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Tube-wells to pump water into Sukhna
Chandigarh, April 15 As the groundwater level in this area is very high, the administration officials believe that this would definitely help in restoring the Sukhna lake to its normal level. A UT Administration senior official said that after constructing deep bore tubewells in this forest area, groundwater would be pumped through these deep bore tube-wells. Besides, the UT Administration was also mulling to use Chandigarh’s tertiary water supply to fill the lake. Earlier, members of the committee, which was formed to save Sukhna Lake, had rejected the previous proposal to utilise the water supply of Chandigarh from tghe Kajauli waterworks to fill the Sukhna Lake in winters. Recently, the Administration had put forward the proposal before the committee that during winter the demand for water was less and hence, water could be supplied from the Kajauli waterworks. Water had to be supplied to the lake to solve the problem of weeds that nurture in swampy conditions. It is not the only proposal which was rejected by the committee members but the proposal of digging the lake 2 feet deep in the summer, and buying the high-tech machines to deal with silt and weed problem were also rejected. Last year, the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) at Roorkee, which is conducting a year-long study on the lake, in its preliminary report submitted to the UT Administration, had stated that nearly 50 per cent of the water body would run dry by June. Thereafter, the committee had previously planned to start digging the dried-out area 2 feet deep in summer to remove the weeds from the lake but due to the high cost of the procedure and the risk of monsoon hitting the region by June or July, the committee had rejected the proposal costing
crores. Lake area down by third The original area that the lake spanned has considerably shrunk. In 1958, the lake encompassed 228 hectares. Today, it spans 148 hectares, down by almost a third. It is not only the siltation and growth of aquatic weed that is eating into the storage capacity of the Sukhna lake, land mass covered with wild growth in the forest area is also eating into the lake’s holding capacity. No help from Haryana The Haryana Government turned down the UT Administration’s request to provide water from the Kaushalya dam in Pinjore. The Administration wanted a separate water channel, which the government was laying from Pinjore to Panchkula
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Land mass eating into storage capacity of lake
The problem is more pronounced in the forest area, adjoining the northern rim of the water body. The issue was discussed at a recent meeting of the “Committee for Conservation and Beautification Projects of the Sukhna Lake and its Surrounding Areas”. As per the study conducted by the Irrigation and Power Research Institute, Amritsar, the overall loss in the storage capacity of the lake was 51.19 per cent with respect to the designed storage capacity of the lake at the time of its construction in 1958. It has further pointed out that the storage capacity of the lake after the monsoon season of 2003 was 511.55 hectares metre (ha m) and it was reduced to 475.147 hectares metre (ha m) after the flood season of 2008. The present storage capacity of the lake was 524.225 hectare meters (ha m). While referring to the discussion during the meeting, it was pointed that the wild growth on the land mass needed to be removed to arrest its progress. Since the land mass was not part of the protected forest, the land mass could be removed but it would not solve the problem as the place would be taken over by silt and aquatic growth. Going into the background of the water body, officials said the lake is 1.52 km long and 1.49 km wide. After completion in 1958, the water-spread area of the lake was 188 ha and the average depth was 4.69 m. It had a depth of 18 feet originally, but due to heavy silt deposits, the depth reduced to 8 feet 6 inches and area to 1. 5 sq km. In 1988, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, recognised 228.66 ha of Sukhna Lake as one of the National Wetlands that needed priority for conservation. It was initially spread over 230 hac, but has been reduced to around 154 ha in 2007. The reduced area is a result of siltation. Over a period of time, the silted part was converted into Sukhna Lake Reserve Forest.
