IT Chandigarh

Chandigarh: Stating that corruption in public life had implications that were wide-ranging and multi-dimensional, Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari said the challenge was to comprehend and confront the issue in its totality.

“Corruption is as much moral as a development issue,” he said while delivering the P.N. Haksar Memorial Lecture at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development here. “It tends to distort the decision-making processes on investment projects and other commercial transactions,” he added.

Referring to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks where he said that public corruption was a source of concern for all those interested in building a new India, Ansari said such a statement was indicative of how serious the problem was.

He said corruption increased injustice and disregard for the rule of law and as such, it had to be viewed as a symptom of fundamental weaknesses in institutions concerned. The correctives therefore, he added, needed to focus on a set of fundamental institutional determinants.

Citing the first report of the Ethics Committee of the Rajya Sabha, Ansari said views were being expressed over the general decline in moral and ethical standards in public life. He said while quoting the report: “In such a situation, the representatives of the people have to set high standards of behaviour in public life. They not only have to represent the society but also have to lead,” he added.
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CHANDIGARH/PATIALA: More officials of Punjabi University resigned on Thursday in a show of solidarity with beleaguered VC Swaran Singh Boparai. This is probably the first time in academic circles that a large chunk of an university’s administrative team quit in an apparent protest against increasing political interference.

With the latest resignations, the number of such persons has gone up to 13 ever since Boparai submitted his resignation to Punjab governor earlier this week. The government is yet to accept it, though, there is little doubt about it being not accepted. The resignation followed a VB grilling of the VC reportedly on some appointments made during his tenure. Speculations are rife in government and academic circles, that with Boparai gone, the political masters may now train their guns on the VC of Guru Nanak Dev University or that of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, since they are appointees of the Congress regime.

Source: The Times of India News Service

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government on Wednesday transferred four of its officers with immediate effect on Thursday. Principal secretary, information technology BR Bajaj has been appointed principal secretary, programme implementation and secretary, revenue, DP Reddy has been made director-cum-secretary, tourism.

Secretary, welfare of SCs and BCs, Narindrejit Singh has been given the additional charge of secretary, information technology and director of tourism and cultural affairs, Arunjit Singh Miglani has been appointed additional secretary, power.

Source: The Times of India News Service

Chandigarh: Tax evasion worth Rs 2.5 crore has come to light in the search and seizure operations that were carried out by the investigations wing of the Income Tax department on Wednesday across various business premises in the city, including Panchkula.

The amount is expected to increase manifold as the bank lockers of these business establishments are yet to be opened. “By going through the papers we seized yesterday from various business firms, tax evasion of more than Rs 2.5 crore has come to light up till now. We are yet to check the lockers of these firms and believe that unaccounted cash of these firms would increase by manifold,” told a senior I-T officer.

The investigation wing of the I-T had conducted search operations across various business firms in Sector 7, 8, 9, 15, 17 and 26, Manimajra and Panchkula, till the early hours of Thursday.

More than 60 I-T sleuths, who had been called especially from neighbouring states, were part of the operation. The bank lockers owned by these firms will be checked on Friday.

Source: ENS

Panchkula: Many important letters, various telephone and electricity bills have piled up at Sector 8 Post office, Panchkula, and have not been delivered to the recipients. The residents complain that they are not receiving their mails on time. Post office officials blame the shortage of staff for the delay in the delivery of letters.

“There has been an acute shortage of staff at the various post office delivery zones. There are no sorting clerks either. This has resulted in a delay in the final delivery of letters,” said a post official. The official added that the scenario was worse at the Sector 20 Post office, where the local people have to wait for months to receive their letters.

The officials said that peons and servants are being used for various jobs they are not qualified. Residents however continue to be agitated over the delay. Ruchi Tayal, a resident of Sector 20 said, “We are facing numerous problems as we do not receive our mails on time. The postman piles the letters for nearly two months and delivers them in a single day.”

Tayal said, “My brother was supposed to receive his admit card for the CAT entrance test nearly two months ago. We received the card only after the exam was over. We also receive telephone bills after the due dates. We had lodged complaints against the delay, but nothing has been done to solve the situation.”
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Panchkula: Indian cricket has witnessed a disputed opinion on the Indian Cricket League (ICL) Twenty20 for quite some time now. There has been intense speculation on whether the ICL would turn into reality, with the BCCI opposing it and getting other cricket boards to oppose it too.

But despite everything, ICL kicks off on Friday, November 30, at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium here.

If cricket is all about cheering for the underdog, there hasn’t been an underdog like the ICL. From overseas stars to domestic recruits, from stars of yesteryears to some of the biggest names in Indian cricket history, people have braved bans to be here.

The first match pits the local team — Chandigarh Lions — against Delhi Jets. The prize money in the 17-day tournament is a whopping Rs 15 crore, and the team that finishes last also takes home Rs 85 lakh. The man of the match gets Rs 3.75 lakh per match.

Apart from the Chandigarh Lions and Delhi Jets, the teams participating are Kolkata Tigers, Chennai Superstars, Mumbai Champs and Hyderabad Heroes.

India’s captain of the 1983 World Cup winning team Kapil Dev, presently the Chairman of the ICL Board says: “The ICL is in a stage where one feels like that Test-match player who has butterflies in the stomach. But we have tried our best to get here. There have been several obstacles on the way, but we fought our way.”
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Chandigarh: A Group of 20 councillors have returned from their weeklong tour to South East Asia.

The group plans to discuss the details of the tour at the MC House meeting on Friday.

The councillors have already expressed their resentment over the “lack of arrangements” during the tour and the lack of informative avenues.

Kamlesh, a Congress councillor said, “We were forced to stay at Pattaya for three days. We were shown a CD on the parking system at Singapore. At Bangkok, we were just shown a CD on parks. We did not see the proceedings of the municipal council, neither discuss the system of working of the local bodies of the two countries. Apart from the CDs, no other official work was conducted.”

Apart from the trip, the issue of fixation of rates for conversion of residential buildings for commercial use/guest house in the abadi areas of villages will also be discussed.

According to the sub-committee of the MC, the rates of conversion for residential property in the villages have been fixed at Rs 1200 per sq yard (for conversion into shops) and Rs 1300 per sq yard for conversion of residential area into a guesthouse.
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