Total existing seats: 50

Total seats after approval for increase: 100

Second counselling scheduled on July 18

Mohali, June 23
The Mohali Vigilance flying squad arrested a senior accountant of Markfed for accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from a Markfed department contractor here today.

The accused, Yograj Talwar, posted at Ludhiana, was accepting the bribe amount from the complainant, Jagdip Singh, a resident of Dhilwan village in Ludhiana district when the vigilance sleuths swooped upon him this afternoon.

Giving details, Hargobind Singh, Superintendent of Police (Vigilance), Mohali, said that Jagdip Singh had been supplying labour force to the department for Khanna Mandi for which he had made an agreement of Rs 14.85 lakh with the department.

“The department had already paid Rs 11 lakh to the complainant. Now, the accused had demanded Rs 25,000 from Jagdip Singh for releasing his standing amount of Rs 3.85 lakh”, said the SP.

Jagdeep Singh had made a complaint in this regard to the Mohali vigilance flying squad that laid a trap to catch the accused red handed. Today, Jagdeep Singh went to give him first installment.

A case under appropriate Sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused, who will be produced before the court tomorrow morning.

Chandigarh, June 23
Even as the pre-monsoon showers are likely to hit the city any time soon, the waste material removed from road gullies — lying on the roadsides — can cause acute waterlogging after a spell of rainfall.

A downpour can cause the waste to enter the gullies again, thereby causing them to choke.

The Municipal Corporation (MC), has failed to ensure that the waste lying on the road is immediately lifted, so that it doesn’t enter the gullies again.

Hitesh Puri, president of the Resident Welfare Association (RWA), Sector 43, and chief spokesperson of the Federation of Sector Welfare Association Chandigarh (FOSWAC), said, “Recently, we approached the MC Commissioner demanding that the waste stacked near the road gullies be removed before the monsoons. But it has not happened till date.”

“Today, we sent a representation to the MC Chief Engineer requesting him to get the road gullies cleaned in Sector 43”, he said.

SAD councillor Malkiat Singh said, “The road gullies are not cleaned properly and the waste removed from them is not lifted. This is utter negligence on the part of the MC. I feel that the ward councillor should be informed when the road gullies are cleaned so that he/she can inspect whether the waste has been lifted.”

Mukesh Bassi, Congress councillor and member of the Water Supply and Sewerage Disposal Committee, said, “In 2012, when I was the chairman of the same committee, a proposal was approved to purchase small trolleys for lifting the waste material from near the road gullies once they are cleaned. However, the proposal failed to take off.”

“The aim is to ensure that the waste does not block the road gullies again”, he added.

The rainfall that lashed the city on June 13 led to waterlogging in several parts of the city, exposing the MC’s preparedness for the monsoon.

Despite a budget of Rs 7.5 crore for the Storm Water Drainage (SWD), the MC has failed to ensure an efficient SWD system.

Give complete control to Municipal Corporation

The Municipal Corporation (MC) should have a complete control over the Grain Market. The civic issues are the root cause of the problems in the market. The road separating the Police Lines and the market had been crying for maintenance for the past several years. We spent Rs 60,000 from our pockets to get the sewerage lines repaired. — Devinder Bansal

Allow only licensed owners to operate

The encroachments should be removed completely. Only licensed owners should be allowed to run business in the market and streets should be vacated for free movement of vehicles and shoppers. — Ram Kumar Gupta

Lift garbage more frequently

There is a need to repair streetlights. Illumination is not proper threatening the safety of visitors. Also, garbage should be removed more frequently as foul smell emanating from it exposes all of us to health risks. — Naresh Gupta

The shifting of auctionable items to Sector 39 will bring the control of remaining market under the Municipal Corporation. But the matter is pending. Until we are able to do it, other improvements will be delayed.

Dinesh Mahajan, Chairman, Market Committee, Sector 26

Encroachments are always temporary. We keep strict vigil on them from 8 am to 8 pm. However, we need help from the police to enforce rules in the late evening hours. According to the rules, we need sanction for enforcement. We should be given the power to issue challan to violators. Some of the shops are privately owned and do not come under our purview. That is another challenge we have to deal with.

