Chandigarh, June 27
The decision of the ministry of human resource and development to discontinue with the OBC reservation in Panjab University, implemented last year, has put a burden of Rs 147 crore on the cash-starved university.

Though the PU would not undertake more reserved admissions in this academic year, but 102 admissions done last year are going to put the authorities in a spot as they are still awaiting the grant of Rs 147 crore approved in lieu of these admissions.

RC Sobti, Vice-Chancellor, said: “The ministry had asked us to make reservations as we were a centrally funded university. It asked us to present a detailed project to the UGC’s empowerment committee, which eventually approved a grant of Rs 367 crore, out of which we were supposed to get Rs 147 crore in the first year.”

While in compliance of the Supreme Court’s directions, all OBC seats were filled by September, according to the VC, all that he received was Rs 5 crore.

Things changed after a meeting reportedly held by the Home Secretary, where it was highlighted that these reservations were just meant for central universities.

“Even though we didn’t have funds, we undertook the admissions to comply with the court’s orders. When the Home Secretary’s office raised the issue, we clarified from the ministry, which finally asked us not to continue with the reservations. We could not ask those 102 students to leave at that time. We should have got the due funds as their admissions were done as per the ministry’s directives,” Sobti said.

“Because we have given them admissions, we will look after them, but the reservation attributes have been speculated to cost something around Rs 147 crore, which would be difficult to manage. It was the ministry that switched its decision. It should give us the remaining funds to ensure quality education to these students,” he added.

Chandigarh, June 27
What ails Chandigarh’s power scenario is not the non-availability of power, but its overconsumption.

While Mohali and Panchkula residents are reeling under long power cuts, city residents are facing power cuts due to excess load on the distribution system and kundi connections by colony residents.

But the comfort of uninterrupted supply of power recently drew city residents to buy air-conditioners like never before. Over 15,000 air-conditioners were bought during the recently held electronics exhibition at the CII. Administration officials claim that had people not done so, there would not have been a power crisis.

Also, power theft is rampant in colonies and slums, as a result of which residents of adjoining sectors face unscheduled power cuts and tripping.

Officials say as per their estimate, around 40 lakh units are consumed by 15,000 air-conditioners every day and Chandigarh falls short of around 30 to 40 lakh units daily. “Had this extra load not been there, it would have been all right,” an official said.

Over the past few days, the peak hour consumption of Chandigarh has reached up to 290 mW whereas the allocation of power has been between 250 and 260 mW. To meet this gap, the administration has entered into an agreement with Jammu and Kashmir for 25 to 30 mW of power every day.

Sanjay Kumar, secretary, engineering, said: “Yesterday’s consumption touched 297 mW. Power consumption increased between 12 noon and 4 pm and 9.30 pm and 2 am. During this period, there remains a difference of over 30 mW between supply and consumption. This deficiency is met through Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Surinder Pall, officiating chief engineer, said against 300 mW, the amount of power the city required every day, the administration is trying to arrange for around 270 mW. “The department is spending over Rs 40 lakh more for buying extra units to meet the requirement,” he said.

About kundi connections, he said: “We have installed limited load transformers in potential power theft areas. As the load exceeds, the transformer disrupts the power supply. But this is not a solution as they again install illegal connections.”

Mohali, June 27
The decision of the PSEB to impose a three-day compulsory weekly off on general industries has come as a shock to industrialists. The compulsory weekly off days would now be from Saturday (8 am) to Tuesday (8 am).

The industry which was supposed to start work from Monday morning will be able to begin work only on Tuesday. The president of the Mohali Industries Association, BS Anand, said PSEB officials were not bothered about the industry. If it was unable to provide regular power supply, then power cuts could be imposed for three to four hours every day, but not 72 hours, he said.

Several industries manufacture consumable goods and some others are export units. “The exporting units have to follow a deadline. They have committed delivery of goods on Monday and they are wondering how they would be able to honour their commitment,” Amardeep Sharma, president of the district industry cell of the BJP, said.

“The government should take steps to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the industry in Mohali otherwise we would be left with no option, but to hold a protest,” KS Mahal, general secretary of the association, added.

