Chandigarh, July 28
Tempers ran high during the General House meeting of the Municipal Corporation (MC) over Additional Commissioner Sunil Bhatia’s style of functioning. The additional commissioner was holding the meeting on behalf of the commissioner, who had gone for some work.

The controversy started when councillors were discussing the agenda item for hiring of ex-servicemen as firemen and drivers from the Punjab Ex-Servicemen Corporation (PESCO) on a contract basis and the additional commissioner said the agenda was withdrawn.

BJP councillors had demanded that youths be preferred for the job.

BJP Councillor Arun Sood said that the unemployed youths should be considered for the job of fireman and drivers.

Reacting to the demand raised by the BJP councillor, the additional commissioner said that the youths would have to be given training first before recruiting them as fire-fighters.

Deputy Mayor and BJP Councillor Davesh Moudgil objected to the justification given by the additional commissioner and said that even ex-servicemen would have to undergo the training if they had to be recruited as a firefighter.

On seeing that the councillors were opposing the agenda, the additional commissioner said that the agenda was withdrawn.

The word ‘withdrawn’ led to resentment among the councillors who said the additional cmmissioner had no power to withdraw the agenda and this was an insult to the councillors.

The deputy mayor said that the additional commissioner could only tell the Mayor to withdraw the agenda and it was the House which would decide whether to withdraw the agenda or not. “An officer should not have an attitude like this. The additional commissioner should change the way he speaks in the House”, the deputy mayor said during the meeting.

Chandigarh, July 28
The long-pending demand of insurance cover for firemen, who die during rescue operations, was finally approved at the Municipal Corporation (MC), General House meeting today.

The House approved an insurance cover of Rs 20 lakh for its firemen in case of death during rescuing operations and Rs 10 lakh in case of 75 per cent disability, Rs 10 lakh in case of 75 per cent disability, Rs 7.5 lakh in case of 50 to 70 per cent disability and Rs 5 lakh in case of 20 to 50 per cent disability.

Additional Commissioner Sunil Bhatia, who was chairing the meeting in the absence of the Commissioner, said that the disability should be permanent.

The agenda mentions that the insurance cover will be provided to the operational staff of the fire and emergency services, including any outstation official, who come to aid MC officials while carrying out any operational duty of the fire and emergency services.

BJP councillor Arun Sood, who is also the Leader of Opposition, said that before allotting the tender to an insurance company it should be clear as to what all was included under the emergency services. “Apart from fire, the fire-fighters take part in different kinds of rescue operations so that categories should be made clear to the insurance company”, Sood stated.

Congress councillor Subhash Chawla during the discussion said that it should be made clear whether the family or the nominee of fireman would get the insurance amount in case of death.

In a bid to ensure that the decision to give insurance cover does not get delayed, BJP councillor Rajesh Gupta demanded that the tenders be invited at the earliest.

Chandigarh, July 28
The General House of the Municipal Corporation (MC) today decided to offer job on compassionate ground to a family member of the three firemen who lost their lives during rescuing operations.

Two firemen had lost their lives while during the rescuing operation at the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) in Sector 17 on June 8. While Amandeep Singh was of the UT Fire and Emergency Services Department, Ravinder Kumar Sharma was a leading fireman with the Indian Air Force (IAF), who had come along with other IAF team members, to assist the Fire Department in carrying out the operation at the NIELIT building which collapsed.

The House also approved the case of fireman Amarjeet Singh Mavi, which was pending for the last six years.

Interestingly, Amarjeet’s son has been waiting to get a job for the last six years.

The House announced Rs 20 lakh relief for Amandeep Singh’s family.

Chandigarh, July 28
The Municipal Corporation (MC), Chandigarh, which is known for its futile study tours has planned another tour. This time, they will be going to Dharwad district in Karnataka to study water auditing.

The idea of the study tour was mooted while discussing the agenda proposed by SAD councillor Harjinder Kaur. She said there should be water auditing to avoid wastage of water so that there was no shortage and problem of low-water pressure during summers.

