chandigarh

UN body chooses Indian company to tackle malnutrition

2009-03-17T03:48:00.000-07:00

To realize its ambition of a world free of malnutrition and hunger, IIMSAM joined hands with Hash Biotech Labs Private Limited from the Republic of India. Hash Biotech Labs Private Limited which has been declared as an Official Working Partner and Technology Facilitator by the IIMSAM, shall help the organization carry and secure its mandate in India and South Asia- a region that has the worst malnutrition statistics in the world.
Spirulina that was declared as the best food for the future by the United Nations World Food Conference in the year 1974 holds tremendous potential to eradicate malnutrition, achieve food security and bridge health divide.
Hash Biotech Labs is part of the Hash Group of Companies which is led by young entrepreneur Mr. Vikrant Sandal who firmly believes that businesses have to play a larger and leading role in the 21st century sustainable development agenda. The young scientific team of the Hash Biotech Labs works under the able guidance of world renowned scientist Dr. Surendra Singh who has done significant and exemplary work in the field of micro-algal research.
IIMSAM along with the Hash Biotech Labs and Kanwaljit Sandal Foundation is also developing an IIMSAM-KSF Model for Grassroots Development which is a self-sustainable micro-entrepreneurship development programme which has a specific relevance for the developing countries.
Initially to be launched in India and South Asia, the programme shall soon spread to whole of the developing world.
(H.E. Amb. Manish Uprety offering prayers and homage to Late. Mr. Kanwaljit Sandal in Dasuya, Hoshirapur, India)
(Spirulina Educational Centre of Hash Biotech Labs in Dasuya, Hoshiyarpur, Punjab, India)
Besides providing free state of the art scientific technology for Spirulina cultivation to the poor farmers, women and self help groups; the programme shall encompass a unique Spirulina-Buy Back Guarantee arrangement which shall safeguard the socio-economic interests of the farmers.
Spirulina cultivation has specific relevance for the developing countries as the size of land holdings is continually decreasing with the years
leading to disempowerment and loss of capabilities of farmers and small land holding dwellers.
IIMSAM not only aspires to make Spirulina a key driver to eradicate malnutrition, achieve food security and bridge the health divide but also wants to establish lasting capacities and capabilities at the grassroots that initiate a self-sustainable empowerment process.
IIMSAM specifically chose Hash Laboratories as the Spirulina facilities of the organization are in Dasuya, Hoshiyarpur District of Punjab in India which has been declared as a backward. Not only the very facilities shall provide local employment opportunities but would also establish the district as a leading bio-technological hub in the country and the world. IIMSAM recognizes the relevance of Spirulina to eradicate malnutrition and to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Our hybrid approach that has United Nations Global Compact as the bedrock recognizes the important role that businesses can play to achieve common goals; and our initiatives have a special priority for the marginalized.

IIMSAM working towards Spirulina in Nepal

2009-02-24T20:26:00.001-08:00

A Spirulina revolution may take place in Nepal following the decision of IMMSAm to promote spirulina in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals. A meeeting between His Excellency Ambassador Manish Uprety, Special agent of His Excellency Ambassador Remigio Maradona, Director General- IIMSAM and His Excellency Ambassador Murari Raj Sharma discussed the possibility of considering Spirulina programmes in Nepal to completely remove malnutrition.
The project follows a model developed by IIMSAM and the Kanwaljit Sandal Foundation which provides for a buyback from the farmers and local cultivators in case spirulina that cannot be used in local nutrition.
IIMSAM’s Director General His Excellency Ambassador Remigio Maradona said, “ I am confident that Nepal would play a pivotal role to realise our mandate of a world free of malnutrition and hunger through Spirulina and to deliver the benefits of Spirulina cultivation to the people through the unique IIMSAM-KSF Model for Grassroot Development.”
Chairman, HASH group of companies Vikrant Sandal said, "This will be a landmark event in South Asia". Spirulina will act wonders in two ways - helping to tackle malnutrition and to increase the earning of the farming community.

Chandigarh biotech company gets UN recognition

2009-02-21T01:27:00.000-08:00

A Biotech Company at City Beautiful, Chandigarh Becomes an Official Working Partner with the UN

A rare feat was achieved by Hash Biotech Labs Private Limited, a Chandigarh based company, when it became the first company in India to be recognised both as an “Official Working Partner” and “Technology Facilitator “of the United Nations to remove unemployment, poverty, hunger and malnutrition , achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
On 17th February 2009, His Excellency Ambassador Remigio Martin Maradona, Director General, IIMSAM, Head Of Observer Delegation to The United Nations Economic and Social Council, granted the company the illustrious Certificate of recognition of The Official Working Partner and Technological Facilitator.
Mr Vikrant Sandal, Chairman, Hash Group Of Companies, also received a letter of appreciation from His Excellency Ambassador Maradona congratulating him for using the wonder food Spirulina for eradicating malnutrition n Developing countries.
Honoured to be the Chairman of the Hash Group of Companies Mr Vikrant Sandal acclaims with pride that though there are 14 Official Working Partners of the IIMSAM, Hash Biotech is the only corporate entity to be granted the double status of being both an Official Working partner and Technology Facilitator.
Hash Biotech Labs will now work in association with IIMSAM (Intergovernmental Institution for the Use of Micro-algae Spirulina against Malnutrition) to achieve the Rome Declaration on World Food Security 1996.
The Goodwill Ambassador of IIMSAM in India is actor and celebrity Sanjay Dutt who shall promote the use of Spirulina.

Panjab University souvenirs

2007-11-30T14:33:00.000-08:00

Now you can buy souvenirs, gift items and other memorabilia regarding Panjab university, Chandigarh at this address
http://www.cafepress.com/puchandigarh

Mohali to be part of National Urban Renewal Mission

2007-11-20T01:33:00.000-08:00

SAS Nagar (Mohali) Urban Agglomerations shall be treated as an extension to the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) city of Chandigarh. This was stated by Manoranjan Kalia, Local Government Minister Punjab.
Principal Secretary, Local Government, D S Bains said a meeting of all the executive officers of the Municipal Bodies which would part of urban agglomerations of SAS Nagar, i.e. municipal bodies of Kharar, Kurali, Banur, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and Naya Gaon has been convened on November 20.
The infrastructure Developmnet of SAS Nagar (Mohali) owould involve funds to the tune of Rs. 360/- crores. It would be a part of vision document/city development plan to be prepared for extended areas of SAS Nagar. The works which the Municipal Council, Mohali intends to undertake are Kajauli Augmentation with Rs. 75 Crore for pipeline and Rs. 90 crore for Land, 3 no. Booster Stations with Rs. 7.5 Crore, STP with Rs. 35 Crore, SWTP with Rs. 40 crore, Multi-storied Parking with Rs. 8 Crore and widening of roads with Rs. 125 crore.

Ram Sharnam opens temple in village Karoran

2007-11-20T01:24:00.000-08:00

The Chandigarh Unit of Sri Ram Sharnam (Gohana) with religious fervour and gaiety has organised an 'Annual Amritvani Satsang' in Sector 34, here today in which Bhagat Hans Raj Ji Maharaj (Pita Ji), the founder of Sri Ram Sharnam Ashram, Gohana participated and blessed large number of followers of Sri Ram Sharnam from Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali and the villages nearby with his holly presence. On this occasion Pita Ji was accompanied by Sri Krishan Vij and Smt.Rekha Vij - incharge of Gohana Ashram and they both recited holy hymns and Amritvani to mark the occasion.

According to Dr. Satpal Singla, President , Chandigarh Unit earlier in the morning Bhagat Hans Raj Ji (Pita Ji) had inaugurated the newly built Sri Ram Sharnam Ashram of Chandigarh Unit at Village Karoran and allowed to initiate the various religious and social activities as guided by Gohana headquarter in future from this new Ashram.

