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CTU’s loss is pvt operators’ gain
Chandigarh, October 17 The Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) was also to run integral AC buses in a reciprocal manner to various district headquarters of Punjab. However, the UT has failed to run even a single integral AC bus even after five years of the agreement. The top brass of the UT is keen on bringing down the number of long route CTU buses, it is learnt. The authorities are also planning to run the long route buses on local routs to infuse life into its ageing fleet of local buses. The private operators running buses from the Sector 43 ISBT include Orbit Aviation Pvt Ltd, Fastway Promoter, Jujhar Construction and Travels Limited and Dhabwali Transport Company. The other stakeholders are Rajdhani Transport Company Pvt Ltd, Kartar Bus Service, Taj Travels and New Fategarh Sahib Sirhind Bus Transport Pvt Ltd. Adviser to the UT Administrator KK Sharma said they were focusing on improving the quality of urban transport in the city. “We are also considering running integral AC buses to district headquarters of Punjab,” he said. Under the kilometre scheme, the UT had to run less number of buses due to limited territorial jurisdiction as compared to Punjab. However, the UT Administration is already drawing flak from the CTU Workers Union which has been accusing the officials of signing the agreement under pressure of the Akalis who were in power in 2008 when the agreement was signed. It is an open secret that transport officials of Punjab camped at the Chandigarh STA office to get the permit of the private buses counter signed by UT officials. “Instead of showing alacrity in allowing private operators to run buses from Chandigarh, the UT Administration should have shown eagerness to run AC buses in a reciprocal manner. Presently, it is a one-sided affair,” said said a senior UT official. Under the agreement, permits of 73 private bus operators of Punjab were extended till Chandigarh. But in the past five years, the UT Administration has not issued a single permit to CTU buses under the reciprocal agreement. On the other hand, the STA has countersigned permits of 67 private bus operators running luxury AC buses this year. The UT is charging Rs 8,100 for countersigning the permits issued by the transport authority in Punjab. The buses ply between Chandigarh and Amritsar, Batala, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Pathankot, Hoshiarpur, Gurdsapur, Ludhiana, Ferozepore, Abohar, Fazilka, Moga, Faridkot, Mansa, Bathinda and Barnala. The CTU runs 20 high-vacuum air-conditioned buses to Amritsar, Patiala, Ludhiana, Delhi, Una, Baddi, Ambala and Yamuanagar. To facilitate private bus operators, the UT Administration has not revised the passenger tax since 1974. Owing to the limited territory of Chandigarh, the private bus operators of Punjab end up paying a marginal passenger tax to the UT. On the other hand, the authorities often receive complaints of overcharging and overloading by private operators running luxury AC buses. The operators make temporary seating arrangements in the aisle and are seen evading the tax by transporting goods in the luggage section of the bus. The CTU or Punjab Roadways officials at the ISBT express their helplessness in dealing with the complaints. State Transport Authority, UT, Mahavir Kaushik said: “We challan private buses after receiving complaints.”
To facilitate long distance inter-state transport of passengers, the director, State Transport, Punjab, managing director, PRTC, Patiala, director, CTU, Chandigarh, State Transport Commissioner, Punjab, and Home Secretary, UT, signed the reciprocal agreement on June 4, 2008. Under the agreement, buses owned and operated by the state transport undertakings of two states are allowed in each others territory subject to countersignatures on permits. Regarding the integral AC buses of private operators, an agreement allows permits not beyond Chandigarh. No private bus will be allowed on local routes.
20 CTU buses for Punjab
While 67 luxury AC buses of private operators, including those owned by Punjab’s political bigwigs, are plying between Chandigarh and district headquarters of Punjab, the CTU is running 78 buses on long routes to Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Punjab. Only 20 long route CTU buses are plying to different destinations in Punjab.
