Chandigarh, June 29
The UT Electricity Department has designated the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) and Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) as the appellate authorities to redress appeals filed by power consumers in the city.

As per the new directions issued by the UT Electricity Department, the ADC and SDMs would hear appeals filed by residents against penalties imposed by the department for using more power than the sanctioned load.

A senior official of the UT Administration said the decision was taken because the electricity department was not the appellate authority to hear appeals under Section 127 of the Electricity Act, 2003.

The electricity department was not following the guidelines of the Act and had appointed executive engineers as appellate authorities for hearing appeals.

The UT Administration started the process to appoint officials, not from the electricity department, to hear appeals after the matter came before the Consumer Grievances Redressal Form.

When contacted, UT Superintending Engineer (Electricity) MP Singh said SDMs would hear appeals of domestic, agriculture, commercial (up to the sanctioned load of 500KW) and small power consumers.

The ADC will hear appeals of domestic, agriculture, commercial (above the sanctioned load of 500KW), medium and large power consumers, he added. 

Mohali, June 29
Passengers on board the Nangal-Ambala passenger train had to wait for over four hours at the Mohali railway station after the train developed a snag.

The driver of the train Suresh Kumar applied brakes when he noticed smoke coming out of wheels of the engine and the front bogey at 9.40 am.

More than 400 passengers were on board the train when the incident took place. A new engine was requisitioned from Chandigarh.

“I have to go to Ambala to meet my relative. But the delay has upset my schedule,” said Jamna, a resident of Kiratpur Sahib.

Ropar resident Hira Lal said: “I have to go to Ambala, but I will have to reschedule my programme.”

The train resumed its journey around 2 pm.

Panchkula, June 29
As stocks of relief material pile up in the flood-affected areas of Uttarakhand, the government of the hill state has urged the authorities in Panchkula and Chandigarh not to send food items and used clothes.

The Uttarakhand Government has, however, urged the northern states and the UT to send new clothes, including sweaters, and blankets for the flood victims.

Piles of used clothes and food items have been stacked at the Bhatwari, Joshimath, Ukhimath and Chamoli blocks of the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.

Chandigarh, June 29
After the railgate scam, former Union Railways Minister and Local Member of Parliament (MP) Pawan Kumar Bansal for the first time targeted UT officials for creating hurdles in the city’s development.

At a meeting of Congress workers with the newly appointed in charge of the Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh units of Congress and party general secretary Shakeel Ahmed, Bansal and other Congress leaders accused officials of the UT Administration and Municipal Corporation of ignoring the demands of public representatives and makingpolicies on their own.

The Congress leaders also complained to Shakeel Ahmed that UT officials never gave any importance to Congress leaders and councillors in the city. They also urged him to take up the issues with the UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil too.

While addressing the Congress workers, Bansal said that officials kept pending files related to development activities which resulted in delay, and no work could start.

These officials also create hurdles in city’s development by sitting over the files, Bansal added.

Another Congress leader complained that first these officials came on deputation to the city with he support of senior Congress leaders but once they joined they always worked as per their own convenience paying little heed to what Congress leaders or councillors of the city had to say.

Heated arguments between Congress leaders At the meeting, heated arguments were exchanged between Congress leader Pawan Sharma and Chandigarh Congress president BB Behl. When Sharma stood up to deliver his speech, Behl stopped him. On this, Sharma started arguing with Behl. Finally, Behl allowed Sharma to deliver his speech.

Chandigarh, June 29
Surviving worst tragedy in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, around 70 pilgrims reached here at the ISBT, Sector 43, in Chanidgarh. They were brought here by the Punjab roadways buses from Rishikesh and later they were sent to different stations in Punjab.

Mohali DSP Headquarters, Harbans Singh Riar, and camp co-coordinator at the ISBT-43, said so far more than 4,000 survivors, who have been rescued from many affected areas of Uttarakhand, arrived here at the relief camp.

