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Fire at Haryana Civil Secretariat
Chandigarh, August 9 Sources stated that the control room of the Fire Department received a call at 6.26 pm after a security personnel noticed smoke coming out from the eight floor. “Six fire tenders was rushed to the spot from different fire stations”, sources said. The hydraulic ladder from the Sector-17 fire station was also rushed to the spot. Since the office was closed, the firefighters had to break the windowpanes to make their entry into the hall. There was a lot of smoke inside the hall. The Sources said that official record stored in the office was burnt apart from a computer, printer, photostat machine and furniture. “The fire was controlled within 30 minutes.We did not let it spread further”, said a firefighter. Officials stated that the prima-facie revealed that one of the machines caught fire that led to the incident. “The actual cause of fire can only be known after proper investigation is done”, the sources added.
Lack of safety measures lead to fires: Report
The fire audit report of the Punjab and Haryana Secretariat has revealed that the lax attitude of the authorities towards fire and safety arrangements in the buildings lead to such incidents. The report mentioned that both the secretariats lacked smoke detectors.
Wet risers non-functional
Wet risers installed in the building didn’t work, following which firefighters had to press in the hydraulic ladder to spill water inside the premises.
Fire incidents in last two months
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UT Admn writes to MoEF
Chandigarh, August 9 The Tata Housing Development Company has planned the high-rise Camelot project in Kansal. At present, petitions opposing the Camelot project are pending before the Delhi High Court. In its reply submitted by the UT Chief Wildlife Warden, Santosh Kumar, to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), last week, the UT Administration has demanded that the Punjab Government should
On the Punjab Government’s proposal that ESZ (areas falling within Punjab) should be 100-metre from the boundary of the sanctuary, the UT Administration submitted in its reply that 100-metre distance was too small a distance from the wildlife protection & management point of view and more so especially when the areas adjoining the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary in Punjab were being developed as a high-density area in the Nagar Panchayat Naya Gaon Municipal area. The UT further submitted that the 100-metre limit proposed by the Punjab Government was merely eyewash because in the Punjab proposal, submitted to the ministry, it was mentioned, “The area that comes within the “lal dora” or within the municipal limit in the proposed 100-metre zone is excluded from this notification”. “Since the Punjab Government has planned high-density municipal area almost touching the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, it means that such areas are exempted from the ESZ notification which implies that the width of the ESZ proposed by Punjab is virtually ‘zero’. Since the areas under “lal dora” or within the “municipal limit” will have human population and its activities are likely to have adverse impact on the wildlife habitat of the sanctuary, so it becomes necessary that activities of this area should be regulated/prohibited as per the ESZ guidelines”, the reply further reads.
Haryana yet to identify
ESZ area
The Haryana government, however, is yet to identify the ESZ area falling under its jurisdiction. Till the proposal is notified, the activities prohibited by the ministry guidelines would remain banned within 10-km periphery of the sanctuary.
UT’s draft proposal
The UT Administration had proposed an area ranging from
2 km to 2.75 km as eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around the sanctuary. Low-density and low-rise buildings are proposed in the area falling within the ESZ. “No mining or hazardous industry should be permitted in the ESZ, no expansion of the road outside the sanctuary be allowed, no deep borewell be dug for commercial or large-scale users and all existing water bodies and indigenous floral and faunal diversity within the zone be protected,” the Administration’s ESZ draft states.
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City residents can deposit more money
Excess amount to be adjusted when dept issues bills based on actual consumption Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 9 Electricity Department, the authorities have now given option to city residents to deposit more money then mentioned in ‘average and delayed’ power bills. To avoid financial burden on city residents, the public notice issued by the UT Electricity Department said consumers could also deposit higher amount on average bills and for bills, which were not delivered to them. Directions have been issued to all e-sampark centres to accept excess payments from consumers, which will be further adjusted in their electricity bills. MP Singh, UT Superintending Engineer (Electricity), said if residents had not received their electricity bills or had received average bills, which was of less amount as compared to their bills of previous months, the residents could submit an excess amount against their bills. This was done to save city residents from the financial burden because when NIELIT would compile their data, the UT Electricity Department would issue bills calculated on actual consumption. The excess amount would then be adjusted in the next bills, he said.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.
