Gurnoor Singh, an 11-year-old skater of St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, who has won 47 medals in various skating championships, is being honoured in the field of sports. He started his sporting career at the age of four and has won 27 gold, 14 silver and 12 bronze medals.

Security up in city

As many as 1,000 policemen, including 15 DSPs and 35 inspectors, have been deployed for the Independence Day celebrations across the city. The Chandigarh Police have set up nakas across the city. Commandos have been deployed and policemen in civvies will also be keeping vigil in the city.

OPDs closed today

The OPDs in all the three government hospitals in the city, PGI, GMCH-32 and GMSH-16 will remain closed on account of the Independence Day on Friday. However, the emergency units will function as usual.

19 UT police officials to be honoured

Administrative Police Medal for meritorious service

Administrative Police Medal for distinguished service

Chandigarh, August 14
A supervisor in the Horticulture Department, who had been handling the Rose Festival and the Chrysanthemum Show for the last many years, and the officer-in-charge, Government Institute for Mentally Retarded Children (GIMRC), Sector 31, who had been offering consistent service in the field of intellectual disability, are among 13 persons who will be awarded commendation certificates by the UT Administration during the Independence Day function at the Parade Ground in Sector 17 tomorrow.

The UT Administrator, Shivraj V Patil, will give the awards to the achievers.

Dalip Singh, Superintendent Grade-II, Home Department; Narinder Kapoor, senior assistant, Home Department; Sudhir Parashar, Assistant Controller (F&A), DPI (Schools); and Shamsher Singh, PGT (Maths), Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16; will be awarded for their meritorious service in their respective departments.

From the Municipal Corporation, horticulture supervisor Hans Raj and Madan Lal, a mason, will be awarded.

R Vani Ratnam, officer-in-charge, GIMRC, Sector 31, will be awarded for a consistent service in the field of intellectual disability. She has been working at the GIMRC for the past 15 years.

Reema Dewan, Principal, Delhi Public School, Sector 40, and Rajive Moudgil will be awarded in the field of social service.

In the field of art and culture, Jagdish Singh, a peon with the Sports Department, has been selected for the honour. Besides, Kapil Narang (public service), Aryan S Jajma (education) and Gurnoor Singh (sports) will be honoured at the function tomorrow.

Chandigarh, August 14
After facing defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the city Congress today faced another major setback when former Mayor Raj Bala Malik joined the BJP at a rally organised for BJP national president Amit Shah in Mahendargarh, Haryana.

Raj Bala Malik, who was close to former Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, is now a strong contender for the BJP ticket for the Panipat (rural) Assembly seat.

Her husband Ram Kumar Malik is a senior advocate in Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Though Malik did not have any experience in politics, the Congress fielded her from the Ward No. 1 during the MC elections in 2011. She defeated her rival Satinder Dhawan, the wife of senior BJP leader Harmohan Dhawan. In 2012, she was elected as the Mayor.

During her tenure as Mayor, Congress councillors had accused her of giving preference to BJP councillors.

Congress, BJP leaders surprised

The news of Raj Bala Malik joining BJP came as a surprise to city-based Congress and BJP leaders. They were unaware of her move.

Mohali, August 14
Around 460 police personnel would keep a vigil on the district-level Independence Day function that will be held at the Government College ground in Phase VI here tomorrow.

Bikram Singh Majithia, Minister for Information and Public Relations, revenue and rehabilitation, will preside over the function and hoist the national flag at the venue.

Mohali SSP Inder Mohan Singh Bhatti said as many as four SP-ranked officers would supervise the security arrangements.

“Besides four DSPs, 16 inspectors, 40 non-gazetted officers, 291 head constables and constables and around 10 women police personnel have been deputed to maintain law and order at the venue,” said SSP Bhatti.

The police would also lay six special nakas on roads heading to the venue.

Mohali Deputy Commissioner Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu claimed that all arrangements had been put in place for tomorrow’s function.

“In the parade, personnel of the Punjab Police, traffic police, women police and cadets of the NCC, Scouts and Guide would participate. Students of eight schools will also present cultural programmes there,” said Sidhu.

Mohali DSP (City II) Navreet Singh Virk would be the Parade Commander.

Majithia would hoist the national flag at 9am.

This time, the district administration has substantially curtailed the number of persons who would be honoured during the function. The administration has selected a village panchayat and four persons, who did some special work towards the benefit of society. The administration has not selected any government employee for the purpose this time. 