Mohali, June 27
After failing to get environmental clearance for a landfill site, located in Dairi and Durali villages, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has decided to shift the proposed site out of the Mohali’s master plan limits.

At least three sites in Tangori, Swara and Nagari villages have been identified by a committee constituted for the purpose on the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Apart from catering to the garbage collection from Mohali, the proposed plant due to its location would also cater to the garbage disposal of other peripheral towns.

The members of the committee, comprising of the chief administrator, GMADA, the chief town planner, Punjab, the executive director of the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology and the member secretary of the Punjab Pollution Control Board have already held a meeting on the issue.

“Since the dumping of garbage from the city has become a headache for the local authorities, the landfill site has to be finalised at the earliest,” said a senior official.

The size of the proposed landfill site and the technology to be used has not been finalised yet. About the previous 26-acre site that had been “wrongly” notified, sources said it had been dropped, as it did not satisfy the laid down procedures of a landfill site. Sources said it was found that environment clearance for the site was required as there was possibility of flooding as a seasonal rivulet passed through the area.

It may be mentioned that GMADA has given an undertaking in the high court regarding the new site.

Earlier, GMADA had reduced the size of the proposed solid water treatment plant from 76 acres to 26 acres. Against the chunks of land identified at Chaun Majra, Dardi and Darali villages, 26 acres are being acquired only at Dairi and Durali villages. However, now again a decision has been taken to move the site further away from the city so that there was no protest from the residents in future.

Chandigarh, June 27
Six persons, including a minor and four women, had a miraculous escape when they were trapped in a the office of a Sector 35-based immigration consultancy firm following a minor fire.

Though the blaze didn’t reach the upper floor where the six were trapped, smog engulfed the premises, preventing them from escaping.

The firemen doused the flames within 10 minutes and opened the windows to ventilate the office.

Amrinder Gandhi, Ravinder Kaur, Sukwinder Kaur, Tejinder Kaur and Aarti were rescued by the fire officials from stairs.

However, 10-year-old Bimalpreet was taken out with the help of an extension ladder as a precautionary measure after smog engulfed the floor.

The occupants were taken to a Sector-34 hospital for a check-up after being rescued from the building.

According to fire officials, the fire broke out at 10.55 am in the junction box of Australian and Canadian immigration consultancy office situated in Sector 35-A.

The box was put up on the ground floor, near the stairs. Three fire tenders — two from the fire station, Sector 17, and one from the fire station, Sector 38 — were pressed into service.

A short-circuit is stated to be the apparent cause of the fire. No loss of life or property was reported.

Fire officer ML Sharma said there were several violations in the office, including storage of an LPG cylinder.

“These commercial offices are not supposed to have cylinders on their premises. Had the cylinder burst, the entire building could have caught fire,” he said.

Chandigarh, June 27
The proposed move to create an all-India school board and make Class X examinations optional by the Human Resource Development Minister, Kapil Sibal, drew mixed reactions from students and parents of the city.

Sakshi, a student of Class X, felt happy listening about this move. “If the proposal materialises, it would be a relief to the students and parents as well,” she added.

Another student, Vishal, who just passed class XII, said: “I do not think that the new system would be beneficial for the students, as they will be appearing in class XII examinations.”

There is a lot of pressure and fear associated with the board examinations, and hence, many take steps such as committing suicide etc., Neelam, mother of a class X student said.

The education system is challenging and there is a dire need to mend it. This decision will certainly make life relaxed, she added.

Neha Sharma, a class X student, is extremely happy with Sibal’s visionary plan.

Sushant, who passed out class XII, said it would have been better if in spite of removing class X examinations; the eligibility criterion of most software companies at the time of recruitment would be modified. They judge a student on the basis of class X marks and overlook other qualifications, he added.

Mohali, June 27
A 17-year-old girl suspected to be suffering from swine flu mysteriously disappeared from the Civil Hospital here today even as the authorities concerned kept waiting for her to come back and get herself admitted for tests.