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574 govt houses to have solar water heating systems
Chandigarh, April 15 Currently solar plant installations are being put up on important buldings, but the programme seems to have been expanded to the housing sector, as the UT is thinking about energy alternatives in the wake of the soaring power demand and dwindling supply. Besides rotational power cuts in the past, the residents these years are already complaining about unscheduled cuts in the beginning of the summer season. The UT does have arrangements for approximately 220 MW of energy, while the peak demand here exceeds 300 MW that has resulted in the UT imposing rotational power cuts in the past. Even while no power cuts are imposed in rotation, residents do complain about unscheduled power cuts, particularly during summers. Chandigarh does not have an independent power generation source and the ambitious project of power through windmills has bitten the dust. Of the total buildings going in for solar energy installations, 443 buildings are situated in Sector 7, while the remaining 93 are in Sector 16. The Department of Science and Technology has also invited applications from private residences that were interested in solar heating systems at a whopping 55 per cent concession. Confirming the development, PJS Dadhwal, additional director, Department of Science and Technology, UT, said the solar energy projects in homes form a part of the national initiative of developing Chandigarh as a "Model Solar City". Besides projects on rooftop systems for power generation, the programme chart envisaged providing solar energy to the city homes for sharing at least a part of the total burden of spending on procuring power. Dadhwal explained "very simply, using geyser for three hours daily would cost averagely six units. At the price of Rs 4 per unit, the cost worked to Rs 24 per day for a house and the monthly cost worked to Rs 720. If this was the saving per single unit, one can easily calculate the amount that the UT would save in purchasing for the entire city". Madanjit Saha, a showroom owner, said, "Our only apprehension with the solar installations is poor availability of appropriate service stations in the city. We have examples when the original systems went bad and in the wake of unavailability of proper services, the system became redundant."
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2 booked while cheating in SSC exam
Chandigarh, April 15 The police acted on the complaint of Jaswinder Kaur, Principal and Centre Superintendent, SSC Exam, at Government School Sector 23 and arrested Pradeep Rao in a case of cheating registered at the Sector 17 police station. The incident came to light today when the examiner noticed Pradeep Rao using bluetooth during the exam. He was frisked and a mobile phone was found hidden inside his shirt. He was handed over to the police. In another room at the same examination centre, the examiner suspected a student, Manjit, of using a mobile phone. As the student was questioned, he immediately fled and dropped his earphone in the process. He was booked and raids were on to arrest him. The police said Pardeep Rao was a resident of Hisar district, while Manjit hailed from Jind in Haryana. A case under Section 420 of the IPC has been registered at the Sector 17 police station.
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Traditional food street a crowd-puller
Panchkula, April 15 Sulekha Arora, a resident of Mohali, said she wanted to visit the venue yesterday to relish the food but the intermittent rain had spoilt their programme. However, as the weather cleared this morning, she along with other members of the family decided to visit the place. Large crowd thronged mini villages of the seven zonal centers, as specialty cuisines of various regions and states had been brought together at the traditional food street, which has become a favourite amongst food lovers. North eastern cultural centre has brought Assamese food stall offering special smoke chicken, black rice pudding, pork red chilly, pork fry, chicken fry, chicken coconut rice and favourite rice beer served in bamboo beer mug. The Manipuri food stall offered cuisines like eromba, sinju, proautti, pakoda and natuga. Naga food stall was popular for its chicken with bamboo shoots, whereas Sikkim food stall offered special chow, momo and aloodam. As Allahabad food stall offered sumptuous motichoor ladoo, khoya mithayi, khaste damaloo, kachori with paneer ki sabzi, Maharashtrian food stall has jawar ki roti with baingan ka bharta. The very special is the matka roti with varadi mutton, puran podi (meethi roti) is also liked a lot by the visitors. The most popular non-vegetarian and vegetarian biryani was available at Hyderabad food stall, which is serving sumptuous ginger chicken, mutton curry, paneer butter masala, mix veg curry, veg dum biryani, dum ka mutton biryani, dum ka chicken biryani, dum ka green chicken, kurmani ka meeta, sheer khurma meeta, dum ki biryani and lemon rice. The Rajasthani food stall offers Rajasthani thali, special dal batti churma, special bajra roti, missi roti thali, gatta rice and pyaz kachori. It also offers various thaalis like sal batti churma, missi roti thaali, bajra roti ker sangria, special payaz kachori, moongdaal kachori, jodhpuri mircch vada, mawa kachori, moongdal halwa, churma ladoo, moong dal pakodi, bikaneri kesariya jalebi. The Gujarati food stall at the venue has special besan dhokla, theple, khaman, fafda and methi ghota. Whereas chefs from Tamil Nadu are preparing special South Indian cuisines for the visitors like uppama, kulzhi paniyaram, chettinadu chicken, chettinadu fish fry, dasai and Tamil Nadu special thaali. West Bengal is known for special sweet delicacies and the famous amongst these are special Bengali rasgulas and nalin gur ka sandesh, whereas Bengal mitha is a must try. Kashmiri food stall has specialty food cuisines, which is known all over the country and the food stall is offering rista goshtaba, tabak shorba, chicken korma, pulao meet, chapli kabab, dal Kashmiri and Kashmiri roti. The chefs are preparing special Kashmiri cuisines with their own rich ingredients and dry fruits.
