Chandigarh, August 22
Chandigarh will become the first solar power city of the country. This was stated by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijuju, who was in the city to inaugurate a 200 kW solar power plant at the Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 42, today.

Talking to mediapersons, he said this plant was a pilot project for the city and the Union Government would provide all support needed by the city to become a model solar city. Appreciating the efforts made by the college to utilise solar energy, he said the Centre was ready to provide all possible assistance to the UT Administration to convert Chandigarh into a solar city.

He also inaugurated an auditorium at the college and said it would help students hone their skills in extra-curricular activities, which were an important part of education.

Local Member of Parliament Kirron Kher said she would put in efforts to make Chandigarh the first smart city of the country.

UT Adviser KK Sharma said solar energy was one of the focus areas of the city. He said development of educational and health infrastructure in the city was the priority of the Administration.

The auditorium has a seating capacity of 600 and has been built at a cost of Rs 5 crore in three years. The solar plant will cater to the entire energy needs of the college.

Mani Bedi, Principal of the college, said efforts were on to make the students technology savvy.

Kirron invites students to participate ‘India’s Got Talent’Kirron Kher invited students who performed at a cultural event to participate in the next season of “India’s Got Talent”. 

Chandigarh, August 22
A lab technician at the GMCH, Sector 32, was injured this morning after falling two levels from the ground floor into the basement when the slide doors of a lift opened while the lift was still on one of the upper floors and he stepped into the duct.

The incident took place at around 7.45 am when the technician, Jagtar Singh, entered the lift in Block C in a hurry to reach the operation theatre located on the third floor.

“Due to poor visibility, he could not see that the lift was missing. As he stepped inside, he fell into the lower basement. Waterlogging in the basement saved him from falling directly on the floor. He received an injury in the neck, but there are no fractures,” said Jagtar’s fellow worker.

A staff nurse who was waiting for the other lift saw him fall and raised the alarm. Soon, security guards rescued him and took him to the emergency.

The incident has exposed the poor maintenance of lifts. The lifts are used by hundreds of patients daily. Block C houses all operation theatres and private rooms.

The MS of the hospital, Dr AK Janmeja, said, “There was no technical fault in the lift. The technician might have opened it using the master switch and stepped into the duct. He is admitted to the hospital. His condition is stable.”

Chandigarh, August 22
Industrialists, traders, villagers and residents’ welfare associations want the Centre to remove UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil immediately.

In their one-point agenda submitted to Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who met them at the BJP office, Kamlam, in Sector 33, they demanded that the Centre should revive the Chief Commissioner system for the city.

Chandigarh, August 22
The largest ever batch of subordinate officers passed out from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force’s (ITBP) Basic Training Centre (BTC) at Bhanu near here today. As many as 358 officers joined the ranks of the force as sub-inspectors in the general cadre on culmination of their training.

This was also for the first time that the BTC, which was earlier mandated to train recruits as constables, trained subordinate officers. It will continue to train additional batches of subordinate officers to meet the requirements of expansion and restructuring that the ITBP is undergoing.

Addressing the gathering, Union Minister of State for Home, Kiren Rijiju, said that in view of the prevailing security situation, the government was sensitive to the operational and administrative requirements of the ITBP and also give due attention to the welfare of its personnel.

Giving an overview of the force’s role, ITBP Director General, Subhas Goswami, said that new training centres had been opened to cater to its current requirements. He said that the new officers underwent a tough 48-week regimen in weapon training, field craft, counter-insurgency operations and unit administration to mould them as effective leaders.

Exhorting the newly inducted officers to strive for professional excellence, Deputy Inspector General, BTC, HS Goraya, said that integrity and devotion to duty were the main traits of a soldier and they should never stray from the path of loyalty and commitment to the nation and the force.

The chief guest also gave away prizes for outstanding performance during training. The recipients are Y.Yuriyon (physical training), Amritpal Singh (drill), Ashok Singh (weapon handling), Birma Ram (firing) and Mayank Mal (sports).

The highest number of officers in the batch 61 were from Chattisgarh, followed by Haryana with 48 and Uttarakhand and Bihar with 41 each. A large number of senior officials and ITBP personnel, including Director General of Police, Haryana, SN Vashisht, Adviser to UT Administrator, KK Sharma, former ITBP chiefs, Army officers and representatives of the district administration were present on the occasion.

Chandigarh, August 22
The Minister of state for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, on his first official visit to the city set the priorities for the officials of the Chandigarh Administration.