Chandigarh, August 14
On the eve of the 68th Independence Day, the Chandigarh Administration organised a cultural programme at the Tagore Theatre, Sector 18, here today. KK Sharma, Adviser to the Administrator, was the chief guest.

The colourful programme started with Ganesh Vandana presented by students of Government Model Senior Secondary School, GMSSS 10. A group song was presented by students of St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, while Marathi dance was performed by students of DAV Model School, Sector 15.

A skit showcasing the freedom struggle was the highlight of the event. It was presented by students of GMSSS-37B. Students of DPS, Sector 40, sang a group song. It was followed by Rajasthani dance by students of GMSSS, Sector-35. Students of GMSSS-19 performed giddha.

The Adviser to the Administrator said it was a moment of immense honour for him to greet all present on the occasion of the 68th Independence Day. He said: “On this auspicious day, it was quite natural for us to remember our brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the country. It is all because of these brave souls that we all are born in a free country. We also must think of the sacrifices by their families and all those involved directly or indirectly in the freedom struggle.”

He said the use of computers and information technology had brought a shift in teaching-learning process. While highlighting the achievements of the Education Department of the Chandigarh Administration, he said the department was going all out to improve the quality of education in government schools in the UT.

Chandigarh, August 14
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) grilled a city-based psychiatrist, Dr Ashwin Mohan, for more than eight hours for distributing buprenorphine tablets, a highly sensitive medicine, without any authority. A case in this regard has been registered.

The NCB detained Dr Mohan from Mukat Hospital and Heart Institute in Sector 34. It recovered around 71,200 tablets from his house in Sector 27 last night. Besides, Rs 58.20 lakh was recovered from Dr Mohan’s residence.

The seized cash and buprenorphine tablets were produced in the special court of the NCB in the district courts, Sector 43.

Dr Mohan is practising in Chandigarh for the last one decade and also offers service at Medicare, a private hospital in Sector 22.

NCB sleuths said the main allegation against Mohan was that that he was advising and distributing buprenorphine without having any de-addiction centre under his charge. The drug can only be distributed in de-addiction centres.

The NCB officials said as per the Health Ministry, buprenorphine can only be advised along with naloxone, which is a pure antagonist, but Mohan was distributing only bupenorphine to patients.

Panchkula, August 14
Vishesh Kapoor (name changed), a shortlisted awardee for the Independence day, was in a fix till late evening whether he should get ready to receive the award tomorrow or not. The Panchkula Administration had not released the list of the prospective awardees for the Independence day function till late this evening. An official communication from the Public Relations Office regarding the confirmed list was received at 10.19pm.

An awardee, on condition of anonymity, said: “I waited for this day with bated breath. This was my first award and the administration did not bother to inform me well in advance.”

Chandigarh, August 14
The BSNL has launched a special drive for resolution of disputes/complaints relating to discontinued landline or mobile connections, CDMA and WIMAX connections in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula.

In case of pending outstanding amount on such connections, customers can take full benefit of this service where technical fault or broadband usage dispute exists.

The BSNL has also been issuing defaulter and legal notices to such customers. Strict legal action will be taken against unsettled defaulter cases, said a press release issued by the BSNL authorities this evening. — TNS

Chandigarh, August 14
A technical snag at the BBMB power sub-station in the Industrial Area, Phase I, disrupted power supply to sectors 19, 26, 27 and 28 here today.

The power supply to the areas was disrupted from 11 am to 12.30 pm and from 3 pm to 8 pm. UT Superintending Engineer (Electricity) MP Singh said the power sub-station, being managed by the BBMB, developed a snag last night, which was finally repaired today. Mukesh Bassi, area councillor of Sector 19, said residents also witnessed poor water supply in the evening hours due to the power breakdown.

Satinder Singh, the councillor from Sector 27 and 28, said the authorities should upgrade their infrastructure, he suggested. — TNS

Chandigarh, August 14
To mark its golden jubilee, the Maharashtra Mandal will organise Ganesha pooja from August 29 to September 7 at Maharashtra Bhawan in Sector 19 here.

The preparations for the event are in full swing. Two specialists will be invited from West Bengal for decorating the Ganesha mandap.

Maharashtra Mandal president MB Sane said in 1893, Lokmanya Tilak scaled up the annual festival into a large and a well-organised event.

Chandigarh, August 14
The dates of entrance exams to BSc paramedical course at the PGI and BDS course at Panjab University are clashing. Both examinations are scheduled for August 17. A number of students, who had applied for both the entrance exams, are in a fix as the timings of the exams are also partly clashing.