“As per our information, there are still several stranded passengers. This camp will remain opened till all the pilgrims from this region return safely,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kumaon Sabha (Chandigarh) today sent two trucks of relief material to Uttarakhand for the flood-affected people. This relief material was collected by the Kumaon Sabha in two relief camps, which were organised in Sectors 7 and 32. The trucks were flagged off by the DSP Surjit Singh and BJP councilor, Heera Negi, and Kumaon Sabha office-bearers and members of the Sector 32 Market Association.

Relief material includes different items of necessity like medicines, blankets, mineral water bottle, emergency lights, torch, milk powder, clothes, biscuits etc.

Chandigarh, June 29
With the recording of 24 mm of rainfall in the city today, the total rainfall in June was recorded at 274 mm which has broken the record of the highest rainfall of the past five years.

As per the record of the met department, the highest rain was recorded in June 2008 which was 376 mm.

City residents witnessed heavy rains accompanied by strong winds today in the afternoon. The wind velocity recorded by the met department is 45 knot as per the met reports. With the rain fall of 24 mm the maximum temperature declined by four notches recording 33.3 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature recorded was 25.2 degree Celsius and due to which many residents suffered eye injuries. It also affected telephone lines, apart from uprooting a number of trees in the city.

As per the metrological department, the cloudy sky with thunder showers will continue tomorrow also with maximum temperature of 33 degree Celsius and minimum 25 degree Celsius. The met department officials said these conditions were caused by the Western disturbances over Jammu and Kashmir and cyclonic circulation over North West Rajasthan.

Chandigarh, June 29
City residents today faced power cuts due to rain accompanied by a fierce storm, which hit the city in the afternoon. A number of trees were also uprooted and reported to have fallen due to heavy showers. Residents of Sectors 19, 28, 33, 34, 42, 46, 43 and 52 and many other parts of the city witnessed power cuts ranging between 3 to 5 hours today. Uprooted trees and their branches also damaged electricity poles and wireshitting power supply in various sectors, villages and colonies.

After the storm, the UT Electricity Department received around 125 complaints from various parts of the city. “We have been facing acute power problem for the past three days and no one listens,” said Manoj, a resident of Sector 46.

Chandigarh, June 29
Four trucks loaded with essential commodities were sent by the Vishvas Foundation for the trapped people in Uttarakhand from BKM Vishvas School, Sector 9, Panchkula, today. The trucks contained food items such as biscuits, fried grains, water bottles, sugar, rice, wheat flour, blankets and woollen clothes along with other necessary items.

In this task, besides rishis, sadhaks and devotees, Shiva Market Sector 9, Panchkula, chief of Hanuman Mandir, Sector 25, managing committees of temples of Sectors 21, 23, 30, and 42 made their contribution. — TNS

Mohali, June 29
SGPC member Hardeep Singh organised a candlelight march today evening in protest against the acquisition of SGPC land by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) in Premgarh village (Saini Majra).

The protesters demanded the cancellation of the land acquisition. The acquisition of 23.5 acres in the village has become controversial. According to Hardeep Singh, the land belongs to Gurdwara Amb Sahib in Phase 8. It was improper for the SGPC to accept money in lieu of the land, which was donated by certain persons for religious purposes.

He said the local sangat had not been taken into confidence and the step amounted to selling gurdwara land. The SGPC accepted Rs 19.39 crore from the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority even though the current market price was about Rs 300 crore. 

Mohali, June 29
To extend support to Punjab IAS officer Kahan Singh Pannu, hundreds of people, including members of several associations, held a peaceful candle march from Gurdwara Singh Shaheedan, Sohana, to Dussehra Ground at Phase 8 today evening.

The purpose of the march was to mount pressure on Punjab government for immediate arrest of persons, responsible for assault on senior IAS officer Pannu at Gobind Ghat in Uttarakhand.

