Chandigarh, August 1
Acting on a petition filed in public interest by an advocate alleging a huge difference in the prices of medicines purchased from different shops at the PGI, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today put the institute and its Director on notice.

The Bench fixed August 25 as the next date of hearing on the petition filed by the advocate, Manisha Garg. In her petition, Garg is seeking directions to the respondents to allot chemist shops in a manner which ensures the maximum benefit on the prices of medicines to patients. Directions have been sought to constitute an expert committee to examine “the exploitation of patients at the hands of chemists and consequently quashing the tender proceedings initiated by the respondents for the allotment of various medical stores situated within the premises” as exorbitant rent will further burden the pocket of poor patients coming to the PGI for treatment at government rates.

Garg added that in all institutions, medical stores were allotted to parties giving the maximum discount to patients. However, in the present case, the shops were being tendered at the “highest rates which would itself exorbitantly raise the prices of medicines”.

Garg insisted that the hospital was set up to provide medical services to the common man at government rates, “but with the passage of time, it seems, the same has been turned into a commercial venture”.

Chandigarh, August 1
Politics between Congress and BJP councillors hit a new low when city Mayor HC Kalyan decided to postpone the Teej function, scheduled for August 3, following the controversy over the chief guest.

The BJP councillors wanted local MP Kirron Kher to be invited as the chief guest, but the Mayor, who is of the Congress, was not wiling to invite the MP as the chief guest. Both parties have been accusing each other of playing politics over the issue.

The BJP councillors today held a press conference, blaming the Congress for playing politics by not agreeing to the name of Kirron. BJP councillor and leader of the opposition Arun Sood, while addressing mediapersons, said for the first time in the history of Chandigarh, a woman had been elected as MP and she should have been invited to the function as the chief guest.

The BJP councillors accused the Mayor of ignoring the Senior Deputy Mayor and the Deputy Mayor while taking various decisions. “Senior Deputy Mayor Heera Negi should have been a member of the organising committee for Teej. However, she was deliberately kept out of the committee,” Sood said.

Soon after the BJP’s press conference, the Mayor held a press conference at his office along with former Mayor Subhash Chawla and Congress councillor Gurbax Rawat.

Chandigarh, August 1
After the Chandigarh Administration placed an order for 240 AC and non-AC midi-buses for the planned Chandigarh City Bus Service Society, the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) is all set to acquire 70 low-floor buses.

These low-floor buses are being acquired despite stiff opposition from various quarters. “When a low-floor CTU bus with its extended length moves through narrow roads and rotaries, they face the problem of manoeuvrability. These buses are involved in more road accidents than the front-engine buses,” said Bhupinder Singh, a former head of the CTU Workers’ Union.

Former general secretary of the CTU Employees’ Union Ranjit Singh said: “Low-floor buses come with a host of other technical problems.”

Compared to the traditional 33-foot bus, a low-floor bus is 38.5 feet in length besides being wider. Sources said the difficulty in handling these buses has emerged as the primary reason behind accidents involving these buses. The accidents take place at traffic junctions and rotaries while manoeuvring the long buses. A number of such congested points have been brought to the notice of the Engineering Department in the past.

Mohali, August 1
In contrary to tall claims by the authorities concerned of spending crores of rupees to construct proper roads in the town, the condition of several roads here, particularly in the industrial area, are in pathetic condition.

During a random survey, the Tribune team observed that several roads have deep potholes, broken brims and uneven surface, thus, making the life of commuters miserable.

Shockingly, the main link road in Phase VII (in front of the Guru Asra Trust, near the Community Centre) has been constructed with bricks. The road was dug around 10 months ago for some repair works in the underground pipeline. The authorities then constructed the brick patch instead of constructing a normal road.

“After seeing the almost 100-metre patch of bricks on the link road, nobody can say that it is a part of ‘Model Town’ of the state,” said Vijay Kumar, a resident of Phase VII.

Another resident of the area, Naresh Kumar, said earlier they (the residents) thought that brick road was constructed temporarily. “We have to travel on this uneven patch now. Hundreds of vehicles pass from the route on a daily basis,” said Kumar.

Similarly, the condition of the road, separating Phase VIII and Phase IX (behind the Punjab School Education Board building) is very poor as it has several big potholes. “This road that is also one of the busiest roads in the town, a stretch of around 100 metre is full of big potholes and uneven surface. The road poses a big threat to the life of the commuters,” said Amandeep Singh, a resident of Phase IX. He urged the authorities concerned to repair the road at the earliest to avoid any mishap.

