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Non-compliance with EPF rules
Chandigarh, October 10 The employees of MCM DAV and DAV College, Chandigarh, are members of the trust. R.K. Anand, secretary of the DAV College Teachers’ Union, pointed out that the claims made by the trust with regard to the benefits being enjoyed by all its members are false. The claims made on the official website of the trust are also untrue, he alleged. Elaborating, Prof Anil Sarwal, president of the union, said the colleges are violating provident fund rules by excluding from membership of the trust, employees who are appointed on temporary or ad hoc, casual, daily and contract basis. The colleges deny membership to their employees from the first day of appointment by enrolling them only after they have completed probation. Prof Uma Joshi, president, MCM DAV College, Chandigarh, stated that according to the rules of the DAV Provident Fund Trust “every member shall subscribe to provident fund every month at 12 per cent of the basic pay plus dearness allowance.” The employees of the two colleges, she said, are denied these benefits and the rate of contribution remains only 10 per cent of their basic pay. Prof Neelam Brar, secretary of the MCM DAV College Teachers’ Union, added that the employees are not in receipt of any benefits under the Employees’ Deposit-Linked Insurance Scheme 1976 or the Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995 (earlier called the Family Pension Scheme 1971). Prof R.P. Singh, member, governing body, DAV College, said in contravention of even the rules and regulations of the PU Calendar, the contributory provident fund of college employees is calculated at 10 per cent of their basic pay alone. The union has requested the EPF commissioner to cancel the exemption granted to DAV College Trust and Management Society (EPF), New Delhi, and impose appropriate penalties as mentioned in the various sections of the Act on it for failing to comply with the statutory provisions of the Act and the schemes framed there under.
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A lab to study nursery kids
Chandigarh, October 10 This is Chaitanya Laboratory Nursery School for the students of the department of child development to give them a hands-on experience of the subject of pre-school participation and child welfare agencies.“The students can develop the ability to deal with children, imbibe qualities like organising skills, patience and co-operation,” informed Dr Sudha, head, department of child development. The school, which was established in 1985 when MSc (CD) had just started, has everything designed and done by the department itself. The school, housed in the premises, is divided into different sections for the holistic development of the toddlers. Boosting of methodical aesthetics, this nursery school has a dramatic play area where children play make-believe games. There is also a block play area, a science corner, a puzzle corner and a rhyme and a storytelling corner as well. At present, there is a nursery and a pre-nursery class being run at the school. “Being a laboratory school, it has the ideal students-teacher ratio and even in classrooms. Every week, a theme is selected and all the activities are woven around it,” informed Radhika, teacher at the school. Students of MSc (CD) (I) are given supervisory duties during the second and fourth semesters. “So it becomes a two-way training process and both, the toddlers and the students, benefit from it.” From time to time, the students are evaluated under various heads such as practical life experiences, motor development, sensorial discrimination, tactual, visual, taste, expressing, cognitive development, emotion, participation etc. The children, here, are given a strong foundation for a formal learning ahead as the emphasis is on the all-round development of a child and not just academics, informed Neelam from the department of child development who is incharge of the school. The director, higher education, has taken the initiative of refurbishing the place with linoleum and improving the kitchen for the meals of children and creating a sandpit for the kids to play.
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PTI teachers allege irregularities in interview
Chandigarh, October 10 They alleged that some of candidates having invalid certificates and degrees issued by boards and universities from Amravati, Nagpur, Sirsa, Bodh Gaya (Bihar) and Pune were appearing in the interview. They said unemployed youths from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan were also making efforts to appear in the interviews by getting fake domicile certificates.
— TNS
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Students bring alive 15th century England
Mohali, October 10 The grand finale saw enactment of a play on the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. During the three-month workshop, a host of interesting programmes were held for the students. Organised by the school management as part of its effort to provide interface with global educators and artists, the workshop saw students learning and enacting historical English plays like ‘Rise and fall of the Roman empire’ and dramatic presentations on festivals like
Halloween, thanksgiving and Christmas. The stage wore a period look with students in 15th century costumes.
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PU Notes
Chandigarh HOLIDAY:
The Panjab University has declared October 12 as holiday on account of Agarsain Jayanti. All teaching and non-teaching departments of Panjab University and its offices, institutions, affiliated colleges, regional centres, will remain closed on Friday. All examinations, meetings scheduled for October 12 will be held as per schedule according to official sources.
