Chandigarh, October 7
In a major revelation that may be just the tip of the iceberg, the Panjab University authorities have come across a racket of bogus detailed marks certificates (DMCs) in the university.

Bogus DMCs have been recovered from two students of Government Home Science College, Sector 10, which were allegedly delivered to them by some fraudster, who charged them Rs 40,000 to get their compartment cleared after re-evaluation.

However, the DMCs handed over to the students turned out to be fake. The fact came to light after the university told them that they had not cleared the previous year's exam.

The university has constituted a committee to investigate the case.

A PU official said one of the students pursuing BSc (fashion designing), after learning that she had got a compartment in the first-year exams, contacted the fraudster, who had once met her on a bus while she was travelling to Chandigarh. The fraudster, who introduced himself as a PU employee, had told her to contact him for any help in the PU.

The fraudster, who gave his name as Surinder Singh, asked the student to pay him Rs 40,000, assuring her that he would apply for re-evaluation after which she would pass the exam. After a few days, the fraudster handed over a DMC to the student, claiming that she had passed the exam. The student then submitted the fresh DMC to the college and took admission to the second-year course.

The student then introduced the accused to her friend, who had got a compartment in the second-year exams. The second student also paid the money to the fraudster and got a DMC with pass marks.

“It was when both students wanted to take admission to the third-year course that the university raised an objection stating that they had not passed the previous classes and the university had not issued DMCs to them,” the PU official said.

After the incident came to the notice of the university authorities, PU Registrar AK Bhandari, along with other officials, visited the college for an inquiry, following which a committee was formed. The committee held a meeting in September and recorded the statements of both students. The committee is yet to submit its report on the issue. “We are investigating to ascertain whether PU employees have any role in the entire incident,” the Registrar said.

Chandigarh, October 7
Setting a perfect example of bravery, a jogger nabbed a person who fled from the premises of the Sector 34 police station after jumping from the police truck in which he had been brought to the police station along with his two accomplices early this morning.

While Harpreet Singh Walia, a resident of Sector 45, caught one of the persons trying to escape, the other two managed to flee. The accused jumped out of the police vehicle soon after it stopped on the police station premises.

Walia, who was on his routine morning jog, said at around 4.45 am, he was passing from outside the Sector 34 police station when he noticed three people running out of the police station being chased by policemen. "On realising that the three were trying to escape from police custody, I immediately ran towards one of the persons and overpowered him," Walia said. Walia handed him over to the police.

The police had detained the three near Sector 32 while they were travelling in a white Maruti car. The police took them to the police station from where two persons managed to flee. The police has impounded the car.

Rajesh Shukla, SHO of the Sector 34 police station, said the matter was not in his knowledge. DSP (South) Surjit Malik confirmed the incident and said the matter was under investigation. The police refused to divulge the details about the persons.

Panchkula, October 7
In a hair-raising incident, Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia and his wife Shanti Pahadia had a miraculous escape at the Mansa Devi temple when a 3.5-foot-long snake was found in the golf cart from which the duo had just stepped out after using it to pay obeisance at the shrine.

The snake was killed, but no efforts were made to figure out whether it was poisonous or not.

The duo was at the shrine on the third day of the Navratras to take part in a havan.

Police officials deputed for the Governor’s security noticed the snake coiled around the brake paddle of the golf cart and killed it without a second thought using batons. The incident has raised questions over the security as well.

Pahadia and his wife were to sit in the golf cart on their way back also, but preferred not to use it after the incident.

Panchkula Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) SP Arora said the situation was brought under control by the security staff present there. The administration has made arrangements for golf carts for the convenience of the elderly and the physically challenged at the shrine.

“The Governor and his wife had just finished the havan and was to head to the main darbar from the yagyashala to pay obeisance. They travelled in the golf cart to the corridor for about two minutes. Whiile they were paying obeisance and the cart was parked to ferry them back, police officials standing nearby saw a snake coiled near the brakes of the cart,” said a police official.

Panic gripped the area when a policeman raised the alarm.

Mohali, October 7
In yet another incident of lifting of bags and purses from wedding venues, miscreants today targeted a policeman’s family during a function at SS Farms on the Kharar-Landran road.

The purse of Constable Harveer Singh’s mother was allegedly stolen today by the same two minor girls who had reportedly lifted Dr Indira Bhalla’s purse from the Daawat restaurant at Phase V here during the ring ceremony of her son yesterday. Constable Harveer Singh is posted at the Gharuan police post.