The story of roads in the Industrial Area is no different.

“If you want to break axels of your vehicles then use the internal roads of the industrial area. Driving on such roads here is really a big challenge. There are certain roads which have not been recarpetted for over five years now,” said Deepak Verma, an industrialist.

Chandigarh, August 1
The WhatsApp number of the UT traffic police—9779580985—evoked a huge response on its first day, with over 300 messages received by the end of the day.

The UT traffic police issued challans to two violators besides issuing instructions to the staff acting on the received messages.

While the day started with some congratulatory messages from city residents, with some messaging a simple “hi”, the traffic police soon started receiving messages complaining of traffic violations.

In all, nine images of various traffic violations were received during the day. The traffic police issued the traffic violation information slip on the basis of two of these. The slip was sent to addresses found in the database against the registered number of the vehicle visible on the pictures shared on WhatsApp. Both violations pertained to helmetless driving by youth.

The traffic police also received information regarding wrong parking of vehicles. Acting on one such message, action was taken against wrongly parked vehicle in the Industrial Area Phase-II. Acting on another message, the traffic police staff was told to give instructions to a cyclist riding on the wrong side near Sector 43.

The traffic police also received information that the traffic police personnel at the Sector 40/41 light point were not stationed at a visible point, following which instructions were conveyed to the point in-charge, sources said.

Commuters can post pictures of traffic congestion, upload videos of violations besides providing any suggestion to the UT traffic police on the WhatsApp number.

After Facebook, this is the second high-tech platform adopted by the traffic police to invite suggestions and evidence of traffic violations from the general public. It is being monitored by two members of the computer cell at the traffic police lines in Sector 29.

Chandigarh, August 1
Cracking down on transport vehicles plying on city roads, the State Transport Authority (STA) challaned or impounded 496 vehicles and recovered around Rs 9.92 lakh as composition fee in July.

Officials said more than 2,150 vehicles were checked during the drive, out of which 386 were challaned and 110 were impounded for different violations.

STA Secretary Satish Kumar Jain said people should carry all documents and avoid overloading their vehicles while travelling.

Jain said it had been noticed that auto-rickshaw operators were putting schoolchildren’s life at stake for minor financial gains.

“Parents must not send their children in overloaded auto-rickshaws,” the STA official said. 

Chandigarh, August 1
A minor fire was reported at the State Bank of India branch on the Punjab Civil Secretariat premises here today. The Fire Department received a call regarding the fire at 12.18 pm, following which two fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

Station Fire Officer ML Sharma said the fire took place in an electricity meter box due to a short circuit. No loss of property was reported.

“It was minor and was controlled before fire tenders reached the spot,” he said. 

Chandigarh, August 1
Bhavan Vidyalaya Chandigarh Model United Nations Conference-2014 (BVCMUN’14), being organised by Bhavan Vidyalaya, commenced with a spectacular opening ceremony at Tagore Theatre today.

The theme for the conference this year is ‘Ad Astra Per Adversa-The Urge to Surge’. As many as 300 students from over 45 schools, including two teams from Pakistan, are participating in the event.

Dr Suresh K Goel, Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), was the chief guest.

A cultural extravaganza was displayed by the students to mark the opening ceremony.

Dr Goel, said, “BVCMUN’ 14 brings together students from across the country and provides them a platform that enables them to take on the challenges of building a better world.”

Meanwhile, school chairman RK Saboo, said, “By taking part in these Model United Nations Conferences, children hone their negotiating skills.”

Panchkula, August 1
Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki and his wife Rani Solanki offered prayers at Shiv Temple in Saketri here today.

This was his first visit to the temple after he took over as the Haryana Governor.

He said he prayed for a better and prosperous Haryana. The Almighty blesses you strength and a power to take right decisions, he claimed.

The first couple was accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Dr SS Phulia, Additional Deputy Commissioner SP Arora and other officials from the District Administration. 

Chandigarh, August 1
Around 70 persons from different age groups were examined during a free dental check-up and X-ray camp organised by Dentafix Multispeciality Dental Clinic, Sector 21, on Oral Hygiene Day.

During the camp, Dr Aman Bhatia examined the patients and educated them regarding the importance of oral hygiene. He guided them that how to maintain your teeth clean.

Dr Bhatia shared that in today’s scenario eating habits had changed a lot, which leads to more and more dental and gum problems.

These days research have shown positive co-relation between gum diseases and overall health so it is more important to take care of your oral health to have good overall health, he added. 

Chandigarh, August 1
A three-day holistic healing workshop for cancer patients started at Max Super Speciality Hospital (MSSH) in Mohali today.