While MC officials claimed that a study on water auditing was not done across the country, nominated councillor Surinder Bahga came up with few examples, including that of Dharwad district, where the MC saved water through water auditing.

“Out of 87 million gallon per day (MGD) water available with Chandigarh, almost 25 per cent of water is wasted due to leakages while almost 5 % water is non-revenue water which is supplied to public through stand posts”, said Bahga.

Congress councillor Subhash Chawla said that there was around one lakh colony residents who were getting unmetered water and around 5,000 EWS houses in Chandigarh which were unmetered and paid flat rates for using it. “To save water, the MC should install meter to check non-revenue water”, Chawla stated.

Following the discussion and need for water auditing raised by the councillors, additional Commissioner Sunil Bhatia then decided that a committee be constituted to study water auditing at Dharwad.

Congress councillor Pardeep Chhabra after the House meeting said that before going on the tour, the Mayor, the MC Commissioner and engineers should telephonically speak to their counterparts there and discuss the issue and if required, then a delegation should visit Dharwad.

Admn had turned down proposals in 2006, 2008
In 2006, many councillors had met former UT Adviser Pardeep Mehra and had submitted a memorandum, seeking a ban on study tours on account of wastage of money, following which the Administration had not given consent to such tours. In 2008, the UT Administration had turned down a proposal for a study tour on the ground that no output or fruitful results had come out from the previous tours, so there was no need to send councillors on such tours.

Chandigarh, July 28
The June 8 fire incident at the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) building in Sector 17 has affected the electricity bill distribution system of the UT Electricity Department.

Since the data of the Electricity Department was destroyed in the fire, the department is issuing average bills to consumers. Apart from these bills, the residents are also receiving wrong bills and some of them have not even received their bills yet.

For every two months, the NIELIT generates bills for the Electricity Department, but since the records have been destroyed, the entire system has collapsed.

Out of around 2 lakh power consumers, the department has sent correct bills to only 50,000 consumers.

Col. Pritam Bhullar (retd.), a resident of Sector 2, said on June 17, he received an electricity bill of Rs 9,799 for a period from March 3 to June 16 (meter reading: 27670 to 29661). But after a few days, he received another electricity bill on June 27 of Rs 1,087 for a period from March 3 to May 3 (meter reading: 27670 to 28003), he said.

Bhullar asked, “When I have paid the electricity bill for the same period and the same electricity reading, then why should the department issue me another bill?

Rajendra Pandey, a resident of Sector 44, has a different story to tell. He is yet to receive his electricity bill. His last received the bill in April. He said, “It has been three months now, and I have not yet received my power bill.”

BS Rawat of Sector 47 said this time he had received an average electricity bill of Rs 688 whereas, normally during summers his power bill ranged between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000.

“Now I am worried about my next electricity bill because the department will include the charges in the next bill,” he said.

When contacted, UT Superintending Engineer MP Singh said that of the four groups of 50,000 consumers each, records of only one group was readily available with them.

Therefore, they issued correct bills to around 50,000 consumers, he added.

For the remaining consumers, they were issuing average bills, which would be adjusted in the next bill, when their data would be complete, the superintending engineer said.

“Domestic consumers are divided into four groups of 50,000 each and we issue bills in six cycles a year”, he said.

Chandigarh, July 28
The UT Administration has issued directions to the converted plot owners in the Industrial Area Phases I and II, to complete construction on the vacant plots or be ready to face action.

A total of 125 industrialists had opted for the conversion scheme but till date, only 50 have initiated construction on their plots. The decision was taken in a recent meeting between the senior officials of the UT Administration.

Similar directions were issued last year as well, but when the affected plot owners met senior UT officials, the Administration had deferred their action. But, once again, the Administration has started the move now.

Chander Verma, Chairman of the Converted Plot Owners Association, said, “Industrialists who had opted for the conversion scheme are regularly paying their instalments to the Administration. As long as industrialists don’t default on this, the Administration should not harass them.”

“The Administration should understand the difficulties faced by converted plot owners and should give them more time to complete the construction,” he suggested.

