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25 from city make it to IIMs
More than 35 students from the city had got a call for group discussions and interviews early this year. At least 20 students from the city have been selected in at least one of the six IIMs. The results of the IIMs in Ahmedabad and Bangalore are still trickling in. The first results to be declared were by the IIM, Kolkata, followed by Kozhikode, Indore and Lucknow. More than 1.9 lakh students appeared in the CAT last year across India, out of them 11,000 from Chandigarh. Riddhi Prasad, a former student of PEC working with Accenture, Mumbai, made it to the IIMs in Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore and Kozikode. “Since I was working I could not put in more than a few hours each day for studies. But I did a lot of practice tests, identified my weak points and worked on them. Success is a combination of hard work and luck,” she said. Vishal Gahlaut another former student of PEC has made it to the IIMs at Indore, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Kozhikode said: “I will be joining Ahmedabad,” said Vishal, who is working with Fidelity Investments at Gurgaon. “I took a lot of mock tests and kept company with friends who were serious in their preparation. This really helps,” he said. Narender Thakur, a final year student of PEC, has made it to Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode. “I had been preparing for MBA slowly and steadily for the past one year, studying consistently for at least an hour a day. I was focused and determined from day one.” Thakur’s brother Rajender Thakur, also a former student of PEC and now working with a software company in Chennai, has made it to four IIMs. Ashish Gupta, pursuing first year of MBA at the University Business School, has made it to four IIMs while Pragya Gupta and Saurabh Goyal have made it to three IIMs. Others who have cleared admission in at least one IIM are Abhishek Daga, Ankush Jain, Anuj Mittal, Gaurav Garg, Himanshu Aggarwal, Kirti Jindal, Misha Pratap, Mohit Verma, Rahul Aggarwal, Rajan Goyal, Shaifali Goyal and Vijay Kumar. Aastha Sood, a final-year electronics student in PEC, has got admission in Ahmedabad and Kolkata. Yashbir Singh has cleared the admission test for IIMs in Kozhikode and Indore. Said Hirdesh Madan, Region Head, Bulls Eye. "The undue delay because of the quota controversy created havoc. Many students took admission in other institutes and paid hefty sums. "
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Sheds now in UT control
Chandigarh, April 27
What it means Owners of more than 500 industrial sheds who had been shuttling between the estate office and CITCO for the past nearly three decades, can now heave a sigh of relief. There will be a definite authority for handling files for transfer of plots in their name. While the administration will make money in lakhs, the transfer will be a relief for those in possession of plots through the general power of attorney, special power of attorney and wills. They can now have the property in their name. More than 50 per cent of the sheds are known to have shifted hands through the GPAs and other means. The meeting that decided to transfer the sheds to the estate office was held under the chairmanship of Lalit Sharma, adviser to the UT Administrator Krishna Mohan, industries scretary S.K.Sandhu, finance secretary R.K.Rao, the Deputy Commissioner and CITCO chairman J.S.Bir. Industrialists stand to gain in terms of getting higher loans for their ventures from banks. The banks were less forthcoming in giving loans because the property was not in the name of the industrialists. "Even when loans were sanctioned, the amount was less. For example, in case an industrialist was eligible for getting Rs 40 lakh earlier, he could now expect Rs 2 crore," a senior industrialist said.
