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teachers’ recruitment case Submits chargesheet, gives clean chit to former UT DPI (Schools) Aneesha Sareen Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 20 The Delhi branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation today submitted a chargesheet in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Rajnish Kumar in the scam against two accused, Hardev Singh and Jolly, who were accused in the police case too. Incidentally, both Hardev Singh and Jolly, who were touts and worked on a contract basis with the Education Department then, were accused in the police case too and even after four years of the unearthing of the scam, the findings of the investigation conducted by both the CBI and the UT police in the case remain the same with only two accused named in the case and no criminality found against any of the UT Administration officials. In the chargesheet submitted today, the central investigation agency stated that there were irregularities in the teachers’ selection process and the criteria was changed without bringing it to the candidates’ notice. Departmental action against the concerned officers for irregularities in the selection process had been recommended in the chargesheet, CBI sources said, adding that no criminal case was made out against any of the senior UT Administration officials, including the then DPI (Schools), Samwartak Singh. Transferring the case to the Delhi CBI last year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had stated that the circumstances indicated a complete cover-up by the CBI, Chandigarh, and a shoddy investigation by the UT police. The UT police had registered a case on September 5, 2009, against Hardev and Jolly, but had given a clean chit to Samwartak Singh, who was the DPI at that time. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had transferred the investigation in the case to the Delhi team of the Cental Bureau of Investigation and ordered it to conduct a fresh probe. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had acted on a public interest litigation (PIL) claiming that the police had let off high-ups in the case. The scam
Timeline:
How the case progressed
September 2009: Teachers’ recruitment scam unearthed; UT police arrests two November 2009: Police files chargesheet against the two July 2010: Case handed over to the CBI, Chandigarh November 2011: The CBI, Chandigarh, submits a report in the HC (in response to a PIL) saying that no criminal case is made out against senior UT officials, but the selection criteria was changed arbitrarily without informing the candidates March 2012: High Court transfers case to the Delhi CBI while hitting out at the CBI, Chandigarh, and the UT police July 2013: The Delhi CBI submits a chargesheet; investigations yield the same findings as that of the UT police and the CBI, Chandigarh
What the High Court said
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Setback to traders
Chandigarh, July 20 The committee said, "Additional FAR and covered area in the existing commercial centres are not recommended since this will put additional pressure on the infrastructure and raise the demand for augmenting parking spaces." The committee has taken a serious view of the additional FAR provided for in the conversion policy. The committee said, "With the additional FAR and building height permitted in the conversion policy, many high-rise structures are coming up adjoining low-rise architecturally controlled buildings. Some
such structures have come up right alongside the NH-21 on entry to the city and have adversely affected the image of the city of having been built on sound urban design principles." On the demand of industrialists' associations for increasing FAR, the committee said, "The demand of industrialists' associations for a FAR of 2 in view of a shortage of space shall not be acceded to with a view to checking further strain on inadequate infrastructure." The committee said there was already pressure on the infrastructure in the city and if the UT Administration allowed enhancement in the covered area and FAR in the city, it would make matters worse. A senior UT official said the committee was trying to retain the distinct image of the city, which had been affected due to a number of violations in city markets over the years. The official said they had thought over the demand of traders to increase FAR and the covered area of the ground and upper floors, but had come to the conclusion that it would put additional burden on the infrastructure in the City Beautiful. The official said they had suggested that the Administration should conduct regular checks on encroachments in commercial areas in the city.
What traders say
Charanjiv Singh, president of the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal, said FAR in the city was between 2.5 and 3, and they were demanding that FAR in both areas (Sector 1 to 30 and the remaining sectors) should be the same. At present, there was a difference in FAR of shops in both areas. The traders were also demanding that proper utilisation of space within the plot area should be allowed. The Administration should reconsider the recommendations made by the master plan committee, he said. Chander Verma, chairman of the Converted Plot Owners Association, said at present, FAR in the Industrial Area was 0.75 and after making some payment, it could be increased to 1. They were hopeful that the master plan committee would consider their demand for increasing FAR to 2 in the Industrial Area, but to no avail.
What is FAR
The floor area ratio (FAR) is a term for the ratio of the total floor area (gross floor area) of a building to the size of the piece of land on which it is built. If a plot is of 1,000 sq yards and FAR is 0.75, then FAR of the plot will be 750 sq yards for all floors.