"Pannu had taken risk of his life for rescue work of stranded persons at Uttarakhand. There he became victim of conspiracy. We demand immediate arrest of culprits in the case," said Tajinder Singh Saini, state president, Punjab Environment Society.

While flagging off the march, D. AS Khaira, a former Vice-Chancellor, Punjab Agriculture University, said there was a deep rooted conspiracy behind this unwarranted and unjustified incident.

"The murder of an ASI in Amritsar, attack on a Tehsiladar and now assault on Pannu is matter of great concern for peace loving and law abiding citizens. We demand immediate action in the case," said Dr Khaira.

Earlier, several members of various associations, including Alumni Association of Punjab Agriculture University, Punjab Forest Officers Association, Punjab Non-Gazetted Association, Punjab Forest Rangers Association, Indian Medical Association, Indo-Cnadian Golf Association, Masonic Club and Lions Club (supreme) participated in the march.

Chandigarh, June 29
“A Judge is not a mute spectator or a neutral umpire, rather he is an active player, responsible for embodying the right spirit of justice,” said P Sathasivam, Senior Judge of the Supreme Court, while addressing judicial officers on the culmination of their induction programme here at the Chandigarh Judicial Academy in Sector 43, here today.

As many as 162 newly recruited judicial officers were awarded certificates for successfully completing a year-long induction training.

Among the dignitaries present, Supreme Court Judge P Sathasivam was the chief guest while Punjab and Haryana Chief Justice Sanjay Krishan Kaul presided over the valedictory function. Justice Surya Kant, president of the Board of Governors of the Chandigarh Judicial Academy, was also present along with other members of the Board.

While addressing the new recruits, Justice Sathasivam, soon to be the next Chief Justice of India, said as the literacy and per capita income was increasing in India, there would be a considerable rise in litigations, therefore, all those who were a part of the judicial system in India needed to acquire updated managerial skills, the most important being able to handle information and communication technology. “You must also inculcate the art of court management and set an example with your good behaviour, he said while addressing the judicial officers.

He asked them to show courtesy to lawyers, witnesses, court staff, subordinate staff and litigants, who, he said, were the five most important segment of the court room trail.

Terming the judicial officers as an important part of the judicial system, he asked them to prioritise the old cases first. “They must try to bring down the cases pending beyond five years to the zero level, he said.

In his address, Punjab and Haryana Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked the new recruits to timely dispense the cases and show good conduct whether on or off duty. “This job should not get to your head” was his piece of advice to the new judicial officers.

Mohali, June 29
Alleging inaction on the part of the Mohali Police in Suresh Kumar's alleged murder case, the victim's relatives today held a two-hour-long protest at Sector 17 Plaza today evening.

Over 100 persons gathered at Plaza, holding banners and raising slogans against the police. The victim's younger brother Manoj Lubana alleged two years have passed since the charred body of his brother Suresh was found in a car on road at village Siswan, the police could not workout the case. "We have also submitted a memorandum in this connection to Mohali SSP GS Bhullar two days ago. Today we are holding the protest,"said Manoj Lubana.

Mohali SSP Bhullar said the police was trying to establish the circumstances that lead to the death of Suresh Kumar.

"It is wrong to say that the police was not doing anything in the case. On the directions of Punjab and Haryana High Court, we have submitted our status of the reports at regular intervals. The couple, on which the family of the victim had doubts, had also been quizzed in this regard. We are going to apply in the court for narco and lie-detection test of the couple on coming Monday," said SSP Bhullar, who is investigating the case along with the Special Investigating Team constituted for 
the case.

Chandigarh, June 29
Taking a strong stance against the Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Sector 26, the Panjab University (PU) Syndicate has not made any decision over allowing the college to make fresh admissions for the coming academic session.

Director-Principal of the Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, who is also the Director of the medical education and coordinator for the Centralised admissions to the medical colleges of the UT, had sought a clarification from the university over the status of the Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital as whether they should be allowed to make fresh admissions, on which the House presently kept the fate of the college pending.