— TNS
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Adieu to Kargil students
Chandigarh, October 10 During their stopover in the city, they stayed at Chandimandir and visited Sukhna Lake, Rock Garden, secretariat and also met the governor of Punjab. Apart from sight seeing, the children also met army officers and civil dignitaries during their tour. These children got an opportunity to interact with the city children and got a first-hand experience of the latest developments in all spheres of life outside J and K.
— TNS
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Freshers win titles
Mohali, October 10 Even as the show saw Anish and Srishti walk away with titles of Mr and Miss Personality,
the title of Mr and Miss Talented were bagged by Aditya and Kanika. The freshers’ nite was enlivened by memorable performances by seniors.
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Co to pay Rs 50,000 for refusing refund
Chandigarh, October 10 Ranjit Singh stated that an advertisement in a local daily impressed him to buy an apartment built by the company. He bought a flat in Zirakpur from them. A booking amount of Rs 50,000 was deposited by Ranjit on February 13, 2006. On visiting the location where the apartments were being constructed, he found the area to be very lonely. So, he submitted an application for cancellation of the amount deposited for booking the apartment with a request to refund the booking amount. However, the company refused to refund the booking amount. Later, Ranjit received a letter asking him to make the rest of the payment of the flat. Following this, he filed a case in the court. The company said Ranjit was not a consumer as he had given the booking amount but he failed to deposit the rest of the amount. It was further stated that the apartment was purchased by Ranjit for commercial purposes to take advantage of the real estate boom. The president of the forum, Jagroop Singh Mahal, said, “The contention of the company that the apartment was purchased for commercial purpose is not accepted as it was argued by them that as per the contract, Ranjit is not a consumer.
Also if the flat was purchased for commercial purpose, then the buyer will not request for cancellation.”
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Job ads must show handicap limit: HC
Chandigarh, October 10 The orders were handed down by Justice S.D. Anand on a petition filed by a candidate against the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited. In his petition, Dilbagh Singh had contended that he fulfilled eligibility conditions for his appointment as assistant linesman or shift attendant and was 70 per cent handicapped. However, he was not appointed even though the seats were reserved for handicapped candidates and were still lying vacant. Taking up the matter, Justice Anand ruled: “A public authority, inviting application for appointment to any post, must categorically indicate the eligibility conditions in the appointment notice itself. It might well be that the public authority has to make rule-related reservations for the reserved category, including the handicapped or physically challenged. If the nature of job is particularly arduous, the advertisement itself must indicate the maximum extent of handicap.” The Judge also directed the appointment of the petitioner to the post of either assistant linesman or shift attendant, whichever was available, within two months. The respondent had earlier claimed that the petitioner was ineligible for the post of assistant linesman because he had 70 per cent disability in the lower limb. Regarding the other post, the respondents had averred that only eight candidates were to be appointed, and the same had been done. The judge further observed: “The advertisement/appointment notice did not, at all, indicate the outer limit of handicap, which a candidate for appointment under the handicapped category should have. The counsel for the respondent also could not invite the attention of the court to any part of the relevant rules, which provide that candidates having handicap only to a particular extent could be appointed or that the candidates having more than the indicated handicap would be ineligible for that appointment. Also, the reply filed by the respondent also does not indicate the degree of handicap, which the candidates appointed to the post of linesman and shift assistant were suffering from. It was compulsive for the respondent to aver in the reply that candidates with lesser handicap had not been appointed to the posts.”