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FIR against 4 govt schoolteachers
Chandigarh, July 20 Khusali Ram, lecturer, Political Science, GSSS-26, Shavinder Singh, lecturer, Physics, at GMSSS-40, Swarn Singh Kamboj, Tabla instructor, GMSSS-37B and Ranbir Singh, lecturer, Sociology at GMSSS-40 were charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code: Section 341 for wrongly restraining any person, Section 186 for obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions and Section 34 for common intention. The whole drama began after a large section of school lecturers, who were supposed to attend this programme, staged a massive protest in front of GMSSS-19 under the call given by these four teachers, all office-bearers of the Joint Action Committee, for opposing this scheduled programme on the ground that it was meant to harass the teaching community. Terming their argument misconstrued, the Education Department not only suspended these four teachers after the police invoked FIR against them, but also issued a show-cause notice to 100 school lecturers for their failure to attend this faculty development programme. In the notice issued today by the department, these teachers had been given three days’ time to give a reply on their conduct, failing of which they would be suspended, too, said officials of the department. The notices would reach these lecturers in their respective schools on Monday. Upkar Singh, Director Public Instructions (School), UT, said this programme was meant to upgrade the knowledge, content and delivery skills of the lecturers of both experienced and those who were promoted recently. It was purely an academic exercise aimed at promoting quality education and there was no hidden agenda to harass any teacher. “Whatever happened today was unfortunate. This programme suffered today due to a few miscreants,” he said, adding that the programme would continue as per the schedule. As per information, this programme was basically meant for the academic training of school lecturers through weekly session. Under this programme, subject-wise three teams were formed with each team having one experienced lecturer and one who was recently promoted. Every team had to prepare three chapters from Class XII syllabus and had to demonstrate these chapters in the presence of all lectures of that particular subject. For instance, today three teams each for political science and history had to give demonstration at GMSSS-Sector 8 in the presence of all lecturers of their respective subjects. Similarly, three teams each for mathematics and chemistry had to address the teachers of their respective subjects at GMSSS-19. The session of each subject was for three hours. However, only 12 lecturers out of a total of 37 teachers of political science and 9 lectures out of a total of 32 lecturers of history attended the faculty development programme. Similarly, only 13 out of the 41 lecturers of mathematics and 8 out of the 32 lecturers of chemistry joined their respective session. On July 27, sessions on economics and Hindi will be held at GMSSS-10, sociology and physics at GMSSS-16 and English at GMSSS-35. Similar action could be proposed if lecturers of these subjects would try to avoid these session, the officials said.
Show-cause notices
Those who did not attend the programme were issued show-cause notices on Saturday. In all, there were 100 lecturers who abstained from these sessions.
Arrest can also be made: SHO
Harjinder Kaur, SHO, Sector 19 police station, said the police was investigating the matter and the arrest could be made on its basis.
Lecturers on deputation to face the music
DPI Upkar Singh said stern action would be taken against lecturers on deputation who did not attend this programme on Saturday. “We may process their case to send them back to their home state,” he said. We fought for our fellow teachers and will continue our fight. —
Swarn Singh Kamboj, one of the suspended teachers A delegation of the GTU will meet the DPI on Monday and request him to relax cross-questioning provision in the faculty development
programme. — Vinod Sharma, president, Government Teachers’
Union
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Joint action committee formed
Chandigarh,
July 20 PS Gill, president,
PCCTU, said the Director Higher Education‘s recent letter for the
Career Advancement Scheme was against the rules and should be taken
back. Prof Iqbal Preet Kaur, president, DAV College Teachers’ Union,
and convener, PCCTU, said the department was implementing this scheme
retrospectively without any notification from Punjab and this violation
of law could not be tolerated. Prof Ghanshyam Dev, district president,
(Chandigarh unit), PCCTU, said two advance increments to newly recruited
teachers after January 1, 1996, with PhD/MPhil had not been granted in
spite of these being granted by the Education Department of Punjab. This
kind of treatment was not expected from any government department, which
was supposed to be serving the public.
