Allegations baseless: Karamjeet

Refuting the allegations, Karamjeet Singh claimed that his son had 98.89 percentile CAT score which was the highest among the candidates who had applied for the admission to the UBS. He said the group discussion and interview carried only 15 per cent marks. “Even if my son got zero in group discussion and interview, he would got through with his good score in CAT,” said Singh, whose son was on the top of the final selection list.

Not for the first time

Prof Gupta was in trouble in 2011, too, when he was the chairperson of the UBS after girl students alleged that he used derogatory language against them.

PU probe

The sexual harassment committee of Panjab University is also investigating the case. The complainant’s statement has been recorded. 

Chandigarh, May 21
Work came to a standstill at the Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA) and the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation offices in Sector 17 for two hours following an unscheduled power cut.

In the absence of power backup, the computers remained shut at these offices. The applicants had no other option but to wait for the power supply to be restored.

At least 100 applicants at the RLA office had to wait in queues even after the power supply was restored as no additional counters were made operational to clear the rush.

Registration and Licensing Authority Mahavir Kausik was not available for comments despite repeated attempts.

A number of applicants were also seen waiting at the Municipal Corporation office. Satish Verma, who came to book the community centre in Sector 19, had to wait for one hour as the booking dates were not available on the online system due to power cut.

Interestingly, neither the RLA authorities nor the MC had made any alternative arrangements for power backup, especially at the counters dealing with public.

Sarita Sharma, a city resident, lamented that it was strange that the UT Administration had failed to install power backup system in these offices.

“I have been waiting to get a learner’s licence for past two hours. I don’t know what to do as there is no electricity and they don’t even have power backup,” said Harsha, a student. 

Chandigarh, May 21
Getting a unit of blood from the blood bank at the PGI is a daunting task if experiences of patients and their attendants are an indication.

The norms make it mandatory for the blood bank to issue blood to patients within six hours of receiving the request form, but a number of patients are often turned away on the first visit and are forced to frequent the blood bank several times.

Consider this: An attendant of a severely anaemic patient, whose haemoglobin (HB) level had slipped below five, visited the blood bank last week at 10 am for availing three units of B+ blood. He was asked to come after two hours. An attendant at the hospital placed the form in the ‘on demand’ basket. As a senior resident remained absent from the blood bank throughout the day, the hospital attendant kept turning the patient’s attendant away several times. Finally, at around 7 pm, the patient’s attendant lost his cool and threatened the hospital attendant of reporting the matter to the appellate authority. He was then issued blood within two hours (around 9 pm).

“I donate blood every year at the blood donation camp organised by the Thalassaemia Society at the PGI. But look at the irony. When my patient needs blood, I am being harassed,” said Ashish Sinha (name changed), an anaemic patient’s attendant.

The struggle for many other patients does not end here. Another attendant, who sought blood for her one-year-old child suffering from sepsis, was given the unit a day after sending the request. The child was in the emergency ward when doctor issued a slip demanding blood.

“There are a number of persons who donate blood every month. But it is not available readily at the PGI, even in case of an emergency,” lamented the child’s mother Anusha Pandit (name changed).

A Tribune team visited the blood bank at the PGI several times in a day for the past one week and found that rules were not being followed in issuing blood to patients.

As per the rules, it is mandatory for the blood bank to provide blood within 45 minutes to a patient in case of an emergency and within six hours to a patient with less urgency.

The practice goes unchecked as patients’ attendants had never filed a complaint with the appellate authority.

“We have never received any complaint from the attendants. Besides, components of blood need to be arranged as per the requirement. The experts need to invest time in separating the components and also check the availability,” PGI spokesperson Manju Wadwalkar said. 

Chandigarh, May 21
In yet another setback to the traders at the Sector 17 Plaza, who have already been facing losses following the relocation of the ISBT and the District Courts Complex from Sector 17 to Sector 43, the MC today gave its nod to hike the parking rates at the two major parking lots in the sector.

The Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) of the MC okayed the proposal of charging parking fee on an hourly basis for the paid parking area covered under the fully automatic system in the Empire Store parking and the Sahib Singh parking.

The new parking rates will be Rs 5 per entry up to two hours and subsequently Rs 10 per hour for four-wheelers, including taxis. It will be Rs 2 per entry up to two hours and subsequently Rs 4 per hour for two-wheelers. Rs 50 will be charged for multiple entries valid for a day for four-wheelers, including taxis and Rs 20 for multiple entries valid for a day for two-wheelers.

Office-bearers of the Sector 17 Market Association said the market was witnessing less customers after the relocation of the District Courts Complex and the ISBT to Sector 43 and the opening of Elante Mall in Industrial Area.

The committee’s decision has led to resentment among the traders. “The decision will discourage the customers from visiting the Sector 17 market,” said said JPS Kalra, general secretary of the Sector 17 Market Association.

“We have increased the parking fee to avoid rush at the parking lots. Moreover, it will discourage the traders to part their vehicles at the parking lot for long,” said F&CC member Mukesh Bassi.

The F&CC also okayed the sale of Chinese food at the Night Food Street in Sector 14.

