Chandigarh, August 20
A team of the People for Animals (PFA), in association with the Chandigarh police, has recovered two sand boa snakes and 600 ml of snake venom from a private bus in Hallo Majra. The recovered snakes and venom were being smuggled out of India, the police said.

Panchkula, August 20
One in every 10 schools in Panchkula district does not have toilets. And the existing ones are in bad shape as there is inadequate staff to maintain the toilets.

The ground reality is in contradiction to the report of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on government schools without toilets. In the absence of toilets, students have no option but to go in the open. The worst affected are girls, some of whom prefer to miss their schools, resulting in an increase in the dropout rate among girl students.

Chandigarh, August 20
Hundreds of patients who visited Shri Dhanwantary Ayurvedic Hospital and College, Sector 46, today faced inconvenience as students bolted the doors of the OPD from inside this morning.

Around 30 students of the 2012 batch were protesting against the college management for not pleading their case with Panjab University for holding their annual exams.

At around 7.30 am, 30 students entered the administrative block, OPD, ICU, emergency and chemist shop of the college and bolted the entire premises from inside. The authorities called up the police and following their intervention, the students vacated the ICU, emergency and chemist shop for patients. However, the OPD and reception, where on an average around 150 patients get enrolled every day, was not vacated by the protesters. Throughout the day, the students did not vacate the hospital and continued their protest, demanding that they be allowed to meet the management.

Finance secretary SK Aggarwal and Principal SK Thakur tried to convince the students to call off the protest, but they refused to budge.

Two protesters were deployed at the entry point of the OPD and were seen telling patients that the hospital was not functional today and that they had no idea when the issue would be resolved and the doctors would be able to attend to the patients.

Chandigarh, August 19
While taking him to a doctor at the age of three, family members of 24-year-old Vivek Bansal, who had symptoms such as drowsy eyes, irritable nature and a slightly abnormal face, had never imagined that their little awareness would pay them so well in life ahead.

Vivek, who was born with craniosynostosis, a disorder that results in abnormal growth of the skull and facial features and psychological problems in the long run, underwent a surgery at the PGI, and has now become a doctor of dental sciences.

“Though Vivek’s parents were shattered when they learnt about the disorder, timely diagnosis changed his future. Such children, if not treated due to lack of awareness, face ridicule among the peer group and suffer mentally also,” said Dr RK Sharma, Head of the Department of Plastic Surgery, PGI, who pioneered the treatment for craniosynostosis in India and performed cranioplasty on Vivek in 1994.

“While I don’t recall the time when the surgery was performed since I was too young, as I grew up, I understood that I would have been an ailing and dependent person had my parents not made efforts to find the right treatment for me. I then decided to work hard and make my parents proud,” said Vivek, who is currently pursuing the MDS from the Genesis Institute of Dental Sciences in Ferozepur.

Chandigarh, August 20
A 22-year-old cyclist died while the pillion rider was critically injured when a speeding bus of the CTU hit them near Rose Garden on the road dividing Sectors 16 and 17 here this afternoon. The victim, Subhash Yadav, died on the spot while his cousin Rohit Yadav (24) is battling for life at the PGI. Both of them had come to the city two days ago from Pratapgarh in UP in search of a job.

The incident occurred at around 4 pm when the two were headed towards the Sector 9/10/16/17 roundabout on their bicycle. A CTU bus hit their cycle, following which Subhash fell on the road and his head was crushed under the left wheel of the bus.

The bicycle was also crushed in the mishap. The police rushed both the injured to the hospital where Subhash was declared brought dead and Rohit was referred to the PGI, where he is currently admitted.

Two of Subhash’s brothers work in the city. The driver of the CTU bus, Nirmal Singh, was arrested in a case of causing death due to negligence under Section 304 A of the IPC. The bus has been impounded.

A case has been registered at the Sector 17 police station.

Killer CTU buses

January 23, 2014: A 17-year-old girl, Rajni Yadav, died after being crushed under a

CTU bus at the ISBT- 17.

* May 9, 2013: Sharmila Gupta, a resident of Nayagaon, was killed when the Honda Activa scooter she was riding was hit by a CTU bus on the slip road on the Sector 10 side near Home Science College.

* July 2012: Schoolgirl Anupama was crushed under a CTU bus as she tried to board the bus in Sector 35. The bus ran over her leg and she succumbed to her injuries after a week at the PGI.