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2 youths get 7-year jail for acid attack
Chandigarh, July 20 According to the prosecution case, the incident occurred in November 2011 when a teenager working with a mall in the Industrial Area was critically injured after two youths poured acid on her. She received severe burn injuries on her face and other parts of the body. After five months of investigation, the police had
arrested 21-year-old Amandeep Singh and his accomplice Sham Singh in an attempt-to-murder case. A team of the Industrial Area police station had arrested Amandeep Singh from his residence in a village near Fatehgarh Sahib. Amandeep used to earlier work at the Westside Mall and was the victim’s colleague. He was later fired form his job as the girl complained of harassment against him to the police. According to the prosecution, the second accused, Sham Singh, was on the bike when Amandeep threw acid on the girl’s face after which they fled from the spot. Amandeep, along with Sham Singh, had poured acid on the girl, a resident of Burail, while she was walking towards the Sector 28 light point with her colleague on November 28, 2011. Based on the statements of the girl, her family members and friends, the police had said that Amandeep was harassing the girl and her brother had lodged a complaint against him at the Burail police post in October, a month before the attack. In the complaint, the girl’s brother had reported that Amandeep was mentally harassing his sister and used to call her late at night. The girl had shifted her residence after the attack and the incident.
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Movie buffs to make a beeline for Panchkula
Panchkula, July 20 To watch a movie in the town, a family of four will have to shell out just Rs 800 (beverages included) while in Chandigarh the same number of people will have to pay Rs 1,800.
Panchkula has one multiplex in Sector 5. The district administration has nothing to do with the rates here. The decision to increase the prices is taken by those running the multiplex (head office). Taxes are included in the tickets. A few more multiplexes are to come up in the town. A movie ticket for the business class on weekdays costs Rs 300 in the afternoon against a cost of Rs 500 in Chandigarh. The same ticket on weekends costs Rs 350 against the price of Rs 600 in Chandigarh. On the first three days, a movie ticket for premium class costs Rs 70 before noon and Rs 90 in the afternoon, for silver Rs 100 before noon and Rs 120 in the afternoon and for business class Rs 250 before noon and Rs 300 in the afternoon. On Thursdays, silver and premium both cost Rs 70 before noon and in the afternoon. However, the business class costs Rs 200 before noon and Rs 250 in the afternoon. The multiplex also offers discount to students. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, a premium ticket costs Rs 80 before noon and Rs 100 in the afternoon, for silver Rs 110 before noon and Rs 160 in the afternoon and for business class Rs 250 before noon and 350 in the afternoon. "We are hopeful of doing a brisk business," said Praveen Kumar, manager of a mall in Sector 5. People would avoid watching a movie in Chandigarh," said Nitika, a visitor to the mall.
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Extend lal dora, say villagers
Chandigarh, July 20 The vehicle rally, which was organised under the banner of the Pendu Sangharsh Committee, started from Khuda Ali Sher village and ended at Khuda Lahora village. The villagers demanded extension in the lal dora and relaxation in the draft building bylaws for the villages. SAD Councillor Malkiat Singh said he also participated in the rally as a villager and he was also in the favour of extending the lal dora. Regarding the building bylaws, he said the administration should take views of the villagers before finalising the building bylaws in the villages. The villagers had given their land to the administration for the development of the city, therefore the administration should consider the demands of the villagers, he said. The villagers demanded that instead of issuing notices, the authorities should provide basic amenities like water, electricity, school and dispensary to the villagers. They also demanded that the Chandigarh Administration should give them compensation for the acquired land on a par with the Punjab Government.
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‘35% deaths in India due to cardiovascular diseases’
Mohali, July 20 He said, “Nearly 35 per cent of deaths in India are due to cardiovascular diseases, which require modalities to be worked out for patients.” Dr Jaswal said the advances in managing cardiovascular diseases had drastically changed the treatment line for patients, providing them more relief and better quality of life. Further, talking about the latest management modalities available for a person who had suffered a heart attack, Dr Jaswal said with the introduction of primary angioplasty from the wrist (radial) artery instead of conventional technique of performing it from the groin artery, the complications had reduced. “Even the recent literature from various trials like RIVAL and RIFLE have established that primary angioplasty, when performed by only experienced operators from the wrist artery, further significantly reduced complication and deaths as compared to the conventional technique,” he said.