The health authorities are in a fix as they do not know the whereabouts of the patient as the registration slip had no mention of her address. Even though the registration slip has a column where the address of a patient is to be filled, this work is seldom done by those on duty.

It is learnt that the girl, who had returned from the USA yesterday, came to the hospital OPD wing and met medical specialist Dr Sanjeev Gupta complaining of fever and cold.

She wanted to get herself tested for swine flu. She was asked to get herself admitted in the hospital for the required tests. But after some time when Dr Gupta went to the isolation ward to get samples, the girl was not there. Hospital staff tried to look for her, but she was nowhere to be seen.

As the hospital does not have any stock of virus transport media (VTM) vials for sending samples of nasal swabs for testing, an employee was sent to the Chandigarh office to collect the vials after the girl wished to get the tests done. The hospital does not even have Tamiflu capsules, which are given to patients suffering from swine flu.

Dr Gupta told The Tribune that the patient had come to him in the OPD wing around 12.45 pm, along with her brother. She was examined and asked to get herself admitted. Her brother told her to get the relevant file prepared. He said when he went to the ward to get the required sample, which could be sent for testing, the patient was not there.

He said it was surprising that an educated girl who had come to the hospital on her own to get the tests done for swine flu could disappear like this. The higher authorities were informed as soon as the patient expressed her desire to get the swine flu test done, he added.

Civil Surgeon Dr Avtar Singh said the name of the girl was Gagandeep. It was possible that she might come back to the hospital for admission after talking about it to members of her family.

As the address was not mentioned on the OPD slip, it could not be specified whether the patient had come from Mohali town or surrounding areas. He said addresses of patients were written only on admission files and not on OPD slips.

The SMO in charge of the hospital Dr HS Sarang was not available for comments despite attempts. He had said earlier that Tamiflu capsules and vials were to be given to the hospital by the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project. Officials concerned had assured that everything would be provided in the minimum possible time whenever required by the hospital.

Chandigrh, June 27
Raising doubts on the working of Citibank in Sector 17, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the bank to pay Rs 1 lakh to the complainant in compensation for causing him and his family members physical harassment, mental pain and agony for no cogent and logical reason during the past over eight years.

The forum has also directed the opposite party to update the credit card account in the name of the complainant in the database already supplied by them to CIBIL, asking the agency to delete the name of the complainant from the defaulter list being maintained by them.

After getting the same confirmed from the agency, the complainant would be intimated in writing by the opposite party.

The petitioner, Gunjan Mehta, a resident of Mani Majra, stated in the petition that he had got a Citibank credit card almost a decade back and had rarely used the facility.

He used to clear the bills by making the demanded amount to the bank and every time he demanded for details of the charges when he felt that the charges were on the higher side. However, the bank, on one pretext or the other, ignored the same and failed to provide the details thereof or any counter slips or customer signed copy of the transaction bills raised by Citibank.

The complainant was shocked when a company official, Rajesh, contacted him and demanded Rs 2 lakh as outstanding amount. He asked the opposite party if any previous official correspondence in this regard had been made. He gave his e-mail address to Rajesh.

He received a letter dated September 18, 2008 in his e-mail demanding Rs 14,000 along with certain other illogical averments.

He could not understand the crux of the matter since he had not received any communication during all this period since 2000 when the credit card was actually surrendered and the opposite party closed the account.

Pronouncing the orders, the forum held, “Another interesting thing, which has been observed in the present case, is that the bank on their own factitious calculations demanded Rs 2 lakh in 2008, as outstanding amount in the credit card account of the complainant. All this clearly shows there was something fishy in the working of the opposite party and they were pressuring the complainant to extract the maximum possible amount from him, which was illegal on their part. It speaks poorly of the opposite party who is said to be a reputed multinational bank but indulging in totally unethical and illegal ways. It is high time that the bank should desist from undertaking such nefarious and illegal activities at least in future.”

Chandigarh, June 27
A seminar on “Minorities in India: Constitutional, Demographic and Social Aspect” was organised by the Himachal Research Institute, Hamirpur, and Sanskriti Samanvay at Indira Holiday Home in Sector 24 here today.

