Chandigarh, May 15
To keep a check on haphazard development in villages, the UT Administration has finally prepared a draft notification of building bylaws for the villages which fall under the UT Administration and the municipal corporation.

With the draft notification, there will be a restriction on the height of buildings in the villages. According to the bylaws, the maximum height of a building shall not exceed 10.36 metres, inclusive of the plinth height.

There are 23 villages in Chandigarh of which nine fall under the municipal corporation.

According to the building bylaws prepared by the Administration, “the maximum height of a building shall not exceed 10.36 metres, inclusive of the plinth height. This permissible height shall exclude the parapet (up to a height of 0.9 metres) and services like water tank or any other structure allowed with the permission of the competent authority.”

On the minimum size of habitable rooms, the draft notification reads, “The minimum height of a habitable room shall be 2.75 metres, which shall also be applicable to the kitchen and other habitable parts of the building. No opening shall be allowed on common walls.”

Chandigarh, May 15
The UT police today arrested a self-styled godman (the head of Valmiki Ashram in the PGI) for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl. The police arrested 47-year-old Mahavir, alias Sant Ram Rishi, on a charge of raping the girl inside his ashram thrice on May 3. The accused was threatening the girl all these days and even went to her home in Daddu Majra to pick her up when she finally reported the matter to the police this evening.

The accused was arrested from his ashram in the PGI by the Sector 11 police. A case under Sections 376 and 506 of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act has been registered against him. A medical examination of the girl has confirmed rape. The accused will be produced in court tomorrow.

In her complaint to the police, the girl, a resident of Daddu Majra, alleged that she was coaxed by her friend to meet the godman as he had a huge following and had “a solution to all problems”. The minor girl went to meet the godman on May 3, who “charmed her” by saying that she will soon get married and her life will be a bed of roses as per his predictions.

The accused then forcibly took her inside the ashram where he raped her thrice. He then threatened the girl not to disclose the incident to anyone. All these days, he kept making calls to the girl, asking her to come to his ashram and also threatened her. He went to her house in Daddu Majra today when the hapless girl finally approached the police.

Panchkula, May 15
In yet another daring loot in Panchkula, two masked robbers looted gold jewellery by brandishing a knife after barging into a house at Sector 19 here today. This is the third such incident reported from the district in the past three days.

The victim, Girish Devi, who is in her forties, was preparing lunch in the kitchen while her 22-year-old son Nitish was taking a bath when the robbers struck.

The family stays on the second floor and had left the door opened, which gave the robbers easy access to enter the house.

“I was preparing lunch when I heard someone open the door. When I came outside, two youths, in the age group of 20 to 25 years and having their faces covered, brandished a knife and asked me hand over jewellery,” said Devi.

“Fearing for my life and that of my son, I gave them whatever I had,” she said.

After Devi handed the youths her gold bangles, chain and other jewellery items, the youths asked for cash. However, Devi did not have cash at home following which the youths fled.

A case has been registered at the Sector 20 police station. The in charge of the Sector 19 police post, Ishwar Singh, and a head constable have been placed under suspension following the loot.

This is the third such incident in the past three days. On Monday night, six robbers, including two women, barged into a house of a businessman in Sector 4, Panchkula, and robbed gold jewelry and cash. On Tuesday night, dacoits had barged into a house in Pinjore and looted jewellery and cash.

Chandigarh, May 15
A 22-year-old Panjab University (PU) student was found dead in his hostel room under mysterious circumstances today. V Thurhil Sanga, a fourth-semester student of MA (economics) was a resident of hostel number 6. He was found lying motionless on a chair with his legs folded in his hostel room at around 2 pm today when some classmates went to meet him.

The students informed the guard and the warden of the hostel following which the police was called. He had blood oozing out of his nose. He was rushed to the Emergency unit of the PGI, where he was declared brought dead.

While the autopsy was not conducted today, preliminary investigations revealed that he was a patient of epilepsy and had suffered several attacks earlier. The police said they suspected it to be a case of brain haemorrhage. The exact cause of death would be clear only after the postmortem. There were no injury marks on the body. The police has ruled out foul play.

“The body is at the PGI. The postmortem will be conducted tomorrow. Other than bloodstains around his nose, we did not find any external injuries on his body,” said Inspector Gurmukh Singh, SHO of the Sector 11 police station.

