Panchkula, July 15
The police investigations into the Sunday heist at Rajat Jewellers in the Mansa Devi Complex have strongly indicated towards the involvement of a notorious criminal, Paras Soni, the prime accused in the January 2011 robbery at a Tanishq showroom in Mani Majra.

The suspect is on the run for the past nine months and has been declared a proclaimed offender (PO).

While examining the CCTV footage, police officials suspected his involvement in the crime and are working on this theory. “The body language and conduct of one of the accused is similar to that of Paras. Seeing the way one of the robbers was checking jewellery sets, we suspect he has resurfaced,” said a senior police official. The Chandigarh police is also assisting the Panchkula police in the case.

The Panchkula police conducted a combing operation with the assistance of the Zirakpur police on a tip-off that the Chevrolet Cruze car, which was used by the robbers, was spotted in Dhakoli. However, the operation did not yield any result.

“We got a tip-off that the Cruze car was seen in the Dhakoli area yesterday,” said sources in the police. The Swift car of the showroom owner, Aashi Khanna, was found abandoned yesterday in Zirakpur near the Metro outlet. The police are also zeroing in on a particular age group of boys residing in the Zirakpur area. In earlier robberies in Panchkula, gangsters had taken shelter as paying guests in nearby sectors. A team of the CIA went to Rajat Jewellers again today to establish the missing links.

Paras Soni a hardened criminal

A fugitive, Paras Soni, alias Pritpal Singh, had escaped from custody while he was being taken to a Ferozpur court from a Ropar jail for a hearing in a case in December last year. He was arrested in January 2011 as the mastermind in the Tanishq dacoity case. He was arrested along with eight others for looting jewellery worth Rs 10 crore from a Tanishq showroom in Mani Majra. The UT police had cracked the case in less than five days after the dacoity.

Paras had given a tough time to the police in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, and had earlier escaped from the custody of the Rajasthan police in 2003.

He is wanted by the Punjab police in 15 criminal cases, including murders, robberies and burglaries, since 2001. The accused, a Class VI passout, has committed three murders in the state.

He escaped from the custody of the Rajasthan police in 2003 after drugging constables. He was arrested in Ghaziabad in a murder case in 2007 and was released on bail in December 2008. While the Punjab police knew him as Pritpal Singh, he disclosed his identity to the Uttar Pradesh police as Paras Soni. It is because of this that the Punjab and Rajasthan police were unable to track him since 2003.

Hailing from Jalalabad in Ferozepur, Paras committed three murders with the motive of robbery.

Sequence of CCTV grabs

Showroom owner Aashi Khanna was sitting and using his tab when four robbers wearing full-sleeved shirts, gloves till the elbow and helmets barged into the shop. Though Khanna threw a stool towards them, two of them held him and stabbed him. When one of the showroom employees, Satish, raised the alarm, a robber threw chilly powder into his eyes and tied him with another employee on the first floor of the showroom. Khanna, too, was tied. After taking away jewellery, they damaged the CCTV cameras, but despite that the footage was captured.

No auto-dialler systems

After the Tanishq heist, the police had directed jewellers to install auto-dialler alarm systems by way of which a call is made directly to the police control room. However, jewellers have failed to do so.

Most cases remain unsolved

Dec 2013: Four robbers donning police uniform looted Rs 1.68 crore and two double-barrelled guns from CMS Company’s security van at gunpoint after throwing chilly powder in the eyes of four persons on the Chanidgarh-Baddi highway
Unsolved

Oct 2013: In broad daylight, five armed robbers in a white Etios looted Rs 16 lakh from two employees of a petrol pump in Amravati Enclave, Panchkula, when they were on their way to deposit cash at a nearby branch of the State Bank of India (SBI)
Unsolved

January 2013: Ritanesh Tripath, an employee of a cash collection company, was shot at and robbed of Rs 17.58 lakh by four robbers in a white Etios
Unsolved

March 2012: Rs 40 lakh robbed by three persons by holding a baby at gunpoint after they barged into a house in Sector 7
Solved

February 2012: Two employees of a private transport company robbed of Rs6 lakh at gunpoint in Sector 14, Panchkula by miscreants who came in a white Zen
Unsolved

January 2012: An elderly couple was attacked by four miscreants in Sector 6, Panchkula, in its house. The miscreants took away jewels and cash worth Rs 6 lakh from the house.
Unsolved

Panchkula, July 15
Despite being aware of the porous border of Panchkula, which helps gangsters escape easily after committing crimes, the police have failed to beef up security at vulnerable spots. Criminals find it easy to flee to neighbouring states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, and interior parts of Haryana.