Dera Bassi, August 20
A 12-year-old student was killed after being hit by an Alto car near AAR Jain Model Senior Secondary School here today.

The deceased has been identified as Gourav, a resident of Dadpura Mohalla, Ward No. 13, Dera Bassi. Kewal Kumar, Gourav’s uncle, said the victim was on the way to school on his bicycle when the mishap occurred. He was stuck between the car and a streetlight poll on the road. He was taken to the local Civil Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

According to the police, the car driver has been identified as Himanshu, who is reportedly a minor. The police have registered a case against him and have impounded the car.

Chandigarh, August 20
Acting on a tip off that chemists in the city were not issuing bills, the UT Excise and Taxation Department today conducted surprise raids at five chemist shops in different parts of the city.

The shops raided were Kumar Brothers in Sector 11, Gupta Agencies Sector 24, Tirlok Chemists at the PGI, Shiv Medicos in GMCH, Sector 32, and another chemist shop in GMSH-16.

In the five-hour long raid, the taxation sleuths undertook stocktaking of the chemists. All the chemists had been asked to provide details of their sale proceeds.

The taxation officials also found that two chemists had set up godowns without getting the mandatory licence from the competent authority.

Excise and Taxation Commissioner Mohammed Shayin said the surprise check was conducted on the basis of information from the general public. It was also being verified whether the chemists were selling medicines marked as free samples.

“The exact evasion would be known once the entire record was scrutanised”, said the officials. The argument forwarded by the chemists was that due to the rush they could not issue bills on the spot.

The raids led to harassment among the patients at the PGI as they had to wait while the taxation officials were busy checking the records.

Chandigarh, August 20
The Narcotics Control Bureau’s recent crackdown on supply of a schedule K drug by a city-based-psychiatrist, has left other doctors in a fix.

The doctor was arrested for prescribing buprenorphine to OPD patients against rules that stipulate only patients at a de-addiction centre should be prescribed the drug. The other psychiatrists in the city, however, have now raised concern that patients needing the drug are mostly OPD patients and do not always need admission.

The Indian Association of Private Psychiatry gave representations to the Director, Health Service (DHS), Chandigarh, Dr VK Gagneja and Punjab, Dr Karamjeet, seeking clarity on rules for prescribing the drug.

The doctors, on the basis of their clinical experiences, said that if prescriptions remained limited to de-addiction inmates, a majority of patients abstaining from drugs may not get access to the right treatment.

The prominent representatives included Dr Puneet Kathuria, president, Indian Association of Private Psychiatry local chapter. Dr Satyen Sharma, secretary, Dr Neeraj Loona, Dr Sachin Kaushik, Dr Simmi Waraich, Dr Singla and Dr Sukhtej.

On August 15, the Narcotics Control Bureau booked a city-based doctor under the NDPS Act for allegedly stocking buprenorphine tablets. 

Chandigarh, August 20
A four-month survey carried by the UT Department of Food and Supplies to check the exact consumption of subsidised kerosene in the city found an excess supply of 108 kilo litre by the Union Petroleum Ministry.

The UT Administration has now decided to write to the ministry for reducing the supply. The reduced supply will check misuse and also save Rs 36 lakh per month for the ministry.

Following directions from the Deputy Commissioner, M Shayin, the survey was carried out by the Joint Director Food and Supplies, Danish Ashraf, and his team across eight depots. While the quarterly supply, at present is 888 kilo litre, the survey found that the actual consumption, by nearly 45,000 to 50,000 beneficiaries was of 780 kilo litre, said Ashraf. The survey was carried out from April to July, this year. — TNS

Chandigarh, August 20
Industrialists and traders of the city today met officials of the Estate Office in connection with collector rates. They demanded the collector rates be reduced.

ADC TPS Phoolka, Assistant Estate Officer (AEO) Balbir Singh Dhol and other officials concerned of the Estate office, attended the meeting. Chander Verma, chairman Converted Plot Owners Association, Kamaljit Singh Panchhi, president, Property Federation Association and Vinod Mittal, president, Chamber of Chandigarh Industries, representing the traders and industrialists attended the meeting. At the meeting, industrialists and traders submitted that in the Industrial Area collector rates for converted plots were more than double than the prevailing rates in the market. The difference between the actual sale price and the registry price will create major problem with the Income Tax Department that will charge capital gain tax on the registry amount, which will run into crores of rupees. They also submitted that national and multi – national companies were selling the built up area for much lesser than the collector rates being fixed by the Administration.