GR Pillai, Secretary, Market Committee, Sector 26

Chandigarh, June 23
In what reflects the apathy of the Chandigarh Police, an unidentified man has been lying in a semi-conscious state outside Panjab University for the last two days — hardly 50 metres from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).

Eyewitnesses say the unidentified man — who is extremely sick and unable to speak — has been lying unattended near a heap of garbage, outside PU’s Gate No. 1.

The unidentified man, who appears to be middle-aged, was first spotted by a social worker at PGIMER, Narain Dass, two days ago.

Gurdeep, a student of Panjab University, approached the police but to no avail.

“We rang up two local NGOs for help. They assured us that we should take care of him until somebody arrives from their end to rescue the man. While nobody came from the NGOs, we tried to approach the area police as well. There was no encouraging response from them,” added Gurdeep.

He said vendors, who run business along side the road dividing the PGIMER and PU, have been providing food to the man.

“The police should offer help. If the man continues to be unattended, we will take him to the PGIMER Emergency tomorrow,” said Gurdeep.

Malkit Singh, Station House Officer (SHO), Sector 11 Police Station, said, “The police did not have any information about any unidentified person lying outside PU Gate No. 1. If need be, we will get him shifted to a nearby hospital.”

We rang up two local NGOs for help. They assured us that we should take care of him until somebody arrives from their end to rescue the man. While nobody came from the NGOs, we tried to approach the area police as well. There was no encouraging response from them.

— Gurdeep, student at Panjab University

Panchkula, June 23
Irked over the death of the fourth victim due to the ‘absence’ of proper care by the administration at PGI in the wall collapse incident, irate family members of the victim gheraoed the office of the Deputy Commissioner here today.

The kin said that they would perform the last rites of 10-year-old Sabana only after an assurance from the authorities concerned.

The relatives met the DC alleging that had there been any official from the administration footing the bill of the medicines and other items, which the PGI authorities were asking for, the child, Sabana, would have been alive today.

Even the local police post received a call from the PGI authorities informing them that there was no one to take care of the child and to whom they should inform about the items needed.

“We received a call that there was an infection in the child’s blood and some more blood was required. Ours did not match and there was nobody for help. If the administration wanted, they could have arranged for the blood. After two hours, we came to know that Sabana had succumbed to her injuries,” said Mohammad Naushad, maternal uncle of the child.

On June 18, three persons of a family died, including a four-year-old girl, when a boundary wall of a building collapsed when they were sleeping in a shanty, next to it, in Sector 11 here. Two children were referred to the PGI where 10-year-old Sabana died, while nine-month-old Diljaan survived.

When the family members met DC SS Phulia, he told them, “We were there on the first day and paid all the bills. Even yesterday, I told the tehsildar to stay and foot the expenses of the cremation as well.”

On being informed that the compensation of Rs 5,000 was a meager amount, he added, “That money was given for the cremation. Regarding other compensation, I would write to the government for the same. And to bring the remaining two children, one of whom is in the village, I would arrange their stay in a children’s home as well.”

The DC also asked the Station House Officer to arrest the accused soon.

Following the assurance, the kin went forward to perform the last rites. “The child has been buried. We have given the police time till tomorrow. If they don’t arrest the accused soon, we will take out Sabana’s body and stage a protest,” they said.

Panchkula, June 23
Now, it is you who will decide what to do with the gold offered at Mansa Devi temple.

The gold offerings made at the temple had courted a controversy a few years ago, wherein three officers of the administration sold gold at cheap rates to their kin causing a loss of Rs 15.6 lakh to the board.

The incident has prompted the district administration to invite public opinion. “We have decided to seek public opinion after the controversy to know what needs to be done of the gold offerings. We will ask for replies on the website,” a senior official of the administration said.

In an RTI reply sought by a Chandigarh resident, it was mentioned that the board had decided to convert gold offerings into coins and the same would be sold in the open market. In 2002, former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala had ordered that the gold be converted into mangalsutras.