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Traffickers
The business of traffickers recruiting people, especially women and girls, attracted by the prospect of a well-paid job abroad, has become alarming. Recently, a large number of people, misled by travel agents, were deported from Dubai. What should be done to deal with this growing problem? Are our laws strong enough to tackle this menace? Readers are invited to send their views, in not more than 300 words,
to:
Traffickers A Tribune Debate,
c/o The Tribune,Sector 29, Chandigarh 160 030 or email at news@tribuneindia.com
by May 10, 2007
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Mohali MC gets serious about sanitation
Mohali, April 27
Under the new agreement, sanitation contractors will have to clean the curb channels as well. The work of cleaning curb channels was earlier got done by the civic body by engaging another contractor. While zone I will cover Phases I, II, IV, VI, Sector 57 and Mohali, Shahi Majra and Madanpura villages, zone II will have Phases III A , III B 1, III B 2, VII and VIII. Similarly, zone III will cover Phases IX to XI and parts of Sector 48, and Zone IV will comprise of Sectors 70, 71, Phase V and Matour village. Efforts will be made by the civic body to have a separate contractor for each zone so that the work could be carried out in a satisfactory way. Even though the two contractors who are looking after sanitation work in the town at present have allegedly failed to provide satisfactory services, there is every possibility that they might again try to get the new contract. According to the terms of the agreement, the contractors will be responsible for not only getting the roads swept but also will have to ensure that cleanliness is maintained in parks, on roads berms, near bus stops and in vacant spaces. The garbage collected from the town will have to be dumped at earmarked sites. The contractors will also have to set up complaint offices in each zone where a register will have to be maintained and the complaints received from residents will have to be attended to within 16 hours. If the compliant is not attended to within the specified time, the contractor will be levied a fine of Rs 150 per day. In case he did not set up an office for registering complaints, he will be imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 per month. Fines will also be imposed if the employees of the contractors failed to produce identity cards during checking. These cards will have to be provided by the contractors. Deductions will also be made from the payments due to the contractors if the work was not found to be satisfactory. If the contractors failed to improve sanitation work after notices being issued to them, the president and the executive officer of the civic body will have the right to cancel the contract and forfeit the earnest money. At present, the town has been divided into only two zones and the work is being looked after by two contractors. However, it is alleged that the work of sanitation at present is in a state of neglect.
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Over 1,000 scientists quit DRDO in 5 years
Chandigarh, April 27 “During 2002-2006, as many as 1,007 scientists left their jobs from the DRDO due to increased opportunities available in the private sector,” according to a statement made by the defence minister in Parliament yesterday.“The rate of attrition is marginally higher compared to private sector industries,” the statement added. The number of scientists leaving the DRDO has seen a spurt in the recent years. The number of scientists leaving the government establishment in the 5-year period preceding 2002 was just 400. The defence ministry’s statement claims that there has been no substantial impact of such attrition on the completion of various DRDO projects.The deficiencies are made up through regular recruitments.The DRDO has a strength of about 7,000 scientists. A comprehensive proposal of incentives to arrest the exodus of scientists has already been submitted by the DRDO and is under active consideration of the government.A proposal has also been submitted to the Sixth Central Pay Commission. According to recent reports,the DRDO is seeking a four-fold increase in salaries for its staff, besides significant performance-based monetary incentives for scientists from the Sixth Pay Commission. The organisation is also seeking an additional 30 per cent hike in basic salary for scientists as intellectual capital pay for generating intellectual property rights. Several other incentives are like increased participation in international seminars outside the country to help keep them updated on technical developments, increase in study leave for scientists and additional grants for higher academic studies, also being sought for the DRDO personnel. While it has some achievements to its credit, the DRDO has also drawn flak from Parliament’s standing committee on defence over its major projects being excessively delayed and running into heavy cost overruns. To offset this, the defence ministry has decided to award certain research and development projects to the private industries which fulfil certain laid down requirements.The ministry will bear 80 per cent of the project cost. The defence ministry is setting up a corpus to fund these projects and has already directed the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff to identify 10 projects which can be awarded to the private sector.