It was after an interaction with BJP party leaders and the public at the BJP office, the minister directed officials to be responsive while dealing with the public and work towards enhancing the efficiency of the Administration. Members of the public complained that the UTofficials were not approachable.

He said that it should be ensured that all officials and employees of the Administration were punctual and reached their respective offices by the prescribed office hours and no file was kept pending on their table for more than three days to reduce pending work.

He directed the officials to ensure that the working areas should not be used as storage spaces for old files and the record should be digitised.

He told the UT officials to bring transparency, and accountability in their functioning.

The officials were asked to speed up implementation of various projects. He assured the UT officials of taking up all the pending issues with the ministries concerned.

In the city for a day visit, the minister reviewed various development projects of the city at a meeting held at the UT Guest House here.

A spokesman of the UT said the minister was informed about the major achievements of the Administration in 2014. He was appraised of the Slum Rehabilitation Project, IRB project, police housing and buildings, strengthening of transport system, betterment of schools, colleges and municipal services among others.

The Draft Master Plan of Chandigarh and the development of the city as a Model Solar City were also part of the discussion. The officials also discussed the utilisation of the annual budget 2014 and the new schemes/initiatives planned for 2014-2015.

The minister was also apprised of the pending proposals which required approval from the Centre like sanction for creation of new posts, regularisation of certain contractual employees, modernisation of the police force, among other projects. Certain issues requiring consideration of the Ministry of Home Affairs were also discussed.

Later, the minister held discussion with the Member of Parliament (MP) from Chandigarh, Kirron Kher about the issues pertaining to the city.

Chandigarh, August 22
Home Minister of State Kiren Rijiju today said democratic rights of city residents will be protected. While talking to mediapersons, Rijiju said being a Union Territory, issues of Chandigarh were different as compared to other states. But he assured that the Administrative set up would not come in the way of providing democratic rights to residents here.

On reviving the Chief Commissioner system in the city after the removal of disturbed area tag from Chandigarh, Rijiju said residents and local leadership brought this point o his notice and he would discuss the issue with senior ministers in Delhi.

Before this, while addressing BJP workers at the party office in Sector 33, Rijiju said all long-pending files in which the problems of residents were addressed would be cleared very soon. He said that the Modi government was different from other governments in terms of functioning and they would work as per law and order, he said.

Before this, Sanjay Tandon, local BJP president, gave warm welcome to Kiren Rijiju . MP Kirron Kher also took up issues of lal dora, employees housing scheme and other problems with the minister. On this occasion, former MP Satya Pal Jain and senior BJP leader Harmohan Dhawan were also present.

Chandigarh, August 22
A day after a 36-year-old safai karamchari employed with the UT’s Public Health Department, Satbir Singh, died while cleaning a blocked sewer line near the Lake Club, the post-mortem report indicated vasovagal shock as the cause of death.

No internal or external injury marks were found in his body and viscera was sent for analysis.

Satbir Singh was sitting near a 10-foot-deep gutter after removing its cover when he inhaled the gas and fell into it.

The incident took place at around 10.45 am yesterday. The body was brought out by personnel of the fire brigade. The victim was rushed to the hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

What is vasovagal shock

It is a reflex in the nervous system, triggered due to scare or frightfulness, and leads to slowdown in the heart rate. Due to the shock, blood tends to flow down to the legs instead of head.

Experts estimated that as Satbir fell suddenly, he might have suffered the shock.

Panchkula, August 22
The Department of Excise and Taxation, Haryana, launched “Apna Tax Scheme” here today. Rajeev Chaudhary, Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner (ST), Panchkula, said under the scheme, people can forward an image of any invoice to the department on WhatsApp, a mobile phone application. The mobile number of the department for the service is 9501022222.

Chaudhary urged people to demand an invoice every time they make a purchase in Haryana. He said people should prepare an image of the invoice issued to them and forward it to the Department of Excise and Taxation, Haryana, on WhatsApp.

The DETC said it would help the department in reconciliation of accounts of the sellers and would ensure that the tax paid by customers reached the government treasury.

Mohali, August 22
A new motor market for repair of vehicles will come up at Balongi near here. District Planning Committee chairperson Amanjot Kaur Ramoowalia said this during a meeting of members of the Beopar Mandal with officials at the office of the Municipal Corporation here today. She said the GMADA had allotted land for the market and work on it would start soon. She said small motor markets in various parts of the town would be shifted to the new location.

Deputy Commissioner Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu said a single-window system would be started to enable traders get various permissions relating to their work at one place. On sales tax problems faced by traders at the Balongi and Matour barriers, he said he would take up the matter with the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner. SSP Inder Mohan Singh Bhatti urged traders to inform the police about any suspicious activity in their areas. Municipal Commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta said CCTV cameras would be installed in various markets.

