Panchkula, January 2
The Punjab Police today ordered a high-level inquiry into the firing incident in which a gunman attached to senior Punjab-cadre IAS officer KBS Sidhu was critically injured while he was accompanying Sidhu's son to the 5 Degrees restaurant at Nirjhar Vatika in Sector 5 here on New Year's Eve. The gunman, Jaipal, had received a gunshot in the temple. PGI officials said late tonight that the gunman was showing signs of improvement.

Earlier, speaking to Chandigarh Tribune today, Punjab ADGP, Law and Order, Dinkar Gupta said, "It is surprising how Punjab Police gunmen were accompanying Sidhu's son to the restaurant. We have ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident."

He said the Punjab Police were also in touch with the Haryana Police in connection with the case. The presence of the gunmen with Sidhu's son has belied the tall claims of the Punjab Police that it has pruned the security of VIPs.

Two days after Jaipal was injured after he received a gunshot fired from his service weapon, the Panchkula Police today claimed that the bureaucrat's son, Sehaj Sidhu, was not present at the spot at the time of the incident. Questions are being raised over what the gunmen of the Punjab Police were doing at the venue after the bureaucrat's son had left. Sources said the gunmen were in their uniform.

Yesterday, the police had stated that the gunman was accompanying the bureaucrat's son to the party, that was a private affair.

Sehaj deposed before the investigating officials today at the Sector 5 police station in Panchkula. The police had called up Sehaj yesterday also, but he did not turn up. The statement was recorded in the presence of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vijender Singh. However, the police are silent on the contents of the statement, leading to reports of a possible cover-up.

Inspector Mukesh Kumar, SHO of the Sector 5 police station, said, "I can't say anything right now. Investigations are on." The bureaucrat's son is learnt to have told the police that he left the venue before the incident as he had to drop his two friends and had left the gunmen behind. He was near the Housing Board light point when he came to know about the firing incident.

The sources said Sehaj, in his statement to the police, said he had actually come to some other hotel for a party, but made a halt for a while at the 5 Degrees restaurant.

Commissioner of Police Rajbir Deswal said, "We are trying to dig out facts. Our investigations are on. All angles and circumstantial evidence are being taken into account. We are also investigating how three gunmen were present with the son of the officer. We will ask the Punjab authorities about it."

As part of the investigations, the CCTV footage of the premises of the restaurant has also been received by the police two days after the incident. The police had yesterday asked for the footage from the restaurant management. Though the footage was received this afternoon, SHO Mukesh Kumar said he had not seen it till the evening. The sources did not rule out the possibility of the CCTV footage having been edited.

Though the IAS officer or his son have not yet been implicated in the case of firing, a number of questions remain unanswered:

• With whom was the gunman attached?
• Is the IAS officer on deputation to the Centre from Punjab under a security threat to warrant a gunman from his parent cadre?
• Was the IAS officer present at the scene of the incident? If not, who authorised the gunman to accompany his son? How did the gunman remain behind when Sehaj left, as he has claimed?
• Who all were present at the party and have they all been questioned?
• Scientifically, is such a wound in the temple possible if a person accidentally shoots himself with an MP-9 weapon, as has been stated?
• Was another policeman, an ASI of Punjab, accompanying the son of the officer? If yes, has he been put through sustained questioning?

Panchkula, January 2
Though police officials are tight-lipped about the circumstances leading to the firing incident, sources reveal that it was a private party attended by around 15 persons, including the children of some VIPs, who were accompanied by the gunmen of the Punjab Police.

Chandigarh, January 2
In a shocking incident, a 13-year-old girl delivered a baby girl in the gynaecology ward of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, last night. The UT Police have registered a case of rape against an unidentified accused. The girl is a resident of Mani Majra.

The victim, a student of Class VIII, was taken to the civil dispensary in Phase I, Industrial Area, where she was found pregnant during an ultrasound examination and then referred to the GMCH.

The girl gave birth to the baby girl through normal delivery. The infant’s condition is stable. The hospital authorities informed the police, which reached the spot and questioned the girl’s parents.