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Mohali-Dera Bassi commuters face hurdles
Dera Bassi, April 27 In fact, the authorities concerned have failed to spare a thought for the hapless commuters, who find it difficult to commute between the two towns. The worst affected are the hundreds of employees of the industrial units in the Dera Bassi-Lalru belt, who commute for duty daily. “Travelling daily between the two towns is nothing short of a nightmare,” says Parkash Chand Sharma, an employee. In fact, the passengers from Mohali to Dera Bassi have to first come to The Tribune chowk by an auto-rickshaw and then take the bus to Dera Bassi or the adjoining areas, Sharma said. Since the passengers have hardly any choice, auto-rickshaw owners charge heavy fare, alleges Malkit Singh, a factory employee at Dera Bassi. The ongoing construction of the Zirakpur flyover has compounded the problems of the commuters. Sharma claimed that passengers’ difficulties could be lessened to a certain extent if the buses bound from Chandigarh to Dera Bassi could be diverted to Mohali from The Tribune chowk. Besides mitigating the problems being faced by the passengers, the move would increase the number of passengers for the state transport corporations, Sharma claimed. Meanwhile, a senior functionary of the Punjab transport department asserted that the government was aware of the matter and appropriate action would be taken soon. Transport plans for the new district are likely to be re-drawn soon, he added.
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City gurdwara embellished with stained glass
Gayatri Rajwade Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 27
It is an art largely synonymous with Christian iconography in churches, but Ravi has taken care to represent the Sikh art and symbols in these windows created by her. “I went though several books on the Sikh art, especially in the context of placing it in a religious place. I have used the colours associated with the faith, like “kesar” (saffron) and blue. The red glass is only to break the repetition of colour,” she explains. The windows use the “khanda chakkar-kirpan” symbol along with beautiful designs gathered from Persian art, references to which she found in the books she studied. The gurdwara, she says, is precious to her family. Married to city-based industrialist M.P.S. Chawla, she has virtually seen this sacred place grow as her father-in-law, late Satnam Singh Chawla, was president of the gurdwara in his time. “There are profound sentiments attached. All I wanted was to do my best and do it from the heart,” she explains. Indeed, the work is detailed, the glass all imported from Italy and America and the work a labour of love because Ravi has done these windows herself. “I spent a month making the first design, then spent another month drawing it to the same size, as it was meant to be and only after I was satisfied did I began to make it.” It took her almost four months of cutting each piece of coloured glass, grinding it and soldering it before the designs finally emerged in one piece. Their life, over 200 years, insists Ravi, for the material used is the very best. “The satisfaction from doing something that comes from deep within is special,” says Ravi who specialises in this work at her Industrial Area workshop. However, it is an art that is gaining popularity in gurdwaras the world over, says Canada-based advocate, writer and guide of website www.sikhchic.com T. Sher Singh. “It began to be used in our holy places around 30 years ago in North America. Many of the gurdwaras then were older buildings but as the community began to establish itself and new structures started to come up, it became routine to use stained glass,” he explains. He said a look at Harmandar Sahib revealed every kind of artistic endeavour from every religion and that was the splendour of Sikhism. “It is a faith that stresses on integration,” he said, and in that sense it has a universality that cuts across the tangles that man makes out of faith.
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Heavier fines for traffic offenders soon
Chandigarh, April 27 He also flagged off six motor cycles, equipped with amplifiers, from Children’s Park, Sector 23, here this morning. Under the system, two officials, including woman officer, will alert public about traffic rules in their respective zones. Talking to mediapersons, Jain said the number of accidents was very high in the city. “Last year, 143 persons lost their lives in accidents in the city and this year the number had already reached 45. Our primary concern is to minimise the number of the accidents,” said Jain. Recognising motorists for responsible driving, the police also rewarded 30 drivers with gifts at the Press trafficlights, Aroma trafficlights and Kisan Bhavan chowk for following traffic safety rules.