Mohali, August 22
The Punjab School Education Board Karamchari Association held a rally at the office of the board here today. MP Prem Singh Chandumajra received a memorandum of demands from the protesters and assured them that he would take these up with the Deputy Chief Minister and the board authorities.

The demands include the payment of rent to the board by offices of the Education Department running on the premises of the board, filling of 49 vacant posts of superintendent, regularisation of the services of employees who had completed three years of service, filling of 300 posts of clerk, promotion of masters working in Adarsh Schools as lecturers and the payment of Rs 129 crore to the board by the Punjab Government for the supply of books.

The protesters warned that if their demands were not accepted, they would hold protests at the regional offices of the board and Adarsh Schools. — OC

Chandigarh, August 22
A delegation of the Federation of Sectors Welfare Association Chandigarh (FOSWAC) today met Kiren Rijiu, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs to put forward their demands.

The memorandum submitted by FOSWAC members focused on regularisation of need -based changes in the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) dwelling units. “Transfer of ownership rights of the houses and conversion from leasehold to freehold have also been raised”, said FOSWAC Chairman Baljinder Singh.

The issue of restoration of the Chief Commissioner’s post in Chandigarh was also raised through the memorandum.

Chandigarh, August 22
Lt Gen KJ Singh, AVSM, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GoC-in-C), Western Command, Chandimandir, today called upon the industry tojoin hands with the Indian Army in its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives mandated by the new Companies Act 2013. The act makes its mandatory for large-scale companies of various categories to spend at least 2 per cent of their profits for CSR activities.

He was addressing the industry, civil society organisations (CSOs), institutes, academicians and NGOs at the CII CSR-CSO Bridge 2014 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at its headquarters in Sector 31, here today.

“It is learnt that around 8,000 Indian companies will fall in this category and it is expected to raise around Rs 25,000 crore for the CSR activities.The Indian Army will be a strong contender to get a good share out of this huge amount in order to continue its social initiatives for the have-nots like building schools, skill building, hospitals, providing infrastructure support, micro-hydel projects etc even in areas where civilians cannot reach”, informed the GoC-in C.

He also shared the details of the Army Welfare Placement Organisation, Northern Region, so that the industry can collaborate easily. He also shared the toll free number - 1800119922 and his email id singhkayjay@rediffmail.com for related purposes.“It’s high time now when the government, NGOs and corporates should take a lead in terms of taking CSR to the next level as the national agenda. To see the actual implementation of CSR in our country, we need to develop good corporate citizenship. In the corporate sector, we should look forward to redefining the term stakeholder. It is the responsibility of the topline of the society to make sure that the profit percolates to the bottom line as they are the actual stakeholders”, shared Harpal Singh, chairman, Nanhi Chhaan Foundation.

Chandigarh, August 22
The recent case of the unidentified maggot-infested person lying at GMCH, Sector 32 Emergency, has once again exposed the apathy of the UT Administration in ensuring a centralised care service for such persons in the city.

All the three government hospitals in the city, PGIMER, GMCH-32 and GMSH-16, find atleast two to three unidentified such patients dropped by the police in emergencies everyday, without having any clue where they should be sent after treatment.

This unidentified patient, according to sources in the Emergency, was dropped by the police five days ago. He was kept without treatment for the initial two days and after Chandigarh Tribune highlighted the issue, the GMCH-32 authorities took note of his ailment. Nearly two weeks ago, a person was found with similar condition lying alongside the road in Panchkula and was taken to the PGI. He is currently admitted in the surgery Ward of the Advanced Trauma centre, his identity is also unknown. In fact, in the past one year, more than five similar cases have been reported in Chandigarh. The Administration has not yet geared up to assist such patients in tracking their families. When sked as to why the UT Red Cross Society was not being empowered to take the initiative? DC M Shayin said, “We will look into the matter”. 

Five similar cases reported in one year

All three government hospitals in the city, PGIMER,GMCH-32 and GMSH-16, find atleast two to three unidentified such patients dropped by the police in emergencies everyday, without having any clue where they should be sent after treatment. In fact, in the past one year, more than five similar cases have been reported in Chandigarh. 

Mohali, August 22
The Punjab School Education Board authorities have written to the state government to take departmental action against three officers of the Education Department in connection with the alleged tampering with of answer sheets of the Class XII examinations held last year.