By the time, the Panchkula police reach the spot, the miscreants vanish into the neighbouring states. The criminals can easily escape to Zirakpur, Dhakoli, Barwala, Baddi and other areas using the main highway passing through Panchkula. Criminals avoid going towards Chandigarh due to a heavy deployment of the police there.

How robbers escaped in the present robbery case

They took only 13 minutes to escape from Panchkula, the time taken by the police to reach the spot.

At 3.57 pm after committing the robbery, they took the route towards Singh Dwar, the MDC T-point. From there, they went to Shalimar Chowk, Sector 4 main road, then Sector 12 and took a wrong turn to avoid the lights in Sector 20. They threw the snatched mobile phone in front of a liquor vend in Sector 20 before fleeing towards Dhakoli.

CCTV cameras being installed: DCP

Panchkula Deputy Commissioner of Police Rahul Sharma said, "We are in the process of installing CCTV cameras at entry and exit points." 

Panchkula, July 15
The lack of alertness of the Panchkula police can be gauged from the fact that a police naka was just 75 metres away from the jewellery showroom that was targeted by the robbers. Nearly 10 persons were chasing the robbers’ car and throwing stones at it, but all this failed to catch the eye of the police present there.

Even today, during a reality check done in the afternoon by Chandigarh Tribune, two policemen were seen sitting inside a tent at a naka in front of the showroom. The barricades were kept at the side of the road. There is another naka at the entry to the Mansa Devi Complex area from where the robbers fled. At this naka too, two policemen were seen lying down inside a tent pitched at the naka. “What's the use of the police if they can't check crimes committed in broad daylight,” said a resident, Rishi Pal. On the day of the incident, the policemen at the naka had claimed that they were on CM duty. Interestingly, the Chief Minister had left by 3 pm and he did not pass through this route.

gangs active in panchkula

White Zen gang
Untraced Active since: 2007
Target: People, particularly employees, travelling with huge cash
Modus operandi: Five persons, one of them turbaned, come in a white Zen car and target victims at gunpoint

Sansi gang Untraced Active since: 2002
Target: Elderly women wearing jewellery
Modus operandi: Two “well-off” women offer lift to unsuspecting victims and dupe them of their jewellery

Badri gang/highway robbers Traced Active in: 2009
some of them were convicted while Badri was killed in an encounter
Target: Banks, jewellery shops
Modus operandi: Used to wear police uniform and enter shops

White Etios gang Untraced Active since: 2011
Target: Employees in cash vans or on bikes carrying cash to banks
Modus operandi: Gang members come out, shoot the victim in case there is resistance and snatch the bag

Chandigarh, July 15
A CBI court today remanded the head warder of Model Jail, Burail, to judicial custody for 14 days. He was arrested yesterday in a bribe case. Sarwan Sharma, the warder, will now spend time with the same jail inmates whom he once commanded.

The CBI had arrested the head warder for taking a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a convict in kidnapping case. The accused, Sarwan Sharma, head warder of the jail, was demanding money from a convict to change his duty in the jail. The warder asked for the money from the convict to get a water purifier installed at his house.

The warder had asked for Rs 6,500 from the convict to get his duty changed. The inmate asked his brother, who works with the UT Administration, to get the money. The inmate then told the warder that he would not be able to pay this much amount, following which Sharma agreed for Rs 5,000.

The inmate sent a complaint through his brother to the CBI following which a trap was laid. The warder was arrested by the CBI while taking the bribe from the inmate’s brother. The money was being exchanged in front of a school in Sector 45. The warder was arrested from the spot.