Chandigarh book fair from September 2

2007-08-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

the 2nd Chandigarh book & stationary fair shall be orgaised between September 2- October 7, 2007. It shall be organised in colaboration with the Association of Indian publishers and booksellers.
The fair timings are are 11 AM to 8.30 PM.
Renowned publishers and vendors like NBT, NCERT, Pushtak Mahal. Punjabi University Patiala, S.Chand & Co. Dept Of Publications, Taxmann, Laxmi Publicatons, Shroff Pub & Distributor, Mumbai, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavana, Mahindra Publisher & distributors, Navneet, Ballarpur Papers, Stic, Neel kamal publications Hyderabad, Upkaar, Agra, Sahitya Bhavan Publications Agra and many others through out the country are participating in this 9 day- fair at circus ground of sector – 17 (behind bus-stand).

Independence day speech of Punjab Governor at Chandigarh

2007-08-16T03:34:00.001-07:00

My friends,
My heartiest congratulations to you all, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Indian Independence! This year holds a special significance, as it also coincides with the 150th year of the beginning of the Indian struggle for Independence.
On this occasion, we pay rich tributes to our freedom fighters and martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for our country. We also express our solidarity and gratitude to the Armed Forces, who are continually protecting the unity, integrity, sovereignty and the borders of our country.
I would also like to congratulate you all, for making Chandigarh the first smoke free city of India, with effect from July 15, 2007. Chandigarh is the face of modern India. The city has been progressing in leaps and bounds, ever since its inception, in 1966. We are committed to providing the residents of Chandigarh with the best quality of life, and to introduce new initiatives to develop the city further.
HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
The health sector is one of our top most priorities. Government of India has accorded its approval for the up-gradation of the School of Nursing to a College of Nursing. Under the National Rural Health Mission, various steps have been taken, like making immunization certificates a pre-requisite for admission in schools in UT, in order to boost immunization.
All deliveries in respect of pregnant mothers residing in urban slums, colonies and villages have been made free-of-cost, in Health Institutions. The Janani Suraksha Yojana has been implemented.
Under the Revised National TB Control Programme, which was launched in January 2002, nearly 12,000 TB patients have been put on DOTS, with an over 85% cure rate and approx. 3,000 lives of TB patients have been saved during this period.

FOOD AND SUPPLIES AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS
The nutritional status of the public is one of the most important factors determining the quality and productivity of the public, which in turn affects national productivity. We have launched a scheme for the fortification of wheat products. The scheme requires installation of micro feeders, in the roller floor mills and Chakki units, as well as the procurement of pre-mix, to be used in the process of fortification. This scheme is being implemented in UT covering all the sources of production of ATTA.

SOCIAL WELFARE
The Department is implementing various schemes for the welfare of the children, women, handicapped and the elderly citizens of Chandigarh. We have launched a thoughtfully structured Action Plan, in the form of a document entitled “Chandigarh Cares for its Children” for protecting children from abuse, exploitation and
neglect. This innovative project plans to ‘put children first’ in every sphere of activity, besides asking every one in our social system to show concern for the problems of child abuse and to contribute in a big way to protect children’s rights and to create a safe and child friendly society.
The Administration has also introduced a new scheme, ‘Financial Assistance for Dependent Children of Widows and Destitute Women’, to extend financial assistance to children who are fatherless, or whose parents have died. Assistance of Rs. 200 per
month per child, up to two children in a family per month, will be given to meet the cost of maintenance.
Chandigarh Administration has decided to establish a Vocational Training and production centre for the disabled, in a building to be constructed in Sector 46, Chandigarh for which, a site measuring 1.12 acres has been earmarked. This centre would be a hub of training, trades and self-employment activities. It would not
only cater to the needs of deserving persons from UT Chandigarh, but also to the neighboring states.

A vocational training centre for street children is also being set up at Maloya. The main objective of this institution will be to reach out to homeless street children and youth, provide them counseling services, leading to their rescue from the unhealthy, abusive and hazardous environs associated with street-life.

TOURISM
Chandigarh Tourism is taking a series of initiatives to promote the city as a destination for tourists and visitors of all categories and nationalities. Visitor arrivals in the city indicate that about 7.5 lakh Indian visitors and 30,000 foreign visitors visited Chandigarh in the past one year, an increase of 15% since last year.
We have tied up with Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh for this purpose. We are also organizing a Northern India Tourism Conference-cum-Expo (N-Tour) on October 6 and 7, to highlight North India as a destination for all seasons and all reasons.
We are also in the process of implementing plans for setting up of a mega Theme-cum-Amusement Park on the outskirts of Chandigarh and a Multimedia-cum-Film City. The Theme Park would be set up over an area of 73 acres and would highlight Indian culture and mythology, while entertaining visitors and holding their interest
for at least two to three days. This project would place Chandigarh on the tourism map as it would be first of its kind in the country. We are expecting 500,000 visitors annually. The Project is likely to be opened to the public by 2009.
Le Corbusier’s original plan of setting up a Museum of Knowledge in Chandigarh will be implemented by the Administration with necessary modifications, as per the requirement of the present time. The Museum of Knowledge will showcase issues facing the evolving India.

TRANSPORT
We are determined to implement an efficient public transport system in the city to supplement the existing services. A Mass Rapid Transport will be introduced, after getting approval from the Government of India.
The second phase of ISBT, Sector 43, is scheduled for completion during this year and ultimately all inter-state buses will be shifted to ISBT, Sector 43 in order to decongest Sector 17 ISBT, which will then cater to local bus service only. CTU is in the process of acquiring new AC buses with a view to strengthen its fleet and
provide efficient service to the citizens. It has further been decided to replace all non-AC buses with AC buses.
EDUCATION
This year, the Education Department brought out a common Prospectus for centralized admission to class-XI in Government Senior Secondary Schools. There are certain changes that have been made in the admission process this time. An additional 1 per cent marks for holders of NCC ‘A’ certificate, will be added. Also, 1 additional seat per section has been reserved for Kashmiri migrants.
Under the ‘Fashion Designing and Clothing construction’ vocational stream, 10 additional seats have been reserved, in two schools i.e. GSSS-45 and GSSS- Mani Majra Town, for Muslim girls. In GMSSS-37, an additional section has been made to accommodate 60 students in the humanities stream.
The Government College of Yoga Education and Health Sector 23 has been established, with effect from June 2, 2007. The Government Yoga Health Organization, Sector 23 has been upgraded and has been renamed as the Government College of Yoga Education
& Health. Punjab University has given affiliation to an innovative programme of a Post Graduate Diploma Course in Yoga Therapy, from 2007-08.
A new College of Commerce and Business Administration has started functioning in Sector 19. Many new courses have also been introduced in different educational institutes. For simplifying the procedure, the Education Department has a common prospectus for all five Government Art and Science colleges. To enhance the
faculty’s exposure level and experience, teachers are encouraged to participate in various national and international seminars and conferences.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY and TECHNICAL EDUCATION
Chandigarh Administration has been promoting Chandigarh as a Knowledge City and has also been attracting investment in the knowledge sector i.e. IT, ITES, Financial Services, Management Services, Hospitality and Tourism etc. For this purpose, companies which have been inclined to invest in Chandigarh have been stressing
on the fact that adequate qualified human resources should be available here, in order to cater to the requirements of this sector in the coming years.
With a view to promoting world class educational facilities, we have decided to set up an Education City over an area of 150 acres. Recent developments in the field of Information Technology have also led to significant improvement in the working of various other departments of the Administration. Patients can now get appointments for the Government Multi Specialty Hospital (GMSH)-16 and Government Medical Hospital (GMCH), 32 at e-Jan Sampark and Gram Sampark centres of Chandigarh. The facility has been launched by Department of Information Technology.
The e-Gram Sampark project has been inaugurated at Khuda Jassu and Dhanas villages and is fully functional. Two more Gram Sampark Centres are ready for launch in the villages of Kaimbwala and Raipur Khurd and the remaining villages will be covered in a phased manner by 31 December 2007. Information services in these Centres will be provided free-of-cost to the people, on the lines of Jan Sampark Services.
The UT Administration has also decided to start e-tendering for its various projects.