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Old habits die hard
Chandigarh, October 17 After taking possession of their flats in the resettlement colony, the beneficiaries have started staking claim to open spaces where they intent to set up kiosks to run small-time shops. Officials of the CHB today stumbled upon the encroachments when they went to the colony to remove unauthorised alterations being done the flats. The officials escorted by the police visited the colony to pull down alterations being made by the beneficiaries. CHB chairman Satya Gopal was not available for comments. All along the peripheral road around the dwelling units, the area of each kiosk has been demarcated with broken pieces of bricks and concrete tiles. Apart from pulling down alterations in six flats, the staff removed some of the roadside encroachments in the colony. While two of the beneficiaries had glazed the balcony area, another had raised a wall to set up a religious place. The CHB officials admitted the beneficiaries were staking claim to open public spaces as they had done in the slum area. Near one of the flats, a building contractor had put up a board for supplying construction material. To ensure that the beneficiaries did not undertake major changes in the flats, a regular survey of the houses was being done before the next demolition drive. In some of the flats, the beneficiaries are making alterations by removing internal walls. “The slum dwellers are used to freebies. They have a habit of encroaching upon public land,” said an official.
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Complete construction or face action, UT warns plot owners
Chandigarh, October 17 A total of 125 industrialists have opted for the conversion scheme, but only 35 have completed construction on their plots to date. In its order, the Administration said it would not allow the plot owners to keep their plots vacant. Non-compliance of the order would lead to cancellation of the conversion. A senior official of the UT Administration said the directions were issued as vacant plots would encourage investment for appreciation and would make it difficult for the UT officials to chalk out a plan for the area at a later stage.
The converted plot owners maintained that in 2005, the UT Estate Office and Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) issued different directions on "conversion policy" facilitating industrialists to convert industrial plots into commercial ventures. The letters for the change of land use were handed over to some plot owners by the CHB and to the rest by the estate office. The letters issued by the estate office carried a stipulation that the project should be completed within three years of the issuance of the letter. However, the CHB had not fixed any timeframe in the letters issued to plot owners. Chander Verma, chairman of the Converted Plot Owners’ Association, said the Administration should understand the difficulties faced by the converted plot owners and should give more time to complete the construction.
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Respite for P’kula residents
The commercial and educational institutions have been given relief up to 60 per cent. Moreover, the tax will not be calculated on collector rates. The government issued a fresh notification following a protest by residents. The tax imposed in January. As per the new notification, Rs 0.75 will be charged per sq yard from those owning a residential property up to 300 sq yards. Those having a house up to 500 sq yards will be charged Rs 3 per sq yard. Residents owning a house up to 1,000 square yards will have to pay Rs 4.50 per square yard.
Those living in flats up to 2,000 sq ft will have to pay Rs 0.75 per sq feet. Owners of up to 5,000 sq feet flats will have to pay Rs 0.90 per sq feet. In case of commercial property, Rs 18 per square yard would be charged up to 50 sq yards, Rs 27 for up to 100 sq yard and Rs 36 for up to 500 square yards. For industrial properties, Rs 3.75 per square yard would be charged on the plot size up to 2,500 sq yards and Rs 4.50 per sq yard on plot size up to two acres. Educational institutions will be charged Rs 7,500 annually for plot size up to 1 acre. Those owning a plot up to 2.5 acres will be charged 1.125 lakh annually.
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Travel by AC chair car to cost more
As per the revised rates, passengers travelling by morning Shatabdi (AC chair car) will pay Rs 545 which was earlier Rs 515 while for the executive class, travellers will have to pay Rs 1,080 instead of Rs 1,055. Afternoon Shatabdi travellers will have to pay Rs 590 instead of Rs 545 and for the executive class, they will have to pay Rs 1,120. Travel by AC chair car of the evening Shatabdi will cost Rs 635. Earlier, the fare was Rs 590. The executive class fare has been revised from Rs 1,165 to Rs 1,170.
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Five police personnel honoured
Mohali, October 17 Many police personnel along with staff and students of GJIMT attended the programme. Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar was the chief guest on the occasion. As many as 5 police personnel, inspector Mahesh Kumar, assistant sub-inspector of police (ASI) Harminder Singh, Havaldar Gurpratap Singh, Havaldar Krishan Dev, and Havaldar Pawan Kumar were honoured for their contribution towards the welfare of the society. They have been accredited with solving of various murder cases and nabbing vehicle thieves and dealers of contraband. Bhullar said, “It was because of sacrifices of thousands of police personnel that everybody continues to enjoy an atmosphere of peace and security in the state.” Chairman, Gian Jyoti Institute of Management and Technology, JS Bedi urged students to acknowledge the supreme sacrifice of policemen with pride. A cultural programme was also organised on
the occasion.