The objectives of the workshop are to provide knowledge and learning and a self-sustaining support programme to heal oneself from sickness to wellness and to find out how positive thinking can change life.

“What we intend to bring about through this workshop is coming together to work as a team of the experts of the body- the doctors, the experts of the mind- the mind therapists and the experts of the soul- the metaphysical therapists to jointly support the individual to recover from sickness to wellness.” said Dr Sachin Gupta, consultant, Medical Oncology at the Max Super Speciality Hospital in Mohali. 

Mohali, August 1
In the plot grab case of Brigadier Nawab Singh Heer (retd), the victim now wrote to Mohali police to initiate action against certain employees of the State Bank of India branch at Phase X for their apparent involvement in the crime.

Brigadier Heer alleged that a bogus account in the bank was opened with fake documents submitted by the accused. Brig Heer wrote in his communiqué to inspector Jarnail Singh, the station house officer of Phase XI police station, to take action against certain employees for their apparent involvement in the crime.

“I suspect that at least two employees were hand in glove with the accused. When an employee told me that someone had opened a bank account on my name with fake documents, I asked that employee to lodge a complaint with the police, investigate and seal the account. I followed my request by writing a mail to the senior officials of the bank in this regard and asked for the duplicate copy of bogus documents which they (the bank officials) did not provide,” stated Brig Heer in his communiqué to police.

He further alleged that the bank branch did not take any action and it indicated the connivance of bank employees. “Later, only after coaxing, the bank officials lodged an FIR with Phase XI police station. However, they have not stated all the facts in the police complaint,” alleged Brig Heer while demanding to lodge an FIR against certain bank employees.

Notably, the police have already arrested four alleged accused, namely Harjinder Singh, Mohinder Singh, Aman and Gurdip Singh in the case.

Chandigarh, August 1
Subhreet Kaur, the differently abled dancer who came into prominence after participating in a reality show India’s Got Talent, today denied the allegations levelled by her estranged husband Yash Makkar stating them to be false. “Today only I have returned from an event in Delhi and I am going to lodge an FIR of harassment and cheating against him at my native place,” she said.

Makkar, while addressing a press conference in Chandigarh on Thursday, had alleged that he was forced to marry her and later was harassed and tortured from July 17 to July 22. He claimed that it was Subhreet who had proposed him and he agreed out of sympathy.

On Friday, Makkar said, “I was harassed. So, I was contemplating to file a case in the court against her.”

Incidentally, after Yash did not go back to the rented accommodation in Phase III-A, Mohali, where they were living after July 22, the girl along her mother came to the gym owned by the groom’s family in Matour village, Mohali, and had an argument with the boy and his family.

Meanwhile, SHO, Matour police station, Atul Soni said, “After the police was called, a compromise was reached between the two parties at the motor police station. They had agreed to mutually solve the issue or would pursue the case in the courts. After that we have not received any complaint from them.”

Narrating his side of the story, Yash said after reaching to a compromise, again on July 28, Subhreet along with her mother insisted that I accompany them back to their rented house. But I did not return and went public about it.

Subhreet said allegations of her demanding money and control of his family business was baseless as her mother had more property that him. “I wanted an honest and hard working husband. But he cheated on different counts. Between July 17 and July 22 he was at his gym,” she said.

While Makkar claimed that he had enough proofs to prove his innocence. While the girl is expected to come out with more details to prove her side of the story. 

Chandigarh, August 1
Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL), today announced its entry into the MPV segment with the launch of its mid-size stylish 7-seater Honda Mobilio for the Punjab market.

Raman Sharma, senior vice-president and director, Honda Cars India Limited, said, “The launch of Honda Mobilio follows the success of Honda Amaze and all-new City which led to our exceptional growth of 83 per cent in the previous financial year.”

The diesel and petrol variants of the car prices between Rs 6 lakh and 10 lakh and offers one-touch fodability option. A total of 9,000 bookings have been made for the car across nation since its national launch a week ago. 

Chandigarh, August 1
Dr Ambedkar Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition, hosted its Freshers’ Party-2014 for the first-year students of BSc (H&HA) and the Diploma in Food Production on the college campus today.

The event commenced with various cultural programmes, including song and dance performances followed by a welcome speech by Bharti Tyagi, principal of the institute.

On the occasion, Saksham Saini was selected as Mr Fresher and Hukme Singh as Ms Fresher. 

Chandigarh, August 1
Punjab Engineering College University of Technology today started the ‘finishing school’ workshop for the final and pre-final year students.