The girl’s father works as a labourer in a unit in the Industrial Area. He said he did not know that the girl was sexually assaulted and he thought she was unwell. “She complained of severe chest and stomach pain when we brought her to the hospital and did not know that she was pregnant,” said her father, adding that he had no idea who the accused was.

The police said they could not question the girl about the accused right now, but planned to send counsellors at her residence once she was in good health.

The police said the girl’s family refused to lodge a complaint. The police have registered a case of rape under Section 376 of the IPC and various Sections of the Prevention of Child Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act, 2012.

Chandigarh, January 2
In a New Year gift for city residents, the Chandigarh Administration is all set to authorise e-Sampark centres to issue registration certificates (RCs) for new vehicles.

Some e-Sampark centres are being designated to accept and process the papers for the registration of vehicles.

The Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA) has written to the National Informatics Centre to work out the modalities for starting the process of issuing RCs for new vehicles.

Though the proposal was mooted last year, it could not be finalised. Kashish Mittal, RLA, said the service would be started soon. “It will enable residents to get their vehicles registered without going to the RLA”, he said.

For affixing the high security registration number plates, the vehicle owners will have to go the designated centre.

An official said the decision had been taken to ease pressure on the RLA office. Driver's licences would continue to be delivered at the RLA office as the applicants had to undergo skill tests, he said.

The RLA has decided to open more centres for affixing the number plates. The vendor has been asked to identify open spaces for the purpose.

Chandigarh, January 2
Even two years after the Central Government granted funds for completing the renovation of the old buildings of the PGIMER, its Nehru Hopsital, the oldest and most frequented building on the campus, has not witnessed the repair of even a patch.

While repair work has started at the Kairon Block, the repair of Nehru Hospital, the 50-year-old building which houses more than 1200 patients, has not even been initiated.

The Nehru Hospital building has developed huge cracks posing a threat to it. The cracks are visible on the boundaries of the balconies on the first floor even from the road outside the PGI campus, which leads towards Sector 11.

Even the iron bars installed for supporting the building can be seen hanging from the balcony of the hospital building.

The condition of the other old buildings at the hospital, including the Research Block A and B, which house a number of departments of the PGI, is equally poor.

While these buildings have never undergone a major renovation ever since they were constructed in 1963, the institution claims to be spending Rs 5 or 10 lakh on the maintenance of these buildings annually.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had sanctioned a grant of Rs 200 crore to the PGI for completing the renovation of the Research Block (Rs 150 crore) and the Nehru Hospital building (Rs 50 crore) in September 2011.

Officials have been reiterating that a major renovation of all the buildings is under way and soon the work will be allotted. Sources revealed that the PGIMER authorities were contemplating a rehabilitation plan of the Nehru Hospital for carrying out its complete renovation.

According to sources, the authorities were not very keen on rehabilitating the entire hospital in view of possible inconvenience to patients. This is another reason for the delay in work allocation for the repair of the Nehru Hospital.

Chandigarh, January 2
More than 8,000 angiographies in two cath labs in a year. While these figures speak volumes of the PGIMER’s efficiency in handling the patient load, children with heart problems are still at the receiving end with at there being at least six-month waiting time for angiography.

Sample this: A 3-year-old patient, who is suffering from a heart problem, visited the PGIMER for treatment. As the diagnosis was not clear, the doctor recommended the parents to send the child for angiography to know the exact treatment accordingly before carrying out an open heart surgery. The patient was then asked to come in June 2014 for the angiography. It is pertinent to note that the child would have to continue suffering in pain till the date issued to him for angiography since treatment cannot be initiated until the consultant determines the exact cause of the heart ailment.

From January to December 2013, the department performed angiographies on 8,200 patients. Among these, only 500 were children. Courtesy, the paediatric cath lab operates only once a week and there is only one lab available in the premier health care institution (North of Delhi), the PGIMER.

Official spokesperson for the PGIMER said: “As of now we have two cath labs and also we only have one paediatric cardiologist available with us. Hence, only a limited number of angiographies could be performed in a given time period.”