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Northeastern dancers leave audience awestruck
Panchkula, April 15 Since today’s programme was dedicated to the Eastern region folklore, hundreds of musicians and dancers depicted the nuances and cultural manifestations of the northeastern states of India in all 17 spectacular dance genres, symbolising unity in diversity. After the curtain was raised with an invocatory dance, bhortal from Assam with playing of big cymbals in laudation of Lord Krishna, the dancers performed maibul thunga, a traditional martial dance. The artistes displayed perfection in holding and attacking with swords. Submerged in devotion, the farmers invoked the blessings of the deity of wealth for prosperity. Yet another bro-zai dance from Arunachal Pradesh saw women expressing regret for any wrong doing committed by their community during cultivation. Dancers from Tripura presented a joyous number, sangrai mog, as they sang, danced in ecstasy for celebrations of the New Year, while the Sikkim artistes displayed fun and flair on a Dasehra day. The harvest festival like our Baisakhi is celebrated with enthusiasm in Meghalya region with great verve and vigour and the artistes displayed in their dance titled “Wangla”. The vivacious and versatile girls from Assam’s Tiva tribe performed barat dance, normally done in usha barat festival in December. The audience relished pung cholam and later dhol cholam, as the drummers shoed their adroit mastery over playing the pung, the traditional drum, as displayed with eloquent
body movements and nimble footwork. Similarly, the Hozagiri dance saw young dancers performing standing on pitchers and bending in reverence for the goddess of wealth. Another harvest dance from Nagaland matched the spirit and style of bhangra. However, the audience clapped more for ka shad mastieh dance, a type of war dance from Meghalaya. The festival concludes tomorrow.
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'Youngsters should understand our society'
I have read with great interest the story titled, “Elderly in tricity spend twilight years of their life in loneliness, despair”. There is no denying the fact about this situation, which is the direct result of over westernisation of our culture. I feel that our society is easily trapped into copying any culture without taking into consideration the effect on the life of a common man. History is full with these facts. The main difference between our society set up and that of western society is that the foundation of our society is laid on the joint family system and that of western society on individualism. The remedy, therefore, is to make the new generation understand this basic difference, which will produce positive results. The problem of loneliness and despair can be solved if the government starts allotting area to develop old age homes and also consider some sort of financial help, keeping in view the fact that this problem is of recurring nature based on the fact that average life of Indians is increasing. — MR Batta, Sector 15, Chandigarh Maintenance of old age homes a must
As a responsible resident of Panchkula, I would also like to share my experience with other readers. My father is a lawyer and I have seen senior citizens coming to him with various problems. I have seen their pathetic condition. I have seen them crying and wailing. It is an old saying that in the old age, a person becomes a child again, so they need extra attention and care but our younger generation is leaving no stone unturned to make them feel unwanted with each passing day of their lives. I agree that once a child turns 22 or 23 years old, he has to move from his home in search of better opportunities in other cities or even other countries and there is no harm in it, but neglecting the parents is a different thing. If there is will in the hearts of their children, then they can definitely make some arrangements to keep their parents with them once they get settled. Keeping in view the increasing number of senior citizens in the tricity, the government has opened many old age homes and home for pensioners in different sectors of the tricity, but in my opinion, these are not serving the cause properly. Such homes are definitely opened but are ill maintained in most of the cases. A few months ago, I visited an old age home in Sector 15, Panchkula, and I was highly disappointed by seeing its condition. It is in ruins. Not only making but maintaining such old age homes is a pre-requisite, otherwise the condition of the elderly will never improve and shall remain pathetic, no matter they are living in their homes or old age homes. Old people who have lost their partners are in more trouble, therefore, such persons must be encouraged to meet, talk and develop new relations with other companions in such old age homes. — Neha Sharma,
Harmilap Nagar, Baltana