His friends last saw him last night in the hostel corridor at around 8 pm. His parents have been informed about the incident. “We are trying to locate his local guardians. His parents will take some time to reach here from Mizoram,” said a PU official.

Chandigarh, May 15
Students can now get their ICSE Class X and ISC Class XII results through an SMS.

While the results of these classes will be available on the website of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), it is for the first time that the SMS has been introduced for providing results.

The result for both the ICSE and the ISC examinations are expected after 3 pm on May 17, according to an official letter uploaded on the website of the council.

Though available on GSM phones only, this system, said local officials, had further eased the process of viewing results.

For viewing the ICSE Class X result using the mobile, if the candidate's index number, for instance, is T/4331/009, then the candidate has to type ICSE T4331009 on his or her GSM phone and send it to any one of the following numbers: 51818, 56263, 58888 and 5676750. The result will flash on the screen within seconds.

The same procedure has to be adopted for getting the ISC Class XII result. If the candidate's index number is F/1234/678, then the candidate has to type ISC F1234678 and send it to the given numbers.

Students have welcomed the move. Abhimanyu, a student, said whenever results were declared, the website of the council often got slow due to overload. The SMS facility would be a huge relief.

According to the official notification uploaded on the website of the council, students can also log on to www.cisce.indiaresults.com, www.cisce.indiaeducation.com or www.cisce.in.com to get the results.

Principals can see the results of their respective schools using the personalised passwords provided to them.

Approximately five lakh candidates appeared for the CISCE this year.

As far the tricity is concerned, around 1,000 students of Class XI and Class XII appeared for these examinations.

Chandigarh, May 15
After getting approval from UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil, the Chandigarh Administration has increased the fares of AC taxis, non-AC taxis, radio autos and ordinary autos in the city by 15 per cent. The State Transport Authority (STA) had recently proposed a hike of 15 per cent in the fare of taxis and autos.

The Administration has increased the fare of AC taxis from Rs 20 per km to Rs 23 per km. For non-AC taxis, the fare has been increased from Rs 15 (for the first km) to Rs 17 and from Rs 11 per km to Rs 13 per km subsequently.

For radio autos, the fare has been increased from Rs 13 (for the first km) to Rs 15 and from Rs 8 per km to Rs 10 per km subsequently.

Chandigarh, May 15
More than 500 guest houses running in 23 villages here, including nine villages under the Municipal Corporation jurisdiction, are facing closure.

According to the draft notification of building bylaws in villages, the minimum plot size to run a guest house in villages should be 500 sq yards (one kanal). At present, a majority of guest houses are functioning from plots, the size of which ranges from 5 marlas to 7 marlas.

The notification reads, “Guest house can be allowed on roads of minimum 22 feet in width. The minimum plot size should be 500 square yards. The building norms and pollution norms as applicable to guest house sites should be adhered to. There should be provision for parking with respect to guest house sites.”

Earlier, the Municipal Corporation and the UT Administration had turned a blind eye towards the construction of illegal guest houses in the villages of Chandigarh. Every year, the numbers of guest houses increases. The lackadaisical attitude of the MC and the UT Administration, in fact, had led to no action being taken against the guest houses that are thriving in the villages despite many violations.

A senior UT official said while multi-storey buildings were being constructed, the structural stability of the guest houses was questionable. The buildings constructed within the city are required to follow strict construction guidelines, but there is no check on the same in the villages. Certain guest houses have basements too. The requisite infrastructure, including proper sewerage, is not available in the areas where the guest houses have come up. In case of a disaster, these guest houses would be virtual death traps, he added.

Chandigarh, May 15
Dirty water accumulated around the kidney unit and the mortuary at the PGI due to a leakage in a sewer was removed today. The move came a day after Chandigarh Tribune highlighted the inconvenience faced by patients due to foul smell emanating from dirty water. Dirty water had accumulated even on the road in front of the mortuary that is very close to the Director's office.

While the dirty water accumulated around the kidney unit was completely removed, the leakages in the sewers near the mortuary and gastroenterology centre were plugged by the PGI workers. Leakage in underground pipes is a common problem at the institute, especially around the Nehru Hospital.

Gallons of water has been going waste at the institute due to a leakage in a pipeline near the Oral Health Centre for the past one month.

Mohali, May 15
Illegal mining of sand and gravel has political patronage in the area. The fact comes to fore whenever the concerned department or police takes an action against those involved in the illegal business.