A brainchild of the training and placement office, the finishing school aims at inculcating basic soft skills required to enter the recruitment process of any company.

These skills include personal interview, SWOT (strength weakness opportunity threat) analysis, writing skills, group discussion and communication skills, said the officials.

The programme will continue till August 3. The inaugural ceremony was held at the PEC auditorium and was presided over by the director of the university, Dr Manoj K Arora.

“The concept received an overwhelming response as 300 students registered for the workshop. Experts were called from around the region to deliver lectures to the students,” said a statement issued by the institution.

Panchkula, August 1
Students and staff of Government Primary School, Haripur, Sector 4, will soon be shifted to Government Middle School building.

The decision was taken in a meeting of Social Justice and Empowerment, Women and Child Development and the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes in Chandigarh today.

Local MLA DK Bansal, chairman of the committee, who visited the school last month and found the school building unsafe and in a pitiable condition, took up the matter in the proceedings of the committee.

Taking a serious note of the safety of the students and the staff, the MLA had taken up the issue in the committee claiming that the building houses no toilets for 250 children taking education there.

Surina Rajan, additional chief secretary, Department of Education, told the committee that the primary school would soon be shifted to the middle school building.

Talking to the Tribune, Bansal said some settlement for Chandikotla village residents, whose houses had collapsed or were on the verge of collapsing, is on the cards.

He revealed that Dr SS Phulia, Deputy Commissioner, Panchkula, told him to conduct a survey of loss caused to the villagers. The proceeding in this regard will be initiated after the monsoon.

Bansal added that the committee had thought of shifting the affected villagers to Ashiana flats in Sector 20, temporarily until permanent arrangements for their rehabilitation was made.

Vinay Singh, administrator of Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), said work in this regard would be initiated only if the DC gives a nod.

The issue to reopen a cut at the road dividing Sectors 7 and 8 was also taken up with the Chief Minister who assured a traffic light point at the site, the HUDA administrator claimed. 

Chandigarh, August 1
Waking up from its deep slumber, the UT Education Department today swung into action and initiated an inquiry into the incident wherein a Class I student had fractured her arm after being allegedly pushed by her school in charge at Government Senior Secondary (junior wing), Dhanas.

The incident took place around 4 pm on July 30.

The move comes two days after the victim, Kusma Devi (6), was allegedly pushed by the evening school in charge as she was sitting on the railing of the school playground.

The school in charge, Nirmal Singh, was served a show-cause notice today.

The victim’s family alleged that due to the brutal force used by Nirmal Singh, Kusma had fractured her arm.

The victim has been admitted at the GMSH-16 from the past three days.

Kusma, who has been suffering from severe pain, said, “When I was sitting on the railing of the playground, my teacher pushed me and I fell off. Nobody picked me up.”

Her father, Suresh Kumar, a daily wage-earner, alleged, “None of the school authorities picked up my daughter when she was writhing in pain. My elder daughter rushed to Kusma’s rescue and found her in an unconscious state. The school authorities were watching as mute spectators.”

The victim’s neighours arrived at the spot and called the police. She was rushed to the hospital in a PCR.

“For over an hour, Kusma kept crying in pain. I have been running from pillar to post to get justice for my daughter,” said Kumar.

Meanwhile, acting on the complainant of the victim’s father, the Education Department initiated an inquiry.

The statements of the school in charge Nirmal Singh, Kusma and other students were recorded today.

However, senior officials from the department said as per the fact-finding report, lapses were found on the part of the school in charge and school authorities. Following this, a show-cause notice was served on Nirmal Singh.

Director Public Instructions DPI (S), Kamlesh Kumar, said, “Certain lapses were found in the inquiry report. Action has been taken accordingly. Those responsible for the incident will be dealt with strictly and necessary measures will be taken.”

Chandigarh, August 1
After failing to find ample number of eligible candidates out of 300 students, who had applied for admission, Panjab University (PU), has decided to conduct a common entrance exam at the local level.

The new eligibility criteria considering 50 per cent as the minimum eligibility score is one of the reasons for the lukewarm response to the seats in PU’s Dr HS Judge Institute of Dental Sciences.

Earlier, the admissions were made on the basis of scores obtained by students in the All-India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). As a majority of students could not qualify the minimum score of 50 per cent, the seats could not be filled.

Chandigarh, August 1
A month after a case was registered against seven persons for a clash at Panjab University, President of the Panjab University Students Union (PUSU), Shejpal, was arrested today.