Under Chandigarh IT Reach Out Program (CITROP) which is an initiative of the Chandigarh Administration, three batches of basic computer training program and one C-TOSS batch for the children's of the under-privileged segment have been started at Bal Bhawan.
Training will equip these children with necessary computer skills and will further encourage them to excel in specific areas, as per their aptitude and talent. Special batches, for basic computer programming and soft skills, have been launched for the women of minorities to enhance their computer and soft skills and help make them independent.
The Chandigarh Administration, in collaboration with NASSCOM, has set up the Cyber Security and Research Centre (CSRC) at the Punjab Engineering College. CSRC is a security research centre the primary focus of which is to conduct high quality research in the general areas of security, and performance optimization in Networking, at affordable
costs. The Centre is also a platform to provide defence against threats
such as information warfare.
FORESTS
In addition to Sukhna Lake, 191 water bodies or rain water harvesting structures have been established by the Administration so far. This year new water bodies have been created in Patiala-ki-Rao forests, Sukhna Choe Reserve forests and Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary.
Chandigarh Administration is also establishing a world class Aquarium, which will be a part of the Aquatic Park near Regulator End of Sukhna Lake. This Aquarium will have fish of salt and fresh water, and will spread over an area of three acres.
POLICE
There has been a new focus on the basics of policing and a proactive approach to reach out to the public. An anti-smoking drive has been launched in the city
have been decided by the courts and there have been 697 convictions as against 399 acquittals i.e. conviction rate of 63.59 %. In the present period, 1,765 cases pending investigation has been disposed off.

The Police has taken an initiative for obtaining lSI 9001:2000 certificate for all the police stations, Community Relation Unit (CRU) and public window system at the police headquarters with the objective of achieving excellence and standardization in delivery of police services to the citizens.

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION
The Municipal Corporation has taken various measures to strengthen the existing water supply system for the residents of Chandigarh including Manimajra. It has been able to enhance the water supply hours in the entire city of Chandigarh from 13 to 16 hrs, and up to 19 hours within the zone Water Works Sector 37 consisting
of sectors 35 to 43 during the current year, by augmenting the pumping machinery at Water Works in Sectors 12, 26 and 32.
The water supply system of village Burail has been strengthened by laying water supply lines in the left out lanes as well as by augmenting the existing lines keeping in view the population to be served.
SPORTS
The Cricket Stadium of Sector 16 has been upgraded and renovated and its seating capacity has been enhanced from 18,000 to 27,000. The swimming pool in Sector 23 has been converted into an all weather swimming pool, using solar heating system. We have
established two highly specialized multi-gym fitness centres, at the Lake Sports complex and Hockey Stadium Sector 42. A new children’s pool has come up at the Lake Sports Complex.
The Department of Sports has also entered into a tie-up with Egidius Braun Sportschule in Germany for providing specialized training to football trainees of the Academy. The renovation and upgradation work of various stadia and sports complexes in Chandigarh has already been started.

CHANDIGARH HOUSING BOARD-
123.79 acres of land have been earmarked by Chandigarh Administration, for the provision of residential facilities in Chandigarh Technology Park. About 1600 flats will be constructed along with other infra-structural facilities, within 36 months.
To make the city slum free, Chandigarh Administration has directed CHB to construct 25,000 Small Flats to rehabilitate all the slum dwellers of the city under the "Small Flats Scheme - 2006". The sites identified for construction are Maloya, Dhanas, Manimajra, Ram Darbar, Maulijagra and Sectors 38 (West) and 49. The work has been started. The Board has embarked on an ambitious project of Computerization of CHB, to achieve the objective of a 'Less Paper' office.
INDUSTRIES
As per the decision of the Chandigarh Administration, the Industries Department has set up a Centre for Artisans called ‘Kala Darpan’ at Panchayat Bhawan, Sector 18 to sell the products of artisans without charging any rent, or profit.
The Administration has also constituted a Chandigarh Economic Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of the Adviser to the UT Administrator in lieu of the Chandigarh Industrial Advisory Committee. The scope of the committee is not only industrial development, but also the growth of IT and IT enabled and financial
services.
ENGINEERING
The Engineering Department has completed the construction of a 2 lane dual-carriage way concrete road 1.2 km long between Sector 31 and 32 and 6 feet wide footpath on both sides along with efficient drainage system and cross ducts for laying any future services. Water bodies in Botanical Garden and Patiala-ki-Rao have been
created by erecting temporary bandhs besides constructing a recreation site which will also help in conserving water.

We have also upgraded various road infrastructure facilities by carpeting 60 km long various type of roads and strengthening and widening 6.4 km of road. Sukhna Lake has also been upgraded, by providing a colour water fountain and windmill, besides landscaping of the area. Various other infrastructural developments have also
been made for providing better living conditions to the citizens of the city.
A 3.8 km 2 lane dual-carriage way (route No.2) taking off from road opposite village Hallomajra to Industrial Area, Panchkula is under construction. It will be an alternate route for the residents of Panchkula and will reduce the load on the Chandigarh-Kalka road. Two 66 KV Grid Sub stations have been constructed in Sector
18 and Manimajra.
RURAL DEVELOPMENT –
Piped water supply and electricity has been provided in all UT villages. Six health sub-centres are functioning in villages- Kaimbwala, Dhanas, Khuda Lahora, Raipur Kalan, Daria and Mauli Jagran. All the villages have been provided with basic facilities like sanitation, proper roads, bus service etc. As many as 14 schools,
including three senior secondary, eight high schools, one middle school and two primary schools, have been opened in UT villages to provide educational facilities to the rural children The upgradation of villages is planned to be completed by 31 Dec.
We have achieved our goal of making Chandigarh a fine example of harmonized activity, by created partnerships in various fields and thus contributing to the city’s growth and development.
We must continue to work together, for an even better future. On this momentous occasion, I once again call upon all of you, on a higher level, to contribute to the progress and prosperity of India. If we all work together and harmonize our endeavour, we will take India to new heights.
Jai Hind!

Israel company offers 250 MW solar power plant in Chandigarh

2007-08-16T03:31:00.000-07:00

Chandigarh August 13:-A team of Israeli Company, MST (a renewable energy Company) made a presentation before the Chandigarh Administration today for setting up of 250 MW Solar Power Plant in Chandigarh.
Chandigarh Administration has no power generation of its and is entirely depending upon BBMB and Central Generating Stations like NTPC, NHPC & NPCIL for meeting the
power requirements of the city. In order to make Chandigarh self sufficient in meeting its power requirements, the administration plans to set up a power plant of its own.
The presentation was made by the Israeli team consisting of Mr.Dov Raviv, MD&CEO, Mr.Roy Rosenstrich, Mr.Alexender Libin and Mr. Andrey Arkhipov before S.K.Sandhu, F.S.-cum-Secretary Engineering and other senior officers of the administration. The proposal for setting up 250 MW Solar Power Plant using concentrated photovoltaic
technology was discussed in detail. During presentation CEO of the Company emphasized that the use of this new technology in place of flat panel silicon technology will double the efficiency of the project while the cost would be reduced
by around 40%. The team also visited the possible sites viz. Patiala-ki-Rao, Sukhna Choe etc. for setting up of the project.
Though the cost of setting up thermal/hydro power plants is lesser as compared to solar power plant, these plants have not been found feasible in Chandigarh due to pollution constraints/non availability of hydro source. The setting up of Solar Power Plant requires huge capital investment but the operation and maintenance cost is minimal while no fuel cost is involved.

Pabla is principal of Chandigarh College of Engineering

2007-08-16T03:30:00.001-07:00

Chandigarh August 13:-Dr. B. S. Pabla joined today as Principal, Chandigarh College of Engineering & Technology, Sector-26 Chandigarh.
Earlier, Dr. Pabla has been working with National Institute of Technical Training and Research, Sector-26, Chandigarh as Professor in Mechanical Engineering. B.E., M.E. and Ph.D. from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, Dr. Pabla has work experience of more than 25 years.
Before joining NITTTR, he worked with industry for 5 years. He has published 3 books on Mechanical Engineering subjects and presented / published number of research papers at National and International level.