On the occasion of Harveer Singh’s wedding today, his mother was talking to guests and had kept her purse, containing two gold sets, two gold rings, two expensive mobiles and some cash on a table, which went missing. CCTV footage showed two minor girls picking up the purse and fleeing.

Sub-Inspector Ram Dev, who reached the spot, claimed that they were the same girls who had taken away Dr Bhalla’s purse yesterday.

“Both girls are aged between 11 and 13 years and were wearing the same clothes” he said.

The family is yet to file a complaint in this regard. Inspector Gurjit Singh, SHO of the Balongi police station, said no complaint had been received regarding the incident.

Chandigarh, October 7
From special effects to sound and light mixing, the organising committees of Ramlilas are putting a lot of effort to stage their popular scenes, including wounded Sarupnakha and “Lanka Dehan”.

The Sector 29 Ramlila Organising Committee is making good use of technology for both these scenes. They will airlift Sarupnakha and bring her to the stage for their wounded Sarupnakha scene, planned on October 9.

“Along with strong sound mixing, the scene will have the judicious use of lighting system to dramatise it well,” said Jyoti Swaroop Bhardwaj, secretary of the committee. He said: “We will also show to audience three different characters of Sarupnakha and how Laxman cuts her nose”.

He said for their Lanka Dehan scene, they would also airlift Hanuman to give an exciting experience to the audience.

The Sector 28 Ramlila Committee is doing these scenes in a theatrical style. Director Mukesh Sharma said the Sarupnakha scene was very popular because this led to the abduction of Sita, and later the war took place. “We have designed light and sound show for our Sarupnakha scene. Our main focus will be on the inner conflict of Ravana when Sarupnakha comes to her with her wounded nose,” he said.

The Sector 7 Ramlila committee has planned its Sarupnakha scene on October 9 into a dance-drama form. Sanjay Kumar, secretary of the committee, said the scene would be enacted through strong dance performance, for which special training had been given to the artistes.

“As far as Lanka Dehan scene is concerned, we will create such a special effect with the use of light that people will realise actual fire being played at the stage,” he said.

The Mani Majra Ramlila Committee has planned a strong backdrop for both of these scenes. Monu Mehra, secretary of the committee, said they would airlift the dummy of Sarupnakha first and then play up the scene with the help of lighting and sound.

Besides these Ramlilas, Ramlila in Sectors 20, 22, Dhanas and Sector 30, too, are gearing up for these scenes.

Ashok Chaudhary, Secretary, Sector 20 Ramlila, said they had given a natural look to the Ashok Vatika, constructed on the stage, for the Lanka Dehan scene on October 11.

Chandigarh, October 7
With the sale of wooden bows and arrows increasing in the city ahead of Dasehra, doctors in the city cautioned against injuries, especially in the eyes, among children resulting into permanent damage to eyes.

As over 100 cases of severe eye injuries are received every year in children as young as 2 years, eye experts said not only the parents should avoid purchasing bows and arrows made of wood or cane, but also the organisers of Ramlilas should issue advisories before using the bows and arrows on the stage.

“Deep eye injuries, especially among children, are a big concern that rock the health centres every year and often leave the children with problems. Children develop a craze for playing with the bows and arrows by watching these on the Ramlila stage or on TVs. So, it becomes crucial for the organisers to ensure that they give out a clear message in the public about the risk associated with the use of bows and arrows for playing among children,” said Dr Sunandan Sood, Head, Department of Eye, GMCH 32.

Meanwhile, Dr Amit Gupta, Associate Professor, Advanced Eye Centre, PGIMER, said: “First of all, parents should avoid their children falling prey to such games that involve bows and arrows. If at all they buy these, they must go in for plastic ones. Wood has a lot of contaminated substance that can leave a huge damage in the eyes.”

So far, no such cases have reached any of the three institutions in the city.

What to do in case of an injury Do not rub the eye Do not wash the injured eye Cover the injured eye with a bandage and contact the nearest eye specialist

Chandigarh, October 7
When it comes to implementing orders of the Supreme Court and its own notification in connection with increasing age limit (which is 25 years in Chandigarh) for entering government service in the city, the UT Administration implements only those parts which suits it.

This can be gauged from the fact that the Supreme Court has ruled (in the case of UT Chandigarh v/s Rajesh Kumar decided on September 8, 2003) that any Punjab Government notification regarding “conditions of service” would ipso facto apply to Chandigarh services without anything further to intervene for its applicability. The same judgement also ruled that “it may not be open for the appellant (Chandigarh Administration) to pick one amendment in the Punjab Rules and implement the same and refuse the other amendment”.

