IT Chandigarh

CHANDIGARH: Communication through BSNL lines was affected in the city on Saturday as a fire broke out in the main exchange of the service provider.

Internet, mobile and landline services provided by the BSNL remain affected in the city after the fire which broke out in the morning, a senior official said.

Fire tenders which rushed to the spot doused the blaze, he said adding the work for restoring communication is progressing.

Cables have been damaged in the fire, he said adding the extent of damage is being assessed.

No one was injured in the fire.

SAS Nagar SAD leader Jasjit Singh Bunny on Friday met the shopkeepers of Janata Market, Phase-IIIB-1, whose shops were gutted in the fire accident of June 1.

Although, the shopkeepers have been compensated with Rs 25,000, the draw for new booths is yet to take place and at present most shopkeepers are jobless.

Bunny assured the shopkeepers that as soon as the stay on the market would be vacated, the draw would be announced.

Earlier, three shopkeepers sought intervention by a court, saying that they were owners of three of the shops that were destroyed in the fire, whereas the compensation was given to some other persons who claimed that they purchased the shops after the survey of 1998. The court issued the status quo in one of the cases while gave notice of motion in the other two cases.

However, it is learnt that both the parties have compromised now and the cases would be taken back when the court would open on July 16.

Chandigarh: The comprehensive plan for rainwater harvesting and water conservation on Patiala-ki-Rao, undertaken by the UT Engineering and Forest Department, was today studied by UT Administrator Gen (retd) S F Rodrigues. Rodrigues said the plan had brought a new look to the area with the creation of two water bodies and development of green belt zones.

Accompanied by wife Jean Rodrigues, Finance Secretary S K Sandhu, Chief Engineer V K Bhardwaj and Deputy Conservator of Forests Ishwar Singh, the Administrator went round the area and took stock of the progress of the work.

Work relating to cemented pathways, stone pitching, sitting benches, tree plantation and landscaping is complete and the water body has emerged as a natural spot for attracting birds, wildlife and promotion of aquatic fauna, besides being a means for stabilising ground water table through recharging. The Administrator asked the officers to install solar lighting arrangement and add boats at the spot for meeting functional requirements.

The Administrator also took stock of the work in progress on the other lake and asked the Chief Engineer to complete the work on bandhs, check dams and pitched storm walls on this project to ensure utilisation of rainwater of the ensuing monsoon session.

He also directed for development and beautification of the whole area by taking into account the local conditions.

Chandigarh After three snatchers Manish Kumar, Nirpal Singh and Anish AO Samuels were produced in the court on Friday by the Sector 17 police, a struggle to take the custody of the accused has begun between the police stations of Chandigarh and Panchkula.

According to the police, the three accused, who have reportedly confessed to have carried out 16 snatchings from various parts of the city, might have committed more snatchings in Panchkula and Chandigarh.

“There is always a possibility that the criminals might confess more crimes and there are chances of more recoveries,” said one of the investigating policeman posted at Sector 17 Police Station.

According to KS Pannu, SHO, Police Station-17, various police stations have tried take the accused on remand after they were produced in the court today, but the court remanded them to the judicial custody, as their cases were mainly registered at Police Station-17.

Chandigarh: After serving notices to the mobile service providers against erecting towers behind Sukhna Lake, now there seems to be a difference of opinion among the senior officials themselves. However, what is bothering the officials at present is the repercussion of their removal. The towers, if removed, would mean a complete blackout of mobile services in the northern sectors.

According to LAO Hargunjit Kaur, the enforcement staff has made all the arrangements to remove the towers by next week as per the directions given by the district magistrate. Officers admitted that the erecting the towers was an error on part of the SDO (buildings) office, which received payments from three mobile firms, even when the case was pending in the LAO’s office.

Deputy Commissioner RK Rao had issued orders for the removal of the towers saying that the permission to build the towers was provisional and there has been no mistake on the part of the SDO office. Last week, the Estate Office had ordered the immediate removal of towers behind the lake, where three mobile towers had come up a few months back disrupting the view from the main entrance of the lake. The towers had come up in the Kaimbwala area on an agricultural land. The towers were also in violation of the Periphery Act.

Chandigarh: A Score of 85 per cent in Class XII cannot be considered an average or poor score, but the students waiting for admission to undergraduate courses in city colleges are discovering that it is just not enough. With the cut-off percentages touching 90 in many colleges, it is an anxious wait for the students.

Aditi Nagpal, who has scored 75 per cent in Class XII has applied for admission to BCom at DAV College, Sector 10 and MCM DAV College, Sector 36, but figures in no list. “I want to opt only for BCom as I have no interest in sciences. But it is a long wait. The situation would become clear when admissions begin,” she said.