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Old batteries on Bharat Darshan train to be removed
Aarti Kapur Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 20 The Chief Regional Manager of the IRCTC, RK Sondh, said the team had commenced the work of replacing or repairing the old batteries in all the coaches of the Bharat Darshan train, which would proceed on a six-days tour of Udhayan the next day. Two more coaches have been added to the train to accommodate around 150 more passengers. He said two more officials had been deputed on the coaches to see to it passengers were not harassed in any way. In fact, the instructions have also been issued to the food contractor to ensure its quality. The authorities have also deployed staff to daily clean the washrooms on the coaches. During their six-day journey to Shirdi from July 13 to 18, the passengers had alleged that no coach of the train had electricity supply whenever the train halted at a destination. Besides, the washrooms in all the coaches were not cleaned and the food served to the pilgrims at Shirdi was not hot.
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Experts dwell on haemovigilance at PGI
Chandigarh, July 20 The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently started the programme under the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI). The CME was organised at the PGI for the blood bank and pharmacovigilance personnel of Punjab and Chandigarh (UT). The programme started with an introductory speech on haemovigilance by Dr Surinder Singh, Director, National Institute of Biologicals, and former Drug Controller General of India. Professor Neelam Marwaha, head of the Department of Transfusion Medicine, highlighted the importance of the haemovigilance concept and how it could be implemented in hospitals. The continuing medical education concluded with a panel discussion of pharmacovigilance groups on the action plan for reporting transfusion reactions.
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156 donate blood
Chandigarh, July 20 The camp was inaugurated by the Head of Department of Internal Medicine, Dr SC Varma, and Professor and the Head of Department of Haematology, Dr Neelam Varma. They both praised the efforts of the TCWA in saving the lives of serious patients, especially during summer months when there is an acute shortage of blood. They congratulated the donors hailing from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh for this noble cause. They were impressed with the arrangements made by the association and emphasised that more efforts should be made for preventing the disease from further spread. The camp was conducted by a team of doctors and technicians headed by the Head of Department of Blood Transfusion, Dr Neelam Marwaha, and member of the Medical Advisory Board of the association.
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Geetanjali’s family takes to road, seeks justice
Panchkula, July 20
Seeking justice, 600 persons raised slogans at Shalimar Chowk, Sector 5, this evening. Passersby also joined the victim's kin. The family alleged that the accused had killed Geetanjali as she had given birth to a girl child. They demanded a CBI probe into the case. A case under Section 302(murder) has been registered against husband the victim's husband, Ravneet Garg, father-in-law KK Garg and mother-in-law Rachna Garg. Geetanjali (28), a resident of Sector 8, was found shot dead in Gurgaon. The post-mortem report had revealed that she was shot at thrice. Following Ravneet's promotion, the couple had shifted to Gurgaon two months ago. Geetanjali is survived by two daughters, Poonam (5) and Guddu (3).
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Doctors accused of being insensitive to dog-bite patient
Mohali, July 20 Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Ramesh Kumar Verma, district vice-president of the Mohali unit of the BJP alleged that he was made to run from pillar to post by the doctors at the hospital after he took the dog-bite patients to the hospital. “The patient, Ashwani Kumar, a labourer, was bitten by a rabid dog and he needed to be given a special injection within 24 hours. As the cost of the injection was Rs 13,000, the doctors refused to administer it, saying that the authorities did not provide it. I was instructed to purchase it from the market if I wanted the patient to be treated,” alleged Verma. He also claimed that the doctors did not treated the patient even after getting a phone call from Punjab Health minister Madan Mohan Mittal. On the other hand, the senior medical officer at the hospital, Dr Adesh Kang, said the injection was needed only if the dog was rabid. “He (Verma) was only presuming that it was a rabid dog. Earlier, the patient was taken to the Government Medical College Hospital at Sector 32 where he had given injections but he (Verma) was insisting to be given the serum injection, which is given in case of rabid dog only or if the dog has bitten on face, neck or near spine. Moreover, the injection was not available at the hospital. We never told him that the special injection would not be provided but we also have to go through the procedure,” said Dr Kang. Dr Kang added they had also killed the dog. “The animal should be alive to check whether or not it was suffering from rabies,” said the doctor. Verma alleged that owing to the doctors’s ‘insensitivity’, the injection could be administered to the patient after 28 hours. “I bore the cost of the injection,” claimed Verma.