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Documents created after probe: Defence
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 27 Prosecution witness, Maj Shalabh Pun, stated in his cross-examination that the Presiding Officer of the COI, Lt-Col Rana Sinha, had informed him on November 4, 2005, that the battalion magazine had been sealed by him on August 27, 2005. After mid-September 5, Sikh Light Infantry was solely responsible for the security and safety of the ammunition and no soldier of the 4/8 GR could enter the magazine.In November, 2005, Lt-Col Sinha had found only 32,670 rounds of belted ammunition lying unaccounted there.The Brigade Commander, Brig A.K Rana, had endorsed his recommendations on the COI proceedings on November 22, 2005, he said. Major Pun could not deny the suggestion of the defence counsel, Col S.K Aggarwal (retd), that after September 30, 2005, as per records, only a small quantity of belted ammunition was found on February 26, 27 and 28, 2006. This, the defence contended, was after five months of the last recovery made in September, 2005, and was a stage-managed show. The witness stated before the court that as per his information, an Army vehicle loaded with ammunition had fallen in the river Indus in the year 1999 somewhere near the same area and subsequently the ammunition was written off. He also informed the court that Col Sanjay Joshi, CO, 14 Mahar, wrote a letter to Brig M.S Koshal, Commander, 192 Mountain Brigade, on January 6, 2005 in which there was no mention of any handing over or taking over problems concerning the ammunition. During further questioning by the defence counsel, Maj Pun said that on July 20, 2005, when Col K.J.M Roy, CO, 5 SLI, met the officiating brigade commander, Col P. P. S Deol in his presence, he did not point out any discrepancies or anomalies of ammunition observed during handing over or taking over of ammunition with Col Vishal Bhargav, CO 4/8 GR.
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No decision on ‘blue-eyed’ officer
Jagbir Singh, B.S. Chadha and Ashwani Kumar will assume the charge after formal orders. The remaining officers will be promoted as and when the vacancies arise. Others on the list are Satbir, Prem Chauhan, Vijay Kumar, Bahadur Singh Negi and Kulwant Singh.
Three DSPs have retired since January this year.
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Kumedan: Govt buildings in city properties of Punjab, Haryana
Chandigarh, April 27 He said the UT administration had ownership claim only on those buildings that were constructed to run the offices of the administration and its employees. He said when Chandigarh was the capital of joint Punjab, a number of government houses and other buildings were constructed for employees, officers, ministers and others. After the re-organisation of Punjab, these houses became the property of Punjab and Haryana. He said all government residential houses and other buildings like civil secretariate and assembly were constructed for the erstwhile Punjab state and not for the city. “The administration can only claim legally the ownership of those buildings that were created specifically to serve the city like deputy commissioner’s office.” He said it was unfortunate that the central government, which had administrative control over Chandigarh, had now started claiming the Punjab and Haryana’s property as its own and had established control over it. He said the central government could not become the owner of the property belonging to Punjab and Haryana in Chandigarh, he added. He said the central government had illegally occupied Punjab’s land elsewhere also. A cafeteria on the left bank of Bhakra dam was currently with the BBMB and similarly a BBMB colony in Delhi was a property of Punjab. Under Section 48(1) of the Punjab Reorganisation Act 1996, Nangal township, Talwara township and Ganguwal and Kotla rest houses were properties of Punjab, he added.
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In need of helping hand to get back on feet
Chandigarh, April 27 To make the matters worse, his father died the next day, leaving the family of four with no source of income. Also, to save the leg doctors at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, have asked him to arrange Rs 1 lakh for the treatment. Faraz was pursing a degree in Unani medicines when he felt severe pain in his left leg. With no relief from the treatment that he received at Saharanpur, Faraz reached Chandigarh, where he was diagnosed with tumour in the leg on June 6. The very next day, tragedy awaited him as his father, suffering from a heart ailment, died on his arrival at Saharanpur. With the death of family’s sole breadwinner, the family could arrange only a few thousand rupees for the treatment of Faraz. He was brought to a hospital in Panchkula on September 26 and surgery was perfomed on him. After six months of surgery, the disease relapsed and doctors at the GMCH advised excision and reconstruction using endoprosthesis costing Rs 1 lakh. “We are three brothers and the eldest is working as a woodcarver in Saharanpur, who earns a little more Rs 2000 a month. I had to leave my computer course in between due to paucity of money,” said Shahbaz, the twin brother of Faraz accompanying him at the hospital. “A generous helping hand only can save my leg,” pleaded Faraz. Donors can send in their donations by cheque in the name of medical superintendent, GMCH, Chandigarh.
