Chandigarh, July 30
A 17-year-old Class XI student of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, allegedly committed suicide by jumping into the Sukhna Lake last night. The body of the girl, Anjali Goyal, was recovered from the lake around midnight after the last tower location of the girl's mobile phone was traced to the lake.

Anjali had left her Mohali Phase 3B I residence at around 7 pm yesterday on her Activa scooter. She told her parents that she was going to a temple as she had kept a fast on Monday.

When she did not return home till 9 pm, her parents launched a search for her. She did not respond to her parents' repeated phone calls, who then went to the Mataur police station to lodge a missing report.

The police tracked her phone and her last tower location was shown to be at the Sukhna Lake at 8.40 pm. Her parents, along with the police, went to the lake where they requested the UT police to find the missing girl. The Activa scooter of the girl was found near the stairs at the lake.

The police recovered Anjali's body, which was found floating in the lake waters near the tower, at around midnight. The police said she probably jumped from near the tower where the water level was around 10 ft deep. The girl was taken to the PGI, where she was declared brought dead.

Anjali's father Sunil Goyal, a businessman, said the UT police was initially reluctant to help them but later it agreed and found the girl's Activa scooter.

One of Anjali's relatives said she was observing a fast yesterday and had gone to a nearby temple to pay obeisance on her Activa scooter.

Her uncle, Jeewan Goel, said when they reached the lake, there were no lights there and it was pitch dark. "Had the search lights at the lake been on, someone could have spotted our child and saved her," said Goel.

The girl's postmortem was conducted at Government Multi-Specialty Hospital in Sector 16. The postmortem report revealed that she died due to drowning. No suicide note was found from the spot.

Chandigarh, July 30
Employees of the UT Electricity Department went on a strike today, causing inconvenience to residents of various sectors due to long power cuts. Adding to their woes in this sultry weather, there was nobody to attend to their calls on helpline numbers.

A union of the employees had called the strike against the decision of the UT Administration to corporatise the Electricity Department and to press the authorities to fulfil their long-pending demands.

Several nothern sectors witnessed power cuts ranging between 4 and 10 hours. The power situation in Sectors 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 23, 29 and 30 was poor. There was no power for 24 hours in Sector 20, following which residents gheraoed the electricity office in the sector today. The residents also blocked the road dividing Sectors 20 and 33. The road was cleared after the power supply was restored in the evening.

In Mani Majra, where there was no power for around 15 hours.

The employees reportedly did not rectify faults in three transformers near the PGI, which resulted in power cuts in northern sectors. Similarly, the staff did not repair technical faults, which had developed in power supply lines in some other sectors.

Senior officials of the department tried to control the situation with the help of contractual staff, but to no avail. UT Superintending Engineer (Electricity) MP Singh said despite the strike, they managed to restore the power supply to many areas.

Gopal Joshi, general secretary of the union, said the strike was held against the proposal to turn the Electricity Department into a corporate entity. Besides, they were demanding filling of over 500 vacant promotion and direct quota posts of various categories of employees, appointment of next of kin of deceased employees and abolishing of the contract system.

Panchkula, July 30
Littering roads and discharging water on streets in Panchkula will now cost residents dear. After being issued two notices for these violations, the defaulters will be asked to shell out Rs 500 and and for every subsequent violation, they will be fined Rs 1,000.

This was decided at the first-ever general meeting of the Panchkula Municipal Corporation held at the conference room of the Mini-Secretariat in Sector 1 here today. The focus of the meeting, chaired by Mayor Upinder Ahluwalia and Deputy Commissioner-cum-Municipal Commissioner SS Phulia, was on garbage and streetlights in the city. All councillors, except Mamta Mittal, were present at the meeting.

The issue was raised by Ravi Kant Swami, councillor from Ward No. 17, who said garbage, water and malba on roads was a common sight. Swami said people paid little heed to the rules and strict action should be taken against the offenders.

The councillor said people were often seen discharging water on roads after washing clothes or cars and dumping garbage and malba.

A supervisor had been deployed in each area to check such violations. In case of a violation, a notice would be sent to the defaulter. After getting two notices, the defaulter would have to pay a fine of Rs 500, which would be added in the water and electricity bill. For subsequent violations, the defaulter would be charged Rs 1,000 each.

Another major decision taken today was regarding the disposal of garbage. The MC decided to make a provision for garbage-collection vehicles in each sector on the lines of Chandigarh. The vehicles will go to each sector and collect garbage and dispose of it. Initially, two vehicles will be pressed into service on a trial basis.

Mohali, July 30
Irregularities have been found in a number of files pertaining to applications submitted by several residents for the sanction of building plans and completion certificates to the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) here.

According to sources, after conducting a preliminary inquiry, the GMADA authorities have referred the case to the state government, recommending a Vigilance inquiry into it.