Correct bills issued to only 50,000 consumers
An official of the UT Electricity Department 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. For the remaining consumers, they were issuing average bills, which would be adjusted in the next bill, when their data would be complete, he said. “Domestic consumers are divided into four groups of 50,000 each and we issue bills in six cycles a year,” he said.
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1,500 cellphones seized in Mohali
Mohali, August 9 Officials of the department said, definite information had been passed on to excise officials that mobile phones had been loaded in an Innova car for transportation to Delhi. It is learnt that the billing of the phones had actually been done in the name of a Ludhiana trader, but these were allegedly being illegally transported to Delhi for a businessman functioning from the Gaffar market. Reports said the car carrying the mobile phones was stopped on the road leading from Zirakpur to Delhi. The mobiles were seized and statements of the driver of the vehicle and others recorded. The exact cost of the seized mobiles was being worked out. The Innova car was also impounded.Action under Section 51 of the Punjab Vat Act has been initiated in this regard. The person transporting the mobile phones illegally would have to pay 50 per cent of the market price of the items seized as penalty apart from paying VAT on the seized goods. It is learnt that a special drive to check tax evasion had been launched by the department and nakas were set up at Zirakpur, Lalru and Balongi.
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Four members of gang arrested
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 9 On an information received by the operations cell, a police team headed by SI Rohitash under the supervision of Inspector Jasminder Singh arrested the four accused who were identified as Anil Kumar, a resident of Garhshankar, Malkit Singh, a resident of Talwandi Sabo, Rajiv Kumar, and Rajinder Thakur, both residents of Mohali, from the market of Sector 37, Chandigarh. They used to prepare fake degrees, certificates of various institutes and sell them to different persons at high prices. The police also recovered the computer, scanner and the printer they were using to prepare fake certificates. An FIR under Sections 420, 474 and120-B of the IPC has been egistered at the Sector 39 police station.During investigation, it came to light that Malkit Singh is working as a clerk in the Punjab School Education Board, Mohali (Punjab), and Rajinder Singh is running Thakur Computer Centre at SCO No.172, Sector-37-C, Chandigarh. They used to prepare fake certificates at the computer centre. The other two persons, Anil Kumar and Rajiv Kumar, used to bring persons by luring them to provide original certificates. The police have begun probing the case.
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Apathy: Help lands only after one hour, 55 minutes
Panchkula, August 9 Only because he was maggots laden, a PCR crossing by also refused to take him to the hospital. From 1.40 pm to 3.35 pm, no help reached the victim despite calls at the helplines concerned. Shailender Sharma, a passerby at the Mansa Devi Singh Dwar of the Mansa Devi Complex (MDC), Sector 5, kept calling the ambulances and the control room that the man would die if not taken to a hospital but none of them turned up. It was after this correspondent called up the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr VK Bansal, Panchkula, that an ambulance with staff was rushed to the spot and the victim was brought to the General Hospital Sector 6.Since he was in a critical condition, he was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. At 1.37 pm, the control room was called and the nearby PCR came to the spot. “Since his wounds were infested with
maggots,
Victim very critical
Dr Manoj, the doctor at the Emergency of the Panchkula General Hospital, said, “He is very critical. The skin of the patient has been eaten by maggots. So we referred him to the PGI.”