Chandigarh reduces stamp duty on immovable property

2007-05-07T10:15:00.001-07:00

Chandigarh Administration has reduced the Stamp Duty from 6% to 5% on the conveyance/sale deeds of immovable property. The initiative has been taken to encourage the honest executors of sale deeds and to discourage the concealment of market value of the property.
With this move, stamp duty in Chandigarh has become least in the region as Punjab and Haryana are charging 6% for this. Earlier the Chandigarh Administration in exercising the powers conferred by clause (a) of Section 9 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 has reduced the rate of stamp duty on conveyance as also on mortgage deeds with possession in UT Chandigarh from 12% to 6% and 8% to 4% respectively vide order dated August 2, 2002.

2 Chandigarh teachers selected for California university program

2007-05-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

Two UT Government English teachers have been selected for United States Department of States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsored six weeks professional development programme at University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Ms. Neerja Jain, Lecturer, Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19-C and Ms. Mandeep Merchant, TGT, Government Model Senior Secondary school, Sector 23 A have been selected by United States Educational Foundation in India(USEFI). The programme would be held from June 26 to August 5.
13 secondary school English teachers from India would be participating in this programme and they will received round trip transportation , boarding ,lodging and other applicable allowance for their participation in the professional development programme. A daylong pre-departure orientation would be held on May 9 at USEFI, New Delhi.
The teachers will learn advanced methodologies for teaching English, explore latest technologies being applied to teaching and learning. These teachers will also participate in a fourmonth distance-learning programme after they come back to India.

Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation has turnover of 3000 million

2007-05-02T06:24:00.000-07:00

CITCO has earned a record profit of Rs. 16.95 crores during the year ending March 31 surpassing all previous records of profit. According to Managing Director, CITCO, Mr. Jasbir Singh Bir, the provisional results of CITCO have revealed that the Corporation has been successful in improving its turn over from Rs.273.00 crores in 2005-2006 to Rs. 301.00 crores in 2006-2007.
The Cash Profit for the year ending March 31, 2007 estimated at about Rs. 17.00 crores, will be 17% higher than the profit of Rs. 14.50 crores achieved in the corresponding period last year.
Thd performance is attributed to the current boom in the Hotel and Tourism Industry witnessed in the economy. The flagship hotel of CITCO – Hotel Mountview has generated cash profit of over Rs.10.00 crores on a turnover of Rs.22.28 crores. Hotel Shivalikview has also given very remarkable financial results. The hotel with occupancy of 70%, has witnessed an increase of 15% in turn over from Rs.11.62 crores to Rs. 13.41 crores this year. Its profits have, however, increased by 33% from Rs.3.00 crores to Rs.4.00 crores. The new venture of CITCO – Baithak, Kalagram have also shown good results. The unit which was created to operate on no profit no loss basis has shown a 83% increase in turnover, which has increased from Rs.1.17 crores to Rs. 2.14 crores this year.
This unit’s newly constructed an ethnic Roof Top Restaurant with a number of Machans show that the idea/theme has gone well with the Chandigarh citizens and other people of the surrounding areas and tourists, which has paid rich dividends to CITCO. Hotel Parkview with occupancy of 88% has also shown excellent results this year. Its turnover has gone up by over 13% from Rs.4.22 crores to Rs. 4.78 crores. The profits of the hotel have also shown similar increase at Rs.1.61 crores this year. The construction work of creating 66 additional rooms in this hotel is already under progress at a full swing. Once completed in mid 2008, it will propel the hotel as the biggest hotel property in the city with a capacity of 170 rooms at Budget rates starting from Rs.590.00 for normal standard room. The performance of Chef Lakeview continues to show an upward trend. The profit of the unit at Rs.1.50 crores is also 20% higher than the profit of Rs.1.25 crores achieved in 2005-06. The turnover of the unit has increased from Rs.3.06 crores to Rs.3.46 crores.
Besides introducing online booking, CITCO has also taken up the project of getting ISO Certification for both Hotel Mountview and Hotel Shivalikview. In the Financial Year 2006-2007, besides renovating the Baithak Restaurant and adding 24 rooms in Hotel Parkview, the Corporation added Shikaras at the Lake.

Chandigarh bars commercial operations in pubs, restaurants

2007-05-02T06:20:00.000-07:00

The District Magistrate, UT, Chandigarh Mr. R. K. Rao has prohibited commercial operations in the business of Restaurants, Pubs, Wine Shops, Discos, Clubs and Vendors sitting by the road sides and on the public places operating till late in the night.
The Magistrate ordered that running of such activities on roadsides and the public places between 1.00 AM and 4.30 AM in the Union Territory, Chandigarh would be prohibited for a period of till July 1, 2007.
The above order shall not apply to coffee shops in hotels, hospitals, chemist’s shops and Petrol pumps. The Restaurants, pubs discos and clubs have been allowed to be opened upto 2.00 AM on Saturdays and Sundays. The Cyber cafes would be allowed to be opened upto 2.00 AM on all days.

Cyber security research centre to demysify hacking

2007-04-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

The Chandigarh based Cyber Security Research Centre is seeking to demystify hacking. This shall be attempted at an event organised at Chandigarhon ‘Demystifying Hacking’ is going to be organized on 4th May 2007, at Punjab Engineering college.
The organisers say that the workshop shall be highly interactive, with demos of hacking on test machine setups and some cases in real environments. The workshop will deal with not only understanding of the forensics tools, techniques, methodologies used by hackers but also providing the necessary countermeasures and cover various aspects of social engineering....READ FULL STORY....

Chandigarh contributes 4630 million towards national exchequer

2007-04-28T07:11:00.000-07:00

The budgetary performance for the year 2006-07 has recently been reviewed. The Spokes Person of the Chandigarh Administration apprised that the Chandigarh Administration has achieved a very positive resource position.
With the fiscal discipline the Administration has achieved Rs. 463.26 as Non-Plan surplus (i.e. excess of Income over Expenditure) during the year 2006-07. It means the Chandigarh Administration has contributed Rs. 463.26 crore to the Consolidated Fund of India.
The utilization of Plan allocation of Rs. 249.23 crore was almost to the extent of 100% (99.96%). Similarly, the utilization of Non-Plan allocation of Rs. 1153.89 crore was 99.96%. The realization of Recoveries during the year was 103%. The Estate Officer realized Rs. 264.88 crore from the sale of plots/land against the target of Rs. 256.08 crore which comes to 103.44%.
It was also disclosed that the realization of Revenue during the year was Rs. 1292.73 Cr. against the target of Rs. 1231.99 Cr. Out of this, Tax Revenue realized was Rs. 830.43 Cr. which is 107% of the target fixed at Rs. 776.50 crore. The Excise & Taxation Department has collected Rs. 585.65 Cr. against the target of Rs. 540.00 Cr. fixed under ‘Sales Tax’ and it was more than the previous year 2005-06 by Rs. 71.37 Cr.
This increase is attributed to better monitoring and supervision by the Sales Tax Department and increased tax compliance by the tax payers. Rs. 86.75 Crore have been realized towards Stamps & Registration fee against the target of Rs. 65.00 Cr. A whopping increase of Rs. 21.75 Cr. i.e. 133 % is due to the enhancement of Collector’s rates besides vigilant monitoring by the Estate Officer and steep hike in the prices of real estate. In nutshell, Tax Revenue realized is an outstanding performance as compared to 2005-06.
Similarly, the Non-Tax Revenue realization was Rs. 462.30 Cr. against the target of Rs. 454.89 Cr. Tax and Non Tax Revenue for the last 3 years are as under:- (Rs. In Crores) Area 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 ‘Sales Tax’ and ‘State Excise’ 482.85 640.53 702.53 Stamps and Registration 36.88 63.29 86.75 Others 34.31 39.41 41.15 Total Tax Revenue 554.04 743.23 830.43 Total Non-Tax Revenue 414.38 452.98 462.30 Total Revenue 968.42 1196.21 1292.73

Lesser known facts about Chandigarh

2007-04-28T03:15:00.001-07:00

Chandigarh Administration has sought information lesser-known facts, tidbits and interesting information about the city. The Department of Tourism is coming out with a publication regarding the interesting information and anecdotes on the city.
Chandigarh Administration has asked the city residents or anyone connected with the origin and development of Chandigarh to provide such information, which most people do not know about to Department of Tourism. Collected and compiled information would be published.
The Department of Tourism has also asked people to share artifacts, maps, visuals, photographs or other articles that can give a peek into lesser known facts of the city’s history. The selected contributions will be duly acknowledged by the Administration.