They also submitted that showrooms in Sector 26 was available for Rs 20 to 22 crore and collector rate for the same was about Rs. 45 crore, in that case, both the seller and the buyer would have to pay stamp duty on higher price and seller had to shellout capital gain on the amount which he had actually not received.

Officials of the Estate Office assured that they would prepare their report on collector rates based upon the submissions made by the traders and industrialists. The Deputy Commissioner will take the final decision, the officials told them.

Chandigarh, August 20
Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, a UT cadre officer, today took over as the new Chairman of Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB). He was earlier posted as the Administrator of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

A 1990-batch officer, Bhalla arrived today and after meeting senior UT officials took over the charge in the evening.

In addition to the responsibility of the CHB, he has been given the charge of the Secretary, Science and Technology, Environment Forests, Food and Supplies.

VP Singh, Commssioner, MC, was holding the additional charge of the CHB Chairman after the transfer of Satya Gopal to Mizoram.

Besides, another UT cadre officer, Dr SB Deepak Kumar, a 2005-batch officer and a former District Collector in Puducherry, joined the Chandigarh Administration. He has not been allocated any charge so far. He is likely to be given an independent charge of a Secretary by tomorrow. 

Mohali, August 20
The Mohali police claim to have got some leads on the robbery case in Phase VI, here, yesterday.

SSP Inder Mohan Singh Bhatti said today the police were working on the leads it had got so far and expected to solve the case soon. He said he could not share any information on the leads as it could hamper investigations. Three masked robbers looted about 410 gm of gold jewellery and Rs 10,000 at gunpoint from a house in Phase VI, here, yesterday afternoon.

Two women, Rajbala, and her daughter-in-law, Shikha, were at their house when the robbers struck. Rajbala’s husband, Dharam Pal, and her son, Puneet, were not at home at the time of the crime. Two robbers were carrying pistols while one was armed with a knife. They put a tape on Rajbala’s mouth and threatened both women. Meanwhile, Ram Kumar, whose parents were murdered in Phase IV on May 3, 2006, today demanded that the Phase VI robbery case be handed over to the CBI as he felt the state police “will not be able to nab the robbers”.Ram Kumar said there were certain similarities in the two cases. His family was also running a depot as in the case of the Phase VI family. — OC

Chandigarh, August 20
The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation today conducted an anti-defacement checking drive in various sectors, including Sectors 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15.

Dr Sarita Malik, Joint Commissioner, MC, was supervising the team during the drive.

Inspectors of the enforcement wing of the MC removed posters from walls in markets, electricity polls and roads in these sectors. Malik said action would be taken against defaulters and notices would be served to them in this regard tomorrow.

Chandigarh, August 20
The Secretary, Market Committee, has suspended the licence of two firms owned by Dinesh Mahajan, chairman of the Market Committee, Chandigarh, in the Sector 26 fruit and vegetable market.

The licence has been suspended for six months on the basis of finding of a committee that was probing into the alleged evasion of market fee by the firms owned by the committee chairman.

The Secretary, Mohammed Shayin, confirmed suspension of the licence. Last year, Dinesh Mahajan had been removed from the post of the chairman, Market Committee, Chandigarh, before being reinstated on court orders.

On being contacted, Dinesh Mahajan, said he was not aware of any such orders Last year, a surprise inspection was carried at the shop of Mahajan by a team of the market committee. — TNS

Chandigarh, August 20
The Chandigarh Beopar Mandal (CBM), in association with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), today organised a coin-cum-currency exchange mela at the State Bank of India (SBI) main branch, Sector 17.

In today’s programme, new currency notes and coins worth Rs 43 lakh were distributed among more than 250 traders.

On the demand of traders, Satya Narayan, DGM, RBI, has agreed to hold another coin mela after two weeks at ICICI Bank, Mani Majra, to supply coins and currency notes to the traders of Mani Majra.

Charanjiv Singh, president, CBM, while hailing the initiative of the RBI and the SBI, also appealed to the traders to make use of the facility.