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Eviction team gets brickbat
Chandigarh, April 27 The team was pelted with stones and had to return empty-handed after giving a three day’s notice to the erring party. Official sources said Satvir had constructed a two-storey structure on a 8’x12’ area that was originally allotted to Babu Ram. “Babu Ram never took possession of the land. The current occupant had been holding the area for the past one decade,” a senior official of the CHB said.
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2 restaurants inspected
Panchkula, April 27 A team, led by city magistrate Yogesh Kumar, inspected Wah Dilli and Hotel Oscar for alleged violation of the Food Adulteration Act. Certain samples of food items were taken into possession by the team, sources said. The alleged misuse of the domestic LPG cylinders for commercial use was also inspected, the sources added.
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BSNL scheme
Chandigarh, April 27
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Veterans’ meet held
Mohali, April 27 G.S. Boparai, Captain S.S. Gotra, Nasib Singh and Pradeep Dogra finished first in different categories of men’s section while Viran Wali, Prem Lata, Jasbir Kaur and Amrit Kaur remained toppers in the women’s section.
— TNS
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Tribune employee dead
Chandigarh, April 27 His cremation was largely attended by his colleagues and relatives at the Sector 25 cremation ground today. He is survived by his wife and one daughter.
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Letters
Prohibition of intoxicants doesn't work. It did not succeed in Haryana in Bansi Lal's regime. It didn't work in the South as people switched to toddy. Addicts are seen to use as cheaper alternatives like Iodex or cough syrups or whiteners if the price of liquor is increased. The only solution is to educate the people and hope that works. J.C. Sharma, Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at news@tribuneindia.com or, write in, at: Letters, Chandigarh Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh – 160 030
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Violators fined under Tobacco Act
Chandigarh, April 27 The violators were fined by SDM (central) Ankur Garg during a special court held in the Chandigarh Housing Board, Sector 9, office. The special drive was conducted under all police stations following complaints of smoking at public places as well as selling of cigarette and other tobacco products by sellers to minors in violation of provisions of the Act. During the drive, the police also seized advertisement material being displayed by shopkeepers in violation of Section 13(1) (b) of the Act and challans were issued to the violators. — TNS
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Child abuse: Responsive control system soon
Chandigarh, April 27 A resolution to this effect was made during a meeting chaired by Punjab Governor and UT administrator Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd), and attended by Jean Rodrigues, eminent social activists, philanthropists, presidents of various NGOs, psychologists, psychiatrists, medical professionals and senior officers of the administration. In his opening remarks, General Rodrigues called for creating an umbrella organisation of all social groups engaged in child welfare, with chapters assigned specific tasks to tackle different issues relating to problems of child abuse, child labour and their exploitation in different ways in society.
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Accountant attacked; Rs 16,000 robbed
Chandigarh, April 27 The victim, who had been collecting daily collection from liquor vends of the company, was carrying around Rs 16,000 in cash when he was attacked by the two assailants near plot No. 71 of Industrial Area, Phase I. They took away the money after the attack. According to the victim, he was going toward Mauli Jagran after collecting cash from Burail and Colony No. 4. The victim, who was admitted to the GMCH with head injuries, was discharged this morning. The police has registered a case under Sections 382 of the IPC at the police station, Industrial Area against the two. — TNS
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Man booked for seeking dowry
Chandigarh, April 27 A complaint in this regard was moved by his wife Priya Chadha, who alleged that her husband, a resident of Sector 10, Panchkula, had been harassing and maltreating her for seeking more dowry. The case was registered under Sections 498 A and 31 of the Dowry Act. The investigations of the case were handed over to the women and child support unit of the city police.