Chandigarh bans carrying of firearms

2007-04-28T03:13:00.001-07:00

The District Magistrate, UT, Chandigarh has prohibited to carry fire arms in the Union Territory, Chandigarh.
The decision has been take as carrying of small weapons openly tucked in the waist belt for show off and intimidation and carrying out weapons openly by the license holders could create panic in the public.
The order has come in to force with immediate effect and would be applicable till June 26, 2007. Breach of the order would be punishable under the provisions of India Penal Code. However, the order shall not apply to police or Para-military or military personnel and other Government Servant if called upon to carry fire arms in connection with their official duties. The order shall also not be applicable to others who are specially permitted by a written order.

Chandigarh orders closure of liquor shop in Kaimbwala for 48 hours

2007-04-22T00:10:00.000-07:00

A violent incidence took place at Tavern attached to liquor vend of Village Kaimbala on the intervening night of 17 and 18 April, 2007, wherein one Mr. Sat Parkash was seriously injured in a shoot out. Sh. Sat Parkash sustained bullet injury after the owner of the liquor vend Mr. Hem Raj fired upon him from his licensed weapon on being assaulted.
The District Magistrate, Chandigarh on receipt of report from the SSP asked the SDM (HQ), Chandigarh to take appropriate action under the law in the matter. Keeping in view the gravity of the situation and on the basis of report of the police so as to prevent any further breach of peace the SDM (HQ), Chandigarh ordered the closure of liquor shop at village Kaimbala for 48 hours with immediate effect.

Chandigarh Ludhiana road link within 30 months

2007-04-12T00:11:00.000-07:00

Chandigarh-Ludhiana rail link will be completed within two and a half years to provide direct rail link between Punjab and its capital.
This was disclosed by Ramesh Inder Singh, Chief Secretary, Punjab while presiding over a meeting of the Indian Railways officials. He said that already commissioned rail link between Chandigarh and Morinda would be electrified in eight months to run high speed electric trains....READ FULL STORY....

Ward committees constituted in Chandigarh

2007-04-10T08:16:00.001-07:00

Chandigarh Administration has constituted ward committees for all the 26 wards of Chandigarh Union Territory. All the elected Municipal Councilors have been appointed Chairpersons of the committees.
All the committees would have 11 members. Nominated members of each ward would also be members of their respective Ward Committees. Term of Ward Committees shall be of one year and representation has been given to the eminent persons, who are ordinarily residing in the concerned ward. The Ward Committees would act as an Advisory Body with in its territorial limits on the matters of water supply, sanitation and drainage, removal of accumulated water in streets and public places and disinfection. The committees would also act as an Advisory Body on collection, removal and management of solid wastes, immunization services in slum areas, street lighting, planning and maintenance of roads, maintenance of parks, informal markets, and any other duties and functions expressly provided by the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh by a duly passed resolution. The following is the list of the members and chairpersons of the wards.