Diwakar Sahoonja, chief patron of the CBM, said the Centre must expedite the introduction of plastic currency so that currency notes did not get mutilated during circulation. 

Chandigarh, August 20
Chaos prevailed at the civil dispensary in Dadu Majra after a contractor, while repairing a wall, cut down two trees on the premises at around 1 pm.

When the residents in the area objected, the contractor and workers tried to flee.

The residents shut the main gate of the dispensary and called the police. Two workers were nabbed by them.

The Dadu Majra Residents’ Welfare Association general secretary, Narinder Chaudhary, submitted a written complaint with the police, alleging illegal cutting of trees. “The contractor is illegally carrying out these activities. I tried to contact the Mayor but he did not answer my call. We then called the police and submitted a complaint,” said Chaudhary.

The dispensary officials said their jurisdiction was limited to medical facilities and they did not know whether permission was granted for cutting the trees.

Joint Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Rajiv Gupta, meanwhile, said: “We will look into the legal aspect and take action accordingly.”

Chaudhary also pointed out that the dispensary premises were being used for preparing paver blocks for installation on streets in Dadu Majra. He said it was occupying a lot of space meant for patients’ queues and parking of vehicles.

Chandigarh, August 20
In yet another incident of official apathy towards abandoned ailing persons, a maggot-infested man kept lying neglected at the emergency unit of Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32.

While the man kept suffering, none at the 24-hour emergency unit attended to him. A social activist, who happened to visit the unit late this evening to see another patient, saw the abandoned man and contacted the GMCH Director-Principal, Dr Atul Sachdev.

The activist, Shashishankar Tewari, said: “While initially Dr Sachdev sounded reluctant, he called me back after an hour and told me that the hospital staff had cleaned and dressed the man’s maggot-infested head.”

Tewari said the whole episode reflected poorly on the working of the Medical Superintendent of the hospital.

“The emergency medical officer told me that in such cases, the hospital needs permission from the Magistrate concerned to help the persons. I fail to understand why they failed to contact the official in the past three days?” questioned Tewari.

When this correspondent visited the Emergency at around 9.45pm, there was no one available at the special help desk (May I Help You) set up for assisting patients. The patient was lying on a trolley in the corridor. He was in a semiconscious state and could not speak. Despite repeated attempts, Dr Sachdev did not respond.

Last week, Chandigarh Tribune had highlighted the apathy of the UT Administration towards such abandoned persons. In past one year, four such cases were reported in these columns. To date, the city does not have a common helpline or dedicated service for extending help to such ailing persons. 

Zirakpur, August 20
Vijay Dutta, the president of Joint Action Coordination Committee (JACC), Zirakpur, ended his fast-unto-death after four days here today.

The civic body’s executive officer, Parminder Singh Sarao, accepted his demands and requested him to end the agitation.

Residents of nine societies, including Jamuna Enclave, Panchsheel Enclave, Chandigarh Enclave, Alpine Residency, Lajpat Enclave, Amolak Enclave, Sarv Manglam, Silver City and Friends Enclave, had been protesting against the municipal council for not providing them with basic civic amenities for the past decade.

The EO assured Dutta that works would be completed by September 20. The work relating to sanitation in the housing societies would commence from tomorrow, a press note issued by the JACC stated. 

Mohali, August 20
Fortis Hospital today announced the birth of triplets, the first ever at the multispeciality hospital.

The mother, Pooja Lalseta, and her three sons, Ansh, Aryan and Rishaan, are doing well and in good health, said the hospital authorities.

A team of gynaecologists, anaesthetics, neonatologists and paramedical staff ensured special follow-up care for the babies born prematurely at 33 weeks.

The babies were born on July 21. At birth, Ansh weighed 2.16 kg, Aryan 1.65 kg and Rishaan only 1.17 kg. Today, they weigh 2.6 kg, 2.1 kg and 1.5 kg respectively.

Pooja said, “My husband, Rishit Lalseta, and I are based in Australia but currently working in Tanzania. When we came to know that we were going to have triplets, our doctor ruled out long-distance travel to Australia. We were asked to choose between South Africa, Nairobi and India. We chose the Mohali hospital due to its proximity to Patiala, where my parents reside.”

Interestingly, sisters pf both Pooja and Rishit have earlier given birth to twins.