Two days ago, another accused in the case, Rashpal, booked in a similar case, was arrested by the UT police.

On July 1, unruly scenes were witnessed at the university when leaders of the Students Organisation of India (SOI) and PUSU clashed over a PUSU member being allegedly forced to join the SOI.

The student leaders had gathered at the help desks set up to counsel new students seeking admission in PU.

The clash, that lasted for over an hour, saw chairs being flung into the air and students tearing each other’s clothes as the PU security staff made efforts to end the melee.

Three security officials sustained injuries in the process.

Of the total seven accused, three from PUSU and four from the Students Organisation of India, were booked by the police under Sections 147 (rioting), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 332 (injuring a public servant on duty), 353 (obstructing a public servant from duty by means of assault) and 506 (criminal intimidation), Indian Penal Code.

Meanwhile, the case has been registered at the Sector 11 police station.

Chandigarh, August 1
With a number of candidates withdrawing their candidature, the entire panel of the Panjab University Teacher’s Association (PUTA) was today elected unopposed for the session 2014-15.

Though a formal ceremony announcing the names for various posts will be held on August 12, these candidates have won unopposed.

Earlier, for the post of president, the existing president, Devinder Singh of the Law Department and Rajat Sandhir, Biochemistry Department, were in the fray.

In a statement issued this evening, Devinder said, “Due to my personal and academic compulsions, I wanted some rest. The motive was to strengthen the PUTA.” 

Secretary Anju Rao (Botany Dept)

Joint Secretary Madhuri Rishi (DEVS)

Treasurer Yajvender P Verma (UIET)

Chandigarh, August 1
Former Panjab University (PU), Registrar Harbans Lal Sharma has donated Rs 1 lakh to the health centre on the campus.

Sharma met PU Vice-Chancellor Prof Arun Kumar Grover and submitted an additional amount of Rs 27,600, collected by him from his friends and acquaintances for the PU Development Fund, which is exempted for the Income Tax under Section 80-G of the Income Tax Act.

Sharma served the University as a Registrar and Finance Development Officer and retired 24 years ago.

He said he had taken up the new initiative of motivating his friends and acquaintances to donate money for the PU Development Fund.

As many as eight people have already donated Rs 27,600 for the cause.

PU VC Prof Grover gave a matching grant of Rs 1 lakh for the health centre.

UPGRADING FACILITIES

The amount will be used to upgrade facilities for senior citizens and differently-abled patients. Facilities such as AC, wooden floor, provision for dinning tables and chairs, kitchen cabinet with microwave crockery, microwave and refrigerator will be included. A library equipped with books will also be made available for the senior citizen patients.

Chandigarh, August 1
Arushdeep Singh, a student of Class VII of GMHS-43, participated in the 4th national painting competition on “Water Conservation-2013’’ held by the Ministry of Water Resources at New Delhi.

The picture of his painting was printed in catalogue book published by the Central government of India.

Arushdeep was honoured by her school authorities for her achievement. 

Chandigarh, August 1
The MCM DAV College for Women, Sector 36, today organised Freshers Day.

Parvinder Singh, Controller of Examinations, Punjab University, and Dr Naval Kishore, Dean, College Development Council, PU, were present at the occasion.

In the Ms Freshers Contest, Mehak was selected as Ms Fresher 2014-15, while Gazelle and Gursheen were the first and second runners-up, respectively.

Hasrat got the title of Ms Graceful Walk, while Hasveen was Ms Confidence. — TNS

Teej celebrations

Chandigarh: The kindergarten wing of DC Montessori (Sr Sec Smart) celebrated Teej festival with fervour.

Pink Day

The tiny-tots of PML SD Public School, Sector 32C, celebrated Pink Day.

Yoga competition

Bhavan Junior organised a yoga competition for Classes II, III, IV and V.

Eid and Teej festivity

The Scholars Public School celebrated Eid and Teej with fervour on its campus.

Rakhi-making competition

RIMT World School organised a rakhi-making competition for Classes I and II. The winners were Kanishka Miglani, Hardik Ahuja, Krishav Jain and Siya Gupta from Class I and Divraj Chandora, Raizel, Prisha and Raiesa from Class II.

Inter-house English quiz

The students of Classes III, IV and V of St Joseph’s Sr Sec School took part in an inter-house English quiz. Ranjit House, Raman House and Ashoka House were winners for Classes III, IV and V, respectively. Tagore House was the runners-up for all the three classes.

Dental check up camp

The health club of AKSIPS-41 held a dental check up camp for students of Class VIII. Dr Aman Bhatia examined the students. — TNS