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Jolt to Central Govt: PGIMER mulls shutdown of Jan Aushadhi Centre
Chandigarh, October 17 The centre has failed to find any takers ever since the first stock was sold after its inauguration in 2009. Having provided space to the centre, the PGI has been facing losses in terms of revenue. The shop adjacent to the centre in the new shopping complex was auctioned at Rs 4,10,000 (per month rent) two weeks ago. The authorities waived the rent of Jan Aushadhi Centre. The Union Ministry scheme stipulates that 319 medicines are to be made available at Jan Aushadhi Centres. At present, there are 115 such centres across the country, including five in the tricity. One store each was opened at the PGI and the Mohali Civil Hospital in 2009 while in 2011, one store each was opened at the GMCH-32, GMSH-16 and Panchkula. The supply of medicines to all these centres has been erratic. A number of medicines used for common ailments like blood pressure, diabetes and renal problems are not available at any of the three centres in the city. Owing to the shortage of generic drugs, the centres are being perceived as a failure, defeating the very purpose of their establishment.
What is a generic drug?
A generic medicine is a term referring to any drug marketed under its chemical name without
advertising.
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Seminar in Gujarat
Chandigarh, October 17 Modi spent more time with Chawla, as compared to six city BJP-SAD councillors, Arun Sood, Saurabh Joshi, Davesh Moudgil, Rajesh Gupta, Deshraj and Malkiat Singh, who had also gone to attend the seminar. Mayor Subhash Chawla was given more importance and BJP-SAD councillors were almost 'sidelined'. In the seminar organised by the Gujarat government on 'Vibrant Gujarat', Chawla also shared the stage with Modi. Thereafter, he along with MC Joint Commissioner Rajiv Gupta also had lunch with Modi. The invitation for lunch was given to the Mayor and Joint Commissioner only. Modi also met six BJP-SAD councillors and two nominated councillors. Modi also discussed Chandigarh politics, UT's bureaucratic set-up, functioning of the Mayor, councillors and nominated councillors. This week, the Congress councillors had withdrawn their names from the tour fearing that if they would go to Gujarat on study tours, they would have to face the wrath of senior Congress leaders, who were opposing Modi's model in rallies and press conferences.
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Satinder Sartaaj mesmerises audience
Chandigarh, October 17 The auditorium was jam-packed where the audience fully enjoyed the performance of the singer. His famous song ‘Sai Ve’ won instant applaud from the audience. Sartaaj also recited his other famous songs, including “Ve Das Harh da Dupehra Kithe Katiye”. The performance went on for close to two hours and it ended with a larger social cause. With today’s collection of funds, the Trust is planning to buy mamography test machines. The Tribune was among the sponsors for the musical concert.
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property tax
Mohali, October 17 The agitators marched from the Dasehra ground to the Kharar bus stand, raising slogans against the imposition of property tax. They even flayed policies of the SAD-BJP government. Kang termed property tax as anti-people measure. “Residents of Punjab are already over-burdened by various taxes such as VAT, sales tax and service tax. They are also paying various types of fees/duties while selling and purchasing plots/houses, etc.
And not this has made the situation all the more worse,” alleged the MLA. Kang said huge funds were being released by the Government of India to Punjab for various development schemes. This money has also been misutilised by the ruling coalition and
is being wasted on organising unnecessary programmes, resulting in bankruptcy for the state, alleged Kang. Kang said the agitation would be continued till the state government withdrew the imposition of such taxes. The Congress MLA further said a non-cooperation movement would be started against the state government if it did not take back the decision of imposing the taxes on
the already burdened common man.
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3 sweetmeat shops raided
Chandigarh, October 17 Earlier, the department had raided two shops in Khuda Jassu, one each in Sectors 8, 32 and 37 and another two shops in Daria village. The official seized samples of khoya, ingredients and readymade sweets. They also destroyed 145 kg of sweets. Director, Health Services, Dr Sunil Kumar Bhalla directed all shopkeepers to maintain hygiene while preparing and selling sweets.