Mohali, August 20
Various programmes, including an awareness rally, poster-making, collage-making, slogan-writing and advocacy on the maximum use of renewable energy, marked the “ARISE-2014” celebrations, which is observed as Akshay Urja Diwas (Renewable Energy Day), on the campus of Chandigarh University, Gharuan.

Experts deliberated on issues pertaining to the overdependence of developed and developing countries on the exhaustible sources of energy like coal, oil and natural gas. This had resulted in the depletion of resources while the total world production of energy from renewable resources, which were available in plenty, was only 19.8 per cent.

Energy production in India was no different from the rest of the world as production from renewable resources was only 15.7 per cent of the total power generation. India currently ranked sixth among the energy producer countries in terms of energy being produced from non-conventional resources.

A team consisting of Navjot, Rohit and Rupinder won the first prize in collage-making, while Gagan Sharma coined the best slogan on renewable energy. Rijual Sharma won the poster-making competition. The winners were given mementos and certificates of merit.

Mohali, August 20
To get rid of Parthenium Hysterophorus, commonly called Congress grass, from residential areas and roadsides of Mohali district, a special campaign will be launched.

After the removal of this wild grass, saplings will be planted under the Green Mission initiated by the Punjab government.

Deputy Commissioner Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu has issued directions in this regard to executive engineers concerned and the District Development and Panchayat Officer.

In the letter, the Deputy Commissioner said the abundant growth of Congress grass on roadsides and vacant plots led to various health problems. Besides, chances of accidents increased due to the growth of this grass on the roadside, Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu stated.

The Deputy Commissioner said the target fixed for plantation of five lakh tree saplings should be completed during this season.

The Deputy Commissioner directed the District Development and Panchayat Officer to motivate village panchayats to plant more saplings so that a green and healthy environment could be maintained.

Chandigarh, August 20
Keeping in view the student council elections, all major parties are busy these days in submitting memorandums on various issues to the Panjab University authorities.

The Indian National Students Organization (INSO) raised the issue of maintenance in various departments. In its memorandum, the INSO raised the issue of canteen, water cooler in the Community Education Department, improvement and cutting of wild grass in open spaces of the South Campus, repair of fans and tubelights in the UIET and allocation of parking space in various departments.

Five members of the SOI, another student party, sat on an indefinite hunger strike outside Kasturba Hostel.

They alleged that yesterday the Dean Student Welfare had assured them that all their demands would be fulfilled. But since no action had been taken yet this regard, they sat on the hunger strike.

“The authorities have fulfilled the demands related to the BDS and UIET departments. But, 18 demands related to girls’ hostels have not been entertained accurately,” said Vicky Middukhera, a senior party leader.

The demands raised by the party include reading room in girls’ hostels, gymnasium and coffee house at the backside of Kasturba Hostel, extending late entry timings, reducing late entry fine to Rs 100 and 24X7 power supply in hostels on the South Campus.

The National Students Organisation (NSO) members also sat on a hunger strike in front of the Vice-Chancellor’s office. They objected to the ‘unfair’ means adopted by the authorities for admitting students to the SS Bhatnagar University Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology this year.

Chandigarh, August 20
The Himachal Pradesh Students’ Union (HPSU) today announced its campus panel for the upcoming student council elections.

The HPSU also announced the party panel - chairman Sahil Kharol, Department of Law; president Shubham Chandel, Department of UILS; vice-president Neha Mehta, Department of Masters of Library; general secretary Aman Negi; and joint secretary Kuldeep Kumar, Department of UICET.

The NSUI, another student party, also announced its campus panel in the presence of its workers today.

Bindu Grewal from the Public Administration Department was announced as the chairman and Manpreet Singh from the Police Administration Department was announced as the vice-president of the NSUI.

Among others, Namit Chhabra was announced as the general secretary from the UILS, Brahmjot was announced as general secretary from biophysics, Piyush Rana as general secretary from mathematics, Puneet Garg as general secretary from the UBS and Mohit as general secretary from the Botany Department. Aditya Seyal was given the post of BDS in charge in the South Campus.

Rishabh Meena, who was working as an active member of another party in the UIET, also joined the NSUI. Shravan Kumar and Sandeep Chaudhry from the UIET, who have been working for the welfare of students, are now in support of the NSUI and joined the party today.

The NSUI also announced Shivani Bisht and Gurleen as vice-presidents from the UILS and the Department of Anthropology, respectively.