A senior official of the UT Administration said, “The plot owners have to complete their construction within the stipulated time frame. If they don’t do so, the Administration can even cancel their conversion.”

“Owners have to start construction as per the building plan passed by the UT Estate office, else the Administration can cancel their conversion,” he said.

Converted plot owners maintained that in 2005, both the UT Estate Office and Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB), had come out with different communications on the “conversion policy”, facilitating industrialists to convert industrial plots into commercial ventures.

The letters for the change of land use were handed over to some plot owners by the CHB, while the Estate Office handed them to the remaining ones.

The letters issued by the Estate Office carried a stipulation that the project be completed within three years of the issuance of letter. However, people who received their letters from the CHB had no mention of the time frame. They maintained that more time should be given to the plot owners.

Chandigarh, July 28
Skeletons are tumbling out of the cupboard of the Estate Office.

The UT Estate Officer (EO), and Assistant Estate Officer (AEO), while trying to streamline the functioning of the Estate Office, particularly the Building Branch, have come across cases wherein the misuse fee or compounding fee for different violations had been imposed on the basis of wrong calculation.

UT Estate Officer, Mohammed Shayin, said it had come to light in some cases that the compounding fee for the sanctionable violation had been charged on the basis of lesser area than the actual area.

“I have examined different building plans and found the same problem. After taking a stern view, the fee charged for the compoundable offence has gone up,” he said.

The SDO (Building), is being asked to examine in detail the area of compoundable offence and bring it on record. In some cases, it was less that the actual amount or had been calculated in excess.

Citing a case, an official said despite the compounding fee for changes in the building plan having been paid, the penalty on the allottee increased manifold as the record was not set right.

In another case, the penalty for building violation had been calculated for a larger area than the actual area of violation.

Assistant Estate Officer, Balbir Singh Dhol, said, “To ensure that the factual reporting of the building violation takes place, the field staff has been asked to adopt a standard procedure to calculate the area under the violation of any nature.”

In some cases, the EO imposed penalty of Rs 500 on the allottee for not getting the occupation certificate and many such cases were going on in the quasi-judicial court of the UT official, designated to hear cases of violations.

Chandigarh, July 28
A week after relieving the Chairman of the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB), Satya Gopal, the UT Administration has decided to relieve another UT-cadre officer, Tanvi Garg, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), by the end of this month.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has also ordered the transfer of ADC Tanvi Garg, a 2009-batch AGMUT-cadre officer to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The Adviser to the UT Administrator, KK Sharma, said until the new incumbent joins, the charge would be given to some official. The decision to post the official in place of Tanvi Garg would be taken in a day or two, said the Adviser.

Besides, the above mentioned officials, the MHA has also ordered the transfer of Additional Secretary (Home), Prerna Puri, a 2006-batch AGMUT-cadre officer and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Chandigarh Housing Board, Rodney L Ralte, a 2002-batch AGMUT-cadre officer, to Mizoram.

The MHA had cleared the names of three AGMUT-cadre officers — Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, a 1990-batch officer and currently posted as the Administrator of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli; Dr SB Deepak Kumar, 2005-batch officer and currently posted as the District Collector in Puducherry and NK Sharma, a 2002-batch officer, for the Chandigarh Administration.

Chandigarh, July 28
To strengthen the security apparatus in view of Independence Day, the Operation Cell of the Chandigarh Police today conducted search operations in different parts of the city.

The search operations commenced at 2.30 PM and continued till 7 PM.

“Inputs are being received on regular intervals from the Intelligence Department and sister agencies regarding threats from various terrorist groups to VIPs/VVIPs, vital installations, following which such search operations are conducted,” said sources.

The search drive, supervised by DSP Sabir Singh, was aimed at keeping a watch over the movements of criminals in the city and to alert the general public regarding any suspicious items.

The Operation Cell staff conducted the checking/searches of different places such as the Inter-State Bus Terminus of Sectors 17 and 43, railway station, airport and busy markets to avoid any untoward incident.