Similarly, the Punjab Government in its notification in 1994, which is also applicable in the UT, clearly mentioned that the age limits between 18 and 30 years in the case of non-technical posts and 18 and 35 years in the case of technical posts are relaxable up to 45 years in the case of persons already in employment with further usual relaxation for SC/OBC candidates.

With the UT not implementing Punjab government notifications and Supreme Court orders, the youths of the city are not getting enough opportunities to apply for government service as presently the age limit is only 25 years.

But, the MHA in its recent reply in the Lok Sabha had stated that the entry into government service did not fall within the ambit of conditions of service. As such the Chandigarh Administration follows the central pattern in the matter of upper age limit for entry into government service.

UT Adviser KK Sharma said he was not aware of such Supreme Court orders and notifications. He would first check these orders. Thereafter, he would be able to comment more on this issue.

Harbans Lal Verma, a retired government official, said the Chandigarh Administration partially implements the Supreme Court and other court’s orders particularly in connection with age limit for entry into government service. Even in the recent reply by the MHA to local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal in the Lok Sabha, they concealed the facts about these notifications.

Mohali, October 7
Despite a major slump in real estate sector, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) managed to earn Rs 40.27 crore by auctioning three residential and two commercial sites at its complex, here today.

Though the response is not so much encouraging, if one goes by statistics (as only five sites could be auctioned out of total 28 sites, worth Rs 193 crore), but the GMADA authorities have expressed their satisfaction over outcome of today's auction.

In today's auction, a total of 28 sites, two sites of group housing scheme, one site of school, 17 residential sites and eight commercial sites were put under hammer.

Of 17 residential sites, the buyers showed interest in only three residential sites, two in Sector 68 and one in Sector 69 (all one kanal in size). One plot at Sector 68 fetched Rs 2.70 crore, another went for Rs 2.78 crore against the reserve price of Rs 2.63 crore each while the plot in Sector 69 brought in an amount of Rs 4.02 crore against its reserve price of Rs 3.95 cr.

In commercial category, the shop-cum-office (SCO) at Sector 59 brought a ray of hope for the authorities when the site fetched Rs 16.65 crore against its reserve price of Rs 16.65 crore. Another commercial site at the same sector fetched Rs 14.12 crore (reserve price Rs 132.4 crore) whereas the rest six sites failed to attract any buyer.

"As we manage to auction a total of five sites for over 40 crore, it's really not bad," said AK Sinha, Chief Administrator, GMADA.

Though Sinha admitted that his expectations were a bit higher from today's auction, he claimed that he was not disappointed.

"If you ask, it's a good response," said Sinha.

Chandigarh, October 7
With regular complaints of theft of shoes removed outside ICUs, the PGIMER is now going to install CCTV cameras outside the ICUs and corridors in patient wards in the second phase of the project.

The shoes belonging to not only doctors but also those of patient attendants removed before entering the ICU complex are often found missing.

Not only this, thefts of clothes, wallets and even cellphones belonging to senior residents and even senior doctors had been reported to have gone missing from the doctors’ changing room in the Advanced Trauma Centre over the past few months, said a senior PGIMER doctor.

“While a total of 37 CCTV cameras are currently installed at various locations (majorly entry and exit points of buildings and patient waiting halls), at the institute, nearly 65 cameras will be installed outside the ICUs in the Trauma Centre and corridors in patient wards within the next five months,” said a PGI official.

The budget for the cameras has already been allocated under the non-planned head, and the second phase will be completed soon.

Earlier, PGIMER’s security department had caught more than 20 mobile thieves and pickpockets at the hospital by viewing CCTV footage.

“Senior residents are often in a rush to reach operation theatres (OT) and ICUs. Engrossed in the work, they tend to leave their wallets and cellphones in their trousers in the changing room before entering the OT or ICU. Though the presence of security guards at the Trauma Centre has been improved and, hence, the situation has somewhat improved, the presence of cameras at the entry points will certainly ensure vigil,” said a senior PGI doctor.

A total of four high-resolution movable night-vision cameras are installed at the main entrance of the PGIMER. Other cameras are stationary.

Chandigarh, October 7
While the MC is all set to spend public money on study tours for Gujarat, Hyderabad and even on foreign countries like Israel and Nepal, the BSP has written a complaint to UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil to stop the misuse of public money on such wasteful tours.

Jannat Jahan, BSP’s Lok Sabha candidate and councillor, today held a meeting at the Sector 34 office of the BSP and demanded that the “Study Tours” taken by the councillors and members of the Municipal Corporation must be banned with immediate effect.

