Archive for October 19th, 2007

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Punjab looks at boosting exports

Friday, October 19th, 2007

Chandigarh: To give a big boost to the industry in Punjab, especially the manufacturing sector, the state government is all set to come up with an industrial focal point near Jalandhar for setting up new industries on a cluster development basis. The focal point would come up across 300 acres and would have at least four to five clusters of industries in areas with significant export potential.

Apart from this, the Industries Department is also planning to increase the number of items under bilateral trade with Pakistan. There is a huge potential to export agricultural machinery and equipment from our country, which the government is keenly looking at. Notably, the truck service between India and Pakistan started on October 1.

Also on the cards is an international trade centre in Mohali across nine acres which is planned under PPP mode, for which a private developer is likely to be selected shortly. This was disclosed by A.R. Talwar, Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Government of Punjab.

Talwar said the government has recognised various clusters in the state for assistance under the Government of India Scheme for Cluster Development. “The Punjab government has formed special purpose vehicles (SPV) in case of these clusters and detail project reports about the status of these clusters shall be submitted to the Centre for approval,” he said. Notably, SPV has already been formed in case of textile industry in Ludhiana, re-rolling industry in Mandi Gobindgarh, foundaries in Batala, sports goods industry in Jalandhar, while an SPV for hand tools industry in Jalandhar would be formed shortly.
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NINE gives degrees to over 300 nurses

Friday, October 19th, 2007

Chandigarh: The National Institute of Nursing Education (NINE), PGI, held its convocation today at Bhargava Auditorium, PGI. Degrees were awarded to 302 BSc and 19 MSc nursing students by Prof K K Talwar, Director, PGI. Students received awards and prizes for their academic excellence from chief guest Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Deputy Regional Director, South East Asia Regional Office, World Health Organisation, New Delhi.

Dr Singh congratulated the new graduates and post-graduates and told them that they had the dual responsibility for their own professional development as well as other peoples’ well-being. In her convocation address, she lauded the role of nurses in all areas of healthcare. “Nurses have increasingly important roles to play in society’s efforts to tackle public health challenges, as well as in ensuring the provision of high-quality, accessible, equitable, efficient and sensitive health services,” Dr Singh said.

Nurses also played a central role in health service delivery, she said. “Health challenges such as HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, maternal and child health and mental health, alongside emerging threats such as SARS and avian influenza, put the strengthening of the health workforce high on national agenda,” Dr Singh said.

Dr Indrajit Walia, principal, NINE, informed that seats of BSc Nursing had been increased from 90 to 100 and MSc Nursing from eight to 20 with five fields of specialties. Request was pending with Indian Nursing Council to add 40 more seats to BSc Nursing, she said. A total of 2,270 candidates had graduated and 187 candidates had completed their post-graduation since the inception of the college.
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Airport to come up at Mohali, land acquisition by Dec

Friday, October 19th, 2007

Chandigarh: With a high-level Central team zeroing in on a site near the Chandigarh airport, an international airport at Mohali will soon be a reality. The airport, a joint venture between Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Great Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), will be the second international airport in Punjab after the one at Amritsar. According to the sources, the state government will start acquiring land for the project from December after an agreement is signed next month. An official said, “The state government has informed AAI that it wants equity or joint venture in the project as the government would be acquiring land for the project.”

During its visit here, the Central team met Punjab Chief Secretary R I Singh and also visited the sites proposed for the airport in Punjab, near the Chandigarh airport. According to an official, “After visiting the area around the Chandigarh airport, the team concluded that the proposed airport complex should come up at Jheourehri and Kandala villages falling in Mohali district. The abadi (residential) area of the two villages will be kept out of the process of acquisition. Since there is hardly any area left on the Zirakpur side of the airport, the expansion has to be towards Mohali. About 300 acres of land will be acquired by the state government for the purpose.”

Sources said the state government estimates that it will have to shell out some Rs 500 crore to acquire the proposed 300 acres of land as it costs around Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 crore per acre in the area. Since the SAD-BJP government had changed the Land Acquisition Policy of the state, it now has to pay the market price for the acquired land.
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Cops’ accountability to law seems nil

Friday, October 19th, 2007

Chandigarh: The case dates back to January 20, 2003. UT police receive complaint of a theft worth Rs 8 lakh, and a subsequent complaint regarding misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 6 lakh. In 2004, the complainant was told in writing his case was still under investigation. Making use of the Right to Information Act recently, the complainant discovered his case was settled by Lok Adalat in 2003 itself when the UT police allegedly made a ‘dummy’ appear in place of him.