The seminar was inaugurated by Indresh Kumar, RSS Pracharak and a social worker.

Dr Agnihotri, convener of the seminar, opined that the issue of minority is dividing the nation on the name of developing a new nation within a nation.

Indresh said: “The word minority is not related to any religion or language.”

PC Dogra, former DGP, Punjab, said: “Our country will become collection of minorities which is a threat to the integrity of the nation”.

Meanwhile, Narendra Pandey said the seminar would continue till June 28.

Chandigarh, June 27
It is no longer illiteracy or poverty that are the driving forces in the crime, but the “C” world in the tricity is now about luxury-addicted, educated youth hailing from well-off families.

Be it hardcore highway robbers, bank robbers, laptop or car thieves, the profile of the recently arrested youths reveals that a substantial number of them are driven by a passion for a luxurious life and swanky cars.

Contrary to earlier perception that poverty and depravity are the factors pushing someone to crime, these youths commit crime just to lead a lavish lifestyle.

The arrest of three youths recently highlights the increasing number of incidents where youths from well-off families commit crime for easy money.

Sources in the police said Gurminder Singh, Mansher Singh and Sandeep Singh were living a lavish lifestyle. Gurminder of Amritsar, an NRI from England, had taken an apartment on rent in the Police Colony, Sector 52.

They would spend money on girls and were regular visitors at discotheques. Mansher, son of an Army officer, was also living in a rented accommodation in Sector 71, while Sandeep was in the car sale-purchase business.

They would steal cars of their acquaintances. The police said they had admitted to stealing four cars.

In May this year, the special crime investigation cell of the city police had arrested Deepak Khanela, an IT final year student, and Rahul, a BTech second year student of Mullana Engineering College, for stealing laptops.

The duo visited their friends at Panjab University hostels and stole the laptops.

In another incident, the police had arrested two brothers, Arvind Kumar, an MSc (biochemistry) student of the PU, and Robin Kumar, a student of a private engineering college in Patiala, and claimed to have seized over a dozen laptops from them. Like others, they, too, had an affluent lifestyle. They hailed from an educated and rich family in UP.

The police had also arrested Amit Yadav and Samir Nain, both with a good background, for their alleged involvement in dacoities at PC Jewellers and the State Bank of Patiala in Panchkula.

Amit, the alleged mastermind, was the son of an SDO with the BBMB and had been disowned by the family after his involvement in crime, including murder. Yadav had also kidnapped a jeweller in Chandigarh.

Jaipal, one of the highway robbers, was said to be living at the PU hostel. His father was a sub-inspector in the Punjab police. His accomplice, Chander, alias Chandu, was working as a cashier with Punjab National Bank in Delhi.

Chandigarh, June 27
“Driven by the concept that the radical street theatre form is the most vibrant theatre where performers can engage their audience in direct conversation, look into their eyes and debate urgent matters of mutual concern. I have written and produced a play on liquor and drug addiction titled Thekeon Theke,” said Jaspal Bhatti.

While inaugurating the play here today at the Sector -17 plaza, Home Secretary Ram Niwas lauded the endeavour of Jaspal Bhatti and Savita Bhatti for employing their theatrical and film production experience for creating awareness about drug addiction with suggestive measures to control and eradicate the menace.

The play takes off with two jubilant liquor addicts applauding the government for mushrooming the thekas in the vicinity. The appearance of a policeman and his indulgence in blackmailing the drunkards and later two opium addicts, eloquently bares the nexus between the police and the politicians to promote unethical trends in the business.

The proceedings become poignant when the liquor addict spends the money saved for the annual fee of his son. Rashmee, Anurag, Harvinder, Anil and Sukhrag played main roles in the play directed by Anoop Sharma.

As many as 52 shows of the play would be staged in the city and its vicinity in collaboration with the Chandigarh administration, said Savita Bhatti.

The play will be staged tomorrow at Sukhna Lake.

Chandigarh, June 27
The Lok Kala and cultural society and Citi Entertainment Network staged a street play “Sava ser Gehoon” based on a story by Munshi Prem Chand, hailed as the literary exponent of Indian peasantry and their problems.