Police officials check the documents of a truck driver at Sohana village on Wednesday. Tribune Photo: Vicky Gharu

Though no police official or official of local mining department is ready to come on record on the issue, the concerned officials admitted that certain political leaders, mainly from the ruling party here, use to call up them whenever action against the miscreants is initiated.

Taking yesterday's instance, when some officials of the mining department were checking the documents of some tippers, full of sand and gravel, found selling the material near Gurdwara Singh Shaheedan at Sohana last morning without any permission, they started receiving the phone calls of certain local leaders for no action.

According to sources, the officials who had confiscated some vehicles for selling the material illegally, were forced to release them without any action. Though later the officials were seen giving the reason for no action that all their documents were found in order. Another official of the department admitted that they were forced to leave the tippers because of a local influential leader.

Echoing the similar sentiments, a senior police officer, also claimed that these illegal miners had patronage of certain local leaders. "These leaders stand in favour of these miscreants whenever we confiscate their vehicles along with the material," said the officer, on condition of anonymity.

Notably, on December 17 last year, as many as 31 trucks with illegal sand and gravel were confiscated by the Sohana Police. These vehicles were taken to the police station, where a senior Akali leader had reached, following which these vehicles were released immediately. Then telling the purpose of visit of the leader at the police station, the then SHO said that the leader had come to have cup of tea with him.

Panchkula, May 15
As the Panchkula Municipal Corporation elections come closer, different parties are using novel ways to woo the voters. Slogans like "Asli Ghotale sach sach" and "Gundagardi nahi chalegi" "Hamara aashwasan swachh prashasan" are being used to attract the voters.

Interestingly, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has made a poster on the MDH masala label. Instead of "MDH asli masale sach sach", UPA has been mentioned with "Asli ghotale sach sach...65 saal ki parampara". Besides, photographs of the Congressmen have also been given on it.

“Our main cause behind informing the voters is that people should know how the Congress Government is involved in so many corruption cases and scams, involving huge grafts. This would be one of the most important topics which we would be cashing in on,” said Manoj Aggarwal, district President of the INLD.

Though the Congress party may not be fighting elections on the party symbol, yet the candidates with the Congress' background are using strategies to woo the voters against the other parties.

The slogan '‘Gundagrdi nahi chalegi'’ is the one, which is being mostly used by them. Also the conviction of Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala in the teachers' recruitment scam is among the fancy catching issues.

“The INLD just wants to confirm its limited votes and that is the reason they are using such slogans against Congress party,” said Congressman Ravinder Rawal.

Since, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has also aimed at the corruption issues and for that reason they would be using the slogan "Hamara aashwan swacch prashan.". “We want the people to know that we have a clear and transparent body, unlike the other parties who are busy in making money,” said Gyan Chand Gupta, senior BJP leader.

Panchkula, May 15
A day before the filing of nomination papers prospective candidates for the Municipal Corporation elections in Panchkula, the INLD party has finalised its candidates this evening for the polls.

The BJP has also finalised a list of around 25 candidates, whom they would be recommending from their wards.

"We have recommended even two to three candidates for some wards. We have finalised the list and the nomination papers would be filed from tomorrow," said Gyan Chand Gupta, senior BJP leader.

INLD has finalised 20 candidates out of the 78 applications received. "We have received 78 applications and our high command has finalised the candidates from the twenty wards," said Manoj Aggarwal, district president of the INLD party.

He further added, "The toughest decision was for the ward 20 that is the Ramgarh area, as we had received 15 applications just from that ward."

The State Election Commissioner, Dharam Vir, recently announced that Panchkula MC elections would be held on June 2. The counting of the same would be held on June 4. This year, the voting time has been increased by one hour that is from 8 am to 5 pm. The nominations would be filed from May 16 to May 21.

Panchkula, May 15
In a shocking incident, a sub-inspector(SI) allegedly consumed opium at his quarters near police station, Sector 5, Panchkula, here this afternoon. SI Charanjeet Singh was rushed to general hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula, where owing to his critical condition, he was referred to PGI, Chandigarh.

According to police, Charanjeet used to be in depression and consumed opium, regularly. However, today due to excess consumption, he fainted and was rushed to the hospital.