Jahan pointed out that the study tours taken by these councillors are “leisure and pleasure” tours and had been a complete waste of public money. She sought a report on all tours taken by the MC in the past and their benefits to the City Beautiful.

She pointed out that crores had been spent by the MC under the garb of these tours. Jahan has demanded an inquiry into the same.

She said the tours must be approved only after the MC was able to justify the need and advantages of these tours for the past 10 years.

The meeting was also attended by BSP party convener Haafiz Anwar Ul Haq, chief general secretary Sanjeev Babbar and general secretary Salim Khan.

Chandigarh, October 7
Rift in the city Congress unit, especially before Congress’s Chandigarh unit in charge and party general secretary Shakeel Ahmed, has come as a major boost for the city unit of the BJP.

The BJP, which lost the last three Parliamentary elections in 1999, 2004 and 2009, has now geared up after the Congress’s rift, especially the way Congress city unit president was openly targeted by the Congress vice-president and others. Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Harmohan Dhawan, who is also a contender for the BJP’s ticket from the city, said the Congress was divided in Chandigarh, which was proved after Congress vice-president Pawan Sharma openly targeted Congress president BB Bahl. “The BJP is a united party and its workers also work for the party. With this message, they will go in public and are hopeful that the BJP will definitely win the upcoming elections,” he said.

BJP district president Shakti Prakash Devshali said Congress vice-president Pawan Sharma’s remarks against the party at a Congress rally on Sunday proved that workers had lost faith in the Congress. It was only the BJP that was concerned about the city residents, he said.

Mohali, October 7
Residents of Phase XI here have complained that the Municipal Corporation is not providing a seal coat on certain roads which are being given a premix carpet.

Mukand Singh, resident of the area, said the roads were damaged and were being provided a premix carpet after nearly six years. The civic body was allegedly now taking shortcuts in the repair work as a seal coat was being provided only on the turnings and not on the entire stretches of the internal roads. The strength of the roads increased with the seal coat, he added.

Another resident, Jaswant Singh, complained that a “pick- and-choose” method was being adopted by the corporation while laying paver blocks. These had been laid outside certain row of houses while other rows in the same area had been ignored.

NS Dalam, Assistant Commissioner (Technical), said it had not been brought to his notice that a seal coat was not being provided on the roads being recarpeted in Phase XI. He would direct the officials concerned to get the needful done.

He said that paver blocks were being laid only in areas whose expenditure estimates had been prepared.

Panchkula, October 7
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) for the net zero energy building pilot project here today. The memorandum has been signed for the planned building of the Nigam to be constructed at Sector 14, Panchkula.

The MOU has been signed in the presence of the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Power, Jyoti Arora, and the Chairman and Managing Director of the Haryana Power Distribution Corporations, Devender Singh.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) partnership to Advance Clean Energy Development Technical Assistance Program in collaboration with the (BEE) has offered technical assistance to the UHBVN to achieve net zero energy status for the nigam’s corporate office.

Speaking on the occasion, Arora said: “This will be the first net-zero energy building of Haryana. The Ministry of Power has already approved net zero regulations for implementation in India.” She said, “A technical committee will be constituted to plan design, monitor periodic construction of the building and maximise energy efficiency. The Ministry of Power will provide full support for timely completion of this ambitious project.”

Devender Singh said, “The estimated power consumption in the proposed office building will be only 250 KW due to its energy efficient architecture. Solar photo-voltaic plant will be installed in the building to generate the required electricity. The electricity will be transmitted to grid and the Nigam will draw the required power.” He said, “The new office building is planned to be constructed by June 30, 2015. The usage of solar energy will help decrease dependence on imported fuel, contribute to higher greenhouse gas emissions, and strain the country’s fossil fuel dependent infrastructure.”

Chandigarh, October 7
After a gap of around four years, the post of the UT Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner has been reverted back to the UT-cadre office. RC Bhalla, senior most UT officer, has been posted as the new AETC.

Sources in the UT Administration said the UT cadre had moved Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) against the practice of the UT in posting punjab cadre officials when eligible officers were available in the UT. The previous incumbent, Naresh Dubey, was a punjab cadre officer, who was given six month extension.

Chandigarh, October 7
The office of the engineering wing of the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation (CITCO), housed in a showroom at Sector 7 was vacated following the order of a local court.

Chandigarh, October 7
For the first time, the UT Education Department is collecting the school enrolment data relating to children belonging to all minority communities staying in Chandigarh.

The purpose is to find out that how many students out of the minority population are covered under school education in the city.