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MC Teej function Amit Sharma Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 9 While BJP and SAD councillors had already planned to keep a distance from the function, many Congress councillors also failed to turn up for the inauguration ceremony. The Teej celebrations, which were earlier scheduled to be held on August 3, were postponed after the BJP and the Congress councillors entered into a dispute over inviting the chief guest on the function. While the BJP Councillor wanted MP Kirron Kher as the chief guest, Mayor HC Kalyan, who is from the Congress, was not willing to invite Kirron Kher as the chief guest. Following the controversy, MC officials decided to organise the function on their own and invite Prerna Puri, additional secretary (Home) as the chief guest. Among the BJP councillors, only Gurcharan Dass Kala and Desraj Gupta attended the inauguration ceremony performed by Mayor HC Kalyan. Among the Congress councillors, only Pardeep Chhabra, Sat Parkash Aggarwal, Poonam Sharma and Gurbax Rawat attended the inauguration ceremony. Arun Sood, BJP councillor, and leader of the Opposition, said he, along with Senior Deputy Mayor Heera Negi and BJP councillor, was attending the BJP’s national executive meeting, following which they could not attend the Teej function. Didn’t receive invitation, allege councillors
Deputy Mayor Davesh Moudgil and SAD Councillor Malkiat Singh said they didn’t receive any invitation nor they got a call from the Mayor to invite them for the Teej festival, following which they didn’t attend the function.
Folk, Sufi singers enthral audience
Teej festival was celebrated with zeal at the Shivalik Garden, Mani Majra, here today. Punjabi, Haryanavi and Rajasthani folk dances marked the inauguration function. The audience present at the festival could not stop itself to dance on the foot-tapping beats of “dhol” and popular Punjabi numbers. The stage was decorated with colourful lights and traditional “jhandian” flags. Punjabi folk singer Harinder Hundal enthralled the audience in the evening. Sufi singer Neelam Sharma and various other singers also performed on the occasion.
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GMADA seeks Rs 10K for RTI info
Mohali, August 9 The activist, Atul Sharma, said here today that he had sought the information under the RTI Act on July 28. However, the superintendent-cum-APIO, nigran engineer (C2), GMADA, instead of providing it, raised a demand for Rs 10,000 as charges for photocopying to be deposited at the counter of GMADA as there were about 1,500 pages to be provided relating to the information sought. Sharma said the RTI Act provided that the fee should be “reasonable”. He had, however, deposited Rs 3,000 with GMADA on August 8 as per the Punjab Right to Information Rules, 2007, at the rate of Rs 2 per page (in A4/A3 size paper). He said he had also written to Chief Administrator, GMADA, AK Sinha, about the unreasonable amount sought by the APIO, but had not received a reply yet. Sharma said the GMADA’s action was nothing but an attempt to curb the very spirit of the RTI Act.
Fact file
RTI activist Atul Sharma said he had sought the information under the RTI Act on July 28. However, the superintendent-cum-APIO, nigran engineer (C2), GMADA, instead of providing it, raised a demand for Rs 10,000 as charges for photocopying to be deposited at the counter of GMADA as there were about 1,500 pages to be provided relating to the information sought.
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Traders to hold car rally on Aug 14
Chandigarh, August 9 The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Industrialists and Traders had written to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the Chandigarh Administration to include the local MP and the Mayor in the approval committee of the Master Plan of Chandigarh. But, the administration did not consider their demand. Today, members of the JAC, consisting of 14 different associations of Chandigarh, held a meeting in which it was decided to hold a peaceful car rally from Tribune Chowk, Sector 29, to the Plaza in Sector 17 on August 14. The industrialists and traders will also wear black badges to lodge their protest. JAC members had said the committee formed by the UT Administration for the approval of the Master Plan is consisting of serving senior officers who are not even residents of Chandigarh and mostly are under transfer. Therefore, the MP and the Mayor should be made the committee members. On August 8, the Chandigarh Administration had sent the draft Master Plan, along with the minutes of the Administrator’s Advisory Council (AAC) meeting and the suggestions of the ‘Board of Inquiry and Hearing’ to the Central Government. Now, the Centre will consider all these documents. Thereafter, the UT’s Master Plan will be notified. During the previous hearing at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the counsel of the Union of India had informed the High Court that the Master Plan would be notified by October 30.
