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Govt schools reopen to thin presence Chandigarh, July 1 Those who attended classes were in a relaxed mood and exchanged notes on places they visited during the vacations. A teacher in a government senior secondary school told Chandigarh Tribune that some students were yet to return after the vacations. Apprehending thin presence of students, some teachers were also
on leave. Officials in the UT Education Department said the school timings would remain the same. Meanwhile, the Education Department is all set for counselling to admit students to Class XI. On the first day of the counselling tomorrow, students of the reserved categories will be admitted. The counselling will continue till July 17. |
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Sacred Heart student dies in accident Chandigarh, July 1 The commuters and other residents of the area complain that since after the functioning of a multiplex in this locality, the vehicular traffic has increased to manifold, thus making the road accident-prone. The police has not installed any traffic light at this point to streamline the flow of traffic. The number of accidents has increased at this intersection in the last six months in the absence of permanent traffic police personnel here. Residents and the road users have demanded a traffic light point here so that precious lives could be saved Jaspreet Kaur Bindra (15), a student of Class XI, and her mother, Mrs Ravinder Kaur, Bindra (45), were riding their way back home, located in Shivalik Enclave, Mani Majra, from General Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula, when the truck (HR-37-7247) rammed into their scooter (Kinetic Honda CH-01-6980) from behind. After the collision, both the riders collapsed following which the girl died on the spot due to severe head injuries, while her mother had a
miraculous escape who sustained
According to eyewitnesses, Mrs Ravinder Kaur was driving the scooter while Jaspreet Kaur was riding pillion without helmet. The truck driver sped away from the scene. Soon after noticing the accident, a gentleman sounded the alert and chased the truck for a long distance on his scooter but failed to stop the vehicle and nab the truck driver. Passersby and other persons of the locality assembled at the spot and rushed the injured Ravinder Kaur to the General Hospital in Sector 16, Chandigarh. Later the body of the girl was taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Sector 32, Chandigarh. Jaspreet Kaur was a meritorious student of her school and had secured 93.2 per cent mark in matriculation examinations conducted by the CBSE in March, 2004. Her parents were preparing Jaspreet Kaur to sit for IAS examination, a member of the family revealed. Soon after the news of the accident spread, family members and other relatives started reaching the hospital. Her father Davinder Singh Bindra, a former manager with a tyre manufacturing company, was unconsolable at the hospital. The police has registered a case of negligent driving causing grievous injuries against the truck driver at the Mani Majra police station. |
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Hardip threatens
to sue Mann Singh Mohali, July 1 In a press conference organised here today Mr Hardeep Singh asked his main contender Maan Singh Sohana to prove his allegations within 24 hours or he would file defamation suit against him. Mr Maan Singh Sohana had alleged before the press that Mr Hardeep Singh had used SGPC money to make a film. ‘‘I have not used a single penny of the SGPC. I had given SGPC a proposal but it did not agree. So I took help from like-minded friends and we created something which had never been done by any other Sikh organisation,’’ said Mr Hardeep Singh. Mr Hardeep Singh added that he would approach the courts if Mr Maan Singh did not apologise to him within the next 24 hours. ‘‘I will file a defamation suit against him if he does not apologise," he said. ‘‘It is Mr Maan Singh who has stooped down to bringing in personal remarks in the campaign. If I want I too can point it out to the voters that Mr Maan Singh got baptised only 15 days ago in Amritsar and that his children have shorn their hair and wear earrings,’’he said. Mr Hardeep Singh alleged that Mr Maan Singh misinformed the Election Commissioner about the fact that he was a baptised sikh in order to file his nominations. ‘‘After filing his nominations he rushed to Amritsar to be baptised. He started his campaign on a lie,’’ he said. Mr Hardeep Singh issued a press note listing the names of the presidents of various gurdwaras in Mohali who are supporting him in his campaign. This included Mr Tarlochan Singh Loch, Mr Surjit Singh
Maan, Mr Balwinder Singh, Mr Kabal Singh, Mr Dalip Singh Mali and Mr Devinder Singh Rana. |
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BAMS aspirants’ ordeal continues Chandigarh, July 1 Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, the Vice-President of the college, Dr Naresh Mittal, said, “If we charge Rs 55,000, we cannot provide quality education, nor can we give salaries to our staff. Either the administration should allow us to have 50 per cent management seats, or it should let us charge Rs 81,600 as the annual fee.” Meanwhile, the centralised medical admission counselling committee, headed by its coordinator and Director-Principal, Prof H.M. Swami, today conducted the admissions to SD Ayurvedic college without charging the fee. In all, the names of 31 students were cleared and recommended for admission to SD Ayurvedic College at the counselling session, but they have been asked to submit the fee at the college itself in the absence of college representatives. It is a deviation from the norm where the fee is deposited at the time of the counselling itself. The controversy over the fee issue started yesterday when SD Ayurvedic College decided to charge Rs 81,600 per student as the annual fee at the time of counselling while the fee mentioned in the common prospectus was only Rs 55,000. Parents and students, who had gathered outside the office of Professor Swami this evening, rued that even as the names had been cleared for admission and their original documents were with the counselling authorities, they were still in the dark about the fee or if the college would accept the admissions at all. Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Professor Swami said he knew the problems being faced by parents. “We have now asked the parents to deposit money at the college itself within two days. If the college fails to do so, the authorities will take action,’’ he said. Earlier in the day, Professor Swami met the UT’s Medical Education Secretary, Mr R.S. Gujral, to sort out the matter.