The dog squad along with police personnel of the commando staff conducted the operation.

The police also frisked the luggage of travellers at the ISBT. The bus drivers and conductors were asked to keep a check on people travelling in buses on various routes.

Chandigarh, July 28
The City Beautiful is all geared up to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan with charity and festivity.

While elaborating the significance of the festival, Maluvi Ghulam Navi, said, “The day is marked after a month-long period of fasting ‘Ramadan’, during which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset daily and abstain from a number of activities.” He further added, “Ramadan is known as the month of blessing, which is marked by prayer, fasting and charity. It focuses on self-sacrifice and devotion to Allah.”

As per tradition, on Eid-ul-Fitr, Muslims attend mosque for the Eid prayer, followed by a sermon and then a supplication to God for forgiveness.

Also, to mark the festival, people do charity and help the needy (zakat).

“Eid gifts, known as Eidi, are given to children and immediate relatives on this occasion,” added Ghulam Navi.

“Eid, means ‘recurring happiness’ and Fitr means ‘breaking of the fast’, hence Eid-ul-Fitr, can be called as the festival of breaking of the fast,” he said.

Nakhvi Sawari, a devotee, said, “During Eid-ul-Fitr, people adorn new clothes, decorate their homes with lights, give treats to children, cook meethi seviyan and do charity work.

Chandigarh, July 28
Now, patients at the New OPD in the PGIMER here can access their biochemistry laboratory test reports online.

The PGIMER today introduced the online facility under the Hospital Information System (HIS). The PGI authorities have made a provision of viewing the biochemistry lab investigation reports of the New OPD patients on the web portal, www.pgimer.edu.in.

It is a secured facility as one-time password (OTP) is generated for the registered mobile number of a patient either by entering the number of the payment receipt or the mobile number.

The mobile number is entered in the centralised computer system at the time of the registration of patient. Those who have not provided their mobile number at the time of registration or want to the change the registered mobile number can contact the Central Registration Department (CRD) of the institute.

With the launch of the facility, the test reports will be available on the PGIMER web portal for 15 days.

The facility will help patients get rid of the botheration to obtain paper reports from the biochemistry laboratory.

Panchkula, July 28
The Class V student, Kuldeep, who went missing after he was suspended by the school authorities on July 24, was traced by the police here today.

Two days ago, he was seen asking for work at an eatery in Sector 12.

Rakesh Aggarwal, general secretary of the Residents Welfare Association, Sector 12, Panchkula, “On Friday, I got a call from an eatery owner that a child was asking for work. I reached there and as it had grown dark, we spoke to the child officer and sent the boy to Bal Niketan in Sector 2.”

He said the child told him that he had come from Sonepat and was sleeping at different places.

The child informed that his father had died and his friend’s father brought him here but he got lost and doesn’t know where they are, added Aggarwal.

Rakesh identified the boy as Kuldeep on seeing his picture in the media. Later, he informed the police.

“The child has been located. He is at Bal Niketan,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Rahul Sharma.

Meanwhile the police also questioned the school authorities as to how did they suspend the child without giving a warning, which led to the child running away from home.

The school principal was also called to the police post Sector 10 for questioning. He told the police that students of Class IV had given the paper to the teacher on which the name of the child was also written.

He said the child confessed to the mischief in front of his paternal aunt.

The police said they would be checking footage of the CCTV cameras installed in the school to know what happened on July 24.

In the evening, a juvenile officer went to Bal Niketan today and recorded the victim’s statement.

On Thursday, Kuldeep, a resident of Sector 11, went missing after he was placed under suspension for a month by his school.

Kuldeep’s father had died while his mother left him and he was staying with his paternal uncle and aunt.

Mohali, July 28
The members of ETT Teachers Union, Punjab, and Contract Employees Association of Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation, burnt effigies of the state government in different parts of the town.

The ETT teachers staged their protest in front of office of Punjab Director General School Education (DGSE) at Phase 8 while the employees of water supply department staged dharna at Phase 2, here today.