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More RLA employees under the scanner
Amit Sharma Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 9 The nexus was exposed after the complainant approached RLA Kashish Mittal and alleged that an agent in connivance with an RLA employee promised him to get a learner’s licence out of turn by charging Rs 1,700. The RLA then informed the Vigilance Department, which arrested both the accused. Sources said that the agent identified as Sonu had revealed the name of a few employees who used to facilitate the entire work. The RLA said that five employees, including dealing clerk, data entry operator and peon were questioned by the vigilance team to establish their alleged link with the agents. “I have asked the Vigilance Department to bring out the names of the RLA employees who are suspected to be part of the nexus”, the RLA said. Sources said former employees of the RLA aould also be questioned by the Vigilance Department. The RLA said that he was going to ask the Deputy Commissioner (DC) for initiating strict action against the RLA employees who were found guilty. In a bid to break the nexus between the agents and the staff, the RLA has also restricted the use of mobile phones during office hours. Sources said that the staff at the RLA Office in Sector 42 and Industrial Area is also under the scanner. “Since the employees working with the RLA are on contract, their services can be terminated if found guilty”, the RLA said.
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Vet officials found absent from duty
Mohali, August 9 The Director, HS Sandha, checked 15 veterinary hospitals and dispensaries in Mohali district. He said at the Landran hospital, veterinary officer Rajinder Singh and veterinary inspector Reetvajinder Singh were found absent during the checking. At the Palheri hospital, veterinary officer Savita Jindal, veterinary inspector Vinod Kumar and a Class IV employee, Parkash Masih, were found absent. Dr Sandha said during the checking at the Naglian hospital, veterinary officer Navdeep Singh was found absent. At the Jhigran dispensary, veterinary inspector Daljit Singh was found absent and at the Thana Gobindgarh dispensary, veterinary inspector Ravi Inder Singh was found absent. The Director said strict disciplinary action would be taken against the staff concerned.
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Tie rakhi after 1:38 pm: Astrologers
Chandigarh, August 9 Astrologers from the city have said that the pious timing for tying rakhi is after 1:38 pm. A heavy rush is seen at kiosks selling colourful rakhis of various shapes and sizes. Sweets and gift shops are witnessing a heavy footfall of customers, especially women and girls. Astrologer Arvind Gaur said due to “Bhadra Kaal”, which is considered as unlucky omen to observe festive rituals, the time had been delayed. “The auspicious timing to tie rakhi will be from 1:38 pm onwards,” he said. He said: “Those who have time constraints or cannot wait till afternoon for some reason can tie rakhi between 10 am and 11 am as it is ‘Bhadra Puchkaal’ tenure”. Pandit Rajinder Prasad also predicted that as per the Hindu calendar and astrological calculations, the best time for tying rakhi is after 1:38 pm and between 10:30 am and 12 noon. Prasad said: “After 1:38 pm, the entire day will remain fruitful to celebrate the festival.” Many schools across the city celebrated the festival today.
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Foundation day celebrated
Chandigarh, August 9 Dhillon said in coming days, they would spread awareness among the city residents about organ donation. The Indian Youth Congress was founded on August 9, 1957, he said. — TNS
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‘Alive Drive Experience’
Jaguar India announces its ‘Alive Drive Experience’ - a multi-city drive programme for its customers across the country. Participants will witness excellence in design, performance and the unmistakable roar of Jaguar engines over a three-day period, August 12,13 and 14, in Chandigarh. Air straightener launched
Philips India on Saturday introduced actress Alia Bhatt as the brand ambassador for its beauty business. The latest product launched by Alia on Saturday is Kera Shine air straightener that is designed to give naturally straight and smooth hair.