The admission process is going to start from July 17.

Earlier, the syndicate in its meeting held on April 25 had decided to send a notice of disaffiliation to the Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Sector 26, Chandigarh, for not appointing 100 per cent faculty and non-compliance of other conditions imposed by the inspection committee.

The college that has 14 regular faculty members was given a notice by the PU on October 27, 2012, to fulfil the minimum requirement of 37 regular teachers; however, the college failed to comply with the condition imposed by the university.

The inspection committee that had visited the college in its report had also stated that since there was an inadequate staff and the OPD attendance was thin, the college should elaborate their OPD and regular posts of the faculty members in the OPD, irrespective of their area of specialisation as all of them had basic qualification in homoeopathy.

The college had recently advertised the vacant posts and sent a report to the university for consideration.

The college had further stated that the rules had been amended and accordingly the college was required to have 24 regular teachers and they were short of only 10 teachers.

Chandigarh, June 29
Once again, Government Model Senior Secondary School-16, Government Model Senior Secondary School-35 and Government Model Senior Secondary School-Mani Majra have emerged the favourite choice of students for Class XI admission.

Chandigarh has 39 government senior secondary schools having approximately 12,700 seats for various streams, which will be filled next week.

Officials of the Education Department said out of the total 458 students with CGPA 10, who applied for Class XI admission, approximately 250 students applied for these three schools.

Over 50 per cent of the students with CGPA 9 also had these three schools as their top preferences in their registration forms.

“Better infrastructure is one of the main reasons for such tremendous response from students each year,” said GMSSS-16 Principal Anujit Kaur. GMSSS-Manimajra Principal Kund Bala said all credit goes to teachers too who had produced good results consistently in these schools.

“The popularity of our school is also due to the fact that it is near to Panchkula and most of the students prefer to study here in Chandigarh to seek eligibility for its state quota for higher education,” she said.

Among other schools, GMSSS-19, GMSSS-37, GMSSS-33, GMSSS-40, GMSSS-32, GMSSS-10, GMSSS-8, GMSSS-20 also draw good response since they have three to five sections for the science stream and at least two sections for commerce.

For yet another year, the science stream remained the favourite choice. Over 1,200 students with CGPA 10 and 9 applied for the science stream alone that has approximately 3,000 seats in government schools here. With such a massive response, students with below CGPA 8 are going to face a lot of issues in getting admission to the science and commerce streams, said an official.

Officials said those below CGPA 6 would get admission to periphery schools only and that too in the arts stream. Out of the 15,500 students who have applied for Class XI admission here, as many as 4,896 students are between CGPA 5 to CGPA 5.8 and 2,048 students between CGPA 4 and CGPA 4.8.

Around 70 students visited the grievance cell made by the Education Department at GMSSS-16 and GMSSS-19 and submitted their representation for the correction in their particulars in the common merit list uploaded yesterday on the department’s website.

“The required changes will be made in their particulars, officials added.

The school-wise and stream-wise list will be released on Monday following which students will be given two days to submit fee in a school where he/or she has been allotted the seat.

Chandigarh, June 29
The cut-off for vocational courses is likely to go up since several students with 9 CGPA and above have applied for various vocational courses.

Among 22 vocational courses, Information Technology, Fashion Designing and Garment Technology, Health and Beauty Studies, X-ray Techniques, Stenography and Computer Application, Medical Laboratory Technology, Accountancy and Taxation are favourite among students. The courses have got a tremendous response with students above 9 CGPA applying for these. Students with 9.4 CGPA are opting for Stenography and Computer Application and IT courses. Students with 9 CGPA are also opting for Health and Beauty and Medical Laboratory courses.

Over 3,000 students have applied for vocational courses that have two subjects from the academic side and two main subjects from the respective vocational course, besides the practical work.