The matter came to light when the authorities noticed 196 files lying abandoned at a secluded place on the GMADA office premises.

“The files contained applications for the sanction of building plans and completion certificates. The applications had been submitted by several property owners in new sectors in the town. Several loose maps were also found and during scrutiny, several irregularities, including missing bank drafts of applicants and fake signature of the authorities, came to light. The dispatch numbers of several files did not tally with our records,” said Navjot Kaur, Estate Officer, who conducted the preliminary inquiry into the matter.

She said some cases were found in order. “This is a serious matter and the involvement of GMADA employees cannot be ruled out,” she said.

Of the 196 files, 90 pertained to two major projects in the town. All cases spanned from 2009 to 2011.

Taking a serious note of the issue, Chief Administrator of GMADA AK Sinha has referred the case to the state government for a Vigilance inquiry.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Sinha said several irregularities found in the case were of a serious nature. “I have referred the case to the authorities. We will now act according to their directions,” said Sinha.

Chandigarh, July 30
Many parts in the city were waterlogged after the rain today. The worst affected were the southern sectors where most potholed roads and open spaces were waterlogged. Commuters had a tough time passing waterlogged roundabouts. Rainwater also accumulated in the Sector 46 market area and on the internal roads in Sector 47, 48, 49 and 51.

An official of the Municipal Corporation said they did not receive any major complaints regarding chaos due to waterlogged areas. "We have directed our teams to remain on their toes till the end of the rainy season. Sometimes, the drainage system gets choked due to dried leaves and broken branches of trees. However, the situation of the city drainage system is satisfactory," he said.

Meanwhile, the residents of Vikas Nagar in Mauli Jagran had remained without water supply the whole day. Mahesh Tiwari, a resident of Vikas Nagar, said there was no water supply to their area today. They complained to the officials concerned, but to no avail, he added.

Chandigarh, July 30
The rainwater entered the basements of many shops and offices in Sector 17, leading to the inconvenience to the staff and visitors.

Shops and offices along the site of an overbridge under construction in Sector 17 were affected. The staff of the Punjab Financial Corporation, Sector 17, faced a tough time removing the water from the basement of their office. An employee said whenever it rained they faced such problems because there are leakages in the water line, which might have developed due to the ongoing construction work at the overbridge site.

The rainwater also accumulated in the trench dug up by the Municipal Corporation staff at the overbridge site. Ramesh Kumar, a visitor, said during the night, it became difficult to spot the trench.

A senior official of the Municipal Corporation said they would inspect the area and would try to solve the problem. Regarding the trench, he said instructions would be issued to the officials concerned to install barricades along it.

Chandigarh, July 30
The ambitious project of the Centre to introduce smart cards for the disbursal of commodities under the Public Distribution System (PDS) in the UT is facing hiccups.

After spending lakhs of rupee on procuring the devices capable of authenticating the smart cards and fingerprints of a consumer, the department has found that the devices are not functioning due to technical glitches.

As a result, the targeted thousands of beneficiaries have not been able to get the commodities disbursed under the public distribution system (PDS). The official records reveal around 77,000 smart cards are being made by the UT Food and Supplies Department.

The reports reveal that at many places, the devices failed to recognise the fingerprints of consumers. The 35 single integrated devices, each capable of authenticating the card and fingerprints of a consumer, are supposed to generate the receipt of the transaction once successfully performed. The officials claim that it was a trial run of the smart card system.

“Owing to the technical glitches, the consumers are not able to get the PDS commodities. The department is trying to rope in the officials of the service providers SCL and National Informatics Centre (NIC) to overcome the problem,” said an official.

The UT is already running behind the schedule in the compilation of the beneficiaries’ database.

After the smart cards are issued to the beneficiaries, the process of direct cash transfer to the PDS beneficiaries’ accounts would be started.

Sources said apart from the technical glitches, a shortage of staff was hampering the two-year-old process of issuing smart cards.

Chandigarh, July 30
Exactly three years after the murder of an MBA student in Sector 38 (West) here, the UT police is still clueless in the case.

Neha Ahlawat, a 22-year-old MBA student was found murdered near the taxi stand of Sector 38 (West) on the night of July 30, 2010. Her semi-nude body was spotted by the members of her family in a secluded area. Neha had left for her tuition in Sector 15 but didn't return.

Though the police had questioned around 50 persons, they hadn’t been able to gather any vital lead. The police had even conducted a narco test of the suspects. — TNS

Panchkula, July 30
The issue of urban-rural divide dominated the first meeting of the Municipal Corporation with the councillors from Pinjore, Kalka, Barwala and Ramgarh areas on one side and the city councillors on the other arguing on every point.

Deputy Commissioner Dr SS Phulia had to intervene many a times by saying that Pinjore and Kalka were not separate and were part of the Panchkula Municipal Corporation.