Dr Manoj K Rohit, Additional Professor, said cardiac surgical facilities had increased significantly and so was the workload. I am the main person doing EPS/RF Ablations and Paediatric Cardiology work. The department needs to purchase a third cardiac cath lab on a priority basis and in this lab priority and additional time should be given for performing paediatric & EPS/RFA cases. It is being done in other big institutes like AIIMS and the Shree Chitra hospital. The Director, PGIMER, has given the permission for setting up a third lab. Now, it is up to the department to process the case.

Chandigarh, January 2
In a bid to make sure that there is better coordination between the Municipal Corporation and the UT Administration, Mayor HC Kalyan today met the top brass of the administration.

Kalyan met UT Adviser KK Sharma, Home Secretary Anil Kumar and Finance Secretary VK Singh.

The newly elected Mayor stated that it’s very important to have a cordial relation with the administration to ensure the required assistance from their side for various projects in the city. “Moreover, my visit to the senior UT officials was also for courtesy sake,” the Mayor said.

Kalyan said being a people’s representative, he would do maximum for the city residents.

The new Mayor has planned to meet the MC officials tomorrow to discuss the further course of action. “I will plan a strategy for the year after taking feedback from the MC officials,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the BJP Mayoral candidate Rajinder Kaur, who lost to Congress candidate HC Kalyan in the elections, Senior Deputy Mayor Heera Negi and Deputy Mayor Davesh Moudgil, both from the BJP, today visited the Mayor’s office to congratulate him. A number of BJP and Congress councillors also greeted the three office-bearers at their offices.

Chandigarh, January 2
Just a day after the BJP councillors bagged two mayoral posts in the MC, differences between them and the Congress councillors have started emerging. There was a controversy when Senior Deputy Mayor Heera Negi moved two couches from the councillors' room to her office.

The move irked the Congress councillors who registered their resentment with the newly elected Mayor.

The councillors have been provided with a common room in the MC office that has around 10 couches.

Sources stated that Congress councillors, on finding the couches missing from the room, enquired about them. They came to know that the couches were shifted to the Senior Deputy Mayor’s office on her demand.

The councillors then met Mayor HC Kalyan and showed their resentment. Subhash Chawla, a Congress councillor and former Mayor, stated that the Senior Deputy Mayor should write to the officer concerned to get new couches sanctioned as per the entitlement.

Another Congress councillor stated that they had only councillor’s room to sit and if the couches were shifted to other rooms, then where would they sit?

Senior Deputy Mayor Heera Negi, a BJP councillor from ward no. 21, stated she had asked the staff to shift one couch to her room for a few hours only as a large number of persons had visited her office to greet her. “We also know that these couches are meant for the councillors' room. In the evening, the couch was shifted back,” Negi stated.

The recent hike in the cost of LPG cylinders has not only upset the kitchen budget of households, it has also left the consumers fuming. On an average, over 10 cylinders are being consumed in a year by a household, while the government has restricted the number of subsidised cylinders to nine.

The recent hike of around Rs 220 on the non-subsidised LPG cylinders is definitely going to burn a bigger hole in the pocket and disturb the monthly budget. The government should slash the rates. — Veena Khullar, homemaker

The subsidy on cylinders should be capped at 15 cylinders per year, because lower-middle and middle class families are consuming 12-15 cylinders per year. The upper-class families, apparently, use unlimited number of cylinders. — Angel Jindal, Sector 48 resident

The poor should only get subsidised cylinders. In our country, a majority of the BPL families have a large number of members, and hence, their usage of cylinders is much higher than that in an average nuclear family. — Shabina, Sector 40 resident

The recent decision of the government is a big blow to the common man. The government should cancel the category of non-subsidised cyclinders. At least, the number of subsidised cylinders should go up to 15. — Swati Arora, professional

The lower and middle-class families are trying hard to make ends meet. Basic necessities including food, water, electricity and fuel are slipping out of the average Indian's grasp. We need a sound public policy to control inflation. — Kamlesh Bhardwaj, homemaker

Another hike in the price of LPG cylinders shows the government's anti-common man policy. This will further fuel inflation and have a negative impact on the growth rate. — Kaaviya Sharma, Panchkula resident

Chandigarh, January 2
Landowners from Tira, Togan, Bansepur and other neighbouring villages in Mullanpur today met to chalk out a strategy for protesting against the acquisition of land for constructing a road to Kharar.