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Army officer moves HC
Vijay Mohan Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 10 Taking up the petition, a division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vijendra Jain and Justice Mahesh Grover today issued notices to the Haryana government for February 6, 2008. Haryana, like many other states, offers entertainment tax exemption to defence personnel in cinemas. To avail this concession, armed forces personnel have to show their identity cards and submit an identity certificate at the ticket counter. In addition, the state government rules stipulate that the defence personnel are supposed to watch movies in full military uniform as a proof of identity. Stating that the requirement of wearing uniform in cinemas is arbitrary, the petitioner has also pointed out that the defence personnel are prohibited from wearing uniform in places of entertainment. Uniform is to be worn only when they are on duty. The petitioner also submitted that the requirement of wearing uniform in cinemas makes the entire scheme redundant and impractical. The petitioner has also sought that the state government should pass strict instructions all cinemas to follow the exemption law in letter and spirit. Punjab and Chandigarh also offer such exemption but their respective authorities have already circulated instructions to their staff to ensure that cinemas offer such exemption on the simple production of the identity card and a certificate. The Delhi government has completely streamlined the system and has enacted a rule whereby mere production of the identity card at the ticket counter is enough to avail the exemption. It has also been averred in the petition that cinemas and multiplexes in Haryana are unaware of the exemption law in this regard whereas Punjab and Chandigarh have actively ensured that such exemption is made available in their jurisdiction.
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HC disapproves of CFSL official’s opinion
Chandigarh, October 10 Before parting with the judgement, directing the payment of Rs 9.95 lakh to the legal heir of the alleged custodial death victim, Anil Kumar, a Division Bench of the high court ruled: We wish to express our strong disapproval over the conduct of CFSL junior scientific officer Durga Parshad, who has given his unsolicited opinion as to the cause of the death at the end of the forensic examination reports. The court, during the course of hearing, had earlier also expressed dissatisfaction over the approach of the Chandigarh police in dealing with the matter and had raised questions over the conclusions and observations made in the CFSL report. The court had questioned the scientist about the grounds on which he had based his observation regarding the possibility of an ‘attempt to fall’. It had, in fact, asked him to explain as to how the observation had found a mention in the CFSL report as normally such a statement was made on specific query from the investigating agency. In their detailed order, the Bench comprising Justice Uma Nath Singh and Justice Rajive Bhalla added that the initial reactions of the UT Administration to the incident were slow till the investigation was handed over to the crime branch. It gave an impression that the Administration wanted to distance itself from the episode. All this created public unrest and led to the "gherao" of the Manimajra police station. It also gave breathing time and space to the subordinate police personnel and the accused to attempt a cover-up. The Bench further added that the Administration "needs to be refreshed in its memory about the mandate of the directions as contained in the judgement of D.K. Basu, so also of Sube Singh". As such, it "was being burdened with the payment of the entire amount of compensation".
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A family’s tribute to nature
Chandigarh, October 10 Put together by three members of a family, the show is novel in conception and range; it intrigues and inspires at the same time. At the entrance, stands a body of work, powerful and original, striking and overwhelming. It features a collection of memorable moments captured for the visitors by California-based Narinderpal Singh. Trained in computer science from Caltech, MIT, Narinderpal makes a mighty statement with his camera. With his silent, potent images resting in frames, he brings to life the magical landscapes of some of America’s best state and national parks, including the Zion, Utah, the Death Valley in California, and the Antelope Canyon in Arizona. The works are a celebration of natural forms - rocks, trees, canyons and deserts, carved by the forces of nature as they kiss and cajole the earth. Each work tells a nostalgic tale of the passage of time, captured in Narinderpal’s spellbinding works, including those featuring the Bristlecone Pines, the Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River in California, the Reclining Giant of Bandon in Oregon and the Devil’s Garden at the Grand Staircase in Utah. “I love the unspoiled beauty of the natural world. In my photographs, I try to capture the joy of being in the company of these magical moments. I hope these works can help others appreciate the earth better,” says Narinder, who, like his father Ranjit Singh, wields the camera for fun. The pictures, however, do not bare that part of the story. They look quite professional. Further down the gallery, Ranjit Singh’s black and white photographs cast a peaceful spell. Accompanied by classic quotations that celebrate the beauty of nature, as seen by poets, the pictures reflect the glory of trees. The collection features trees in varied settings and times. “These pictures were taken over a passage of time in places like Chamba and California,” says the grand old man, whose art has the effect of lullabies. Settled in Chandigarh, it was Ranjit who planned this unique family show by inviting his son Narinder and daughter Reena, based in the USA, to join him. For Reena, clay, instead of the camera, does the trick. Trained as a potter, she displays her skills in a range of works created over a period of time. Her colour scheme remains sobre to match the other exhibits that remain muted and soft, like nature itself - when it is at peace with itself
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