According to reports, the persons named by the board in the case are principal Harbhajan Singh (now deceased), principal Vinod Kumar Rawal and Bikramjit Singh, DPE.

The alleged tampering with of answer sheets of chemistry and biology subjects in the Class XII examinations held in March 2013 is reported to have surfaced during the re-checking.

The matter was probed by a former Sessions Judge, OP Garg. The preliminary probe found that the three persons were allegedly involved in the incident. Clarifications sought from the accused were not found to be satisfactory.

The tampered answersheets were related to the examination centre at Government Senior Secondary School (Boys), Samrala. The board authorities have scrapped the examination centre.

Tampering with answer sheets
The matter was probed by a former Sessions Judge, OP Garg. The preliminary probe found that the three persons were allegedly involved in the incident. Clarifications sought from the accused were not found to be satisfactory.

Chandigarh, August 22
The “violence-free campus” campaign launched by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) took a violent turn when party workers tried to forcefully enter the Panjab University Vice-Chancellor’s office here today.

After the recent incidents of violence involving the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), Gandhi Group Students’ Union (GGSU) and Panjab University Students’ Union (PUSU) workers, the ABVP decided to hold a campaign to make the university campus violence-free.

However, on failing to meet the VC to submit their memorandum, the ABVP workers tried to breach the security outside his office by removing the barricades placed there and climbing the entry gates. They also had heated arguments with the security staff deployed there. The drama went on for more than half an hour.

The party workers were finally pacified on the intervention of the chief security officer Jatinder Grover and senior officials of the university.

Chandigarh, August 22
A day after violence on the Panjab University campus, the police arrested two Panjab University Students’ Union (PUSU) leaders before releasing them on regular bail here today.

The duo, PUSU president Sehajpal Singh Sidhu and campus president Satwinder Singh Nawal, along with others, including a city-based model, were named in an FIR for making obscene gestures at a female candidate of the NSUI on August 21.

Police officials said a probe had been initiated to find the duo’s involvement in violence. Sub-Inspector Usha Devi said efforts were on to nab the other suspects.

After the spate of violence involving PUSU, Gandhi Group Students’ Union (GGSU) and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), two FIR’s were lodged against nine PUSU and GGSU leaders on the complaint of NSUI workers at the Sector 11 police station.

The nine leaders include Sahejpal, Naval, Aman Kamboj, Harman Virk, Aarman Cheema, Lovely, Gagan Chattha, Shanky Dhiman and Antar.

While one case was registered for rioting, causing hurt, criminal intimidation and damaging NSUI workers’ cars under Sections 147, 148, 149, 323, 341, 506 of the IPC, another case of passing lewd comments was registered under Sections 34, 294 and 506.

Leaders deny involvement

PUSU leaders, meanwhile, rubbished the allegations about their involvement in the campus violence. During a press conference, they said the NSUI leaders were making a false allegation. They said when the incident took place, they were holding a protest at one of the departments on the campus.

Chandigarh, August 22
NSUI chief patron Simranjeet Gill, a student of Punjabi department who has been sitting on hunger strike for past three days, was rushed to the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, after her condition deteriorated late this evening.

She was taken to the emergency unit at around 10 pm and was being administered glucose at the time of filing of this report.

NSUI leader Manoj Lubana, who took her to the hospital, said none of the PU officials turned up to enquire about the well-being of Simranjeet and other two students sitting on hunger strike outside Girls’ Hostel No. 8 on the South Campus.

The other two protesters are Siya of the UILS and Malvika of the English Department.

They have been demanding gate pass for students going to the library at night, rolling back of guest charges, increase in the number of guest entries per month and permission for late entry to the hostel.

Panchkula, August 22
Striking guest teachers blocked the road in front of the Shiksha Sadan violating Section 144 of the CrPC imposed in a part of Sector 5 here today.

Up in arms against the government, over 300 members of Rajkiya Anumbandhit Adhyapak Sangh, Haryana, broke the police barricades and staged a dharna in front of the Shiksha Sadan for almost two hours. The protesters raised anti-government slogans and accused the state government of not fulfilling their demands.

State president of the Sangh Dinesh Yadav and secretary Bhupinder Singh besides women leaders also addressed the gathering.

The protesters, who have been agitating here for the past 26 days, are demanding regularisation of their services.

A delegation of the protesters had met Haryana Chief Secretary RS Doon on Thursday and gave him a memorandum of demands but to no avail, claimed Bhupinder Singh, adding that they would intensify the protest in case their demands were not met.

To avoid any untoward incident, the district administration had deployed heavy police force, including women cops, at the protest site.