The facts came to light when Manoj Sarin, Director, Maxaroma Private Limited, a C&F agency of cigarettes, used the Right to Information Act to seek the status of investigations in his case that was ‘pending’ for over four years now. To his utter surprise, it came to Manoj’s knowledge that his case was settled merely within three weeks of his lodging the complaint, while he was awaiting action on it for the past four years.

Manoj has now moved complaints to Member Secretary, Permanent Lok Adalat, State Legal Services Authority and UT Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), asking them to produce a copy of his statement on the basis of which the Lok Adalat settled his case.

The case dates back to January 20, 2003, when a theft was reported in Manoj’s Sector 40 showroom. The stolen articles and cash were worth over Rs 8 lakh. The police did not register an FIR for 20 days. Finally, Navneet Singh, Manoj’s showroom manager, was arrested on charges of theft and the stolen articles and cash were recovered from his possession. A case was registered at Sector 39 police station.
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Life term for murdering daughters

Friday, October 19th, 2007

Chandigarh: Gurdeep Kaur, accused of murdering her two daughters and attempting to commit suicide, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a local Court today. Meanwhile, accusing the UT Police of falsely implicating his wife, Omkar Singh questioned the charges and the police’s version of the tale, claiming if she was so unhappy with her in-laws, why did she stay with them for the last two years?

Pleading innocence, Gurdeep told Newsline that she hadn’t killed her daughters and neither had she slipped or jumped into the lake. “I was so shocked on seeing my daughters slip into the lake that I fainted. But I was never given an opportunity to plead innocence.”

Meanwhile, the police officials said Gurdeep never expressed any regret or pain. “She did not even cry or weep at the death of her daughters,” said a police official. Gurdeep is pregnant and expecting in the month of November.

Source: ENS

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Cops take a nap, lose gun

Friday, October 19th, 2007

Chandigarh: Two Chandigarh Police personnel were literally caught napping last night when a Sector 52 resident took away their carbine and wireless set. The two — Constable Sucha Singh and Dildar Singh — were fast asleep when the incident took place in Kajheri village. They have been placed under suspension for dereliction of duty.

Constables Dildar Singh and Sucha Singh were deployed on duty in Kajheri village last night. They borrowed a cot from a villager, placed their carbine and wireless set underneath it and went off to sleep.

A Sector 52 resident, Rohit, who, the police say, was loitering in the area and seeing the two police personnel sleeping took away their carbine and wireless set. Dildar and Sucha Singh realised the theft when they woke up and conveyed the message to the PCR. The search lasted four hours, till around 6 am when Chandigarh Police found Rohit with the carbine and wireless set. He was taken in custody. During interrogation, Rohit said he wanted to show how vigilant the policemen were. He was produced in the court and remanded to one-day police custody. A case was registered against him at police Station 36 on charges of theft.

Source: ENS

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Rajasthan go down fighting to Maharashtra

Friday, October 19th, 2007

Chandigarh: Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh women registered thumping victories over their respective opponents in on the opening day of the ninth Senior Women and fifth Sub-Junior Girls National Cycle Polo Championships, being organised by the Chandigarh Cycle Polo Association at The Banyan Tree School Complex in Sector 48 A, here, today.

Kerala recorded the highest number of goals on day one by scoring 19 without reply against Karnataka. The best match of the day was played between Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Maharasthra managed to win by 6-4 in a tough contest.

Trailing by three first-chukker goals, Rajasthan matched their opponents in all departments of the game. After playing two-all draw in the second chukker, Rajasthan won the third by 1-0. In the fourth and last chukker, Rajasthan and Maharashtra shared two goals. Prachi starred in Maharashtra’s win by scoring four goals. Kerala outplayed Karnataka 19-0.