Chandigarh, June 29
The Syndicate in its meeting today gave its nod to the proposal to hike 10 per cent fee from the coming academic session in all general courses on the Panjab University campus.

The House also approved the recommendations of the committee to hike the fee of self-financed courses by 20 per cent.

The fee hike will be introduced across the board in all courses.

Syndicate members said the revised fee structure would apply to the new batch of students taking admission to different courses.

“The students already studying in the Panjab University will not be affected by the hike,” said a Syndic.

The issue of mass re-appears of 21 music students at the Post Graduate Government College for Girls-11 was raised by Dinesh Talwar, a Syndicate member, who proposed that the university should conduct the re-evaluation of all candidates.

“Keeping the future of the students in mind, Panjab University authorities have decided that their answer sheets will be reevaluated,” Dinesh Talwar added.

Chandigarh, June 29
Anchal Chaudhary of Post Graduate Government College for Girls (PGGCG-42), Sector 42, has topped the BSc Hons (Biotechnology) 3rd year examination conducted by Panjab University.

Making the college proud, four students from the PGGCG-42 are among the students making their place in the top ten. The other three have bagged the fourth, fifth and seventh rank, respectively.

Sonam of Khalsa College for Women, Civil Lines, Ludhiana has secured the second rank in the exam, while Harleen Kaur of GGDSD College, Sector 32, has bagged the third rank.

Interestingly, total four students of GGDSD College also managed to secure their place in top ten students in B.Sc Hons (Biotechnology) 3rd year results. Students of GGDSD College have also bagged the sixth, eighth and ninth rank.

Chandigarh, June 29
The revised criteria for the selection of teachers at Panjab University and its affiliated colleges got nod from the Syndicate in its meeting held at the university today.

Two separate revised templates for university teachers and college teachers were discussed in the House and approved.

A syndicate member said with the new template approved by the House, the recruitment process would be soon started by the university.

As per the revised criteria for the selection of teachers in colleges, total 10 marks weightage for NET and PhD will be given and five marks each for any of the two qualifications. The candidates will also be given marks for their achievements in extra-curricular activities, including sports, participation in the NSS and NCC camps, awards in youth fests. Total weightage given to such achievements will be 5 marks. The marks for research publications have been revised to 10 from 15. Meanwhile, the new template will have 15 marks for the essential qualification, which were earlier 10 marks.

Chandigarh, June 29
A 15-year-old girl from Chandigarh has become the only Indian student to make it to the final of the Google Science Fair, 2013, a company statement said here today.

Shrishti Asthana, a Class XI student from Millenium School, Mohali, had presented a project on a solar power-assisted green technique for degradation of detergents and was chosen from among thousands of participants from 120 countries.

“The inspiration for the project came when Shrishti went on a field trip to Ludhiana and was disturbed by the dire state of the disposal technique of industrial waste.

She began her journey to find a green solution to turn waste detergent water from industries into an eco-friendly alternative," the statement said.

According to Google, Asthana will be competing with 14 other finalists from around the world who would be taken to the Google headquarters in the US on September 23 to submit their projects to a panel of international scientists.

The winner will receive a 10-day trip to Galapagos Islands with National Geographic expeditions, $50,000 scholarship funding and other prizes.

The Google Science Fair is an online science competition started in 2011. It is open to students of 13-18 years of age, who formulate hypothesis, perform experiments, and present results to a panel of experts.

Chandigarh, June 29
Chandigarh-born IFS officer Ajay Sehgal, currently posted in Lucknow, has been selected among other officers for mid-career training programme at University of British Columbia, Canada, from July 7 to 19.

Dr Ajay, a PhD in environmental engineering from PEC, Chandigarh, has the distinction of presenting his work in various international meetings abroad as a sponsored delegate of United Nations agencies like International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and United Nation Environment Programme.

He has served in several Central departments, including Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Shipping Road Transport.

Dr Ajay said the coming programme would help the officials in policy making as there would be experts from renowned universities talking about several areas.