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Liberhan hurt in accident, admitted to hospital Chandigarh, July 1 Doctors attending to Justice Liberhan told The Tribune that he had a fracture in his left leg, which was operated . The Justice has been recovering in a private ward of the hospital. The accident occured at around 5 am when Justice Liberhan was on his way back from Delhi to Chandigarh. As his Lancer car reached near Ghanaur town, it was hit by an Indica car. Justice Liberhan was then admitted to the Prem hospital in Panipat and was accompanied by the Superintendent of Police, Panipat , Dr Suman Manjri. After getting the first-aid from the hospital, Justice Liberhan left for Chandigarh. Other occupants in the car, including Ms Janki Sodhi, sustained minor injuries, while Justice Liberhan's personal assistant and the driver escaped unhurt. Incidentally
it was only yesterday that the Liberhan Commission probing the sequence of the events leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, had completed the oral arguments and the evidence after more than 11 years of its constitution. |
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NCC introduces changes in girls' training Chandigarh, July 1 "Our endeavour is to raise the strength of girls to 33 per cent of the total strength," the Additional Director General, Major-Gen Rakesh Dass said here today. "Presently, girls make up for just about 17 per cent of the strength," he added. General Dass made a brief stopover here while on the way to Shimla on an official visit. He assumed his present assignment about a month ago and is touring Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh to inspect NCC establishments. General Dass said that towards this extent, the NCC was going in for mixed battalions, comprising boys as well as girls. A specified number of vacancies in boys' units will be filled by girls, though some aspects of the training will be undertaken separately. Though no time frame has been stipulated to bring the girls' strength to 33 per cent, the visiting General said that they intended to do so as soon as possible. In some states it could be achieved quickly, while it could take time in certain states. He said while girls' training curriculum had been modified as a large number of girls opted to join the services, he added that there had been demands from girl cadets that some vacancies should be reserved for C-Certificate holders in training institutions, as is the case with boy cadets. NCC is replacing the existing World War-II vintage .303 bolt action rifles with 7.62 mm self loading rifles. These will also be introduced in girls' units for drill purposes. Earlier girls' units used the small calibre .22 rifle based on the .303 rifle. General Dass also said that the NCC would try to get more out of the states, whether it was in terms of financial contribution, giving preference to NCC activities or incentives to cadets. "We feel that cadets must get dividends from NCC and his efforts and incentives given to him must be recognised," he said. He said that the scope of NCC activities would also increase, with more cadets taking part in social activities like AIDS awareness campaigns, cleanliness drives, ecological protection and blood donation. An all-woman's expedition to Mount Everest is also scheduled for next year, in which NCC girls would be taking part, General Dass said. The expedition, which was earlier an all-NCC show, would now include women Army officers as well as some girls from Ladakh. |
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Sharma to serve on National Security Advisory Board Chandigarh, July 1 NSAB is an important wing of the National Security Council which advises the government on security-related issues. A communication to this effect has been received from Mr. J.N. Dixit, National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister. The founder Director of the Energy Research Centre, Panjab University, Dr. Sharma, has converted Chandigarh into a city with the highest per capita alternative energy user in the Asia Pacific. He has been a visiting Professor to the University of Forida, USA, in addition to being an active contributor to programmes pertaining to energy conservation globally. Professor Sharma has done pioneering work in Thermal Energy Storage, Indoor Air Quality, Energy Conservation and Energy Management. As a Commonwealth Secretariat Expert and Consultant to various foreign countries, he has been instrumental in transferring technologies in Asia Pacific, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Dr. Sharma’s contribution can be gauged from the survey conducted by the National Council for Agricultural Research which states that the research conducted by his Centre in improving cooking stoves has resulted in saving 7 million tonnes of wood per year in addition to saving 7 million families from pollutants equivalent to smoking 200 cigarettes per day. Winner of Surya Award (National Award for Promotion of Rural Energy Technologies) and Best Teacher Award, Dr. Sharma’s work under National Programme on improved environmentally efficient cookstoves resulted in Haryana bagging eight national awards. |