Vehicle stolen
Rohit Kwatra of Sector 36 today lodged a complaint with the city police alleging that his Tata Safari (CH 03 Z 0813) was stolen from outside his residence on the intervening night of April 25 and 26. A case under Section 370 has been registered at the police station, Sector 36.
Injured
Kirpal Singh, a resident of Sector 45, received injuries when he was hit by a car near the Aroma trafficlights here today. He was taken to the General Hospital, Sector 16. The police has registered a case under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC against the driver of the car (DL 3 AF 6657).
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Biz Clips
Chandigarh NEW FLIGHT: Low-cost carrier MDLR Airlines today started its operations between Delhi and Chandigarh. The inaugural flight from Delhi reached the city today evening. Gopal Goyal, chairman of MDLR airlines, said it was for the first time that they had introduced the luxurious RJ 70 jets in India, with an elaborate all vegetarian cuisine. The 40-minute MDLR flight from Delhi to the city will arrive here at 6.40 pm. The flight from the city to Delhi will leave at 7.30 am in the morning. As an inaugural offer, the company is offering economy-class tickets at the rate of Rs 1,000 till May 2. — TNS
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BSNL halts broadband connections
Chandigarh, April 27 The BSNL top brass has now moved the department of telecom, seeking fresh allocation of bandwidth and buying new channels from a vendor. It will take at least three months before the bandwidth is allocated and new connections released. At some places, where the bandwidth is still available, the modems are in short supply, so new connections are not being released. The Chandigarh telecom district of BSNL has 13,788 broadband connections as of date. In fact, industry experts say the region has the highest number of broadband connections, north of Delhi. Principal general manager D R Paul said they had plans to increase the capacity to 34,000 ports (about 70,000 megabytes). “We will get the equipment by mid-June and the implementation would be completed by July. As and when the capacity is increased, we will be in a position to release more connections,” he said. For almost a month, BSNL has been unable to provide new broadband connections to applicants in the tricity and Kharar. As a result, the waiting list for applicants has been mounting by the day. Inquiries by TNS revealed that as of now there is a waiting list of 952 applicants for the broadband connections. Because of the bandwidth capacity being used to its optimum, a number of existing broadband users have been complaining of slow speed connectivity. People complain that those who have opted for a speed of 1 mbps are able to connect only at a speed of 512 kbps. The BSNL authorities, however, deny the charge, and say that the customers are getting the speed they have opted for.
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Numero uno taken for Rs 4.8 lakh
Chandigarh, April 27
Yesterday’s auction of VIP number ‘1’ fetched Rs 4.8 lakh, second highest after the auction of the number in a previous series (CH 03 U 0001) when it was sold for Rs 5.05 lakh. However, the auction price for number in the last series (CH 03 Z) was Rs 85,000. The auction of the new vehicle registration number series (CH 04) drew a large number of bidders. The new series will be allotted by the first week of May, said an official. In the auction conducted by the registration and licensing authority (RLA), CH 04 0001 was bought by Santokh Singh, an NRI for his Mercedes car. For CH 04 0002, a sum of Rs 75,000 was paid, while CH 04 0003 fetched Rs 41,000. The other numbers that were sold were CH 04 0004 (Rs 95,000), CH 04 0005 (Rs 91,000), CH 04 0006 (Rs 1.2 lakh) and CH 04 0007 (Rs 1.75 lakh). Number like 100 and 123 were sold for Rs 15,000 each. The auspicious number 0786 was sold for Rs 50,000. A total of 28 numbers were auctioned and at a collective sum of Rs 16 lakh. Numbers like 1000, 4444 and 9999 were sold for Rs 14,500, Rs 46,000 and Rs 33,000, respectively
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The nine windows, just above the entrance to the holy sanctuary, greet the visitors in a burst of colour. Put up on Baisakhi this year, they are the first such windows to be installed at any gurdwara in the city.
Chandigarh, April 27
The DPC has kept the issue of creating a special post for DSP in the municipal corporation in abeyance. There was a strong pressure for the post for a "blue-eyed officer.”