The PGI exam is scheduled to be held from 10 am to 11.30 am and the reporting time is 8.30 am, while the PU exam is scheduled from 8 am to 1.10 pm for three subjects.

Several students have written to the authorities, but they have received no response so far. “The PGI has already dispatched the roll numbers, but the university is still receiving applications,” said a parent. — TNS

Chandigarh, August 14
Panjab University should start conducting student council elections in affiliated colleges of Punjab or else ban them in city colleges also.

This proposal was mooted at a special meeting of heads of the city colleges with PU Vice-Chancellor Arun Kumar Grover today.

Sources said: “The heads of the colleges pointed out that on the lines of affiliated colleges of Punjab, student elections should not be held in our colleges also to avoid violence on the campus”.

It was pointed out that in a majority of the cases, outsiders were involved in violence, which gave a bad name to their colleges.

The sources said the local colleges had earlier complained that after the announcement of elections, student parties disturb the classes in the name of canvassing for their candidates, which should be banned by the authorities.

At the meeting, the heads asked the Vice-Chancellor to make a proposal for not conducting student council elections in the colleges. Last year also, a similar request was made to the UT Administration by the colleges.

It was also mentioned in the meeting that this time violence before the announcement of elections in the colleges had increased, which is a matter of concern for the college managements.

The Vice-Chancellor said the UT SSP recently held a meeting with all student parties and instructions were issue to avoid violence on the premises.

He also informed the heads that the police had asked the PU authorities to monitor the activities of the student bodies, and if there was law and order problem they would reconsider holding student council elections.

It is also mentioned that around four years ago, the DAV management request the UT Administration to discontinue student elections in the college but it was rejected by the authorities.

Chandigarh, August 14
The University Grants Commission (UGC) is going to start a new scheme under which the fellowship amount of PhD scholars will be directly deposited in their accounts.

This was stated by UGC Chairman Prof Ved Prakash, who was at Panjab University here today for a lecture on “impetus to research in Indian universities: Strategic planning and work plan”.

The programme was organised as part of the commemoration of completion of 60 years of the UGC and was transmitted nationwide (live webcast) to all universities via National Knowledge Network (NKN) from the PU.

Interacting with mediapersons, he said they had received a number of complaints from scholars regarding delay in their fellowship funds due to which their research work had been affected. He said keeping in view this fact, the UGC would start a scheme in which the funds would be directly deposited in the scholar’s account and there would be no role of universities in it.

Taking note of improving quality of the universities, the UGC plans to rank these institutes in the country. He said two years ago a communication was sent to all universities by the UGC to indicate their strength areas which could be improved so that Indian institutes could also come in the first 50 ranking universities globally.

Pointing out at the gap of demands of the industries and the products that the institutes were producing, he said: “We have to involve the industry in preparing our curriculum to control the increasing unemployment in the country.”

Stressing on vocational orientation courses in higher education, he said the institutes should lay focus on programmes that help produce skilled workforce. A majority of the universities were not utilising the funds allocated to them by various agencies that was adversely affecting their quality.

Mohali: GGS Entrepreneur Cell of the GGS College of Modern Technology (GGSCMT) here conducted a placement drive for BTech students. As many as 35 students from GGSCMT cleared the aptitude test. Dr GS Virdi, director of GGS Entrepreneur Cell, said under this project, the students were encouraged to take up part-time jobs at the cell after completing their regular classes or during holidays.

This would enhance their career rating at the time of final placements. Vice-chairman Surinder Pal Singh Sachdeva said GGS Entrepreneur Cell helped the students gain a firsthand experience of the corporate world. — TNS

Students of Tribune Model School celebrated Janmashtami with fervour on Thursday. They wore blue peacock feathers as headgear. They were told stories about Janmashtami and its significance.

Special morning assembly

Students and teachers of St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh, celebrated the Independence Day and Janmashtami. The students gathered for a special morning assembly.

I-Day celebrated

The Kindergarten section of Gurukul Global School celebrated the 68th Independence Day on Thursday. Tiny tots were dressed up as soldiers and freedom fighters. The students performed various cultural dances. A play based on the Independence Day theme enthralled the audience.

Fancy dress competition

Students of St Xavier’s took part in various activities in connection with the Independence Day. The campus wore a festive look. Tiny tots participated in a fancy dress competition while students of the primary wing presented dance performances on patriotic numbers. Senior students presented a skit showing unity in diversity.

Poster-making contest

To mark the Independence Day, students of Paragon Senior Secondary School, Sector 71, participated in various activities, including poster-making, solo song and fancy dress. — TNS