Chandigarh, July 15
Setting a deterrent for repeat offenders, a local court today sentenced a habitual cycle thief to three-year imprisonment. The accused has been arrested six times in the past for various thefts in the city and has been convicted too.

The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Shalini Nagpal sentenced Ranjit Singh to three years in jail and also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on him.

This is for the first time that an accused has got a severe punishment in a case under Sections 379, 411 and 413 of the IPC.

The case was registered in April this year when the convict, Ranjt Singh, who hails from Sultanpur district in UP, was caught while lifting a cycle of Om Parkash from the parking at the district courts in Sector 43.

Om Parkash, a resident of Nayagaon, saw the accused fleeing with his cycle when he rushed and caught him and handed him over to the police.

At the time of filing of chargesheet in the case, the police added Section 413 (habitually dealing in stolen property), which made it a sessions trial.

Public prosecutor Manu Kakkar said the punishment would go a long way in acting as a deterrent for habitual offenders. “The accused has been sentenced six times in the past in similar theft cases, but got away with minor punishment lasting some months only. Computerisation of records of criminals initiated by the district courts proved handy and we then added Section 413 of the IPC in the chargesheet, making him liable for severe punishment,” he said.

Panchkula, July 15
An eight-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 14-year-old boy on the pretext of offering "prashad" behind the Patiala mandir at the Mansa Devi shrine complex last evening. The girl has been admitted to the General Hospital, Sector 6, here. Her condition is stated to be critical. The youth has been taken into custody by the police.

The victim, a resident of Gandhi Colony, was coming home from the temple with a four-year-old girl, who stays in her neighbourhood, when the youth approached her. The victim was walking behind her friend when she was called out. “He said he was organising a ceremony for 'kanjaks' behind the temple. The girl got lured because of the prashad offer and went with him,” said a police official. The youth then gagged the victim and committed the crime.

The accused is a resident of Bhainsa Tibba.

What is coronary angiography

It is a non-invasive technique used to check blockage (lack of blood flow) in arteries of the heart and determine if the patient needs an open heart surgery.

Patients to benefit

In the absence of the facility at the GMCH, patients had to get the test done from private labs and shell out Rs 12,000. Now, they will have to pay Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,000 (depending on complexity) for the service in the GMCH.

The way referral will work

A patient complaining of chest pain or showing symptoms of an heart ailment is first examined at the general medicine OPD and then sent for coronary angiography. Later, the patient is referred to the PGIMER in case of blockage in arteries. Earlier, the patient underwent the test in a private lab and visited the GMCH again, spending a week in the exercise before finding relief.

Mohali, July 15
A former Brigadier in the Indian Army, who is settled in Canada now, has accused the Mohali police of inaction in a cheating case involving his property worth crores. The NRI has demanded that the case be given to the CBI.

Brigadier Nawab Singh Heer (retd) alleged that the police was not arresting five persons, who had tried to sell his one kanal plot in Sector 71 by preparing fake documents and opening a bank account on their (fake documents) basis.

“The accused have a support of a local woman SAD leader, who had called up the police when they had detained the accused early this month. Following the call, the police had let off the accused,” alleged the NRI.

He claimed that a case in this connection was registered at the Phase VIII police station only when he had contacted the Mohali SSP.

Heer alleged that Rajbir Singh, Karan Singh Ghumman, Mahinder Singh, Gurdip Singh Randhawa and Khushi Sharma had tried to sell his plot. “After preparing fake documents, including driving licence and voter ID card, the accused first opened a bank account in a nationalised bank at Phase X. Then, they tried to sell my plot. One of the accused, Gurdip Singh, even took Rs 25 lakh as advance money,” alleged Heer, adding that his friend, Jagdeep, a local resident, had informed him about the development on the phone on July 5 and he rushed to India on July 9.

The miffed NRI also termed the state government claims of protecting the rights and property of NRIs mere eyewash.

The area DSP, Navreet Singh Virk, said the police were investigating the case. “The accused will be nabbed after verification of all the facts in the case,” he said. 