Ward No-I
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member Designation
1. Sh. Chander Mukhi Sharma, H. No.
38, Sector 10 A, Chandigarh.
Chairperson
2. Sh. Janak Grover, H. No. 231/9,
Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. R.K. Taneja, IAS (Retd.),
H. No. 1638, Sector 7-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
4. Mr. Varinder Singh Rana,
H. No. 1102, Sector-11 C,
Chandigarh.
Member
5. Mr. Priya Ojha,
H. No. 540, Sector 11-B,
Chandigarh.
Member
6. Mr. Dalip Singh Sandhu, IAS
(Retd.)H. No. 1272, Sector 8,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Capt. Kanwal Pal Singh,
H. No. 573, Sector 10-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Dr. Neelam Malik,
H. No. 184, Sector 11-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Ar. P.K. Mukerjee,
H. No. 109, Sector 11-A,
Member
Chandigarh.
10. Mrs. Amrit Bolaria,
H. No. 226, Sector 9-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. H.S. Riar,
H. No. 177, Sector 11, Chandigarh.
Member
WARD NO. 2
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member Designation
1. Mrs. Anu Chatrath,
Kothi No. 2055, Sector 15-C,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Umed,
H. No. 162, New Khudda Lahora
Colony, Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. M.R. Lakhanpal,
H. No. 1273, Sector 15-B,
Chandigarh.
Member
4. Mr. P.K. Sharma, SP (Retd),
H. No. 2225, Sector 15-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
5. Mr. J.P. Sharma,
H. No. 168, Sector 15A,
Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Krishna Mehta, Advocate,
H. No. 1174, Sector 15,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Sh. G.S. Mangat,
H. No. 471, Sector 15-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Anil Sharma,
H. No. 269, Sector 15, Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. R.K. Khanchi,
H. No. 11/11H, PGI Campus,
Sector 12, Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. M.P.S. Chawla,
H. No. 1067, Sector 15,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Ms. Pam Rajput,
H. No. 2064, Sector 15-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No-3.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation
1. Sh. Pardeep Chhabra,
H. No. 1712, Sector 22,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. B.S. Negi,
H. No. 542, Sector 22A,
Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. S.L. Kashyap,
H. No. 60, Sector 16, Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. Gurmail Singh,
H. No. 759, Sector 16, Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. Chandan Singh,
H. No. 763, Sector 16, Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Paramdeep Singh,
H. No. 3516, Sector 22-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Mr. Sada Nand, IAS (Retd.)
H. No, 118, Sector 16, Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Sukhdev Singla,
H. No. 244, Sector 16, Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Anil Malhotra, Advocate,
H. No. 584, Sector 16-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
10 Sh. Charanjiv Singh,
H. No.1003 Sector 22-B,
Chandigarh.
Member
11 Sh. Naresh Nayyar,
H. No. 652, Sector 16, Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No.-4
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation
1. Sh. Surinder Kumar Jagota,
H. No. 3384, Sector 23-D,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Chander Shekher,
H. No. 1234, Sector-23,
Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. H.C. Sharma,
H. No. 1054, Sector-36 C,
Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. Kamal Chandalia,
H. No. 2613, Sector 24-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. O.P. Dravid,
H. No. 3042, Sector 24-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Paramjit Singh,
H. No. 588, Sector 36-B,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Sh. Harbans Lal Sharma,
Retd. Registrar, PU,
H. No. 1054, Sector 36,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Dharam Raj,
H. No. 3317, Sector 24,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Diwakar Pathak,
H. No. 3163, Sector 23,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. Jay Joshi,
H. No. 1463, Sector 23-B,
Member
Chandigarh.
11. Sh. Darshan Kundra,
H. No. 632, Sector 36-B,
Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No.-5
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation
1. Mrs. Sheela Devi,
H. No. 2159, Ambedkar Colony,
Dhanas.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Ram Kumar Paul,
H. No. 1261, Chaman Colony
Dhanas.
Member
3. Sh. Jagbir Singh,
H. No. 773, Milk Colony Dhanas.
Member
4. Sh. Ved Pal Kalra,
H. No. 1832, Janta Colony,
Sector 25-D, Chandigarh.
Member
5. Smt. Roshni Devi Pardhan,
H. No. 458, Ganna Gate Kumhar
Colony, Sector-25, Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Amar Nath,
H. No. 85, Milk Colony Dhanas.
Member
7. Sh. Sampura Singh,
H. No. 183, Milk Colony,
Dhanas.
Member
8. Sh. Chandan Pal,
H. No. 817,Sector-25,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Kishan Pal,
H. No. 3975, Setor-25,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. Harjinder Singh,
H. No. 409, Milk Colony,,Dhanas.
Member
11. Sh. Tej Pal Keshori,
H. No. 680, Milk Colony,
Dhanas.
Member
Ward No.-6
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member Designation
1. Smt. Kamlesh,
H.No. 1579, Phase-II,
Ramdarbar, Chandigarh
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Satwant Singh Saini,
R/o SCF 819, Dadu Majra Colony,
Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. Madan Lal,
H. No. 2821, Dadu Majra Colony.
Member
4. Sh. Ishatiyak Ahamed S/o Jahur
Ahamed, Hut No. 267, Rajeev
Colony Shahpur.
Member
5. Smt. Vidya Devi,
H. No. 1526, Dadu Majra Colony,
Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Ram Raj Verma,
Hut No. 31, Rajeev Colony
Shahpur.
Member
7. Sh. Banwari Lal,
H.No. 728, Dadumajra,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Satwant Singh,
R/o Dadumajra,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Smt. Darshni Devi,
H.No. 2390, Dadumajra.
Member
10. Sh. Ikhtar Ahmad,
Rajiv Colony,
Near 38 West, Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Kemti Ram Malhotra,
H.No. 882, Dadumajra,
Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No.-7
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation
1. Sh. Harphool Chand Kalyan,
H. No. 2379, Sector 24-C,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Hem Raj Sharma,
H. No. 302, Village & Post Office
Maloya (U.T.) Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. Prem Singh,
H. No. 231, Village & Post Office
Maloya (U.T.) Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. Rajinder Singh Saini,
H. No. 528, Village & Post Office
Maloya (U.T.) Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. Satish Choudhary,
H. No. 5728, Maloya Colony (U.T.)
Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Ram Babu,
H. No. 6351, Maloya Colony (U.T.)
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Sh. Kedar Nath,
H. No. 4536, Maloya Colony (U.T.)
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Pars Ram,
H.No. 3196, Maloya Colony,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Mange Ram,
H.No. 4332, Maloya Colony,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. Babu Ram,
H.No. 5535, Maloya Colony,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Ashwani Kumar,
H.No. 5576, Maloya Colony.
Member
Ward
No.-
8.Sr.
No.
Name and Address of Member. Designation.
1. Smt. Rita Sharma,
H. No. 3262, Sector 37-D,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Manohar Garg,
H. No. 5593/38-West, Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. Sanjeev Babbar,
H. No. 1085/37-B, Chandigarh.
Member
4. Smt. Kamlesh Aggarwal
H.No. 2703/37-C, Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. Janak Raj Khillan
H.No. 3045/38-D, Chandigarh.
Member
6. Mr. Joginder Singh Bhatia,
Chief Engineer, PSIEC,
H.No. 435, Sector-37,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Major D.P. Singh,
H.No. 417, Sector 38-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Mr. Jatinder Kumar Wadhera, SDO
(Retd.)
H.No. 5730-B, Sector 38 West,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Jai Deep Kapoor,
President of 38 West Association,
H.No. 5797B, 38-West,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. Raj Kumar Chaudhary,
Advocate,
H.No. 2199, Sector 38-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Rohit Sood,
SCO 156, Sector 37-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
Ward-9.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation.
1. Sh. Jagjit Singh Kang,
H. No. 1361, Sector 40,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Gopal Mahajan,
H. No. 1372/40-B, Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. G.S. Lehal,
H.No. 730/40-A, Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. Dilbagh Singh,
H.No. 2839/40-C, Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. Jagmohan Sharda,
H.No. 2874/40-C, Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Rajesh Gupta,
H.No. 1751/2, Sec.-39B,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Sh. C.L. Bhardwaj,
H.No. 2811, Sector 40-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. J.C. Verma,
H.No. 2810, Sector 40-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Charanjit Singh Mauji,
H.No. 2279, Sector 40-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. Sukhwinder Singh,
H.No. 417, Sector-40,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. G.S. Palia,
H.No. 693,Sector–40-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
Ward-10.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation
1. Sardar Gurnam Singh,
H. No. 111, Village Buterla,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Ram Dev,
H.No. 1104/42-B, Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. Shiv Kumar,
H.No. 1498/42-B, Chandigarh.
Member
4. Mrs. Asha Verma,
H.No. 793/1, Sec. 41-A, Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. Harbans Lal,
H.No. 3171/2, Sec.-41,
Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Dev Raj,
Shop No. 112, Ekta Market,
Sector-42, Chandigarh.
Member
7. Sh. M.C. Mehra,
H.No. 1248, Sector 42-B,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Gurmukh Singh,
Village Buterla, Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Bakhthawar Singh,
Village Attawa, Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. Jagat Sharma,
H.No. 2911, Sector 42-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Bhupinder Singh Badheri,
H.No. 199, Sector-41, Village Badheri,
Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No-11
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation.
1. Sh. Manjit Singh Chauhan,
H. No. 208, Ramdarbar, Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Gurmit Singh,
H.No. 2514/56, Chandigarh.
Member
3. Dr. Rattan Chand,
H.No. 1195/56, Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. Nand Lal,
H.No. 242/4, Nehru Colony,
Sector-53, Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. Sham Lal Goyal,
H.No. 172/22,Sec.-55, Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Simranjit Chauhan,
H.No. 182-K, LBS Palsora.
Member
7. Sh. Hans Raj Rana,
H.No. 761, Sec.-56, Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Kulwant Singh,
H.No. 224, V&PO Palsora, Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Sapinder Singh,
H.No. 72, Village Palsora,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. Sittal Goyal,
H.No. 3052, Sector-56,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. S.S. Cheema,
H.No. 256/1, Sector-55,
Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No.-12.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation.
1. Sh. Kuldeep Singh,
H. No. 440/1, Village Kajheri,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Rajinder Kumar,
H.No. 1051/52,Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. Nand Singh,
H.No. 2701/52, Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. Santosh Kumar,
H.No. 1077/43-B, Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. Janaki Dass, Ex. Panch,
H.No. 443, Village Kajheri,
Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Naib Singh,
H.No. 1701/2, Sec.-43, Chandigarh.
Member
7. Sh. Ram Sarup,
H.No. 1480-A, Sector 61,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Satish Kumar Shori,
H.No. 870-B, Sec. 43-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Surjit Singh,
H.No. 697, Sector-43,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. B.C. Gupta, H.No. 1411, Sector
61, Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Krishan Kant Sharma, H.No.
1154, Sector 43-B, Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No-13.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation
1. Sh. Ram Sumer Maurya,
H. No. 2233, Colony No. 5, U.T.,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Brij Mohan Mittal,
H.No. 312/B, Sector-51-A, Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. Jageer Singh,
H.No. 751 RCS Enclave,
Sector 49-A, Chandigarh.
Member
4. Smt. Veena Rani,
H.No. 1491/49,Pushpak Society,
Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. Sabir Ali,
H.No. K.1076/7, Colony No. 5,
Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Mohan Singh Rana
H.No. 850 Shivalik Society, Sector-49,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Sh. S.S. Bhardwaj,
H.No. 194-C, CHB Complex,
Sector 51-A, Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. S.K. Juneja,
H.No. 103-A, Sector 51-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Ram Dhawan Singh,
H.No. K-1347, Colony No.5,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. Kranti Prasad,
K-183, Colony No.5,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Achhe Lal Gaur,