Senior citizens in the city are facing a number of serious practical problems. Neglect from all sides, children, relatives, civic body and even the administration. Some of them have reasonably good income from various investments and pension schemes, but most of the senior citizens are not able to cope with the lonely time. The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, social welfare department, UT Administration, in collaboration with NGOs and social workers should call upon senior citizens to demonstrate their collective strength for safeguarding their rights. Think on moral grounds. Why do we tend to forget that the reason we are in this world is our parents, the reason we studied is our parents, the reason we were alive all this while is our parents, the reason we survived all diseases is our parents. The hands who made us walk is our parents. When we were kids, we never thought of it, but we knew that no matter what, our parents will be by our side. But when our time came to show our respect, to reciprocate the love, to show our gratitude, we back out. Although the President has given her assent to the Act, which punishes children who abandon the parents with a prison term of three months or a fine, the situation is grim for elderly people in India. Some dump their old parents or grandparents in old age homes and don’t even come to visit them. Chandigarh has many senior citizens but there are few government-run homes for them. — Sachin Sharma,
President Youth Innovative Society
Service lanes, threat to life
Originally conceived for purposes such as critical engineering maintenance by the municipal corporation, facilitation of transportation of important materials, which cannot be transported via primary passage and providing room for air flow and light, the service lanes in the city are providing to be venue for urban slums. At night, the service lanes are used as a shelter for the homeless. Further to this, the service lanes have been found as a safe haven for drunkards and drug addicts. My grandmother is the most affected. In some cases, the police had to be called to stop the nuisance. No doubt, the service lane is a threat to privacy and life to citizens, especially the senior citizens. An application on behalf of my grandmother was sent to the municipal corporation to close the service lane by installing security gates. No action has been taken so far by the Chandigarh Administration. The MC has not responded to the RTI. Whereas, when the Central and state governments are coming up with the Acts like Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, citizen charter and other welfare programmes for the elderly, the Chandigarh Administration has even failed to respond to them. — Vikram Brar,
Sector 19-D
Senior citizens should change with time
Without any offence to senior citizens, the issue also needs to be looked into from the perspective of the younger generation who are often being trapped by the elders in piquant situation. I have an engineer friend who needs money for an independent business, however, his father would not part with even a single penny from the family business. A close look, around us, shows that many elders are not willing to change with the changed times. The issue needs to be deliberated in a wider
context. — Ajay Jamwal, Chandigarh
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Sec-17 Parking goes haywire
Chandigarh, April 15 Four parking lots, including the Sukhna Lake lot in Sector 5, the CMC Hospital lot in Sector 17 and parking lots in Sector 34, have not been allotted to any contractor in the past three months due to low bidding at the auction held in January. Commuters have to face a lot of trouble while getting in and out of these mismanaged parking lots in the centrally located sectors of the city. One can even come across quarrels between vehicle owners. In fact, the authorities are also losing about Rs 5 lakh per month on account of non-allotment of each of these parking lots. During a visit to Sector 34, a commuter, Rajesh, who had been waiting near his four-wheeler for the past 15 minute for the owner of the car who had parked his vehicle behind his car, said it was strange on the part of the MC that it was more concerned about earning enhanced revenue than do something for the convenience of the public. He suggested that till the authorities allot these parking lots to contractors, they should deploy their own staff there. Similarly, in other parking lots a majority of the commuters face trouble in finding parking space as most the vehicles are parked haphazardly. A shopkeeper in Sector 17, Yusaf, said commuters had to struggle to find parking space in the CMC parking lot as there is no MC staff deployed there to manage parking. A senior official stated that the issue of re-auctioning of these parking lots was raised at the recent finance and contract committee meeting and it was decided that a few amendments would be made to the rules for the auctioning of the parking lots. Until these amendments are made and approved by the finance and contract committee, no auction of parking lots could take place. The records of the corporation revealed that out these four parking sites, the lease for the CMC parking lot expired in October last year. The MC authorities tried to auction it again in October but no bidder came forward to grab it. Poor response to auction
In January, the MC conducted the auction for five parking lots out which one had been allotted and the auction of the rest of parking lots were held back by the auction committee on the grounds that the bids received for these were less than those received last
year.