The authorities decided that these gold coins and mangalsutras be sold at rates fixed by the board. It was stated that a four-gram mangalsutra or gold coin be priced at Rs 2,600. In all, 861 mangalsutras and 359 coins were manufactured.

The RTI reply had stated that the board officials and their relatives kept buying gold at the same price till March 15, 2007. This was done despite the fact that in 2006, the board’s accounts officer proposed that the rate of coins be increased. That was approved by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. As a result, the board suffered a loss of Rs 15.6 lakh.

The website of the shrine will also be given a makeover and pictures of the Kalka temple will also be carried on the same page.

Panchkula, June 23
Not delivering matching shoes with the attire — belonging to a Major in the Army — for a wedding on time proved costly for a courier company.

The Consumer Forum today directed the company, DTDC Courier and Cargo Limited, Sector 11, to pay an amount of Rs 12,285.

A complaint was made by Shantanu Kumar, working in the Army under Major Shalabh Madhur at Chandimandir, on February 25 last.

The order mentioned that Major Madhur had proceeded to Jaipur to attend a marriage function on January 20. However, he inadvertently left a newly-purchased pair of shoes at Chandimandir, where he was posted. Major Madhur had bought the shoes matching with a suit for the function. He instructed the complainant to send the shoes to him through courier.

Following this, the complainant dispatched the shoes through the DTDC courier at a cost of Rs 285.

The company assured that the delivery would be made at Jaipur on January 19, but the same was not done.

When the complainant contacted the courier officials on January 20, he was asked to call on the helpline number at Delhi, which further gave him another helpline number at Jaipur.

When the complainant called on the Jaipur helpline, he was informed that “the destination is 30 km away from the office and the same does not fall under their jurisdiction”. The forum also mentioned that the non-delivery of shoes at Jaipur forced Major Madhur to purchase another pair of shoes for the function.

The delivery couldn’t be made as the courier company did not have a branch under the jurisdiction.

DTDC was asked to pay Rs 285, which the complainant paid as the booking charges, Rs 10, 000 as compensation and Rs 2,000 as cost of litigation.

Zirakpur, June 23
The Punjab Government finally woke up from its slumber and has started channelising the Sukhna choe water to tackle floods before monsoon sets in.

Officials swung into action after the top brass of the Drainage and Irrigation Department finalised a plan to lay a 2000-foot wide channel on the Sukhna choe bed.

Following directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Drainage Department launched a major drive to widen and channalise the choe; starting from Chandigarh border till Yadvindera Bridge on the Kalka-Ambala highway in Zirakpur.

The wok was started despite objections raised by certain residents of Baltana village.

Taking note of a writ petition filed by Jaswant Singh, a nambardar of the village, the court had directed the state government to demarcate the land under the Sukhna choe, initiate action for removal of unauthorised construction raised in the choe bed and frame a scheme for widening and bricklining of the choe by constructing embankments on its either sides.

However, Jaswant Singh alleged that the Drainage Department has started channelising the choe diverting its natural course towards the village so as to benefit certain property dealers and influential persons, who had purchased land on the other sides.

Moreover, the work was started without following the court directions, alleged Jaswant Singh.

Sources in the department revealed that the work could be started with efforts of local MLA NK Sharma, who is taking interest in the project so that there should be no flooding in residential colonies downstream.

Talking to The Tribune, the legislator revealed that after consulting experts, officials of the drainage and irrigation departments have made a provision to take 9,500 cusec of water coming from Chandigarh, Panchkula and other catchments areas of the lower Shivaliks.

“The choe is being chanellised in such a way so that there are no floods in the area for the next 50 years. The first phase, starting from the Chandigarh border till Yadvindera Bridge, will be completed before the rains. In the second phase, the choe from Yadvindra Bridge till Gajipur village will be taken up,” claimed the MLA.

Panchkula, June 23
The damocles’ sword still hangs over thousands of residents of 42 villages even after the Haryana Government merged two municipal committees – Pinjore and Kalka - and a Municipal Council, Panchkula, with 42 panchayats to form the Panchkula Municipal Corporation almost four years ago.