The number of students applying for these courses far exceeds the seats that are available. There are 1,250 applicants for 140 seats in BCom and 950 for 40 seats in BCA at Government College for Girls, Sector 11. At SD College there are 3,000 applicants for 210 seats in BCom, 1,200 applicants each for BBA and BCA, 50 for BSc (Hons) and 400 for BSc (Bio-informatics).

DAV College, Sector 10, has received 1,813 applications for B Com, 885 for BBA and 610 for Biotech. The situation is similar in other colleges as well.

Tilak Raj, an agriculturist, is struggling to find an appropriate college for his daughter who has scored 78.8 per cent. He looked disappointed at DAV College after his daughter’s name did not figure in the list put up there. “With the percentages going so high, her score does not seem enough. I hope she gets admission in a college of her choice,” he said.
(more…)

Chandigarh: Bank Of India today opened its retail centre in the city. Under this arrangement, the representatives of the bank will call on the prospective customers to collect relevant papers required for sanctioning the retail loans.

Presiding over the ceremony at Sector 17 office of the bank, VKR Aggarwal, General Manager, Head Office, said that the bank had decided to start the centre, as Chandigarh was an important centre.

Aggarwal said that the single window concept would be followed for the documentation, and the loan disbursement would be done at the customer’s doorstep. “The aim of establishing the retail centre is also to reduce processing time by adhering to the prescribed standards,” said Aggarwal.

Satish Goel, Zonal Manager, Chandigarh Zone, I S Sarin, Assitant General Manager, were also present at the ceremony.

Chandigarh does not have a public transport system to match its label of ‘city beautiful’. Otherwise considered the lifeline of any city, the public transport system in the city — Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) — is a big disappointment. The first thing that a person is told on his arrival in the city is to arrange for a private vehicle for himself as the public transport system in the city is in a dismal state. Treasury suffers annual losses of about Rs 10 crore due to CTU. Peoplespeak

Other than the introduction of grid pattern in January 2006, no major changes have ever been introduced in the city transport system to make it more effective. According to the official estimates, the number of average daily passengers has increased by about 21.5 per cent after the introduction of this system. Ashok Gahi, a resident of Sector 19, said, “Although they say that the waiting time for any bus is less than seven minutes but one has to wait for upto 20 minutes most of the time. Finally, I had to buy a motorcycle for myself.” Sukhbir, a senior citizen, complained that the drivers and conductors need to be trained to be more courteous and patient with the passengers. Pending plans

Although, there has been talk of introducing AC Volvo buses, fitting GPRS in the CTU buses, buying of automatic ticketing machine for the conductors, introduction of new CTU bus passes with holograms and changes in the routes of buses, but nothing positive has ever come out of these plans so far. According to P S Shergill, Director Transport, CTU will very soon have 14 mini-buses to run between the sectors to further boost the public transport system in the city. “The proposal regarding the mini-buses is a priority for the CTU and we hope to get them in the next few months. Besides, the CTU is also studying the public transport system of Indore so as to bring changes in our system to make it more effective,” said Shergill.

(more…)

Chandigarh: The Chandigarh Police have arrested five persons after a fight broke out between the drivers of Ambala Bus Syndicate and Chandigarh Transport Undertaking at the Sector 17 bus stand.

The fight broke out after some objection from the CTU employees regarding the bus timings of the syndicate. According to Jagdish Singh, former president of CTU Workers’ Union, the drivers of Ambala Bus Syndicate pick up passengers for destinations they are not authorised for.

“If their bus is supposed to go till Kharar, they will call and take passengers for areas like Khanna and Morinda. We objected to this,” said Singh.

Inspector Kulwant SIngh Pannu, SHO, Sector 17, said the police have arrested five persons and have registered a case under sections 107 and 157 of the Indian Penal Code.

CHANDIGARH — The ground that has been home to the likes of India’s World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev among others will host a one-day international cricket match after 14 years.

The centrally located Sector 16 stadium here will host the ODI between India and Australia on October 8.

Former president Ranbir Singh Mahendra on Tuesday formally informed the Chandigarh Administration about the decision of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to hold the tie here. Top administration officials assured Mahendra that the newly renovated stadium would be made ready for the event just over three months away.

Adviser to the Chandigarh administrator, Lalit Sharma, said that the best international standard facilities would be made available for the match. He added that all requirements of the BCCI and the International Cricket Council (ICC) would be met.

Besides facilities for players, officials, media and spectators, a giant electronic scoreboard was being installed.
The stadium hosted its last international match in 1993.