Councillors Satinder Singh Tony and Salim Dabkori argued that the city was still had already been developed, but villages in Pinjore, Kalka, Barwala and Ramgarh areas were still lagging behind.

When the amount for development works in each of the Wards was being decided, the councillors said Rs one crore for the city, which had already been developed was fine, but for villages that were largely under-developed, the amount was very less. Meanwhile, the city councillors argued that the development of parks could alone cost Rs one crore. However, it was decided that the councillors would get Rs one crore only . The councillor from Ward No 4, Satinder Singh Tony, said the stamp duty in Pinjore was 10 crore. The officials were even told not to compare the development works in the city with that of the villages.

On the issue of purchasing of cars for the Mayor, councillor Satinder Singh Tony said Panchkula Mayor Upinder Ahluwalia had already so many cars so there was no need for any other car for the Mayor and other officials. The purchase of cars was high on agenda. On every issue, a committee was set up but for the purchase of cars for officials and the Mayor no such committee was set up.

It has been decided during the meeting that LED streetlights will be installed in Panchkula. A committee has been set up in this regard. Fee of labour for development of parks was hiked from Rs 1.5 to Rs 3 per square metres . Though it was decided that it should be increased to Rs 2.5, councillor Lily Bawa said it was decided five years ago and there was no point in increasing it to Rs 2.5 so an increase to Rs 3 should be made.

It has also been decided to appoint 155 sweepers and 10 supervisors for villages falling in the MC limits besides purchasing five tractor-trailers. All old bus stop shelters in the Panchkula will have new designs.

Some of the councillors argued that they should be given cabins. Councillor CB Goel argued that they could not stand and watch the faces of people and needed cabins. Councillors from Ward NO. 1 to 6, falling in Pinjore and Kalka, said they could be given cabins in their area only.

The councillors from the Wards comprising colonies remained "mute spectators" as the MC meeting was dominated by a few educated councillors, some councillors from the colonies preferred to keep quite.

Meanwhile, It was as if an examination for the female councillors whose husbands were found sitting outside the conference hall where the meeting was going on. They were sometimes peeping into the room as if searching for their parents. Panchkula City Magistrate Vandana Disodia and Subdivisional Magistrate (Kalka) Manita Malik also attended the meeting.

Mohali, July 30
The breastfeeding rate in Punjab will be improved during the 12th Five-Year Plan through its promotion among mothers.

This was stated by Vini Mahajan, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare and Medical Education and Research, Punjab, here while inaugurating a workshop on “Ensuring Child Survival and Development by Enhancing Optimal Infant and Young Child Feeding”. She emphasised on the promotion of the practice to achieve the desired rate in the state.

The one-day workshop was jointly organised by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, the Department of Women and Child Development and the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI). More than 100 participated in the workshop.

Hussan Lal, MD, Punjab Health Systems Corporation, said 2,000 doctors had been given training for the promotion of breastfeeding under the NRHM. They will provide training to nearly 20,000 ASHA workers and ANMs in the state.

Dr Arun Gupta, member, Prime Minister’s National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges, and Coordinator, BPNI, proposed to set up a committee under the chairmanship of the Principal Secretary, Health, to document the state of policy and programmes and launch a Punjab-specific scheme. —OC

Chandigarh, July 30
The play “Chaar Din” (the four days) was staged at the Tagore Theatre today. The story of the play revolves around two main protagonists, parents of gudiya, a rape victim, and her family. The entire narration of the play remains emotional and touching.

The use of sentimental music of alaap in-between the scenes makes the production even more gripping and emotional.

Chandigarh, July 30
As Panjab University is trying to regulate traffic on the campus, parking has become a bone of contention between the botany department and the faculty of various departments housed in the building of emerging areas in social sciences. The faculty teaching in the departments under emerging areas in social sciences has been asked not to park their vehicles in the parking of the Botany Department.

A rope has been put outside the department to demarcate their area and a security guard has been stationed to allow the vehicles of only the faculty and staff of the botany department in the parking area.

Over 25 teachers of departments, including the Centre for Human Rights, Centre for Police Administration, University Institute of Fashion Technology, Centre for Women and Gender Studies and Centre for Social Works, who used to park their vehicles in the parking of the botany department, will now have to park their vehicles on the road.

The building of emerging areas in social sciences is situated next to the botany department.

Sources said a few months ago a notice was also served to all departments by the chairperson of the botany department stating that teachers should not park their vehicles in the parking space of the botany department.

AS Ahluwalia, chairperson of the botany department, said there was inadequate parking space in the department. The parking often got overcrowded as faculty members of all departments parked their vehicles here.

“There is inadequate parking space and more cars lead to chaos, following which the decision has been taken,” Ahluwalia said.

He said it had been decided that the heads of the departments under emerging areas in social sciences could be allowed to park their vehicles in the botany parking.