The farmers, led by JS Dhaliwal, said despite the new law on land acquisition notified by the Centre, the Punjab Government was pushing the case under the old law.

The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) is not only acquiring land for the new road, it is also acquiring land for Eco City-II and Medicity under the previous law.

The farmers said they would be accepting the land acquisition payment in protest. As per the Central Act, landowners have to be compensated under the new provisions. In a single day, GMADA notified eight acquisition notices.

Chandigarh, January 2
UT Transport Secretary Bhavna Garg has appointed Rajiv Tewari, treasury officer, Central Treasury, as the additional secretary of the state transport authority.

The charge of additional secretary will be in addition to his charge of treasury officer. He will, in addition to enforcement, check violations of provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act. — TNS

Mohali, January 2
Fatal bulging of an artery can be treated without a major surgery. Doctors at Fortis Hospital have demonstrated this in recent cases.

The bulging of arteries, known as aneurysm, can prove fatal as the rupture occurs without a sign.

Recently, a 49-year-old Patiala resident was taken to the hospital in serious condition. He had a ruptured artery, with two-litre blood having collected in his chest.

At the hospital, instead of opting for the conventional open surgery, a team headed by Dr Ravul Jindal, director, vascular surgery, placed a stent graft inside the main arteries of the chest that supply blood to the whole body.

“He would have died within hours if left untreated. After undergoing a minor intervention procedure using local anaesthesia, he was discharged after two days,” said Dr Jindal.

In another case, a 67-year-old patient from Mohali had complex bulging involving the main artery going to the brain. A complex chimney procedure was performed, where simultaneously two stents were placed to maintain blood supply to the brain.

The bulging of the main artery extending from the heart affects nearly 10 out of every 1,00,000 elderly. Such bulges, in arteries of the chest region and the stomach region, remain a major cause of death.

Chandigarh, January 2
Mirnalini Sharma, a PhD fellow at the Department of Virology, PGIMER, has been honoured with the “Best Young Scientist Award” during the International Conference of Asia Pacific Congress of Virology (APCV) and VIROCON-2013 of the Indian Virological Society held at Amity University, Noida, recently.

The award was conferred on her for her original research on “Role of enteroviruses, adenoviruses and coxsackievirus adenovirus receptor (CAR) in pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)”.

Dilated cardiomyopathy is a disease of heart muscle. It is the most common cause of heart failure in India. — TNS

Mohali, January 2
Mohali is set to become the first town in Punjab to outsource the running of the water supply and sewer systems to make these more efficient and beneficial to its residents.

A meeting to discuss the terms and conditions for hiring a consultant in this regard was held under the chairmanship of Uma Shankar Gupta, Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, here, today. The meeting was attended by senior officials of the civic body and the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation.

Sources said the Punjab Government was interested in outsourcing the water supply and sewerage works in the state and Mohali had been selected for carrying out the trial run. The authorities concerned would be hiring a consultant having adequate experience in projects related to water supply and sewerage.

It is learnt that the consultant to be hired by the corporation here would be asked to study the existing systems, including legal and unauthorised connections and water pressure, and point out the shortcomings and give suggestions to make the systems more efficient.

He will be given three months to prepare a report showing how the water supply network could be made to run 24X7.

If the first project report is satisfactory, the corporation will ask the consultant to prepare a financial model to show how the project will be viable, covering various aspects, including the cost factor and whether or not the PPP mode will be beneficial. The consultant will also be asked to provide his services for two years if the civic body goes ahead with the outsourcing plan. After the consultant gives his full report on outsourcing, the formalities to hire a developer will be carried out.

The Commissioner of the corporation said at present GMADA, the civic body, and the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation were taking care of the water supply and sewer systems. Once outsourcing was done, there would be only one nodal agency for maintaining the systems.

This agency would be authorised to collect the revenue in this regard and the “gap in the funds” would be filled by the corporation, added Gupta.

The campaign will benefit over 20 villages of the tricity. These messages would be delivered via local entertainment dance/drama forms. Besides Chandigarh, the campaign will cover 20 districts of Punjab and 15 districts of Haryana. Rajiv Anand, president, Retail Banking, Axis Bank, said: “A large section of rural India, close to 40 per cent, continues to lack banking services. This is mainly due to lack of awareness.” — TNS

The UT traffic police have collected over Rs 9 crore through fines in the year 2012-13. Does this call for celebration? Or should we further look into this figure.