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Authorities still in slumber
Akash Ghai Tribune News Service
Mohali, April 15 About a month ago, a young woman had lost her life at Kumbhra Chowk following her car being hit by another car.
In all above-mentioned accidents, the common point was that all accidents had occurred at different traffic light points, where traffic lights were not functioning. About a fortnight ago, Mohali Deputy Commissioner Varun Roojam had especially issued instructions to officials to make all traffic lights functional before start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches at the PCA Stadium. But the orders seemed to remain on papers only. Presently many of the traffic lights in the town are not functioning, which cause not only chaos during peak hours at these sites but also accidents every now and then. At the Chawla light point, one of the busiest chowks of the town, the traffic lights have been dysfunctional for at least four months. Similarly, the traffic lights near Fortis Hospital are not working. Most of the traffic lights on the main road (from Mohali bus stand to Balongi village, being used by buses to go to Kharar and further areas) are lying dysfunctional. “The dysfunctional traffic lights are an open invitation to the accidents. What the authorities are waiting for before getting into action, I don’t know,” said Tajinder Singh, a resident of Phase III-B-2 here.
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Induction ceremony
Chandigarh Management Association (CMA) today held an induction ceremony for new members at the PHD House, Sector-31. The event was held to formally induct around 50 new individual and 10 new organisational members. Dr Anshu Kataria, president, CMA, and chairman, Aryan Group of Colleges, honoured the new members by giving them welcome kits. Manoj Kumar Sharma, vice president, Madhulika Kak, secretary general, AK Gandhi, chairman, membership committee were also present on the occasion. Collage making
Volunteers of Yuvsatta, supported by Oxfam India, organised a collage-making workshop at the Rock Garden today. Around 50 children from Bapu Dham Colony, Janta Colony, Chandigarh, and 15 kids from Preetnagar,
Amritsar, participated in the event. Giving information about the initiative, Vivek Dubey, coordinator of ‘Project Bridge’ to empower the marginalised kids of Bapu Dham, said that children in groups of five each created beautiful collages on the theme of ‘My Chandigarh’. For most of the young ones, this was their first chance to visit the Rock Garden and express their feelings freely on a canvas.
International speech contest
The International Speech and Table Topic contest was held at Infosys , IT Park, Chandigarh, by the Division B of Toastmasters International Club. Punita Singh, district governor of District 41 of Toastmasters Club, was the chief guest on the occasion. Winners of International Speech and Table Topic Contest pose with their trophies. A Tribune photograph Optometrist meeting
The Optometrists Association Chandigarh (OAC) celebrated its first foundation day with the release of the first ever directory of optometrists of the tricity region by the veteran Optometrist Rajinder Manocha. OAC also organised its 2nd CME titled “Optometrists: the sight givers” at GMCH-32, Chandigarh. Members take part in the Optometrists Association Chandigarh meeting. A Tribune photograph Seminar
The Chandigarh state unit of All India Medical Laboratory Technologists’ Association celebrated the 8th Chandigarh chapter and scientific seminar today to mark world biomedical laboratory science day in the GMCH-32 auditorium. Chief guest Prof Raj Bahadur, Director Principal, GMCH-32, inaugurated the function. He emphasised that bio-medical lab service plays a major role in proper diagnosis and treatment of patients as well as helps in evaluating the outcome of the treatment. Rocky Daniel, organising chairperson, said that the demand and responsibility of medical lab technologists is increasing rapidly in the health sector. Menawhile, Grewal Eye Institute (GEI) organised a continuous medical education (CME) program for opticians and optometrists in tricity today. MC Mayor Raj Bala Malik inaugurated the CME.
Workshop
The British School, Sector 44, Chandigarh organised “Crazy words play”, a three-day English teaching workshop for the students from classes I to V. The main motive of the workshop was to develop an interest among children towards the English language and to remove the hesitation and phobia of the language from their mind. In the three-day workshop, the students not only learnt vocabulary related to day today life, but also participated in listening activities, reading and pronunciation, and language games. The coordinator of the event, Vandana, said that the hands-on interactive workshop is an initiative to help children learn the language while having fun.