Chandigarh, July 15
Despite the Municipal Corporation’s (MC) claim of tightening noose around the paid parking contractors hardly any norm seems to be implemented by the contractors. Absence of parking attendants to ensure systematic parking, issuing parking tickets manually instead of e-ticketing machines and CCTV cameras installed at the entry point can be found missing from the parking lots.

While the terms and conditions set by the Municipal Corporation for parking contractors clearly require the presence of an attendant at every 50 metres, no parking attendant was found inside the parking lot to ensure systematic parking on visiting the parking lots in Sectors 8, 9, 17, 22 and 34. Commuters themselves have to locate a suitable place to park their vehicles, which leads to inconvenience to them.

While two parking lots in Sector 17 have CCTV cameras installed, the other parking lots don’t have CCTV cameras, which are compulsory as per the norms.

Every parking lot needs to have a sealed complaint box for the commuters to air their grievances against the contractor or attendants, which can then be addressed by the MC. However, hardly any complaint box can be found at the parking lots.

Various parking lots don’t even have parking rates displayed at the entry of the parking lots,

The timing for paid parking is between 8 am and 12 pm. The parking attendants should be available in the area during this time. They, however, are hardly available after 10 pm after following which the threat of vehicles being stolen from the parking lots becomes high.

Interestingly, at present, he MC has no other option then to penalise the parking contractors for violations.

Chandigarh, July 15
Following requent complaints of muddy water in different sectors, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has decided to clean water pipelines in Sector 16, 35 and 19 to ensure that residents don’t get muddy water in their taps. The issue muddy water in taps was discussed at the meeting of the Water Supply and Sewerage Disposal Committee.

Nominated Councillor DS Sandhu, who is the chairman of the committee, said initially flushing of pipes with the water would be done in three sectors and if the results were satisfactory then it would also be done in other sectors as well that have similar complaints. “Residents of these sectors face a lot of problem so we have decided to initiate the plan in these three sectors as a pilot project”, Sandhu added.

Superintending Engineer (SE) Public Health RC Diwan said that each sector has flushing sluice valves which are connected to road gullies. “The flushing valves are designed for cleaning of the water pipes”, the SE said.

Diwan further added during the hours when the water is not being supplied the pipelines are flushed with the water and the water then is drained into the road gullies. “All the other valves from which the water is supplied will be closed and only the flushing valve will be opened to drain the water out after cleaning the pipelines. If there is mud or anything else, it will be drained out”, Diwan added.

Baljinder Singh Bittu, chairman, Federation of Sectors Welfare Association Chandigarh, (FOSWAC) said t the problem of muddy water was witnessed in many parts of the city so the pipes needed to be cleaned in all the sectors. “The supply of muddy water is a perennial problem which needs to be looked into”, he stated. 

Chandigarh, July 15
Due to limited hostel facilities in the undergraduate private and government colleges in the city, students have no other option but to look for paying guest (PG) accommodations that charge hefty rent with little facilities.

During a visit to sectors which are near prominent colleges, including Sectors 15, 22 and 38, the room sharing of two costs around Rs 3,500 to 5,500 per month depending on the facilities provided in the room, while in posh sectors including Sectors 8, 10 and 11 it is about Rs 10,000 onwards. But none of the PGs has any special arrangement for the security of the students residing in it.

In prominent colleges, the charges of the hostel room vary from about Rs 5,000 to 6,000 per month with all facilities, including food, wi-fi, parking and all other basic facilities. There are certain norms which the students have to follow while residing in these hostels.

In the popular private colleges, the applications for the hostels accommodation were four times more than the seats available in the college. In government colleges, like the Postgraduate College for Men in Sector 11, the facility to accommodate the students is 570 but the authorities have received more than double applications.

In SD college, Sector 32, there are two hostels — one each for boys and girls— in which 350 students can be accommodated in each hostel, but the applications received for them are more than 1,000. Similar is the case of MCM DAV, Sector 36, where the hostel capacity is 960 and the applications received are of 2,000 students.