Results:
Women: Chandigarh (Priya 2, Ashi 2, Monika 1, Usha 1, Neha 1) bt Karnataka (DM Nandi 1) 7-1. Uttar Pradesh (Sunita 7, Shobha 4, Snita Sipli 4, Neha Singh 2) bt Delhi 17-0, Kerala (Divya Babu 7, Kavya Lakshmi 5, Ashna Aziz 5, Sonia Joseph 1) bt Jamm and Kashmir 18-0. Andhra Pradesh (Sirisha 5, Uma Devi 5, MS Priyanka 4, S Lavanaya 2, Sandhya Rani 1) bt Delhi 17-0. Chattisgarh (Sonali 7, Sudipti 6, Poonam 4, Karishma 2, Monika 1) bt Vidarbha 20-0. Maharashtra (Pratiksha Mate 3, Prachi 2, Ruchika 2, Deepika 1) bt Punjab 8-0. Kerala (Kavya Lakshmi 7, Divya Babu 7, Ashna Aziz 4, Jeeva Jose 3) bt Chandigarh 21-0. Uttar Pradesh (Shubha 4, Sunita Singh 2, Sunita Sharma 2, Neha Singh 1) bt Andhra Pradesh. Jammu and Kashmir (Nazma Bashir 3, Zareena Tabusum 2) bt Karnataka by 5-1.
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Decision to drop Dravid was wrong: Ajay Jadeja

Friday, October 19th, 2007

Chandigarh: There are two things that stand about Ajay Jadeja. One is his candidness and the other is his astuteness when he talks cricket. It does not take long for him to make observations about the current Indian team and stand by them. After all he played 196 One DayInternationals for India and he has got enough experience in his kitty to do so. And on Thursday, Jadeja was doing just that.

Speaking about the Indian team’s recent decision to drop Rahul Dravid from the final one-dayer against Australia in Mumbai, Jadeja said it was unjustified as this step would further bring the former Indian skipper under pressure in the upcoming series against Pakistan. “The decision is not justified. The last match any was inconsequential and indeed the Indian think tank should have given him a chance to improve his form,”said Jadeja while taking to the media persons on the sidelines of a function. Adding further he said if the Indian team management was looking to play Dravid in future, then dropping him would serve no purpose.

“Being the last match of an already lost series, this match could have proved to be an important match for Dravid to regain his form before the all important Pakistan series,” said Jadeja.

Source: ENS

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For now, a young golfer keeps driving

Friday, October 19th, 2007

Chandigarh: The driving-range stalls were nearly empty as Abhishek Jha honed his golf swing in the evening’s half-light at the Chandigarh Golf Club.

“Some one somewhere is still practicing,” says one of his caddies and the 20 year old golfer is quick to catch that phrase. “I need to practice more and more as the coming months are going to be important for me” says Jha who is currently playing in the LG Amateur Golf Championship at the Chandigarh Golf Club.

It is hard to pick out any low point observing Jha who is currently ranked second on the Indian Amateur Golf Circuit. Was it the three consecutive swings that managed to move the ball forward a grand total of three feet (the last swing being a whiff)? Or was it that forlorn question shortly after practice directed to this young golfer from Bangalore: “What am I doing wrong?” replies Jha. “The year has been good for me and I am expecting to continue the good run. Last month was a good one for me as I won the PSPB Inter-Unit Golf Tournament. Before that I won the Golden Greens Tournament at Gurgaon which was my first major win on the national tour,”beams Jha who started playing golf at the age of twelve. It all started for Jha when he joined the Air Force Golf Club in 1999. “I used to play basketball during my school days and it was only on a visit to the golf course with my father that I got interested in this game. Currently I am training at the Eagleton Club in Bangalore, as my family has moved to Bangalore,” says Jha.

Though, Jha still displays signs of a typical teen outside of golf, as evident from his love for Harry Potter books and his role model Jyoti Randhawa, he already has plans for the next season. “Next week I will be playing in the Singapore Amateur open which happens to be my first appearance on the international circuit. Then I will be playing in the Sri Lankan Amateur circuit,”says Jha.

Source: ENS

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PU Syndicate meets on October 25

Friday, October 19th, 2007

Chandigarh: Panjab University authorities might impose fines on colleges and departments which have started or continued honours courses without seeking its prior permission. The issue will be discussed in the Syndicate meeting to be held on October 25.

Colleges are required to take PU’s permission to start honours courses. Among the list of institutes are two departments of the university — Correspondence Studies and Department of Evening Studies. A fine of Rs 25,000 each is likely to be imposed.

Another issue pertains to issuing a warning to Dr Rajivlochan from the Department of History. He had allegedly been involved in an incident where students were awarded zero marks and on re-evaluation the marks were increased. An enquiry in the issue was conducted by Dr J C Bansal, who recommended that only a warning be given.

The meeting will also discuss a proposal to start a 100-bed hospital in the varsity. The Syndicate will also approve the list of employees to be honoured.

Source: ENS

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