Charanjeet, a sub-inspector of 2003 batch, was in depression due to family reasons and also on professional front. The rumour prevailed in the police circle that Charanjit was tense, as his all batch-mates had been promoted to the inspector rank but he still was a sub inspector.

“Charanjeet was at his quarters with his wife, when the incident took place. His wife saw Charanjeet lying unconscious and took him to the police station, seeking help from the fellow policemen,” said a police official.

He further added, “When he was rushed to the general hospital, the doctors said that he had consumed opium in excess and his condition was deteriorating, following which he was referred to PGI.”

Sources said that before joining the department, a case under Section 307 was also registered against him. After he moved the court, he joined as SI. However, even after 10 years, he was not promoted to an Inspector.

The victim was posted at the police station Sector 5, Panchkula. Doctors at PGI said that his condition was very critical.

Mohali, May 15
Prohibitory orders have been imposed in connection with the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections scheduled to be held on May 19.

A ban has been imposed on canvassing in an area of 100 meter from the polling stations on the day of polling.

Additional District Magistrate Parveen Kumar Thind today said the ban had been imposed in accordance with the directions of the Punjab State Election Commission and Section 144 of the CrPC. “A ban has also been imposed on the gathering of five or more persons near the polling stations, holding meetings or raising slogans,” he said.

He said orders would remain in force on the day of the elections but would not apply to the paramilitary and military forces, employees on government duty, religious functions and gatherings connected with deaths and weddings.

Thind said that all relatives, supporters and other persons who had come here from outside for canvassing in favour of candidates contesting the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections had been ordered to leave the area by 5 pm on May 17. Their presence could adversely affect the smooth conduct of the elections. These orders would remain in force till 5 pm on May 19.

The police authorities were also directed the officials to get a checking done of hotels, community centres, lodges and restaurants and prepare a list of persons who were staying in these places even when they were not the voters of the area.

Chandigarh, May 15
Though schedule for the coming Lok Sabha elections is yet to be announced, the Chandigarh unit of the BSP today opened its election office in Sector 34 here. It was inaugurated by Narendra Kashyap, All-India General Secretary of the BSP and Rajya Sabha MP.

Kashyap said they were officially starting their campaign for the Chandigarh seat. He announced that the BSP councillor, Jannat Jahaan-ul-Haq would be the party candidate for the Chandigarh elections.

Mohali, May 15
The controversial security gate network for the town is yet again in the spotlight, as the municipal corporation is trying to evolve a new scheme for running the system.

Meetings are now being held by Joint Commissioner of the civic body with representatives of residents’ welfare associations to materialise the plan.

Joint Commissioner Dilraj Singh said that he had met representatives of three associations yesterday and two today. The SP (City), Swarandeep Singh was also present at the meetings.

Dilraj Singh further said that residents were in favour of the security gates but at the same time they wanted a proper management of the system.

The Joint Commissioner said that earlier a contractor had installed the security gates in various phases. However, the earlier contractor was unsuccessful in employing security guards and many complaints were received in this regard. His contract, therefore, had to be scrapped. The proposed scheme would require proper coordination among the police, the municipal corporation and residents’ welfare associations. The corporation itself has now stepped in to hire the guards for the gates, from private security agencies, besides the maintenance of the gates would also be looked at the by the civic body. The new contractor, would be permitted to put up display advertisements on the security gates and also be required to bear the expenses incurred by the corporation on the maintenance of the gates, along with salaries of the guards.

As many as 62 gates had been put up in various parts of the town. The guard would be maintain a register containing the details of persons at night. — OC

Chandigarh, May 15
The Panjab University (PU) Syndicate today constituted a committee that will examine the inspection reports of 190 affiliated colleges across Punjab, inspected by a special committee. The committee will file its report on the status of the compliance of anomalies by the colleges in one month.

The committee will examine the 300-page report on the colleges and submit its findings in the Syndicate meeting scheduled for next month. The Syndicate will then decide on the de-recognition of colleges, which have failed to comply with the norms, including provision of basic infrastructure to students.

The House held that despite the fact that inspection committees point out irregularities, colleges fail to comply with them. The colleges fail to build infrastructure and appoint faculty as per the UGC guidelines.

The committee’s report will constitute specific comments against each college in a tabular form. Following this, affiliation will be granted to those colleges that will show 100 per cent compliance with the anomalies pointed out during inspections. The colleges have a month’s time to fulfil all conditions.