Guilt-free eating
Philips India, kitchen appliances brand, showcased the magic of its kitchen appliance - Philips AirFryer - to the foodies of Chandigarh with Chef Ranveer Brar. The Philips team visited popular restaurants - Gopal and Pal Dhaba - in the city during its road show “Thank God it’s FryDay” to promote guilt-free eating and change the definition of fried food, which is no longer unhealthy with Philips AirFryer. — TNS
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Poll agenda: Genuine or gimmick?
Chandigarh, August 9 Figure this out: For the past month and a half, every party has taken up the issue of shortage of seats in girls’ hostels on the campus. Dean, Students’ Welfare (Men), Navdeep Goyal has been flooded with representations from student leaders requesting him to provide hostel seats to the girls in the waiting list. During a recent meeting, however, when the DSW (Men) and DSW (Women) came up with a solution, all party leaders turned it down. The university officials had proposed to the student leaders, headed by boys, that one of the boys’ hostels be converted to a girls’ hostel, keeping in view the long waiting list. In the meeting, the officials revealed that there were around 4,300 seats for boys in eight hostels allocated to them. Of these, as many as 1,000 boys were staying in a single-room accommodation, they said. At the same time, due to the shortage of hostel seats for girls and high percentage of girls taking admission to the varsity, their waiting list was increasing by 100 to 150 every year. DSW (Women) Nandita had come up with the same proposal a few months ago as well when the waiting list for girls’ hostel had reached nearly 1,000. Despite all these facts laid out in front of them, student leaders told the authorities to look for some other option. What student leaders say Talking about the issue, Simran Gill, the chief patron of National Students’ Union of India, said as the party’s general secretary in 2012, she had raised the same issue. She, however, found no support within or outside the party, she said. Gill said she would once again take up the matter, but until all parties had a unanimous point of view on this issue, nothing could be done. Students’ Organisation of India leader Vicky Middukhera said converting the existing infrastructure would not solve the problem. “Keeping in mind the increase in the number of students, the authorities should build new hostels for both boys and girls,” he said. Students’ Organisation of Panjab University president Amninder Mann said the authorities should take a building outside the campus on lease and convert it to girls’ hostels. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad representative Navjot said boys, too, were facing the problem of lack of hostel seats and the authorities should take a serious note of it as well.
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Two groups lay claim to NSUI leadership at DAV College
Chandigarh, August 9 First, a group claiming to be representing the college wing of the student party turned up with around 250 supporters and announced Shubh Sekho as its chairman. Following this, Sekho addressed the students. After about half an hour, however, another group headed by the NSUI state president, Dalsharan Singh, came to the college and alleged that the earlier group had misinformed the students about the party leadership. Dalsharan Singh said neither Sekho nor his supporters were studying in the college. When contacted, Shubh Sekho, however, claimed he was a BA-II student of the college and a member of the party for the past one year. He said it was due to some internal conflict that the other group was accusing him of being an outsider. Sekho said the party’s panel for the student council elections will be announced by next week.
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Col Chadha’s name gets nod from panel
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 9 The issue will be tabled in the coming Syndicate meeting on August 17 for the final approval. At present, Prof AK Bhandari, who is the Dean, University Instructions, is also holding the additional charge of Registrar. Before taking the charge as the DUI, Prof Bhandari had served as the PU Registrar. The name of Meenakshi Malhotra, a faculty member of the University Business School, has been put in the waiting list for the post of Registrar. Varsity teachers were surprised to find that the committee had selected a person from outside the campus for the coveted post despite many potential candidates from the campus applying as well. Syndicate members, too, questioned the absence of details about the candidate’s background in the agenda. They said they will raise this issue in the meeting. As many as 17 candidates appeared for the interview for filling the post that was lying vacant since January 2014. An eight-member panel, which included the PU Vice-Chancellor, conducted the interview.
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Expert motivates students
Chandigarh, August 9 Former IFS officer Deepak Vohra, who is the Adviser to the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho, made this remark during his keynote address at an expert talk conducted by Desh Bhagat University. The lecture aimed at boosting students’ morale and encouraging them to contribute toward the country’s development. University Chancellor Dr Zora Singh inaugurated the event. He said in today’s world, everything is changing very quickly and to become a strong and developed country we have to get rid of all our weaknesses.
