was sent to her home after giving
treatment. Dr Taranjot Kaur, who attended the student, said Gurpreet was fine and had no visible injury. “I referred her to our orthopedic, who also checked her up following which she was sent home,” said the doctor. The school authorities claimed that Gurpreet was under depression as she has lost her father recently. A staff member of the school, on the condition of anonymity, said Gurpreet was standing near the wall on the second floor when all of sudden she
fell down. “She fell on a guava tree from the second floor and then hit the floor. Luckily, she received no major injuries. She was taken to the hospital immediately,” said the staff member. When contacted, Dr Vinod Sharma, the District Education Officer (Schools) said, “I have inquired the matter from the principal of the school who informed me that the she fell down after suffering giddiness. She is fine now,” said Dr Sharma.
|
|
internet security
Chandigarh, April 30 Officials of Symantec revealed that Chandigarh was one of the top six bot-infected cities in India, with small businesses and individuals being targeting through phishing, spams and virus-bearing emails. Senior official of the company Anand Naik said that the latest cyber crime techniques like bot infection and spam zombies were designed to send out large volumes of junk or unsolicited email messages for illegally gathering personal and financial information. The report also stated that mobile malware had increased by 58% globally. Cyber attacks on smart phones connected to the Internet aimed at stealing personal information, and needed a good security check-up software to stay protected, stated the report.
|
|
liquor vends
Chandigarh, April 30 Against a reserved price of Rs 16 crore, the department registered an increase of around 20 per cent in the projected revenue. In today’s auction, which remained a low-key affair, the highest bid of Rs 2.60 crore against a reserved price of Rs 86 lakh was made for a vend in the Sector 32 market, followed by two vends on the Manimajra-Kalka road which went for Rs 1.33 crore and Rs 1.14 crore respectively. A vend in the Sector 8 market was sold for Rs 69.75 lakh against a reserved price of Rs 69.74 lakh. Another vend in the Sector 21 market went for Rs 77 lakh against a reserved price of Rs 76 lakh. A vend in Burail, Sector 45, was sold at the reserved price of Rs 1.15 crore. Some vends went auctioned with just a minimal hike on their reserved price.
|
|
sdm’s vehicle clash
Chandigarh, April 30 "I am happy that justice has finally prevailed, since I was wrongly booked.We will receive the copy of orders tomorrow and if there are still any conditions imposed upon us, we will be moving the court ", said Vikrant.
|
PEC students go innovative
Chandigarh, April 30 The cheaper version of the washing machine which looks like a cycle has a drum fixed on it and the user just need to sit on the seat of the cycle and pedal it to make the drum rotate to wash the clothes. The team members included Aditya Kesri, Sukhminder Singh, Vivek Ramesh and Sahitya Kumar. Aditya, one of the team members, said people in rural parts of our country still wash clothes with hands as they cannot afford the washing machine. They also don’t have the power supply. “This washing machine will help those who don’t have the budget to purchase a costly washing machine,” he said. The user just needs to put the clothes along with the water and detergent in the drum made of stainless steel. The drum has holes on it which is further covered by another sheet from outside which restricts the water from draining out. “The pedalling makes the drum spin and the clothes start moving up and down inside the drum. At a time clothes weighing 4.5 kg can be washed in the machine,” said another team member. According to students, it takes around 20 minutes to cycle and wash a drum filled with clothes. “As soon the clothes are washed the cover of the outer sheet from where the clothes are put inside gets opened. One needs to pedal again so that the drum spins and the water is drained out. This helps the clothes in getting partially dry,” said one of the students. Sahitya Kumar, another team member, said this washing machine can be easily used by the students residing in hostels and even those who migrate from one place to another, including the labourers. “Working on the machine can also help one in staying fit as this is similar to cycling which makes the body muscular and builds stamina,” he said.
|
||
|
Battery-operated cart for the disabled
Chandigarh, April 30 The six-member team behind the innovative design includes Amandeep Singh, Gursimrat Singh, Shoaib Ahmed, Bakul Gupta, Alokik Bhasin and Rajan Kashyap. Rajan, a student of the mechanical engineering department, said that the cart has been designed in a way that the physically challenged people can drive it with just one hand. “The handle of the cart has been designed in a way that a person with only one hand can also use it. It runs on battery,” he said. Students claimed that the seat of the cart has been designed similarly to a car’s seat which can be vertically adjusted towards as per the need. The rickshaw also has a space to keep crutches along the seat. “There is a big space in front of the seat where a big drum can be fixed to carry various things, including vegetables and other daily goods which can be sold on the streets to the people. The design on the drum is also very user friendly as it can rotate to any side so that the person driving the cart can easily pick the goods lying in the box,” said a team member. The cart can easily carry a load of 40 kg and its speed can go up to 25 km. The project has also won second prize in an event named “Open House” organised at the PEC in which the students from all the engineering streams display their projects which are judged by a panel of experts.”