K-1846, Colony No.5,
Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No-14.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation.
1. Sh. Vijay Singh Rana,
H. No. 43, Burail, Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Shiv Kumar,
H. No. 3232, Sector 45-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. Gulab Singh, Lamberdar,
H.No.1, V&PO Burail, Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. Nooria Khan,
H. No. 1687, V&PO Burail,
Member
Chandigarh.
5. Sh. Ajaib Sigh,
H.No. 287/1, Sector 45-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Tejpal,
H.No. 2266/3, Sector 45-C,
Chandigarh
Member
7. Sh. Chaman Lal, Advocate,
H.No. 1889, Village Burail,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Rajesh Gupta, Advocate,
H.No. 1657, Village Burail,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. S.C. Hans,
H.No. 1021/A, Sec. 45-B,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. Satpal Gupta,
H.No. 1597, Village Burail,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Subhash Chander,
H.No. 1400, Sector-45,
Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No-15
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation.
1. Smt. Harjinder Kaur,
H. No. 2352, Sector 35-C,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. H.D. Murgai,
H.No. 3123/35-D, Chandigarh.
Member
3. Col. Des Raj Nijawan,
H.No. 1320/34-C, Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. Anil Vohra,
Vohra Tent House, Sector 44D,
Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. K.D. Arora, IAS (Retd.),
H. No 1141, Sector 44,
Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Gurdev Singh Brar, IAS
(Retd.)
H. No. 128, Sector 35 A,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Sh. M.L. Arora,
H. No. 440/2, Sector 44-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Sandeep Singh Sandhu,
East West Travels,
SCO No. 66-67, Sector 34-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Smt. Ravinder Kaur Gujral,
H. No. 1234, Sector 34,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. Sudeep Sabharwal,
H. No. 1385, Sector 34-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Maj. (Retd.), D.S. Sandhu,
H. No. 3109, Sector 35-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No–16
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation.
1. Sh. Rajesh Kumar Gupta,
H. No. 578, Sector 20-A,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Brig.(Retd.) Kuldip Singh
Chandpuri,
H.No. 1119/33-C, Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. O.P. Dabla, Advocate,
H. No. 238, 20-A, Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. S.S. Chawla,
H.No. 469/20-A, Chandigarh
Member
5. Sh. Jagdish Singh Sarpal,
H. No. 64, Sector 33-A, Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Mukesh Nischal,
H. No. 167, Sector 20-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Sh. Amandeep,
H. No. 1011, Sector 20-B,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Bodh Raj,
H. No. 19, Sector 20-A, Chandigarh
Member
9. Sh. Suresh Kapila,
H. No. 330, Sector 20-A, Chandigarh.
Member
10. Col. DPS Waraich,
H. No. 175, Sector 33-A, Chandigarh
Member
11. Sh. Anil Singla,
H. NO. 333, Sector 20, Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No.-17.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation.
1. Smt. Anju Beniwala,
H. No. 1234, Sector 21-B,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Dr. Renu Bedi,
H. No. 1048, Sector 21-B,
Chandigarh.
Member
3. Lt. Col. H. S. Sarao,
H. No. 1553, Sector 18-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. B.S. Gill,
H. No. 3296, Sector 19-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. Vinod Joshi,
R/o SCF No. 2, Sector 21,
Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Sanjay Singla,
H. No. 16, Sector 19,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Sh. Narinder Singh Brar,
H. No. 1598, Sector 18-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Arun Mahajan,
H. No. 3024, Sector 19-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Mehtab Singh Sandhu,
Advocate,
H. No. 19, Sector 21-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. Resham Chand Jakhu,
H. No. 35, Sector 21-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Dr. A.P. Sanwaria,
H. No. 3204, Sector 21-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No.-18.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation.
1. Sh. Davinder Singh Babla,
H. NO. 77, 27-A, Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. T.K. Gupta,
H. No. 48, Sector 27 A,
Chandigarh.
Member
3. Maj. Gen. Avtar Singh,
H. No. 3220, Sector 28-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
4. Mrs. Shikha Nijawan,
H. No. 3072, Sector 27-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. Dalbara Singh,
H. No. 19 D Sector 30 B,
Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Lalik Kumar Sood,
H. No. 3435, Sector 27-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Dr. Virender Gupta,
H. No. 3229, Sector 27-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Kirpal Dogra,
R/o SCF No. 22, Sector 27-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Dr. Shushil Gupta,
H. No. 3016, Sector 28-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. Prem Kumar Arora,
Navyug Cloth House,
# 419, Sector 30-A, Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Arshad Khan,
H. No. 120, Sector 28-A,
Member
Chandigarh.
Ward No.-19.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation
1. Smt. Sarita Sharma,
H. No. 360, Bapu Dham, Phase-I,
Sector 26, Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Naushad Ali,
H. No. 76, Grain Market, Sector 26,
Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. Sanjiv Sharma,
706/15, Tenaments BDC,
Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. Som Parkash,
H. No. 108, Phase I, Bapu Dham,
Sector 26 Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. Inar,
H. No. 146, Phase-II, Bapu Dham
Colony, Sector-26, Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Shyam Lal,
H. No. 732/2 Tenements, BDC,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Sh. Manoj Kumar,
M/s Sham Dass Surjit Kumar,
R/o SCF No. 62, Grain Market,
Sector 26, Chandigarh.
Member
8. Dr. R. D. Gupta,
Shop No. 8, Sector 26,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Bhim Sen,
R/o SCF No. 89, Grain Market,
Sector 26, Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. Kuldip Singh,
H. No. 721/29, Sector 26, Bapu
Dham Colony, Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Rajesh Kumar,
H. No. 266, Ph-I, Sector 26, Bapu
Dham Colony, Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No.-20.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation.
1. Smt. Rajkumari Misra,
H. NO. 92, Block-K, Colony No. 4,
Phase I, Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Hari Shankar Misra,
H. No. 241, Industrial Area, Phase-
I, Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. Shakti Parkash Devshali,
R/o SCO-36, Sector 29-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
4. Dr. Uma Shankar,
R/o Plot No. 35, Press Site, Ind.
Area-I, Chandigarh.
Member
5. Mrs. Poonam Sharma, Member
H. No. 1450/24, Sector 29 B,
Chandigarh.
6. Sh. Wasim Khan,
H. No. 1017, Sector 29 B,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Mr. Nitin Peshawaria,
Plot No. 212, Industrial Area,
Phase-I, Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Amar Nath Sharma,
H. No. 329, Sector 29-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Mr. Mohit,
M/s Premier Motors,
Plot No. 47, Industrial Area, Ph-I,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Smt. Indu Singla,
SCF-57, Sector 47-D, Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Balbir Singh Jandu,
H. No. 3012, Sector 29-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No.-21.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation.
1. Sh. Ravinder Pal Singh,
H. No. 3010, Sector 27-D,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Gurdev Singh Walia,
H. No. 3819, Sector 32-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. Jagdish Singh,
H. No. 486, Sector 32-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. Suraj Parkash Jhand,
H.No. 232/46-A, Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. N.K. Bhatia,
H.No. 3284/46-C, Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. M.L.Jindal,
H.No.4048/460-D, Chandigarh.
Member
7. Sh. S.L. Soni,
H. No. 501, Sector 32-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Sh. Sarabjit Singh,
H. No. 3689, Sector 46-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Kuldip Saini,
H. No. 359, Sector 32-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Dr. K.S. Dhillon,
H. No. 448, Sector 44-A,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Harbans Lal,
H. No. 3090, Sector 46,
Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No-22.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation.
1. Sh. Jitender Bhatia,
H. NO. 3720, Sector 46-C,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Capt. Hardev Singh,
H.No. 3963/47-D, Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. Pushpinder Singh,
H.No. 2056/1, Sec. 47-C,
Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. Virender Dosagh,
H.No. 183, Kendriya Vihar, Sector-
48-B, Chandigarh.
Member
5. Mr. Krishan Arora,
H. No. 175, Industrial Area, Phase-
2, Chandigarh.
Member
6. Mr. K.S. Gill,
R/o Plot No. 10, Industrial Area,
Phase-2, Chandigarh.
Member
7. Mr. Daljit Arora,
R/o SCF 82, Sector 47-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
8. Col. J.S. Panag,
H. No. 2277, Sector 47, Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Rajinder Singh Sethi,
H. No. 3950, Sector 47-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. S.K. Diwan,
H. No. 3155, Sector 47-D,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Iqbal Singh,
H. No. 2063, Sector 47-c,
Chandigarh
Member
Ward No-23.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation
1. Sh. Ram Lal,
H. No. 715, Ph-II, Ramdarbar, Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Liladhar Swami,
H. No. 2376, Ph-2, Ramdarbar,
Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. Rohtash Singla,
H. No. 576, Ph-2, Ramdarbar, Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. Narinder Sharma,
H. No. 1300, Ph-2, Ramdarbar,
Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. Sukhjinder Singh,
H. No. 1, Hallomajra
Member
6. Sh. Bahadur Chand,
Shop No. 45, Ram Darbar, Ph-I,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Sh. Jit Manocha, Member
SCF No. 90, Ramdarbar, Ph-II,
Chandigarh.
8. Sh. Sukhjit Singh,
Village Hallomajra, Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Satish Kainth,
H. No. 1243, Phase-II, Ramdarbar,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Sh. Naib Raj,
H. No. 649, VPO Hallomajra, Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Riyaz Ahmad,
H. No. 249, Phase-I, Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No.-24.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation.
1. Sh. Anil Dubey,
H. No. 2703, Vikas Nagar, Mauli
Jagran,
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Keshav Prasad,
H. No. 1612, Mauli Complex,
Chandigarh.
Member
3. Sh. Lal Singh,
H. No. 3814, Mauli Complex,
Chandigarh.
Member
4. Sh. Ram Sanjeevan Bairagi,
H. No. 1, Mauli Complex,
Chandigarh.
Member
5. Sh. Arvind Singh,
H. No. 2404 Vikas Nagar Mauli
Jagran, Chandigarh.
Member
6. Sh. Ramesh Kumar Yadav,
H. No. 298, Mauli Complex,
Chandigarh.
Member
7. Sh. Sunil Aggarwal,
H. No. 54, Shivalik Enclave, NAC
Manimajra.
Member
8. Sh. Sanjeev Kumar Sharma,
Advocate,
H. No. 28, Shivalik Enclave,
Manimajra, Chandigarh.
Member
9. Sh. Raj Kumar,
H. No. 2183, Mauli Jagran,
Chandigarh.
Member
10. Smt. Bramwati,
H. No. 772, Mauli Jagran,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Chandrika Parsad,
H. No. 174, Charan Singh Colony,
Mauli Jagran, Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No.-25.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member. Designation.
1. Sh. Gurcharan Dass Kala,
H. NO. 434/10, Mohalla Dera Sabhab,
Bangala Basti, Manimajra,
Chandigarh.
Chairperson.
2. Sh. Azad Singh,
H. No. 5099/3, Manimajra.
Member
3. Sh. Subhash Saria,
H. No. 1628/8, Old Ropar Road
Manimajra.
Member
4. Sh. Mohinder Pal Gaba,
H. No. 1798, Mohalla Rainwala,
Manimajra.
Member
5. Sh. O.P. Khurana,
H. No. 5834, Modern Housing
Complex, Manimajra,
Member
6. Col. Bahadur Singh,
H. No. 5794, Modern Housing
Complex, Manimajra.
Member
7. Sh. R. Nagpal,
Shop No. 149/1, Old Ropar Road,
Manimajra.
Member
8. Sardar Bahadur Singh,
H. No.1128, Govindpura, Manimajra.
Member
9. Sh. Rameshwar Giri,
H. No. 1589, Main Bazar, Manimajra.
Member
10. Sh. Baljeet Singh,
H. No. 1451, Nangla Mohalla,
Manimajra, Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Giri Raj Sharma,
H. No. 2238/17, Shanti Nagar,
Manimajra, U.T., Chandigarh.
Member
Ward No.-26.
Sr. No. Name and Address of Member Designation.
1. Smt. Sunita Chaudhary,
H. No 2253, Pipliwala Town,
Manimajra,
Chairperson.
2. Dr. Surjeet Singh Lavi,
H.No. 71, Old Indra Colony,
Manimajra.
Member
3. S. Jarnail Singh,
H.No. 25, Bank Colony, Adarsh
Nagar, PWT, Manimajra.
Member
4. Mr. B.S. Makol,
SCF No. 409, Motor Market,
Manimajra, Chandigarh.
Member
5. Mr. K.K. Palta,
SCF No. 494, Motor Market,
Manimajra, Chandigarh.
Member
6. Shri Sampuran Singh
H. No. 141, Old Indira Colony,
Manimajra.
Member
7. Sh. Onkar Singh,
SCF No. 418, Old Indira Colony,
Manimajra.
Member
8. Sh. Gurbachan Singh,
H. No. 57, Darshani Bagh,
Manimajra.
Member
9. Sh. Gurmit Singh,
H. No. 264, Pipliwala Town,
Manimajra.
Member
10. Sh. Gurdyal Singh,
Main Road, P.W. Town, Manimajra,
Chandigarh.
Member
11. Sh. Kalka Parshad,
H. No. 2242, Indira Colony, M.M.
Chandigarh.
Member