Residents, who were facing hardships earlier as the administration used to demolish their structures, declaring them illegal and in violation of the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952, had a sigh of relief following the merger, are yet again in a fix. They were put in a quandary over the status of their property with the Town and Country Planning Department issuing a notification exempting areas within the outer boundaries of municipal towns only from the Act.

The Act remained enforced in areas where residents have constructed houses and other structures outside the boundaries of these MC towns.

As per the notification, it has exempted the Kalka town from the Act specified vide Haryana Local Government Department Committees notification issued on August 28, 1975, in the municipal area, Pinjore, notified on January 5, 1996, Panchkula municipal area notified by the government on January 25, 2001, besides the municipal areas for Panchkula town notified by the Haryana Government, Urban Local Bodies Department on October 23, 2007. Sources in the department said with the inclusion of these villages in the MC, the Act, which used to enforce there, automatically stands cancelled.

Formation of the MC was an attempt of the government to scrap the Punjab News Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952, and extend benefits to real estate firms, alleged Vijay Bansal, president, Shivalik Vikas Manch, who has been raising the issue for the past four years.

Vikas Gupta, Director, Urban Local Bodies Department said the government had amended the Act for a planned growth of the areas outside the municipal limits. This would also help in curbing haphazard and unauthorised constructions, he said. He made it clear saying that the construction that have come up in village areas before the formation of the MC were in violation of the Punjab News Capital (Periphery) Control Act and will face demolition. Constructions coming up now are in violation of the Municipal Act.

Panchkula, June 23
A park spread on an area of 5.7 acres in the Police Lines, Panchkula, was inaugurated by Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) SN Vashisht in Moginand here this morning.

The park that has been named Vatika, is not only meant for families of police officials staying at the Police Lines but also for the general public. It has come up at a cost of Rs 95 lakh.

Vashisht said a piece of land was lying vacant that had been converted into Vatika. The same is equipped with swings, varieties of high-mast lights.

Besides common trees, Ayurvedic trees have also been planted in the park.

Mohali, June 23
The new building of the zila parishad will come up at Jhujhar Nagar here.

Stating this today, Amanjot Kaur Ramoowalia, Chairperson, District Planning Committee, said the building would be constructed on one-and-a-half acres. A proposal in this regard had been sent to Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats Sikandar Singh Maluka.

She said the Punjab Government had cleared funds amounting to Rs 4 crore for the construction of the building, the work on which would start soon. The building complex would have blocks and a separate meeting hall.

At present, the zila parishad office is functioning from the District Administrative Complex in Phase I and is facing a shortage of space.

Chandigarh, June 23
A new trend has emerged in the UT Education Department where it has been noticed that teachers are taking leave from the department and going to foreign shores to settle there and still draw salaries from the Indian exchequer.

Officials from the Education Department said that in case of female teachers it was noticed that the teachers were taking maternity leave and going abroad without informing the department, violating the norms and getting their deliveries done there so that their children get the citizenship of the countries they are visiting.

According to information available, most of the teachers are going to countries including, Canada, Australia and America.

Recently, the department had issued a public notice for a teacher of Government Senior Secondary School, Behlana, Savitri Guleria, who had taken one year leave from the department on December 1, 2012, up to November 30 2013, but failed to report back on duty in her school after the leave ended. The department’s numerous efforts to contact her failed, as even after seven months, the department has no clue about her whereabouts.

The officials revealed that the department would be issuing more public notices to such educationalists who had failed to respond to repeated letters sent to them by the department.

“Instead of taking ex-India leave and informing the department, the educationalists are availing paid leaves and settling abroad,” said an official.

Sources said that while against two such cases, public notices had been issued a few more similar cases had been brought to the notice of the authorities.

Meanwhile, when the Director Public Instructions DPI (S), Kamlesh Kumar, was contacted on the matter, he said, “The department is following zero tolerance policy in all such cases. The department is going to take immediate action against such employees.”

Chandigarh, June 23
Driven by the adrenaline to create records, Panchkula-based mathematics lecturer Sandeep Tripathi has once again set a new world record of “Fastest Time to Mentally Calculate the Square Roots of Nine Random Items” at RecordSetter, New York.