More money collected means more challans. More challans mean more violations. With increased motor vehicles in the city (both registered and visiting), traffic on roads and violations therein are increasing day by day.

Increasing violations mean either people are not aware of traffic rules or following rules is not on their priority list. In either case, these violators are a danger to others’ life. Steep fines cannot deter these violators. Instead, cancel their driving licences or take the repeated offenders off road for designated period. Re-educate them on road safety for specified hours. This will be a more effective solution. By fining, the violation is overlooked and the person is back on road.

The traffic police should also change its style of functioning. The city needs traffic management and not traffic policing. As we all are aware, traffic policing has remained ineffective. High accident rate, death on roads, chaos on roads, road blockages and drunken driving are the problems that need to be redressed on priority. This can be done if the traffic police change its focus from issuing challans to a proper study of the problem to find a solution.

Chandigarh, January 2
The Panjab University is coming up with a proposal to make a provision for inducting an officer of the central civil services or all-India services on deputation for appointment to the post of registrar.

The proposal was mooted in a meeting of the committee constituted by the Vice-Chancellor for determining the qualification for the post of the registrar. It will be tabled in the Syndicate meeting scheduled for January 4 for its approval.

However, some members of the committee opposed the recommendation claiming that there were a number of faculty members of the university who were eligible for the post.

Sources said the members opposing the proposal wanted to know when the UGC does not provide for appointing a registrar on deputation why was the issue being brought up for consideration before the panel. Prof BS Brar, a member of the committee, registered his opposition on the issue in the minutes of the meeting.

As per the proposal of the committee, it has been recommended that the officer working under the central civil services or all-India services, having 15 years of administrative experience with 8 years in the grade of Rs 7,600, and fulfills the qualifications set by the UGC for the post of registrar will be considered for the post on deputation for a period of four years.

The committee also suggested that the confidential reports of the last five years and a certificate from the head of the department that no vigilance inquiry is pending against the officers concerned will be sought before short-listing the names of the officers.

Besides, the committee also recommended that a person working under central and state universities at the post of lecturer and assistant professor or deputy registrar with 15 years of administrative experience will be considered eligible for the post on deputation.

A syndicate member, wishing anonymity, said the proposal was not considered in the meeting as the university since long was following the practice of inviting open applications for the post by advertising it in the media. So far, it has never happened that the university did not receive any application for any such advertised post. However, the Syndicate will consider this factor in future in case none applies for the post of registrar, the member added.

Chandigarh, January 2
Ravinder Chaudhry, vice-president of the Athletics Federation of India and Associate Professor at the DAV College, Sector 10, here, will be attending an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Development Strategy Seminar being held at IAAF RDC, Jakarta, from January 2 to 4.

The International Association of Athletics Federations Development Strategy Seminar is being conducted by Abdel Malek El-Hebil, a member of the IAAF.

Chandigarh, January 2
The Panjab University (PU) has granted a special chance to the students of MA, MCom and MEd Part I and II of pre-2011 batches to appear in examinations in April 2014.

The students could take the exams under the annual system, except for practical papers, as per the syllabus of April 2011. The last date for submission of the examination forms and fee has been extended up to January 15, 2014. Earlier, it was December 31, 2013.

The development is in a partial modification of the announcement that the PU made on November 13, 2013, allowing a special chance to students of MA Part II, who had passed MA part I annual examinations but could not appear or having appeared but failed under re-appear in MA II examinations conducted by the university up to 2011 under annual system, as well as for the improvement of performance of MA part II examinations.

The examination fee for the general category would be Rs 10,000 and for SC/ST category candidates, it would be Rs 5,000. There would be no provision for late fee or late submission of examination forms after the expiry of the last dates fixed for the purposes.

Chandigarh, January 2
A five-day-long INSPIRE internship camp started at DAV College, Sector 10, here today.

More than 300 students from 39 schools of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh are participating in the camp, which was inaugurated by Nisha Peshin, director (PS-III), DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi.