MC to develop 150 acres in Mani Majra Chandigarh, July 1 The UT Administrator, Justice O.P. Verma, asked the Municipal Corporation to give final touches to the development of vacant acquired land in Mani Majra. Meanwhile, Estate Officer was asked to transfer 150 acres of land in Mani Majra in phases to the Municipal Corporation. The Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Mr M.P. Singh will send a final plan for the development of 150 acres so that the area could be developed expeditiously. Justice Verma said the Mani Majra area should be planned in accordance with the conceptual plan of Chandigarh. Besides, housing colonies should also have best education facilities and high-tech institutions in the area, he added. Expressing concern over the fact that cycle tracks constructed all over the city were not being optimally utilised, Justice Verma said the Chandigarh Traffic Police should launch a concerted drive to divert all slow moving traffic on the tracks. The Chief Engineer was asked to remove obstructions, if any, on the tracks expeditiously. The Administrator expressed concern over a lax enforcement by various authorities as far as the issue of encroachment of verandahs of various shopping centres was concerned. He said these encroachments, though temporary, were nuisance to the public and were obstructing the movement of pedestrians. The Administrator said goods kept by the shopkeepers or hawkers that were creating nuisance to the general public should be removed. |
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Uninterrupted power
supply to Panchkula Panchkula, July 1 Officials in the UHBVN say while one 66-KV sub-station is proposed to come up in Sector 20, the other will be set up either in Sector 16 or 17. Initially, the capacity of the sub-stations will be 16 MVA each, and it will be increased over a period of time. Other than this, a 66-KV sub-station in Sector 3, with a capacity of 7.5 MVA, is likely to be commissioned this month. It will ensure that an alternative system of power supply to the township is complete. The ring main circuit, joining the 220 KV Ramgarh- Madanpur sub-station to the 132-KV Pinjore sub-station and the 66 KV line from Dhulkot, forming a ring, would connect all 10 existing sub-stations and proposed sub-stations in the district . This would ensure an alternative transmission system for supplying power in the district, in case one of the high tension transmission lines develops a snag. The Executive Engineer, UHBVN, Panchkula, Mr M.R. Murari says, “After the sub-station in Sector 3 is commissioned, the circuit (transmission lines) will be placed to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the township.” Panchkula is the second urban settlement in Haryana to get a ring main circuit, after it has been commissioned in Faridabad. The circuit has been created to facilitate the development of IT Park in Mansa Devi Complex. As of now, the district has a daily requirement of 15. 89 lakh units for approximately 97,000 consumers. The power to the township is through two main sources — a 132-KV sub-station at Pinjore , which gets power supply through the central pool from the Ropar Thermal Power Plant; and the 220-KV sub-station at Ramgarh- Madanpur, which gets its supply from the 400-KV sub-station of National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) at Abdullapur at Jagadhari through Shahabad. |
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Frequent power cuts
fume residents Chandigarh, July 1 “The electricity office has been unable to give any satisfactory answers as far as the power situation is concerned. Their only one line answer is that the order comes from Patiala and they can do nothing to help us out,” claims a villager. While power situation is at its worse in the village, the trouble of the villagers has doubled with water supply, too, suffering on account of the frequent power cuts. The village has four tubewells of which two have been out of order for a couple of years. The other two are not sufficient to cater to the requirements of the village. Water is made available for just over an hour every morning. At that time, too, the water pressure is low and people get only enough time to store water for drinking purposes. The villagers have been told that the problem would ease slightly after the arrival of the monsoon in the region. |
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Memorable experience for Chandigarh Eagles Chandigarh, July 1 About a hundred officers, including some invited serving officers along with their wives, were present at the occasion. Among those present was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lieut-Gen J J Singh, and his father, Col Jaswant Singh Marwah (retd), an EME officer who had been commissioned into the British Indian Army in 1943. The seniormost Eagle to be present was Brig W.S. Choudhary, a 1947 commissioned officer, who, by virtue of his seniority is president of the local chapter of the association. The gathering included the Major- General, EME, Western Command, Major-Gen A.K. Kher and three retired general officers. The social get-togethers are hosted periodically by retired officers in rotation. |
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Pawan Bansal
visits madarsa Chandigarh, July 1 He also interacted with the students. His association with the madrassa is not new. In fact, the building was constructed in 2003 with the MP’s Local Area Development Fund of Rs 2.84 lakh given by