PU student Seeya who has shifted to a rented accommodation said there was no doubt that the kind of facilities and security a student had in a hostel was of no match with those staying in PG accommodations. Another student, Jasdeep, questioned as to why the Administration was not coming up with more hostels in the city when it was aware that the student coming to the city for studies needed accommodation.

SD College principal Bhushan K Sharma said that the college had limited accommodation and every year the number of applicants for the hostel accommodation was increasing. He said that he was going to approach the Director, Higher Education, UT, that if there was any vacant seat in the Government College hostel then their students should be given preference there. 

Owners asked to register their paying guests Exercising power under Section 144 of the CrPc, Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Shayin has directed property owners providing PG accommodations to furnish the details of occupants to the police. He said it had come to notice that a number of persons were living in the city as paying guests and not strictly as tenants. These persons were students pursuing various courses. 

Chandigarh, July 15
High drama was witnessed in Coach No. 3 of evening Shatabdi plying from New Delhi to Chandigarh when insects were found in the food served to one of the passengers. An insect was found in the food of Ganga Parsad, one of the passengers, aboard the train. He raised an alarm and lodged a complaint against the authorities. Soon other passengers too found insects in their food and protested inside the coach.

Dharamveer, one of the passengers, who travelled in the morning Shatabdi, complained that he had also found insect in the coconut sauce serve to him with the south Indian thaali in the morning. On the complaint of the passengers, when the train halted at Ambala station, senior officials of the Railways came to inspect and seal the sample of food served to the passengers to take further action.

Chandigarh, July 15
The enforcement wing of the Municipal Corporation (MC) today carried out an anti-encroachment drive and issued 105 challans to violators.

MC Inspector (enforcement) Sunil Dutt said that during the afternoon, an intensive drive was carried out at Mani Majra and 75 challans were issued. “Goods displayed in the market at Mani Majra were impounded. Vehicles were also impounded from the motor market”, he stated. In the evening, the enforcement team visited Shastri Market in Sector 22 and issued 30 challans to the violators. Clothes displayed outside the shops were also confiscated. — TNS

Chandigarh, July 15
The mobile van service for selling onions and potatoes at reasonable prices, which was started by the UT Administration last week, will be available in newer areas on Wednesday.

Both onion and potatoes will be sold at Rs 23 per kg and each buyer will be allowed to purchase a maximum quantity of 2 Kg per vegetable a day.

Officials in the UT Department of Food and Supplies said the focus was on poor population in the city as they were worst affected with the abrupt hike in the prices of vegetables.

The two vans were earlier stationed in and around Sector 31 and Ram Darbar colony. These will focus on different parts tomorrow. (see box)

Every day a new route plan of these mobile vans is worked out covering sectors/colonies/villages of different parts of Chandigarh.

Chandigarh, July 15
Over 150 members of the Himachal Pradesh Pensioners’ Association attended a health talk on ‘Latest treatment option for prostate’.

The talk, which was organised at Shri Jainendra Gurukul, Sector 1, Panchkula, and delivered by Dr AS Bawa, Director (urology), Fortis Hospital, Mohali, saw the members of the association clear their myths about prostate surgery, and also learn about treatment options like Holmium Laser.

“Prostate is a chest nut size gland present in the male at the bladder outlet. The normal weight of the gland is 20 gm. It starts enlarging by the age of 35 years,” said Dr Bawa.

“The enlargement is a common problem of aging male. Fifty per cent of all men have an enlarged gland by the age of 60 years and 80 per cent of all males have the same by 80 years,” Dr Bawa added.

Mohali, July 15
Chairman of the Punjab Minorities Commission Munawar Masih today said the graveyard facility would be provided to the Christian and Muslim communities on two acres in Balongi village near here.

Speaking to mediapersons here, the chairman said Rs 2 crore had been earmarked for the Balongi graveyards. Work on the project would start soon as tenders in this regard had already been cleared. He said a park on an acre would also be developed as part of the project. Masih said to overcome the problem of land for graveyards, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had set aside Rs 15 crore in the state Budget. — OC

Chandigarh, July 15
Even as the strength of girls on the Panjab University campus is around 70 per cent, they have no representation in the ABVP Panjab University election panel.