Criticised
Strongly criticizing the Congress (I) and its ministers, ex-MP and national incharge of the Legal and Legislative Business Cell of the BJP Satpal Jain said that this party and its governments have not done anything substantial over the last 50-60 years to uplift the down trodden sections of the Dalit samaj. Jain stated this in a rally in Ram Darbar Complex today, which was organised by the Chandigarh Scheduled Caste Welfare Association in connection with the birth anniversary celebrations of Dr BR Ambedkar. Jain said that the Dalit samaj has been the worst victim of the policies of the Congress governments, like the so called ‘economic liberalisation’, the unprecedented price rise and large scale
unemployment. Mohali scan Baisakhi mela
Anee’s School, Sector 69, Mohali, organised a ‘Baisakhi Mela’ in the school premises. The main motive of this event was to show the rural Punjabi life to the students and keep them attached to their culture. In the morning, the assembly was conducted which began with a short prayer and hymn. Tiny tots of Anee’s School were dressed in colourful traditional Punjabi attires, representing the culture of the state, and celebrated Baisakhi with great zeal. Scenes like harvesting, the Jallianwala Bagh incident and the establishment of Khalsa were enacted on the occasion by the students. Aneet Goel, chairman of Anee’s School, was chief guest at the occasion. Harpreet Grewal, principal, distributed prizes to the winners. Gifts were distributed amongst all the students of the school. The students were also told about the importance of the day.
Seminar held
Aryans College of Engineering (ACE) organised a seminar on “Recent Trends in the field of Chemistry” in the college campus at Thuha, Chandigarh-Patiala highway, near Chandigarh. Dr Manmohan Chhibber, faculty, Thapar University, Patiala, was the keynote speaker of the event. Dr Anshu Kataria, chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges (AGC), presided over the function. Dr PB Mahapatra, Director, Aryans College of Engineering welcomed the guests. While addressing the students, he highlighted the importance and application of chemistry in various branches of engineering. He added that chemical engineering principles are used to produce DNA sequences in large quantities. He also stated that the completion of the “Human Genome Project” is seen as a major development not only advancing chemical engineering but genetic engineering and genomics as well.
Panchkula scan
Medical check-up camp
A general medical check-up camp was jointly organised by the residents welfare association and Lion's & Lioness Club Midtown at the community centre in Sector-12 here today. More than 85 residents were checked up by a team of doctors including eye specialist Dr Shobit Ghai, orthopaedic specialist Dr Umesh Modi, pediatrician Dr Vinod Gagneja, and general surgeon Dr Sanjeev Trehan. Speaking on the occasion Rakesh Aggarwal, general secretary RWA, said that such welfare oriented camps would also be organised in future for the benefit of the residents.
Annual programme
The annual programme of the Shiv Parvati Sewa Dal, Chandigarh, “Ek Sham Bhole Ke Naam” is being organised at Shalimar Ground, Sector 5, Panchkula, on April 22. As many as 200 devotees are engaged in making arrangements for the event. A Shivlingam of ice is being made. Besides, models of religious sites on way to Lord Amarnath Cave- Pahalgam, Chandanwari, Sheshnag, Pissu Top, Panchtarni and Amarnath Cave will be showcased. Community kitchen is also being organised.
— Tribune Reporters
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Row over ‘wrong info’ in nominations
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 15 In the complaint, The PC Sangi group has pointed out that the candidates of the Hitesh Puri group for the posts of vice-chairman and general secretary have given wrong information in their nomination papers about their membership with any political party. Under a the required column both Gurdev Singh Ahluwalia, candidate for the post of vice-chairman and GS Sathi, candidate for the post of general secretary, have stated no. However, according to the information available with Sangi group, both candidates are regular members of the Congress and their names appear on the list of prominent and active members of the party. The Sangi group has referred to the FOSWAC executive meeting held on March 4, in which it was unanimously resolved that each office-bearer contesting the elections should not be a member of any political party. The group has made a request to the election commission that both the candidates should be allowed to contest elections only after they make their position clear. While reacting to the complaint, Hitesh Puri stated the Sangi group was misinforming the election commission as both these candidates were only special invitees of the Congress. He alleged that P C Sangi should first clarify his position because he was a regular member of the Congress and had applied for the municipal election ticket also.