One of the faculty members said restricting the teachers of other departments from parking their vehicles was unfair.

Mohali, July 30
In order to inculcate good eating habits among the tiny tots of the pre-primary section and to raise their interest towards green leafy vegetables, Shemrock School organised “Green Day” on its premises.

“Go Green for Life” was the theme of today’s activity. Students, with the help of class teachers, prepared charts conveying the message “Eat Healthy to Stay Healthy”.

Later, the children relished green food and fruits brought by them in their lunch boxes as well.

The teachers also motivated the students to eat green vegetables and fruits. They were told about the importance of eating healthy food and were advised to stay away from junk food.

Mohali, July 30
The Gian Jyoti Group of Institutions organised a plantation drive under the banner of the NSS unit of the institute.

Saplings were planted in all three campuses of Gian Jyoti - two at Mohali and the third campus at Shambu Kallan village. A collage-making and poster-making competition were also held on the occasion.

JS Bedi, chairman, Gian Jyoti Group of Institutions, inaugurated the venture by planting a sapling.

He said: “We should be concerned to save our environment and that it is high time to save the earth, or else the coming generation will have to face dire consequences. The main aim of organising this drive was to make students aware of the hazards of pollution”. 

Chandigarh, July 30
Panjab University is going to recommend to the UT Administration September 4 as the date for student elections in the university and all city colleges. The decision was taken today at the all-student party meeting held on the PU campus.

Vice-Chancellor Arun Grover today held a meeting with the student leaders and proposed three probable elections dates.

The university had proposed August 29, September 3 and September 4 as the election dates for which the student parties agreed for September 4.

This time, September 4 is Wednesday. Earlier, the student elections were held on Friday to ensure that there are holidays after the elections to restrict student parties from entering into post-election violence.

PU officials said the university would be recommending the proposed date to the UT Administration for the final decision.

“The decision on the election date will be taken only after coordinating with the Chandigarh police,” said a UT official.

The university has asked the student parties to restrain from involving outsiders in the elections.

SFI leader Prabhpreet Singh said during the meeting it had also been decided that each party would get 15 minutes to address students in each department in a bid to ensure that the classes were not disturbed by the student parties.

“Each party will be given a time slot in the departments to meet the students,” he said.

The officials said the student parties would also have to furnish an affidavit stating that they won’t involve outsiders in the student elections. 

Chandigarh, July 30
Almost three days after the Panjab University Syndicate gave a nod to amend the hostel rules and decided that no resident would be allowed to keep four-wheelers in hostels, the university authorities took a U-turn over the decision to impose a ban on vehicles in hostels. The university has decided that the senior most students will be allowed to keep the vehicles in the hostels according to the parking space available.

The Vice-Chancellor at the all-student party meeting announced that the senior students, mainly research scholars, would be allowed to keep four-wheelers in the hostels.

The university had decided not to allow any hostel resident to keep four-wheelers in the hostel. However, after witnessing opposition from the student parties, the university decided to take back the decision.

Dean Student Welfare (DSW) AS Ahluwalia said the parking space available in the hostels would be utilised by allowing senior students to keep their four-wheelers.

“Depending upon the space in the hostels, the senior most students will get the permission to park their vehicles,” the DSW said.

He said no hostel resident would be allowed to park the vehicle on roads opposite the hostel. “Undergraduates will not get a chance to keep their vehicles,” the DSW said.

A Senate member said it was surprising that the university first made the decision and then succumbed to the pressure mounted by the student parties.

NSUI leader Manoj Lubana said if the senior students were allowed to keep cars in hostels, then they would also demand the same rule for other students.

Chandigarh, July 30
The UT Education Department has decided not to take any action against 100 school lecturers, who were issued notice on July 20 for failing to attend the inaugural session of the faculty development programme.

Officials said the decision was taken after examining the reply submitted by the respective schoolteachers, besides taking a sympathetic viewpoint on this matter.

Further, the department has also revoked the suspension of four teachers and reinstated them with immediate effect, even as the departmental inquiry is pending against them. Department officials said the matter of withdrawing FIR against the four teachers would be initiated as per the judicial process.

Today's development will end the deadlock between the schoolteachers and the Education Department over the faculty development programme, which led to the action against these teachers during the inaugural session of the programme on July 20.

After days of protests last week, teachers and members of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) agreed to attend the session of the faculty development programme on July 27 and subsequently, managed to convince the department to withdraw the suspension as well as take a lenient view of the show-cause notice.

Earlier the day, a 11-member delegation of the JAC met the Education Secretary, UT, VK Singh, and put forward their demands. Another delegation of the Government Teachers Union also met VK Singh on the issue of show-cause notice issued to the teachers.

A senior official of the department said it would bring the required modifications in the subsequent sessions of the faculty development programme as suggested by the teaching community and the teachers union. The next session of the faculty development programme will be held on coming Saturday.