The new record has taken Sandeep’s tally of records to 10, which include four world, one Asian, three national and two state-level records.

A firm believer and advocate of ancient Indian Vedic knowledge, the mathematics lecturer of Government Senior Secondary School, Raipur Rani, Panchkula, said: “Vedas and allied literature like Darshans and Upanishads have been my source of inspiration”.

He claimed that his new record had earlier been registered with the Limca Book of Records and he created it without using any assistance of pen or paper.

The 43-year-old teacher was also credited with “magical discovery on square roots” in 2003.

While elaborating his other achievements, he said last year he was nominated as an area editorial for JAMT, an e-journal on Management and Technology, accredited to the European Alliance for Innovation, Belgium.

“With this nomination, I will be analysing and assessing the latest research papers from scientists all over the world for the journal,” he said.

The young scientist created his first record in 2010 by clearing the highest number of written competitive examinations.

He said: “My family’s support and the hunger to test my potential is what keeps me going and motivated.”

Chandigarh, June 23
Allen Career Institute today celebrated the success of its students who cleared the IIT-JEE and the AIPMT-2014 with flying colours.

Naveen Maheshwari, director of the institute, was the chief guest on the occasion.

The chief guest awarded cash prizes and silver medals to the students who bagged top ranks in the JEE Advanced examination. The students who were honoured included Aryan Garg (AIR 71), Gurtej Singh Sohi (AIR 80), and Aditya (AIR 84).

Moreover, Chandigarh centre’s other toppers and all those students who cleared the AIPMT were also awarded during the function.

The organisers claimed that 124 students were awarded and honoured by the chief guest and directors of the institute.

A culture programme was also held to mark the occasion. While addressing the gathering, Naveen Maheshwari, director of the institute, said: “We are proud of our students. We promise to perform better in the coming year.”

Chandigarh, June 23
To highlight the problems faced by inmates of girls’ hostels, the National Student Union of India (NSUI) today submitted a memorandum to Panjab University Vice-Chancellor Arun Kumar Grover.

NSUI party led by its chief patron Simranjeet Kaur Gill, along with girls’ hostel residents, party president Hardeep Singh, Manoj Lubana, Panjab University Student Council President Chandan Rana and other supporters handed over the memorandum to the Vice-Chancellor, which elaborately mentioned the problems faced by residents of girls’ hostel Nos. 5 and 9.

In the memorandum, the inmates pointed out that in Hostel Number 5 washing machines are not working and need maintenance.

Due to the scarcity of water, inmates of Hostel Number 5 are not able to use water coolers in this scorching heat.

The inmates further complained that for the past few months they were making complaints about minor problems related to plumber and electricians in the complaint book but to no avail. Demand was raised for keeping the hostel gym open for longer hours.

There is no study room in Hostel Number 9. The parking facility for the students near Hostel Number 9 is not as per the demand of the students.

The students demand that the repair of roads leading to girls’ Hostel Number 9 was also raised as these were in bad condition. The NSUI also raised the demand for building a small market in south campus.

Inmates complained that there was a problem of frequent power cuts in the hostel. They also demand that the Wi-Fi facility should also be improved as it was not up to the mark due to which students face problem in browsing Internet.

Another major demand of students was the practice of charging guest entry fee from girl students for staying with their hostel friends for study purpose. NSUI workers claimed that it was discontinued in 2011, but the authorities were still charging fee in a few girls’ hostels.

Dean Student Welfare Navdeep Goyal assured the NSUI of speedy disposal of the grievances of students.

Chandigarh, June 23
The Panjab University Student Union (PUSU) today staged a protest in front of the PU Vice-Chancellor Arun Kumar Grover’s office raising some key demands of students belonging to the sports category and students of the BDS Department.

Addressing the agitating students, PUSU president Sahejpal Singh Sidhu said there was a provision for marks for classroom interaction and class attendance for departments, including UIAMS, UILS and UIET.

He said: “Sports category students in these departments suffer as they have to mandatory attend sports camps due to which their attendance falls shorts. Hence, they are awarded less marks in internal assessment”.