The play under the direction of Gaurav Sharma portrayed the excesses of moneylenders on poor farmers besides the terrible problems of poverty, misery and humiliation of protagonist Shanker symbolising those poor farmers constrained to commit subsides. The impact of the story of stirring emotions, orthodoxy, mistrust dishonesty and powerfully presented by actors in costumes that the crowd kept swelling despite ununbearable heat.

Narrator Harmanpal effectively linked up the sequences while actors Jasbir, Mukesh Pal, Badri Bhatt, Deepika Walia and Harpreet kept the audience engaged with good acting spells.

Panchkula, June 27
Three persons were killed and another critically injured in two different road accidents at the Raipur Rani area near here last night. While the deceased have been identified as Balram (55), Jagmal (60) and Karamvir (32), Satish was admitted at the General Hospital, Panchkula, with injuries.

According to the police, Satish, along with Balram and Jagmal, all residents of Khatoli village in Raipur Rani, were returning to their village from Raipur Rani in car when Satish lost control over the vehicle and hit a tree alongside the road resulting in the severe injuries to all of them.

After the injured were taken to the General Hospital, Panchkula, doctors referred Balram and Jagmal to the PGI, Chandigarh, where they succumbed to their injuries this morning.

Similarly, Karamvir, a resident of Shiamtu village in Raipur Rani, was killed when his motorcycle slipped near the village while he was returning from Barwala.

Karamvir was running his spare parts shop in the village.

Chandigarh, June 27
In this age of information technology, e-learning is becoming a hot pursuit and fast-expanding mode of learning. However, it faces many pedagogical challenges. To make this new mode of learning happen, Dr Ravi K Mahajan, a faculty member of the University School of Open Learning, Panjab University, Chandigarh, will present a paper titled ‘e-Learning and Pedagogical Challenges: A Study in Student’s Response’ at 2009 International Conference on Distance Education and Open Learning to be held in October in Singapore.

Dr Mahajan’s paper is one of the 49 papers selected on the basis of the recommendations of reviewers and the technical programme committee. The selection of the papers has been based on the evaluation on parameters of originality, innovation, technical merit, applicability and match-to-conference topic.

Dwelling on an empirical study and multiplicity of the crisis that our education system is facing, Dr Mahajan’s paper makes a case for a ‘blended learning’. Blended learning, he explains, is a kind of education method that combines diverse education models and takes advantage from every sort of technology. The paper also puts forth a model, which promises to provide a more satisfying experience to the shades of students in their venture.

Dr Mahajan has already over 30 research papers and articles to his credit, besides an education film ‘Statistics: An introduction’, which was telecast in the country-wide classroom programme of the UGC on a number of occasions.

Chandigarh, June 27
If the claims of inmates of girls’ hostel no 5 are anything to go by, Panjab University’s efforts to spruce it up are putting them to grave inconvenience.

According to girls, while the university has engaged around seven workers for whitewash, they have not deployed even a single attendant or guard.

In the absence of any check, these workers not only allegedly loiter, but also continue to be there as late as 10 o’clock. The girls claim to have complained to the warden about them changing in corridors and bathing in their bathrooms, but no action has been taken.

Sugandh, an inmate, said: “It was scary, when my roommate found one of the labourers standing in front of the door. I went to look for attendant, she was not in the hostel. I rang up the warden and apprised her of the incident, but she sounded blithe and assured to look into the matter.”

“Besides, I also told her about them using our bathroom and changing in the corridor. Because of holidays, there are very few girls in the hostel and what if something happens at night? They mock at us when we go out of our rooms to get water. Even after repeated requests, the warden has not cared to make necessary arrangements for our security and privacy,” she added.

Her claims were supported by other inmates, who refused to be named. However, rubbishing the claims Gurmeet Kaur claimed that everything was fine. “I had fined the girl a few days ago for staying without permission in the hostel.” Reacting to the same, the inmate mentioned has also claimed it to be nothing but a cover up for negligence.