Panchkula, May 21
With the Indian National Lok Dal’s Chief Om Prakash Chautala getting bail in the teachers recruitment scam case, the position of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in the MC elections has been strengthened now.

Recently, the INLD had claimed that they would fight the Municipal Corporation elections on the party symbol and there would be no impact on the elections even if Om PrakashChautala was behind bars. According to them the conviction had united them further.

And now, with him out of jail, their position has further strengthened. Political parties in Panchkula were of the notion that INLD would not contest the elections on the party symbol due to fear of losing after their leader was jailed. Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and his MLA son Ajay Chautala were convicted by the CBI court in the teachers’ recrutimnet scam in January this year.

Chandigarh, May 21
On the third day of the hearing of the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) and Parsvnath Developers Limited, the arbitrators recorded the statements of four board employees.

Sources said that the hearing would continue till tomorrow as the statements of the witnesses were yet to be completed by the arbitrators.

Sources said that the statement of the Kanango, Patwari, Chief Financial Adviser and XEN was recorded during which a number of issues came to light. The major fault which was pointed out by the CHB officials was that Parsvnath Developers Ltd had delayed submitting project plans. The company officials were well aware that it should have been deposited in the CHB Office, yet the plans were initially submitted by them in the Estate Office and the Engineering Department which did not have any thing to do in it.

Another issue which was raised by the CHB officials was that the company officials had not submitted proper plans to the board even though they were well aware about the norms.

Sources in the CHB alleged that the company had manipulated the authorities in appointing three architects especially to clear their plan for the project and the files of these three were missing from the records of the board. Officials pointed out that as there was a slump in the property market the company was not interested in starting the project and gave new excuses to the board to delay it.

The project was jinxed since October 6, 2006, when the project agreement between the CHB and Parsvnath was signed. Parsvnath had only paid Rs 517 crore as the first installment. It has been defaulting on the remaining amount on the plea that the CHB had failed to provide encumbrance-free land and delayed approval of the project's building plans.

Chandigarh, May 21
The government will play a catalytic role in promotion of tourism, but the thrust for better and more amenities for the tourists must come from the private sector.

UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil made this observation while addressing delegates of hospitality and tourism industry at a one-day conference on integrated tourism development in North India. Delegates from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Uttrakhand participated in the conference. — TNS

Chandigarh, May 21
Visually impaired students of the Institute for the Blind, Sector 26, will stage Kabir, adapted from Shekhar Sen's one-act play, at Tagore Theatre, Sector 18, at 10.45am on May 24.

The show is the result of hard work put in by enthusiastic home makers Indira Chhibber, Manju Suri, Reva Gandhi and Alka Gupta, who helped the students prepare for it. — TNS

Rhymes Day celebrated

Tiny tots of Bhawan Vidyalaya Junior, Sector 33-D, celebrated Rhymes Day. Children came dressed according to the theme and recited poems holding different aids, such as placards and soft toys. The activity aimed at building students’ confidence and helping them in developing leadership qualities. Children participated with great zeal and enthusiasm.

Chandigarh, May 21
The UT Education Department has adopted the single teacher policy for all the primary classes. The policy, which was already in place for Classes I and II at government schools, will do away with the practice of having subject-wise teachers up to Class V.

Now, a single teacher will take care of studies and related activities of students in a classroom. Department officials said the decision was taken in compliance with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act norms. Moreover, it was an extension to the education policy of the department as a single teacher was already heading Classes I and II, they said.

“The decision to extend the policy till Class V was taken because activity-based learning has been made mandatory, especially in primary classes, under the RTE Act. A single teacher can adapt better to these changing academic patterns,” said an official.

The decision, however, has not gone down well with the local teaching fraternity. A school head said the subject-wise teachers were needed as the practice broke the monotony in a classroom and students learnt better through pedagogy of different teachers. “The single teacher policy is fine for the lower classes, but beyond that it may lead to practical issues,” he said.

Another school official said the system would falter when teachers go on leave. “Then, it will become very difficult to depute someone else for a whole day,” she said.

Swarn Singh Kamboj, president of UT Cadre Education Employees’ Union, said private schools in the city were maintaining higher standards of education by adopting the practice of subject-wise teachers. The practice should not be abolished in the government schools, he said.

Private schools in the city are maintaining higher standards of education by adopting the practice of subject-wise teachers. The practice should not be abolished in the government schools.
—Swarn Singh Kamboj, President, UT Cadre Education Employees’ Union

Pawar Satyajit Jalindhar came second with 99.975 percentile, followed by Ramesh Pal (99.959 percentile). The selected candidates will be called for counselling after a few weeks, followed by interviews. — TNS

Chandigarh, May 21
The students appearing for the Common Entrance Test (CET) at Panjab University who deposited their fee on time but failed to complete the online form submission have been given a chance to complete their forms by May 23.

PU officials said those candidates who had deposited their fee for PU-CET (UG)-2013 entrance test but could not complete their online forms may contact the assistant registrar (CET cell) at PU.

The students can approach the official concerned up to 4 pm on May 23 in order to complete their forms and download their admit cards, said Controller of Examination (COE) Parvinder Singh. — TNS