Mr Bansal. The madrassa was set up in 1975, but English medium were introduced from April 1 for junior
students. There are nearly 300 students in the madrassa from Class I to Class 8. They are instructed in Hindi and are taught
languages, including Arabic, French and Urdu. Addressing the gathering, Mr Pawan Bansal said: “I will also work for the development of the children”. Madrassa’s general secretary Maulvi Shakil Ahmed and secretary Imran Khan were present during the function. |
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Free foodgrains for senior citizens Chandigarh, July 1 All senior citizens who are eligible for old-age pension under the National Old-Age Pension Scheme but not been getting the same are being covered under the scheme, the Director Food and Supplies, Chandigarh Administration, Mr Arun Kumar said. He urged upon the senior citizens to avail benefits under the Centre-sponsored scheme Annapurna. Mr Arun Kumar said the eligibility criteria for the beneficiaries would be that the applicant should be above the age of 65 years in case of men and 60 years in case of women. The applicant should be a resident of Chandigarh for the last three years and his/her monthly income should not exceed Rs 1,000 per month, if one of the husband and wife was alive, and if both were alive the monthly income should not exceed Rs 1,500 per month. He said other details of the scheme could be obtained from the office of the Department of Food and Supplies, basement annexe of the Municipal Corporation building, Sector 17, Chandigarh. |
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Mango mela from July 10 Chandigarh, July 1 While stating this here today, an official spokesman said apart from organising competitions for different varieties of mangoes and their products, a number of other competitions would also be organised during the festival. He said in all, there would be four categories for the contests. In category ‘A’, there would be a contest of commercial varieties of mangoes for organisations, departments and universities. In category ‘B’, there would also be a contest on commercial varieties of mangoes, but it would be open to individuals only. The contest in ‘C’ category would be for products made of mango and it would be open to organisations, departments, universities and manufacturers. In category ‘D’, there would also be a contest of mango products, but it would be open to individuals, including housewives. He said entries for the contests of mangoes and their products would be received at 7 a.m. on July 10. The judging would be done at 2 p.m. and the festival would formally be inaugurated at 5 p.m. The other attractions of the first day included rangoli and decoration of mango seeds. Pop singer Harjeet Harman and Harleen Kohli would perform at 7 p.m. which would be followed by fireworks at 8 p.m. He said the attractions of the second day would include fency dress competition, cooking of various mango dishes, mango cut-out competition, tambola and a competition on eating mangoes. The prizes would be distributed the same evening at 5.30 p.m. Pop singer Shankar Sawhney would also perform. |
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Teams to check quality of
polythene bags Chandigarh, July 1 The Deputy Commissio-ner, Mr Arun Kumar, at a meeting with officers of the Environment Department and the municipal corporation, directed the teams to check manufacturers and retailers at various places, and said anybody found using sub-standard polythene bags would face action. Use of colour and poor-quality polythene is considered a health hazard and it pollutes the environment and also spoils foodstuffs. It also chokes sewerage and water-supply pipelines. |
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Mahavir is coop society
administrator Chandigarh, July 1 The DC used his powers conferred by Section 27 of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1961, and superceded the managing committee of the society. Complaints had been received regarding use of sub-standard material in the construction of houses, not holding any meeting of the general body of the society for the past three years and not conducting elections of the society. |
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Electricity Dept employees
float union Chandigarh, July 1 The new union said there had been a great resentment amongst the employees regarding the implementation of the orders of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for re-casting of seniority list of assistant lineman, linemen on the basis of the PSEB, employees recruitment regulation, 1972, and grant of promotions from the retrospective effect. The outburst of the resentment today resulted into formation of the new union. All workers and employees were of the unanimous view that Mr Bhag Mal Rana, general secretary of the UT Powermen Union, had failed to get the demands accepted. The following have been elected office-bearers of the union: chairman — Mr Bal Krishan; president — Mr Hans Raj; general secretary — Mr Ravinder Goel; senior vice-president — Mr Prem Singh Bhandari; vice-president — Mr Gurmail Singh; joint secretary — Mr Kashmir Singh; cashier — Mr Roshan Lal; and organising secretary — Mr Tajinder Joshi. |
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Tribune Trust officers’ body Chandigarh, July 1 |
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Osho meditation