The data of all minority communities are being collected under the fresh guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Officials of the department said this year, all schools, including private, government and centrally funded schools, were being asked to specifically provide the enrolment data of minority group students along with the total enrolment of the general category and other reserved category students.

“Till last year, the enrolment status of children of Muslim community were recorded but from this year, there are specific guidelines by the Union Ministry to collect school enrolment data belonging to Muslim, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhist, Parsi, Jain and other minority communities,” said a senior official.

He said the idea was to check the education status among the minority groups and then further update the national education policy accordingly.

It is learnt that the latest population data of the minority communities staying in Chandigarh is also under compilation by the Census Department. With this separate school enrolment data, the authorities can come to know about the percentage of children belonging to minority community getting school education.

The process of collecting the data has already begun. The Education Department has recently sent a pro forma to all kind of schools in the city, including government schools, government-aided schools, private schools and Central Government- funded schools, to submit their current year’s academic data before October 20.

There are specific instructions by the department to furnish separate enrolment of students belonging to the minority communities.

The department is expected to compile the data by the mid of the next month and then duly submit it to the Union Ministry.

A total of 1,58,892 students were found studying in Chandigarh in elementary classes in the previous academic session of 2012-13. Out of them, the students belonging to the Muslim minority community were 8,336.

Chandigarh, October 7
The literary festival of Chandigarh Literary Society (CLS) to be held from November 23 to 24 at Lake Club, Chandigarh, is expecting to bring prominent literary names to the city.

Some of the authors who have confirmed their participation in ‘Literati 2013’ include Bhaskar Ghose, Prasoon Joshi, Ashok Vajpeyi, Kishwar Desai, Madhu Kishwar, Meghna Pant, Rajeev Dubey, Jerry Pinto, Jaspreet Singh, Mohyna Srinivasan, Nandita C Puri, Paro Anand, Krishna Shastri, Jai Arjun Singh, Manjula Rana, Govind Mishra, Bubbu Tir, Irshad Kamil, Upamanyu Chatterjee, among others.

The literary festival would have sessions on English, Hindi and Punjabi literature with some interesting ones like 'The Four Letter Words: All Betweeen Love & Hate', 'Women and the Paradox of the Modernity', 'Dissent', 'Discourse and Diaspora', and 'Religion and Politics: Oxygen or Position'. Several book launches are also planned, including Helium by Jaspreet Singh, and Manisha Gangahar’s ‘Kashmir’s Narratives of Conflict’.

Member of the Chandigarh Literary Society Vivek Atray, said those interested in participating could register themselves online at www.chandigarhliterati.com.

The sprawling lakeside lawns of the club will be transformed to a literary village with bookstalls, paintings, photographs and handicrafts display, live artists at work, coffee corners and food stalls.

Chandigarh, October 7
Over 300 persons participated in Chandigarh ‘treasure trail’ organised by the Chandigarh Tourism and the Chandigarh College of Architecture on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of Le Corbusier yesterday.

The Sunday morning saw several participants, including families, youngsters, students of the College of Architecture, who joined the ‘treasure trail’ and visited important unfamiliar spots in Chandigarh like Corbusier Cube -Foundation Stone and under bridge in Sector 15.

Later, the participants joined in an impressive cake cutting ceremony at the Le Corbusier Centre in Sector 19.

Antoine Picon, president, Le Corbusier Foundation, Paris, and also professor in Harvard University, US, cut the ceremonial open hand cake.

The winners of the ‘treasure trail’ were given memorabilia and souvenirs of Le Corbusier. The first prize went to team comprising members Neeraj Bansal, Akhshit Rao, Pranika Mahajan, Rishab Babbar. The second prize went to Mrogyaynee Bhagat, Vaibhav Vasishth, Priyadarshini Bhagat, Kashish Theti and the third prize was bagged by Prabhjot Singh Phul, Varchasa Duggal, Naval Pandey.

Chandigarh, October 7
The 15th annual conference of the Skull Base Surgery Society of India was organised at the PGIMER on October 5 and 6. It was inaugurated by Prof VM Katoch, Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research.

The conference witnessed lectures and discussions on the role of minimally invasive surgery for skull base meningiomas and lesions involving cavernous sinus. Prof M NecMettin Pamir, chairperson of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies, Skull Base Surgery Committee, also delivered a lecture on sphenoid wing meningiomas.

Prof Basant Misra, president elect of the WFNS Skull Base Surgery Society and Secretary of World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies, also delivered a lecture on treatment strategies for craniopharyngiomas.

The meeting was attended by experts in the field of Skull Base Surgery from the USA, Japan, Sweden, Turkey, Germany, as well as from all parts of India.