It seems the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) — the student party of the BJP — did not follow their Prime Minister Narinder Modi’s policy of giving due representation to girls while selecting their election panel today.

Barring Ankita — who will be the in charge of the girl wing — no prominent post has been given to any girl party worker. All the panels will be headed by male candidates only.

ABVP has announced Sukhjot Singh Sidhu, a student of MSc Physics as its President; Abhishek Luthra, student of UIET, has been nominated as the South Campus President; Sahil, student of Law Department, has been chosen as the Secretary; and the two Vice Presidents are Sukhdev Singh and Rahul Thakur.

ABVP senior leader Dinesh Chauhan said they had appointed a girl candidate who will manage girl students on the campus.

“Students having experience on the campus have been selected in the panel for the elections,” he added.

Sukhjot Singh, new president of ABVP, said, “Like Narendra Modi, who sweeped the Lok Sabha elections, this year, the ABVP will also emerge victorious in the student council elections.”

Later, a car rally was taken out by the ABVP party workers to promote the student panel on the campus.

the contenders

* President: Sukhjot Singh Sidhu

* South campus president: Abhishek Luthra

* Vice Presidents: Sukhdev Singh and Rahul Thakur

* Secretary: Sahil

police deployed to thwart violence

To avoid any untoward incident, special police force along with adequate PU security staff was deployed at the Student Centre, where the Students Organization of Panjab University (SOPU), also announced their state president on Tuesday.

vehicles checked

As a precautionary measure, the security personnel deployed at the gates of the university, checked vehicles bearing sticker of any student party on their vehicles.

Chandigarh, July 15
It seems the Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU), has ‘ignored’ the notorious background of Lawrence Bishnoi — currently in Ropar jail following a complaint of a clash — as the party announced him as their state president for the Panjab University elections.

Bishnoi’s name was announced by the student leaders of SOPU on the PU campus today. However, Bishnoi was not present on the occasion.

While addressing a gathering, a party leader, said, “He is one of the founder members of the party and his contribution in the coming election will be vital.”

Meanwhile, SOPU’s announcement was no surprise package for PU’s faculty.

They claimed that it was a usual practice with SOPU to support “candidates with controversial backgrounds” and appoint them on prominent posts of the party.

The name of SOPU loyalist Bishnoi has frequently figured on the list of Chandigarh Police from 2009 to 2012.

notorious background

* 2011 The police booked SOPU member Lawrence Bishnoi and others in a case of rioting and criminal intimidation for attacking leaders of the Haryana Student Association.

* UT police prepared a special report of notorious students and Bishnoi was arrested as he was among the most notorious student representative on the campus.

* 2012 DAV College denied admission to Bishnoi as a number of criminal cases were registered against him of violence.

* The police registered an attempt-to-murder case against more than 20 persons, seven of whom were identified in the FIR, in which Bishnoi was an accused.

* 2014 Mohali police arrested Bishnoi in an attempt to murder case.

Chandigarh, July 15
The Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare today announced that the number of seats in the MBBS course at the GMCH-32 will be increased from 50 to 100. The ministry uploaded the information on its website.

The counselling for additional 50 seats in the MBBS course at GMCH-32 has been re-scheduled for July 23.

Earlier, the Medical Council of India (MCI), had rejected the institution’s request for increasing the seats, pointing out various shortcomings.

On June 23, during the counselling for the first 50 seats at the institute, scores of students were left in the lurch when the proposal for increasing the MBBS seats from 50 to 100 was rejected by the MCI. However, the decision was revoked as the institution submitted a compliance report to meet the shortcomings.

Chandigarh, July 15
The interview for the post of Registrar, Panjab University, concluded today. On the other hand, rumours of the selected candidate were rife on the campus.

Sources in the university said the names of two candidates, UBS professor Karamjeet Singh and Computer Centre director K Tankeshwar, are doing the rounds.

The panelists have sealed the name of the selected registrar candidate, which will be tabled in the next Syndicate meeting on August 17.