The keynote speaker on the occasion was Dr Arun Kumar Grover, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University, Chandigarh. In his address, the VC stressed upon the need to introduce practical-based curriculum for children.

Nisha Peshin advised the teachers not to teach science as history. She added that children lack practical aspects of science as they were only cramming theory.

Organising secretary Dr Manju Dewan gave an introduction about the college and the INSPIRE programme. She said the camp was an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. She added that students of Class XI pursuing science stream in affiliated schools are taking part in the programme. The selected students will be provided free boarding, lodging and food along with scientific kits during the camp. She added that the camp will help build the required critical human resource pool for strengthening and expanding the science and technology system and the research and development base.

Chandigarh, January 2
The NSS unit of the GGDSD College in collaboration with the Aarogya Bharti organised a free medical camp at Valmiki Dharmshala in Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26, Chandigarh, today.

Six doctors and two pharmacists of the Aarogya Bharti extended their services for the benefit of the community. Around 650 patients of the colony availed of the free consultation and medicines available at the camp. The free medicines were provided by the Ayurveda Department, Punjab.

Before the camp, NSS volunteers had revved up their door-to-door health awareness campaign and had talked to slum dwellers about their general health, personal hygiene and the fatal AIDS.

The Auyrveda and Medicinal Plants Board, Punjab, director, Dr Rakesh Sharma was the chief guest on the occasion. Witnessing an overwhelming response to the camp, Dr Bhushan K Sharma, principal of the GGDSD College, assured full cooperation to the NSS volunteers in their quest for social service. — TNS

NSS volunteers of Panjab University, along with their teacher, stage a street play at a PU hostel on Thursday. Tribune photo: Pardeep Tewari

Chandigarh: The NSS volunteers of Panjab University (PU) on Thursday planted trees at the boys' hostels 1, 2, 3 and 7. The plantation drive was initiated by Prof Yograj Angrish, director, NSS, PU, and Dr Jatinder Grover, campus coordinator, PU. Prof Angrish motivated the students to adopt the planted trees and nurture them during their stay at the university.

Blood donation camp

A blood donation camp was organised at the Students' Centre on the premises of the Panjab University. The camp was held in collaboration with the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Blood Bank, PGIMER. On the occasion, as many as 60 units were donated by NSS volunteers, NSS programme officers, research scholars and students.

Cleanliness drive

A cleanliness drive was also carried out on the PU campus. A street play on personal hygiene and sanitation was also staged by the students of the theatre department.

New Year celebrations

Mohali: Students of the Desh Bhagat University celebrated the New Year by taking a pledge to strengthen brotherhood and to stand firmly against social evils. The New Year was welcomed by holding a path (recitation) of Sri Sukhmani Sahib for world peace and brotherhood. Chancellor of the university Dr Zora Singh conveyed his best wishes to the whole Desh Bhagat family and prayed that the New Year brings peace, progress and prosperity in the world. Pro Chancellor Tejinder Kaur and Pro Vice-Chancellor Dr Shalini Gupta also conveyed their greetings to the whole staff. — TNS

Chandigarh, January 2
The Saupin’s Community Service Organisation (SCSO), an NGO, in collaboration with Saupin’s School, Chandigarh and Mohali, is engaged in an initiative to help the victims of Muzaffarnagar riots.

SCSO chairperson Anuradha Saupin said educational toys, colouring books and other reading material, sports equipment like cricket kits, badminton racquets, footballs etc, would be of great help to the displaced children, whose schooling had come to an abrupt end following the riots.

The SCSO through Saupin’s School's Chandigarh and Mohali branches is seeking assistance from all citizens of the tricity to come forward and contribute their bit for the noble cause. — TNS

Chandigarh, January 2
The Computer Teachers and Data Entry Operators' Union along with the UT Cadre Educational Employees Union, the Subordinate Services Federation, the Safai Karamchari Union and the CTU Employees' Union, has decided to hold a rally against the UT Administration on January 8. The union is already observing hunger strike.

Swarn Singh Kamboj, a union leader, said five teachers went to meet the adviser to the administrator but he did not entertain them. Members of the union are seeking regularisation of their jobs besides pay hike. — TNS