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61,466 administered polio drops
Mohali, April 15 During the drive, about 1.32 lakh children under the age of five years would be administered the dose, claimed officials. The district administration has constituted various teams that would visit door-to-door and mobile teams to check vehicles that are carrying children and passing through the district. The administration has constituted about 985 house teams, 40 mobile teams and 37 transit teams for the purpose. “A total of 1,062 medical officials under the supervision of 113 SMOs and medical officials have been deputed to carry out the drive,” said Dr Usha Bansal, Civil Surgeon, Mohali, adding that as many as 19 booths have been set up at the primary health centres, civil dispensaries and civil hospitals in the entire district for the purpose. “Special teams have been constituted for the slum children,” she added. Dera Bassi: The health department has launched a district-level pulse polio campaign from Dera Bassi today. It was inaugurated by local MLA NK Sharma and Mohali Civil Surgeon, Dr Usha Bansal by administering polio drops to a newly born child. The Rotary Club had been providing cooperation in this campaign. Dr Usha Bansal said nearly 1,30,000 children of the district would be covered during the pulse polio campaign from April 15 to 17. Over 1,000 teams had been set up for this purpose and over 40 mobile teams had been set up that would
go to the villages and remote areas. SMO Dera Bassi, Dr JK Bansal, and other staff members
were also present on the occasion.
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Sector 21 residents take up brooms
Chandigarh, April 15 Alleging that the corporation had turned a deaf ear to their grievances, Dr JC Verma, who was also part of this protest, stated for the past three months they had been running from pillar to post in the corporation to lodge their complaint about the mismanagement of sanitation services, but all in vain. Complaining that neither the authorities nor the contractor had any check on the attendance of safai karamcharis deployed in this sector, the resident stated that they had adopted this method to show their resentment. The resident complained that the backlanes, streets, roads and parks had not been cleaned by the safai karamcharis for past one month. Recently the Citizens Residents Association met MC Commissioner VP Singh in this regard but no action has been taken by the MC yet. In fact, the association also met elected councillor Mukesh Bassi on the matter, but to no avail. The residents were upset with the corporation officials who after spending hefty amounts on maintaining sanitation in the city did not even bother to visit sectors.
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Misuse of water: 60 issued notices
Chandigarh, April 15 During a visit to Industrial Area, Phase I, today, it was found that a worker of the Hometel hotel was cleaning the parking lot of the hotel with water direct from the potable water supply in the afternoon. The Municipal Corporation has imposed a ban on irrigating lawns and washing cars and courtyards from 5:30 am to 8:30 am from today. The authorities constituted 14 teams to check the misuse of water during the morning hours. Residents would be issued notices at the first instance. In case the violation is repeated, violators would be issued challans and a fine of Rs 500 would also be imposed on them. The fine would be recovered along with the water bill by the MCC. In case of a third violation, the water connection would be snapped. Besides the misuse of potable water by watering lawns and washing of cars, the use of booster pumps on the main supply line will also invite notice from the MC. In such cases, booster pumps will be confiscated.
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Chandigarh, April 15 Dr Samra, who hails from Punjab, has been granted extension though he is more than 65. The extension has been approved by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet. Dr Samra was serving in the rank of Secretary to Government of. He was to complete his five-year tenure tomorrow. He will now serve as CEO till April, 2015. — TNS
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Car of Judicial Magistrate collides with another vehicle
Chandigarh, April 15 Bomb hoax
The UT police was on its toes when it received information that an unclaimed bag is lying near the Tribune roundabout in Sector 29 C. A bomb disposal squad reached the spot and cordoned off the area. Later, it was found that the bag contained clothes and some documents. The police identified its owner and returned the bag
to him.