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Degrees conferred on 768 students
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 9 CA K Raghu, national president, ICAI, New Delhi, conferred degrees upon the newly enrolled members of the northern region of the ICAI at the convocation. While addressing the students and the CA community, CA Raghu stressed the need for good work ethics and appealed to the students to increase their working standards.
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Sexual assault, harassment cases in schools Hina Rohtaki Tribune News Service
Panchkula, August 9 A few schools have also introduced a two-hour daily class of tae kwon do to teach self-defence techniques to both girls and boys. Jaya Bhardwaj, principal, Hansraj Public School, Sector 6, said: “We have tied up with doctors who would be teaching both boys and girls about what is a ‘good’ and what is a ‘bad’ touch. Even boys are exposed to sexual harassment.” These lessons will be imparted to students of all age groups. The school has also installed CCTV cameras in corridors leading to washrooms to keep the area under surveillance. Tae kwon do classes will begin on Monday. Harsimran Kaur, principal, The Gurukul, Sector 20, said: “We have appointed female conductors as sometimes a girl may be the last one to be dropped off by the school bus. We have made it a point that no child is left in isolation. Also, we are installing glass doors in classrooms to make everything transparent.” Krit Serai, principal, Satluj Public School, Sector 4, said: “We make it a point to appoint a majority of female staff. Now, besides a sexual harassment committee, we have special counsellors and doctors.”
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Monsoon party
Chandigarh: A monsoon party was organised at Tribune Model School, Sector 29. The artificial rain gave the kindergarten children respite from hot and humid weather. The students carried umbrellas and wore raincoats. Raksha Bandhan celebrations
The kindergarten block of St Joseph’s School, Sector 44-D, was abuzz with activities on the eve of Raksha Bandhan. Girls attired in traditional dresses tied rakhis to boys, who in turn gave them gifts. At AKSIPS, Sector 45, students were familiarised with customs and rituals followed on the day. They were told the story about Goddess Lakshmi tying a rakhi to Bali to take Bhagwan Narayan back to Vaikunth. A special assembly was conducted at Blue Bird High School. Speeches highlighted the importance of the festival. Primary section students prepared colourful rakhis. The tiny tots of Stepping Stones CBSE International and The Olive Kid sent handmade rakhis to soldiers manning the Indian border areas. SMD Litltle Champ Smart School also celebrated the festival. The teachers told the students that the festival celebrated the emotional bonding between a brother and a sister. Popcorn party
St Teresa Convent School organised a popcorn party. Children were shown how heat was transferred and to cook food. They were also told about precautions to be taken while cooking. Collage-making contest
RIMT World School held an inter-class collage making competition for Classes I and II on the theme “My Country My Pride”. Children pasted pictures of eminent personalities, national leaders, national symbols and other things associated with our culture. Parents, teachers
attend workshop
Panchkula: The Gurukul, Sector 20, organised a workshop—Courage to Encourage—for parents and teachers. The discussion panel comprised experienced professionals from various fields. Inspector General (IG), Haryana Police, OP Singh said parents and teachers should encourage young children to learn independently. Singh emphasised the need to tap children’s creativity and encouraging them to be innovative and enterprising. IG Charu Bali said we need to give children space to be themselves. Dr Ravi Gupta said we need to see that children are physically active. Principal Harsimran Kaur said, “As parents and teachers we need to realise that every child is different and we need to celebrate the differences.” Vijay Public Smart School organised rakhi making and thali decoration activities on the eve of Raksha Bandhan. At Sky World School, students made rakhis using colourful ribbons, glitters, mirrors and foil. Some also used teddy bears, flowers and other decorative items. — TNS
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Are student leaders of different parties at Panjab University serious about resolving issues that they raise in the run-up to the council elections or are these just poll gimmicks?