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Posts of
Asst Professor
Chandigarh, October 17 Interestingly, the Syndicate in its meeting held on October 8 rejected the appointments without even discussing the selections made by the selection committee. Appointments were rejected just because the VC conducted the interviews in spite of the Syndicate’s decision of not conducting the same. The Syndicate refused to consider these selections and did not discuss the item. In the Syndicate meeting held on December 15, 2012, the Vice-Chancellor had said: “The next round of interview calls will not be proceeded till the clarification from the UGC is received.” The interviews for the post of two Assistant Professors in the Department of Public Administration were fixed for December 19 and for the post of two Assistant Professors in the University School of Open Learning (USOL) were fixed for December 20. For the posts of Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Administration, the Establishment Branch sent interview
letters to eligible candidates on December 11 and for the other two posts in USOL, interview letters were sent on December 13. “The interview calls for the interviews which were scheduled for December 19 and 20 were sent before the Syndicate meeting held on December 15. So, it is clear that the decision of the Syndicate was not meant for the interviews, which were already fixed before the meeting”, said one of the aggrieved candidates. The appointments were brought for consideration before the Syndicate on January 27, 2013, and it decided to withdraw the item. After this, the item was brought again in the Syndicate in July, however, it was kept pending. Again it was brought in the meeting held in August and it decided to defer it till next meeting. Following the delay made by the Syndicate in taking-up the appointments, one of the selected candidates approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court that directed the university to take the decision before December 31, 2013. On the direction of the court, the Syndicate took-up the issue and rejected the appointments of the selected candidates. A senior Senate member said the Syndicate could only reject the appointments if the selected candidate doesn’t fulfil
the essential qualifications. However, in this case all selected candidates fulfilled the desired qualifications.
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Schools: Latest academic assessments too fast
Chandigarh, October 17 Principals of city schools think that many of the academic changes in the CCE were being introduced in haste, putting a lot of burden on the schools, teachers as well as parents. The CBSE has lately introduced Speaking and Listening Assessment (ASL), which carries 20 per cent weightage in the Summative Assessment-II and Open Textbook Assessment (OTBA), carrying a separate section of 10 marks in each of the main subjects. Both these assessments have been introduced for Classes IX and XI students. However, schools have been finding difficult to adjust these changes, which, they say, is taking place too fast. Vineeta Arora, Principal of Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 27, said the school was facing a lot of practical problems in implementing the recent academic changes. For instance, it was compulsory for an English teacher to individually access a student’s listening and speaking skills for 12 minutes during the regular school hours. For a teacher who handles four sections of Class IX with each section having 40 students, it is an upheaval job. Moreover, teachers are not trained properly for such assessments. One or two workshops for these assessments are not enough. She said. “The CBSE should have first changed the teaching methodology and then make required changes in the examination assessment. But it is happening other way around, which is definitely a cause of concern,” she said. Recently, two schools in Panchkula hosted speaking and listening assessment for teachers of tricity schools, but many of them had a lot of confusion in implementing the system. Schools are equally finding difficulty in OTBA that seems complex than the ASL in terms of its implementation.“I wish some more time was allowed to teachers to understand the basics of this new concept before introducing the same, says Sanjay Sardana, Principal of Manav Mangal School, Sector 20. He said Open Text Book Assessment was a positive step in the field of education. But the success of the new model depends upon how fast teachers and students adapt to the new changes from the traditional cramming system. “It is definitely an upheaval task for those schools which want to implement it in its true spirit. We need regular workshops for these academic assessments, he said. As per information, the CBSE has already uploaded the OTBA material for all main subjects - English, Hindi, Mathematics, Science and Social science for Class IX and geography, economics and biology for Class XI. The circular released by the board said the schools would provide content to students in the form of articles, illustrations, diagrams and problems out of the OTBA material and classroom interactions. Sarita Ohri, an English teacher at a private school in Mohali, said the text material provided for OTBA might become an hindrance for its implementation in future. “A full-fledged textbook on the OTBA is required that will not only make the teachers resourceful but also provide a wide variety to students,” she added. Government schools in the city are more vulnerable to these academic changes than the private ones. A government head seeking anonymity said the current confusion related to the CCE was yet not over and the latest changes would only add too the confusion among teachers and students. ASL was still manageable but the OTBA assessment was more complex as it needs different teaching approach of teachers, who were yet not trained to adapt the new changes for the CCE system. Highlights
The CBSE has lately introduced Speaking and Listening Assessment (ASL) for this academic session. The ASL carries 20 per cent weightage in Summative Assessment-II and Open Textbook Assessment (OTBA) carries a separate section of 10 marks in each of the main subject in SA-II. Both these assessments have been introduced for Classes IX and XI students. However, schools have been finding it difficult to adjust these academic changes, which, they say, is taking place too fast.