|
||
|
Annual Great Moonbuggy
Race 2013
Mohali, April 30 Giving details, Satnam Singh Sandhu, chancellor of the university, said: “As many as 98 teams from across the world participated in the three-day event that concluded on April 27. Overall we finished at spot 12 but among Asian countries. Certainly, it’s a very proud moment for us.” The University of Puerto Rico at Humacao (USA) won the top honours whereas International Space Education Institute, Russia, and Middle TN State University (Team 1) remained at second and third spots, respectively. Clocked with the total timing of 07:15 minutes, the CU-Gharuan team took only 26 seconds to assemble the buggy and then ran over a half-mile simulated lunar terrain course, including craters, rocks, lava ridges, inclines and lunar soil. Notably, as many as 22 teams from Asia participated in the race out of which 16 teams were from India. The prominent institutes, including Thapar University, Patiala; Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh; UIET, Panjab University, Chandigarh; and UIET, Kurukshetra; also participated in the event. Sandhu said that it was for the first time that their team was selected for the prestigious event. The CU team comprised of Shubeg Singh (the team leader), Harman Singh, Parul Kashyap, Palaash Plaha and Jayant Lamba, Tanvi and Taniya Singh.
|
||
|
Student’s body gives Rs 70,000 for ailing 8-year-old girl
Chandigarh, April 30 Diveeja Sharma, a member of the Nav Sankalp, said: “Ruchi is suffering from the Atrial Septal Defect (ASD). Ruchi's father, Phool Chand, a resident of Mauli Jagran village is a carpenter and earns Rs 5,000 a month. He was unable to bear the expenses for the treatment of his child.” The donation was made at the Gol Market, PGIMER, by the members of Nav Sankalp. They were accompanied by Dr Anuradha Jatana of PGIMER, who has constantly supported the organisation by tracing the ailing children who needs help. According to Aman Mendhiratta, president of the Nav Sankalp, the group aims at donating funds for the cure of chronically ill children below the age of 14 years, who lack financial aid for their treatment. Tushar Garg, general secretaryof the Nav Sankalp, said: “We have helped 22 children, including Ruchi, by donating over 7.9 lakh till date.”
|
||
|
City girl third in astronomy olympiad
Chandigarh, April 30 With this achievement, she becomes the only student from the north region who got selected among the toppers. She was also rewarded with a laptop. It was like regular Olympiads organised at various school. The top positions holders were awarded with a free trip to the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). “I missed to bag the top spot but will work hard for the next edition,” said
Srishti.
|
||
|
Presentations mark Earth Day
Chandigarh, April 30 The function was inaugurated by Santosh Kumar, Director, UT Science Technology and Environment Department. An interactive session was also held where the eminent scientists delivered presentation on different topics related to the climate change. Students from Strawberry Field World School, Sector 26, and DPS School, Sector 40, also participated in the
event. — TNS
|
||
|
NGO organises awareness walk
Chandigarh, April 30 The walk was orgnaised in order to highlight pedestrian safety among general public and young generation. The walk was organised from the school to Colony No 5. The students carried placards with messages
on roads safety for pedestrians.
|
||
|
Water Resource Day
Chandigarh: The Water Resource Day was celebrated on the premises of Government Model High School, Sector 36, Chandigarh. A poetry recitation competition was organised among the junior class students. Tiny-tots recited poems in three languages on the occasion. Rakesh Sood, principal of the school, flagged off the rally to make the residents aware about the water shortage. Eco club in charges, Ranjeeta and Seema addressed the students to conserve water. Essay competition
The 15th Annual Essay Writing and Painting Competition was organised by the Environment Protection Society, Mohali, as a part of the National Environment Awareness Campaign by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. As many as 20 schools from Mohali took part in the competition. Students of Golden Bells Public School, Sector 77, Mohali, also participated in the event. Ritika Chaudhary (Class 8) stood first in the essay writing competition in junior group while Gaganjot Kaur (Class 9) stood first in the essay writing competition in senior group. Shivam Chaudhry (Class 9) received consolation prize in the painting competition in senior group. English quiz
An inter-house English quiz was held at the Shishu Niketan Public School, Sector 66 Mohali, for the students of Classes 3 to 5. The aim of the quiz was to develop the interest and knowledge of the students in English. The quiz consisted of different rounds like spell bee round, guess the word round and the antonyms and synonyms round. Questions were also asked from the students sitting in the audience. All the participants seemed to have done their homework well. In the end of the quiz, however, the students of Himgiri House bagged the first position and there was a tie bevali and Shiwalik house for the second position. Earth Day celebrated
The Earth Day was celebrated at Doon International School. Students took part in various activities with great interest .The activities varied from Class I to Class XII. Class I, II and III participated in tricycle decoration, candle light march and salad dressing competition. The students of Classes IV and V participated in the Hindi slogan writing on the topic of Earth Day. Students of Classes VI to IX participated in badge preparation competition and slow cycle race. The students of Class X, XI and XII organised and participated in a rally creating awareness about the ban on usage of plastics and planting more trees.
— TNS
|
||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