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Saupin’s students display exhibits
Mohali, July 20 The theme of the exhibition was “chemistry in everyday life”. Students of Classes VI-VIII displayed exhibits depicting various practical uses of chemistry in the modern day-to-day life. These exhibits showcased some interesting facets such as checking food adulteration, drastic effects of detergents on plant growth and eco-friendly Holi colours. The exhibition was open to parents. The Robotics Club exhibited the robot car, cleaning brush and LED game, whereas the Electronics Club had a wide array of electronics games, decoration of houses with LEDs, streetlight, innovative wind and thief trapper. The students showed their in-depth knowledge as they spoke about their models and explained about various programmes on which they were run. It was an opportunity for students to be a part of the constructive venture and a platform for scientific and technical exploration.
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Students showcase talent
Chandigarh, July 20 The event aimed at honing the skills of children. Various committees like marketing, finance and transportation joined hands to explore the potential of children. The AIESEC imparts leadership skills through Global Community Development Programme and Global Internship Programme. Workshop concludes
The four-day long workshop on “Achieving Excellence in Technical Education” concluded at Panjab University yesterday. The University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), PU, had organised the workshop in collaboration with Infosys at the PU Golden Jubilee Hall. Dr Inder Jit Singh, Joint Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, and PU Vice-Chancellor Prof Arun Kumar Grover were present. While addressing the valedictory session, Dr Inder Jit Singh stressed on focusing on research. He said India spent 0.88 per cent of its GDP on the research, whereas the developed countries spent 2 per cent of their GDP on the research.
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Meritorious students felicitated
Chandigarh, July 20 The first three hand holders of both Class X and Class XII were felicitated at the function. Dr Arun Kumar Sharma, chief managing director of LR Active, and Satnam Kaur, vice-principal, Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, Chandigarh, was the chief guest on the occasion. A total of 15 students were honoured on the occasion. Branch head Tajinder Kumar said the purpose behind the event was to motivate the students to excel in their respective fields.
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Science show
Chandigarh: Students of Saupin's, Sector 32, exhibited their skills and innovative spirit at a spectacular science show put up on the school premises on Saturday. The children displayed wonderful working models based on the conservation of natural resources, transport and communication, industry information and education technology. Apart from these interesting models, magnetic train on leviathan principal, automatic dark sensitive streetlight to save electricity, water rocket, solar cars, dynamos, generators, lifts, hydraulic brakes, car parking in malls were some of the other projects. Prerna Puri, Additional Home Secretary, Chandigarh, SK Setia, Joint Secretary, Estates, were the Guests of Honour. Environmental degradation
Students of St John’s High School organised a ‘Stand Up, Speak Out campaign’ at the Rose Garden to create awareness about environmental degradation. Boys enacted skits and sang songs highlighting the importance of a clean and green environment and its present plight after being polluted. One skit by the Eco Club particularly brought out the villainous role of plastic in degrading the environment. Students from Carmel Convent and Sacred Heart joined them. Students of the Gardening Club and the Eco Club at St Joseph’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44-D, Chandigarh, attended the ‘Paudh Mela’ organised by the Forest Department near the Lake Club. The students were excited to see different tree species and various herbal and medicinal plants. Car-washing activity
Students of Saupin’s-32 had an interesting car washing activity on the school premises. The children were briefed about various components of car and its functions. Later, they were educated on saving water by using buckets instead of hosepipes. The children had a great fun-filled experience as they also sang songs and rhymes based on the theme. Sports competitions
Students of Bhavan Vidyalaya-27 participated in various sports competitions during the summer break and brought laurels to the school. Tavleen Batra of Class XII, arts, will be representing India at the Anika Golf tour in China in August, 2013. Arnav Jain of Class VI-C won three tiles at different tours and Vanshikha Sharma won the 2nd runners-up trophy at the Forest Hill Golf Tournament. She also achieved a major success in Martial Arts by winning two bronze medals in contact and semi-contact events at the India Challenge Cup in Mohali. Kindness Day
The student members of the Kindness Club of Government High School, Sector 32-D, Chandigarh, made a birds’ corner in the school as part of the Kindness Day celebrations. The in charge of the Kindness Club, Rajni Taneja, asked the students to take care of animals and birds around us. She also advised the students to spread the message in society to stop cruelty against animals. —
TNS
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The UT Administration had increased the ticket prices yesterday.