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Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to preside over varsity convocation
Chandigarh, October 17 It will also be an occasion for the university to hold its Special Convocation to confer DLitt (Honoris Causa) on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Giving this information here in Chandigarh, Chancellor of the university Zora Singh said it would be a historical moment
for the Desh Bhagat Educational Institutes to host a great thinker here on its campus. He said the Desh Bhagat group was imparting professional and technical education in this area
for the past over 16 years and had an excellent track record. In view of its contribution in the field of higher education and the facilities available here, the state government had given it the status of a private state university, Dr Zora said. "At present, over 8,000 students from 28 states of the country and 12 nations are getting education in over 250 conventional and non-conventional courses in our institutes,"
he added.
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Traffic safety campaign
Chandigarh, October 17 During the campaign, the students spread awareness about fuel saving by turning off the engine of the vehicle at red lights. Sunil Bhardwaj, chairman-cum-national president of Anti-Crime Anti-Corruption, an NGO, along with the DSP (Traffic), Kamaldeep, participated in the drive.
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Three PGIMER professors given warm send-off
Chandigarh, October 17 The professors included Prof Kusum Joshi, Sub-Dean, PGI, and Head, Department of Histopathology, Prof AJ Kanwar, Head, Department of Dermatology and Prof ML Dubey, Head, Department of Parasitology, in a function at the Lecture Theatre here today. Prof Yogesh Chawla, Director, PGI, presided over the function. Prof AK Utreja, Head, Department of Oral Health Sciences, organised the event.
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Educational institutions in Mohali to be closed today
Mohali, October 17 Mohali District Education Officer (Elementary) Gurjit Singh said today that all government-aided and unaided private schools in the district would observe a holiday tomorrow. He particularly directed all private schools to strictly follow the directions of the state government regarding the holiday.
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FROM SCHOOLS Chandigarh: A special programme was organised in the morning assembly to celebrate the birthday of Saint Valmiki, the author of the Ramayana at Sharda Sarvhitkari Model School, Sector 40. Archna, a Hindi teacher, spoke at length about the great Saint, citing example from his life and how he was transformed from a thief into a saint. Principal of the school BS Kanwar narrated some episodes from the the Ramayana and urged students to follow the path shown in it. He further stressed upon the equality of all castes. Street play marks World Food Day
On account of World Food Day, students of Class II of Ryan International School presented a street play to convey the importance of having healthy diet. Through the play they made the children understand the importance of having a balanced diet comprising adequate amount of calcium,
protein, vitamins and minerals. Students also recited poems on the occasion. Diwali fete
St John’s High School here organised an in-house Diwali fete on
the school premises on Thursday. It was a great success with students thronging the school campus. A number of stalls of games and eatables were put up. The face-paint stall was a hit among the students. Youngsters were seen trying their hand at lucky dip, skill games and other fun activities. Students visit post office
Panchkula: Students of Junior Section of Vijay Public Smart School, Sector 17, Panchkula, were taken to the post office of Sector 8, Panchkula. Students get awareness of the working procedure of the post office and
they also posted greeting cards made by them to their parents for a real experience. Badminton contest
To make lives of students healthier, a sports event was organised at St Teresa School for students of Classes V to VIII. All students actively took part in the badminton competition. Principal Shelly Chug motivated the students to participate in such sports events with more enthusiasm and zeal. ‘Joy of giving’ week
Mohali: Saupin’s School, Mohali, celebrated the ‘Joy of giving’ week. On the occasion, the children went to different places like Fortis hospital, Max hospital, Ivy hospital, BSNL exchange, fire
station, police station and to their neighbours, spreading a message of love and joy by giving small tokens of love and affection. The head mistress, Goldie Kapany, agreed with the joy obtained by engaging children through acts of giving at a very young age to make them more compassionate towards the society. Dasehra celebrated
Dasehra was celebrated on the campus of Green
Field Public School, Mohali. Various activities, including, speech on Dasehra, poetic Ramayana and dance on Hanuman Chalisa glorified the occasion. The effigy of Ravana
was burnt. Students promised to shun their one evil habit by writing the same on
a paper slip and burning the same along with the effigy. — TNS
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Panchkula, October 17
Chandigarh, October 17