camp today Panchkula, July 1 |
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Lord Shiva aarti Chandigarh, July 1 |
Retd Colonel, kin
duped of Rs 2 lakh Chandigarh, July 1 Colonel G. S. Chhatwal (retd) of Sector 11, Chandigarh, complained to the Crime Branch that S. S. Satija, his wife Janaki Rani and son Mukesh Satija took Rs 60,000 from his 82-year-old father-in-law J. S. Kochar, Rs 50,000 from his brother-in-law G. S. Kapoor, Rs 40,000 from his wife Mrs Mala Chhatwal and Rs 50,000 from him. Mr Chhatwal alleged that the trio befriended them before getting Rs 2 lakh for investment in what he called a
multi-national company, Net Khazana. They were also promised that they would get a monthly income of Rs 10,000 from the investment. No receipt was issued for seven days. The trio allegedly also gave them cheques to get the money back if the money was not invested. This happened in August and September, 2003. Mr Chhatwal alleged that neither the money was invested nor returned. When they presented the cheques at the bank they found that the accounts of the S.S. Satijas had been closed. The victims said they tried to contact the Satija family but their address turned out to be fake. Mr Chhatwal said he later came to know that the trio was running a family business from World Trade, New Delhi. The name of their business venture is Shanti Info Media, according to the Chhatwal. |
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Student fails in exam, ends life Chandigarh, July 1 The victim, Lucky, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at his house in Mauli Jagran when the police was called. No suicide note has been recovered from the spot. Lucky’s father Balkar Singh and his mother were away when the incident took place. Balkar told the police that his son was upset after he again flunked in the examination. |
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Property dealer booked
for fraud Chandigarh, July 1 The complainant, Ms Avtar Kaur, alleged that she struck a deal with Chhabra for a 10-marla plot, house number 1274, in Sector 44-B, for Rs 34 lakh. She gave an advance of Rs 5 lakh to the property dealer who claimed that US-based property owner Suman had authorised him to sell the plot and that she would be present at the time of registry of the land. However, Suman did not turn up. Ms Avtar Kaur demanded the money back from the property dealer who returned only Rs 2.5 lakh and refused to give back rest of the amount. A case of cheating has been registered at the Sector 34 police station. |
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Ex-police official’s wife held, released Mohali, July 1 According to the police, the car involved in the accident was also impounded and released through court orders this morning. The accident took place here on Monday leading to the death of Manjit Kaur, a 53-year-old resident of Sector 27, Chandigarh. Manjit Kaur’s husband, Sukhdev Singh, who was also hurt in the accident, is fighting for his life in the PGI. The police said the car was registered in a house in Sector 39, Chandigarh, was, however, in the name of Sharanjit Kaur. The car was impounded from the house of the retired police official, Mr Mohinder Singh, in Mohali. The AIG’s wife, Charanjit Kaur, is working with the Punjab Technical Board. |
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Girl consumes poison, survives Mohali, July 1 According to the SHO,
Sohana, Mr Vinod Sharma, Sonia lives with her mother, Pal Kaur, in the village. Her father, Nek Ram, had died some years ago. Sonia suffered from a medical problem and was “mentally disturbed”. |
Chandigarh to set
up apple mandi Chandigarh, July 1 The UT Administrator, Justice O.P. Verma (retd) today asked the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Arun Kumar, to submit a plan for the construction of modern state-of-art, mechanized “apple mandi” in Grain Market - in Maloya. This mandi located on the road entering from Ludhiana into Chandigarh is expected to be operational from next year. Chandigarh has emerged as the nodal marketing and distribution centre for Punjab and Haryana for the apple crop. |
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State Bank Day celebrated Mohali, July 1 Sweets were distributed among disabled soldiers at the Paraplegic Home in Phase VI here. Mr G.P. Khetarpal, Chief Manager, distributed the sweets among all patients who suffered injuries in the Kargil and other wars and also among members of their families. CHANDIGARH: The State Bank of India celebrated Bank Day here. The bank, which succeeded the Imperial Bank of India on July 1, 1955, has global operations covering 54 offices in 28 countries. As part of the celebrations, the bank will organise a musical evening by Shubha Mudgal at Jamshedji Bhaba Auditorium, NCPA, Mumbai. |
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National Cadet Corps, while increasing the strength of girls on its rolls, has also brought in changes in the girls' training curriculum to bring it at par with standards applicable to boys.
Dr. S.K. Sharma, Dean, University Instruction, Panjab University, and the President of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers, has been invited by the Prime Minister to serve on the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) for a period of two years. 