PUSU demanded that there should be a provision for grace marks for sports students. It also demanded compensation in fee on the pattern of other universities like GNDU and Punjabi University and reservation of seats for the sports category students from these self-financed courses in sports hostels of the university.

Submitting another memorandum to the Vice-Chancellor today, PUSU raised some of the key demands of the BDS Department.

Highlighting the plight of students, Sahejpal said the students had to shell out Rs 6800 for reappear exams even if they were appearing for one subject. They demanded that the examination fee should be reduced and charged per subject and max limit be fixed at Rs 6800 if a student had to appear for more than one subject.

PUSU campus president Naval Deep demanded that there should be reservation of seats for NRI students in hostels. In the absence of this provision, many students were made to arrange accommodation on their own. The issue of non-functioning of lift in the department was also brought to the notice of the authorities. It was demanded that issues be resolved at the earliest so that students don’t have to face hardships.

Chandigarh, June 23
The University School of Open Learning (USOL), Panjab University, today started pre-PhD course work programme in political science and economics for college teachers.

Dean College Development Council Dr Naval Kishore was the chief guest for the inaugural course work. In his inaugural address, Prof Naval Kishore emphasised on the importance of appropriate use of research methodology in social sciences.

College teachers pursuing their PhD research work would be greatly benefited as they would be able to conduct their pre-PhD course during summer vacations.

The college teachers would not have to disturb their duties at their respective working places.

The chairperson USOL and Dean Research Prof Lalit K Bansal welcomed the participants and sensitised them to the choice of research methods.

The former Dean of Faculty of Arts, a renowned academician and expert on research methodology, Prof BS Ghuaman, delivered the inaugural lecture on the formulation of the synopsis in social sciences. — TNS

Chandigarh, June 23
Panjab University would conduct a special examination from June 24 to June 27 in Chandigarh, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana and Muktsar.

The special examination would be conducted for the left out students who had applied for re-examination in lieu of missed papers due to illness, non-receipt of intimation letters/roll numbers in time, late confirmation of eligibility or other unavoidable circumstances.

Mohali, June 23
Members of the Inclusive Education Resource Teachers (IERT) Union today burnt an effigy of the Punjab Government for not paying attention to their long-pending demands.

The protesting members, who have been sitting on a ‘dharna’ for the past 27 days in front of the Director General School Education (DGSE) office at Phase VIII, here, first marched from Phase VIII to the Phase VII traffic light point. At the traffic light point, they blocked traffic for a while and burnt the effigy of the Punjab Government.

Varinder Vohra, president of the union, said earlier they were holding fast-unto-death, which was ended following the assurance of meeting our demands by the recently appointed Punjab Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema on June 17.

“We were told then that our demands will be met by June 19. Now, nobody is paying attention to our demands,” said Vohra.

The main demand of the union is to match their pay scales with other government teachers.

Mohali, June 23
The Punjab Government has earmarked Rs 150 crore for setting up residential schools in six cities. This project of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is aimed at providing free and quality education to poor but meritorious students of the state.

This was stated by Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema during his visit to the residential school here today.

Cheema said these residential schools were being set up at Amritsar, Patiala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bathinda and Mohali.

He said the first phase of the construction work had been completed. Admissions to these special schools would begin from July 1.

The minister said over 240 students had already submitted applications for admission to the residential school at Mohali. The process of recruitment of teachers for these schools was about to be completed.

He said these schools would offer special facilities to differently abled students.

He said Punjab had become the first state in the country to provide free education to poor but meritorious students. Students could avail themselves of this opportunity to fulfil their dreams by taking admission to the residential schools.

Cheema reiterated the state government’s resolve to provide every facility to poor but meritorious students to enable them to pursue higher education on a level playing field.

Mewa Singh, District Education Officer, SAS Nagar, said the building of the school had been built with an investment of Rs 28.16 crore on 7.20 acres. The premises of the school comprised four buildings, including a girls’ hostel, a boys’ hostel and a hostel for the staff, besides the main school building. The boys’ hostel and the girls’ hostel could accommodate 400 and 600 students, respectively.