“We have been sitting on dharna and our president JS Sidhu is on fast unto death from July 20 but the state government is ‘deaf and dumb’ and not interested in listening to our grievances,” said the ETT teachers.

The members of contract employees association, who are demanding regularisation of the employees’ services and pay scale on the pattern of equal pay-equal work, said that the protest would be intensified by July 30, if their demands were not met. 

Zirakpur, July 28
The Panchklula district administration and Dera Bassi sub-divisional authorities will launch a joint operation to remove the encroachment on a ‘choe’ and its demarcation on the inter-state border in Baltana, shortly.

DC Panchkula has also directed the officers to start the work of demarcation of the ‘nullha’ immediately so that next course of action could be taken.

Local MLA took up the common issues and problems of residents of different residential colonies located in villages on the inter-state border with Deputy Commissioner (DC), Panchkula, today.

Dera Bassi MLA NK Sharma today met with Dr SS Phulia, DC, Panchkula, and discussed the issues including problem caused by a seasonal rivulet flowing at the inter-state border in Baltana. Encroachments on the rivulet and demarcation of the disputed land on the border of both the states were the main concern of the MLA.

In the meeting, it was decided to constitute a coordination committee with mutual understanding, in which SDM, Dera Bassi Sanjeev Kumar and SDM, Panckula Hema Sharma and Tehsildar of both cities and the executive officer, Zirakpur Municipal Corporations have been included.

Sharma and Dr Phulia also decided that demarcation of a ‘nullha’ will be done within one week and subsequently it would be cemented to retain walls.

Sharma also claimed that the ‘nullha’ floods residential colonies in Punjab territory during rains and bring misery to the people living in the border areas. 

Mohali, July 28
To check efficiency of the staff and incidents of public harassment, if any, the Mohali Deputy Commissioner Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu conducted surprise checks at the District Transport Office and Sub-Registrar Office, today morning.

DC interacted with several persons, who came to offices for official works, and asked them if they were satisfied with the dealing by the officials or have any complaint or advice in this connection.

Sidhu said public gave some suggestions but more or less most of the them were satisfied. — TNS 

Panchkula, July 28
With the power consumption in Panchkula district having increased by 15,000 kilowatts this year, the power department is speeding up to cope with it soon, in order to avoid power cuts.

In order to balance the increasing demand, the electricity department is planning a substation in Sector 20 as the same being one of the most thickly populated sectors.

“Around 5,608 new connections were sought and the load had increased by 15,000 kilowatts in the last one year. But we have accordingly balanced the same with substations,” said executive engineer DS Dhanda.

He added, “As Sector 20 is thickly populated, a substation with two transformers of 31.5 MVA each, have been planned. It would be ready by the next year.”

Already, there is a substation in Sector 5 with two transformers meeting the demand and for Mansa Devi area which is the second most thickly populated area, we have a substation consisting of two transformers,” added the official.

“As the sectors across ghaggar that is sectors 25 to 31 have been developed and housing has come up, people apply for new connections. So our demand is increasing following which we have to balance the supply,” added DS Dhanda.

“We keep cracking the electricity theft cases also so that it doesn’t hamper out electricity supply,” added another official.

Due to the increasing demand, the power department may soon plan for more substations.

Panchkula has about 1.42 lakh consumers. The consumers are now likely to increase with several people in sectors across ghaggar applying for the same.

It was recently that the city was reeling under power cuts. The worst affected was the General Hospital, Sector 6. 

Chandigarh, July 28
One of the Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 35, students rusticated for thrashing a junior was joined by his classmates during a protest to seek his reinstatement at the Sector 17 Plaza today.

The protesters handed over a memorandum to the Deputy Director, School Education-II, Saroj Mittal.

The student, who is studying humanities in Class XII, alleged that the Education Department did not carry out a fair probe into the alleged offence: bashing up a Class X student, Sachin. He maintained that Sachin had falsely implicated him.

The agitators said if there demand was not met, they would intensify the stir.

Mittal said, “I did receive the memorandum today. However, as the Director Public Instructions (Schools) was on leave today, no action was taken.”