As many as 25 candidates appeared for the interview for the post of the registrar, which is lying vacant since January 2014. — TNS

Mohali, July 15
Admissions to various courses at the Government College here are being carried out on a first-come-first-served basis. Students are being admitted to BCom classes only on the basis of merit.

Most of the admission process for the BCom classes is almost complete with the cut-off percentage being 74. The highest percentage for BCom admission was 90.

Till today, 112 students have been admitted to BCom (part I), 120 to part II and 124 to part III. It has been decided that 15 per cent seats reserved for various categories will now be de-reserved to complete the admission process.

As many as 320 students have so far taken admission to BA (part I) against the sanctioned strength of 600. As the last day of admissions is over, students will now have to pay late fee.

Admissions to the BSc (medical and non-medical), computer science and biotech classes are, however, under way at the institution.

Students seeking admission to MA (fine arts) are facing problems as their admission fee is not being accepted.

Sadhna Sangar, head, Department of Fine Arts, said, “The university sanctioned 15 seats for the postgraduation course, but the government wanted the college authorities to increase the number of seats to 20. We’ve so far got 15 application forms, but the employee concerned was not accepting the fee because 20 had not come forward for admission.”

course scenario

Till Tuesday, 112 students have been admitted to BCom (part I), 120 to part II and 124 to part III. It has been decided that 15 per cent seats reserved for various categories will now be de-reserved to complete the admission process.

Chandigarh, July 15
The Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW), general body meeting today held a discussion on the two-year-old budget report as the authorities were not ready with the latest financial report.

Along with the old budget report of 2012-13, the Social Welfare Department also tabled a supplementary agenda of the rough budget estimate of the past two years on the excuse that “it was not a formal budget copy as it had not been audited yet by the authorities concerned.”

The budget estimates of 2012-13 and the expenditure and revenue of 2011-12 was the agenda tabled in meeting. The members were surprised to know that around Rs 60,000 was spent annually on the working women hostel, Sector 24, which had been shut for the past five years.

Mohali, July 15
Five students — who scored more than 90 per cent marks in Class X and XII –- will get 100 per cent scholarship under the Dr Kiran Bedi Scholarship Scheme. Similarly, the fees of 20 students with more than 75 per cent marks will also be waived off under the scheme.

This was announced by Dr Anshu Kataria, chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges, here today.

”We are organizing ‘Aryans Admission-cum-Scholarship Counselling’ for the students on July 16 on our campus, located on the Chandigarh-Patiala highway, near Chandigarh.

Interested students can get registered on the toll-free helpline 1800-30000-388 or on www.aryans.edu.in”, he said.

French Day

Chandigarh: To celebrate French Day, students of Classes II-X of The British School participated in an intra-class French group song competition today. Songs based on counting, La Famille Luberu, Le Petite Train and Mademoiselle Voulez Vous were sung.

Proclamation Day

Proclamation Day was celebrated at St John’s High School, Sector 26. All academic achievers from Classes VI-XII were recognised for their performance in the last academic session.

Talent search test

A Talent Search Test (TST), was organised at Government Model High School, Sector 34, for the students of Classes VI-X. About 300 students appeared in the one-hour test.

Tree plantation

The NSS volunteers of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19, organised a tree plantation drive “Nani Chaun” plantation week along with CII.

Appreciation letters

Teachers of Classes X and XII, AKSIPS-41, received appreciation letters from HRD minister Simriti Zubin Irani who sent them personally signed letters for achieving results in the board exam.

Ice-cream Day

Mohali: Shemrock Senior Secondary School, Sector 69, celebrated Ice Cream Day by gorging on various flavours of ice cream.

Project sent to NASA

Mohali’s Navsift Kaur with five others have submitted a project to NASA. They submitted “SPACEWALK 1” at the ‘NASA Space Settlement Design Contest 2014’. The team worked under the guidance of a Mohali-based company ‘Spacewalk Edutainment’. The team comprised Navsift Kaur from Mohali, Arshdeep Singh and Loveleen Kaur from Amritsar, Ishtpreet Singh from Kurali and Nipun Sharma from Nangal. Mentors Mukul Sharma and JS Arneja lauded the students. — TNS