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Promotions delayed Amit Sharma Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 15 While the teachers in Punjab are getting promotions, the UT (which follows the Punjab pattern) is in a fix over the rules. RPS Josh, a Panjab University fellow, has also written to the UT education secretary demanding that the teachers should be promoted without further delay. Josh said that Punjab follows the UGC rules of 2009 and the UT is adopting the same. However, in case of promotions of teachers, the UT has been following delaying tactics by seeking clarification again and again. “Over 70 promotion cases are pending with the UT which has left the teachers at the receiving end, despite repeated requests for promotions made to the UT,” Josh said. Jaswinder Singh Brar, DPI (Colleges), Punjab, said that the teachers are getting timely promotions in Punjab and there is no need for the UT to seek clarification from Punjab government over promotions. “When the UT follows the Punjab pattern, why is it seeking clarifications over promotions under the CAS? It is understood that when promotions in Punjab are being made as per the UGC notification of September, 2009, the same needs to be done in the UT,” Brar said. Brar further said that he has again written to the UT Director Higher Education (DHE) for making the promotions which are due. Despite repeated attempts, DK Tiwari, DHE, could not be contacted for comments. However, UT education Secretary VK Singh said that the matter was not in his knowledge and he could only comment after going through the issue.
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ISB begins PG course in management
Mohali, April 15 The chief guest on the occasion was Rakesh Singh, the Chief Secretary of Punjab, while noted industrialists, including Analjit Singh (chairman, Max India group), Sunil Kant Munjal (chairman, Hero Corporate Service Ltd), Rakesh Bharti Mittal (vice chairman and managing director, Bharti Enterprises), Atul Punj (chairman, Punj Lloyd Group) and Dr Pramath Raj Sinha, (founding dean, Indian School of Business) were also present. Terming the commencement of the programme as an important milestone in the state’s journey of making Mohali truly a knowledge city, Rakesh Singh said, “With the support of the Punjab government, I am confident that ISB will serve not only the region but the entire country.” The 200 students would undergo a week-long orientation programme, aiming at inducting the new students into the ISB way. Over 50 ISB alumni from across classes will conduct several activities to help the students get to know each other, induct them into the ISB culture, and offer advice on how to make the most out of their year at the ISB. The classes will commence on April 23, 2012.
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National Olympiad winners awarded
Chandigarh, April 15 The SOF, which has been conducting exams for past 15 years, encourages development of a scientific aptitude through innovative activities and use of information technology in the learning process across the globe. Prateek, a Class VIII student of Maharana Pratap Public School, Kurukshetra, who stood first in the 14th National Science Olympiad, said he used to study for nine hours and used to relax himself by playing football. “It is like a dream come true as last year I had stood third and it was my goal to bag the first position,” said Parteek who aims to crack civil services after getting completing engineering. Also awarded during the function was Galen Doss of Capt Amol Kalia Fertiliser Model Senior Secondary School, Naya Nangal, who topped the 2nd International English Olympiad. Among the city students who emerged as international winners included Charandeep Kapoor of Vivek High School, won a laptop by bagging first position in Class VI in the 11th National Cyber Olympiad. “I have earlier won prizes in the National Olympiads and it’s great to maintain the rhythm,” said Charandeep who also wants to clear UPSC exam. During the 2011-12 academic year, more than 20,000 schools participated from over 1,000 cities. Scores of students enrolled for the Olympiads from 14 countries in the Asia.
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Teachers participate in national workshop
Chandigarh, April 15 Under the guidance of experienced English teachers as the subject experts, balanced English sample papers for Class VIII are being set which shall cover all the levels of students. Teachers participated enthusiastically in the event and were seen making the papers, proof reading typing them. The papers will be handed over finally to the DAV Education Board, DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi. Dr RM Bhardwaj, ex-principal, PG DAV College, Nehur Nagar, New Delhi, and scholars from the DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi, provided expert guidance to all the teachers. The workshop will conclude tomorrow.
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Chandigarh, April 15
The winners of the International Speech Contest were: Neha Gupta of CSC, Noida, Toastmasters Club (I), Dheeraj Datta of Chandigarh Toastmasters Club (II) and Nikhil Dang of Adobe Toastmasters Club (III). The winners of the table topic contest were: Swati Dey of Noida Intra IT Toastmasters Club (I), Dev Aditya of TCS Noida Toastmasters club (II) and Vidhu Upadaya of Panchkula Toastmasters Club (III).
The event was attended by around 70 optometrists from institutions like the PGI, GMCH, GMSH, Sohana Eye Hospital and other renowned clinics of the tricity region. The CME commenced with a talk by senior optometrist P Singh on ‘Practical tips of fitting progressive addition lenses’ which was followed by an inspirational lecture on ‘Vision Optometry’ by Nirmal Singh.