The official said the DPI would be back on Wednesday, following which the department will take any decision.

The incident had occurred on July 17, when the victim was reportedly returning home after school. He complained that his seniors bashed his up in the market.

Following the incident, the school authorities had expelled two students of senior classes.

They spoiled my son’s life: Complainant’s father
Devinder Singh, father of the complainant, said: “My son has been readmitted to the PGI Trauma Centre, as he was suffering from severe headache. The doctor has told us to get his MRI examination done to decide on further treatment.” He said the students involved in the incident had ruined his son’s life.

Chandigarh, July 28
Calling the Panjab University Campus Students’ Council (PUCSC) elections undemocratic, Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) leaders have demanded that at least four hours be given for polling.

During a press conference today, they said the time allowed for entering the polling booth is only one hour, after which university gates are closed along with doors of all departments.

Besides causing traffic jam at the gates, this also obstructs the right to vote of every student, they said.

Many local students who reside farther away end up missing on the opportunity to vote because of unforeseen situations, said the ABVP leaders.

Sandeep Kaur, a final-year postgraduate student, said she could not vote last year because of traffic congestion on her way from Kharar.

Party president Sukhjot Singh said their demand was a genuine one that aimed at fair and democratic elections.

Chandigarh, July 28
The Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 42, will be offering a postgraduate diploma in cyber crime. The new course was inaugurated today.

Principal Mani Bedi highlighted the importance of the course. Prof Dalip Kumar, a Syndicate member of Panjab University, talked about the relevance of the course in today’s technology-oriented world.

Gurcharan Singh of Central Detective Training School, who was the keynote speaker, discussed the utility of cyber security.

The chief guest, Prof RK Pathak, talked about job opportunities in the field. 

Chandigarh, July 28
The Panjab University Staff (Non-Teaching) Association today protested to press its long-pending demands. Around 600 staff members staged a two-hour dharna in front of the administrative block in the morning.

The association demanded implementation of pension for widows, restarting the pension scheme for employees who failed to opt for it earlier and regularisation of services of daily-wage earners.

The association executive has also decided to hold a three-day protest from July 30 is the university authorities fail to fulfil their demands.

Chandigarh, July 28
Now, Dr Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital authorities will not be fining students for breaking laboratory equipment.

This was decided today by a special committee constituted by the Dean Students’ Welfare (DSW), Panjab University.

The committee looked into various issues raised by the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) during a protest on Saturday.

The panel also decided that students would not be carrying their own material while doing laboratory work or treating patients

Also, during electricity failure, generator sets will supply power to all laboratories, so that none of the students, interns or patients suffer, the committee decided.

Other demands approved included allowing interns to stay in hostels till October 15, maintenance of the sports ground in front of the department, setting up of a special indoor games room or common room in the department.

NSUI leaders Chandan Rana and Manoj Lubana said the acceptance of demands will being relief to all students.

Mohali, July 28
Around 74 students were shortlisted by 12 companies at a job fair organised by the Universal Group, Chandigarh, today.

At the fair, around 150 diploma and degree holders and engineering students participated.

“More than 12 companies, including Funfirst , PicNFrames, Blackbox, Airsoft ,Platinum Consulting, Exim Enterprises, OGS, Intelgain, Saturn, Sebiz, SV Associates and Netsmatrz, interviewed prospective candidates”, said director, engineering, Dr Rachit Garg.

“The annual packages offered by companies ranged between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3.5 lakh,” said the college authorities.

Chandigarh, July 28
A three-day ‘tritiya sopan testing camp of scouts and guides concluded at Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1, Chandimandir Cantt, here today.

Around 120 scouts, 80 guides with 37 escorts and 10 officials from 20 Kendriya Vidyalayas located in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh attended the camp from July 26 to 28. During the camp, scouts and guides were tested in pioneering project, first aid, estimation, signalling, mapping, whipping, Baden Powell’s six exercises, camp craft, and promise and law.

The camp concluded with the flag lowering ceremony.