Earlier, the recognition of Baba Kundan Singh College, Ludhiana, was withdrawn for issuing fake advertisements.

The syndics said B.Com-LLB should be introduced only after the Bar Council of India (BCI) approval.

Chandigarh, May 15
The “casual” attitude of the Chandigarh Administration has been delaying the working of the committee appointed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the issue of fee hike.

On April 29, Justice RS Mongia (retd), who is heading the committee, sent the pro forma, having a set of questions, to the UT Education Department to further dispatch it to all private schools for gathering their overall financial details.

Soon after receiving the pro forma, officials of the department sent it to the UT Adviser’s office to seek his approval before sending it to all private schools.

The file has not yet come from his office, wasting the precious time of the committee that has been entrusted with an important time-bound task of determining the adequate fee structure in all private schools for the 2012-13 session.

But since a lot of time has gone into unnecessary official formalities, overall working of the committee is already running behind the schedule.

Justice Mongia said there was no need for Education Department officials to send the pro forma to the Adviser’s office for his approval. It was well drafted and could have been issued directly to all schools.

Justice Mongia said he talked to the Adviser yesterday and he promised him to send it back to the Education Department at the earliest.

As per information, earlier the committee was likely to hold its first hearing somewhere in the last week of May but due to this delay, the meeting is not expected before the mid of the next month now.

If Education Department officials are to be believed, the pro forma of the committee is soon to be dispatched to all schools. But the information from the schools would not come before the first week of June since they are to be given at least two weeks’ time for submitting their financial details.

It is based on this information that the committee will start its proceeding and chalk out its overall strategy.

Besides physical inspection of the schools, the committee will minutely check their financial accounts to dig out whether the schools were indulging in profiteering.

All kinds of factors, including infrastructure, available facilities, investment made, salaries paid to teachers and staff, future plans for expansion, fee structure, other funds charged from the students, will be taken into consideration, said officials.

The committee was the result of the recent direction of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the issue of fee hike.

Chandigarh, May 15
Many city students have claimed that they got less marks in the JEE (Main) exam, the results of which were announced on May 7.

The students said they had matched their response sheet uploaded on the CBSE’s website with answer keys issued by various coaching centres and found short of 10-15 marks in the JEE (Main) result.

Sahil Soni, one of the JEE aspirants, said: “After getting my response sheet rechecked from a teacher of my coaching institute and answer keys uploaded on the website of various other coaching institutes, I am fully convinced that I have been given 15 scores less than I expected.”

Sahil said he had already lodged his complaint with the CBSE and wanted it to re-look at his result to rectify the errors at the earliest.

Karan Atri, another student, said he, too, was shocked to find the difference of 10 scores in his result. “This should be rectified. Otherwise, it will affect his chances of getting admission to a good college,” he said.

As it was found, the JEE (Main) exams were held both off-line and online, and the problem is more with the students who took the exams online from April 22 to April 25.

There are several students across the country who have also filed complaints about mistakes in their result.

Abhishek Arora, another student, who also claimed that he got less marks, said the CBSE should upload the answer keys of both off-line and online JEE (Main) exams to remove the confusion.

“Our future is at stake. Even a difference of one score brings down the overall ranking. The CBSE must take cognisance of our appeals,” he said.

Several parents said CBSE officials did not cooperate with them when they went to the head office in Delhi with their complaints.

Mohali, May 15
The Quest Group of Institutions here today announced the launch of a special scholarship scheme of Rs 2 crore for bright girl students, who wish to pursue engineering and MBA courses from the institution.

DS Sekhon, chairman of the group, said the best way to empower girls was by providing them skill-oriented education.

“We have decided to give a special scholarship of Rs 2.40 lakh for BTech and Rs 1.20 lakh for MBA course to academically meritorious girls from the region depending upon their academic performance in qualifying examination. The girls having more than 80 per cent marks in qualifying exam (i.e. 10+2/diploma/graduation) will be entitled to the scholarship of 100 per cent tuition fee. Similarly, the girls having 75-80 per cent marks will be entitled to scholarship of 75 per cent tuition fee, those with 70-75 per cent marks will get 50 per cent scholarship and those with more than 60 per cent marks will get 25 per cent scholarship on the tuition fee,” said Sekhon.

Further, special scholarships of Rs 1.20 lakh for BTech and Rs 60,000 for MBA courses for the girls who are the single child of their parents were also announced.