Chandigarh Golfing Tour to be organized

2007-04-10T08:09:00.000-07:00

"Chandigarh Golfing Tour" would be organized from April 13 to 15. Chandigarh Golf Association (CGA) is organizing this golf tournament with the support of UT Tourism Department. 40 golfers from Delhi, Mumbai and other cities have already expressed their confirmation to participate in the tournament and more are expected to inform the CGA, said CGA, Chairman C S R Reddy while announcing the tour. UT Director Tourism, Mr. Vivek Atray said, "This tournament is being organized to tap the excellent Golfing infrastructure available in Chandigarh and its surroundings areas". ...READ FULL STORY....

Free light and sound show "son-et-lumiere" at Chandigarh

2007-03-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

The Chandigarh Industrial & Tourism Development Corporation Limited (CITCO) has announced free weekend entertainment for residents & visitors to Chandigarh.
According to Mr. J.S. Bir, Managing Director, CITCO , Free entry to Sound & Light Show for 3 days i.e. from March 23 to 25 at Museum & Art Gallery Complex.
Sound & Light Show (Son-et-lumiere) has spectator gallery with seating capacity of 150 persons. The visitor should reach the venue 15 minutes before the show to see beautiful effects of the illuminated colourful fountain which shall start before the show. Adequate lights have been installed at the spectator gallery including the passage to the venue.
Free passes on first cum first serve basis shall be available during the forth-coming weekend at Museum & Art Gallery for the Sound & Light Show which would be of 45 minutes duration. For the facilitation of the visitors, all lights would be put on till the start of the show. Thereafter, all lights would be switched off to have better sound and visual effects of the show. Therefore, all visitors should reach the venue well before the start of the show to avoid any inconvenience. Sound & Light show has already been inaugurated March 18 by Gen. (Retd) S.F.Rodrigues, Governor of Punjab & Administrator, U.T. Chandigarh for promotion of tourism in Chandigarh and for development of Chandigarh as a tourist destination.

Chandigarh to organize Vaisakhi festival

2007-03-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

The Chandigarh Administration is going to organize Baisakhi Festival from April 13 to 15 at Rock Garden and other locations in the city.
A Committee headed by Mayor, and consisting of Commissioner Municipal Corporation, Mr. Nekchand, Chief Engineer UT, Director Tourism and CGM CITCO has been constituted for organizing the festival. Day time activities at Rock Garden and evening cultural programmes would be organized on all the three days.
The Baisakhi Festival would be jointly organized by Municipal Corporation and Chandigarh Tourism and will be inaugurated by Governor of Punjab and Administrator UT, Gen. (Retd.) S. F. Rodrigues. Artists of repute from Punjab and other states would be invited to perform in the festival.
Interestingly, although Vaisakhi is the most important festival of Punjab, it is still not an official holiday in Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab

Chandigarh tourism tie up with International majors

2007-03-14T13:05:00.000-07:00

Chandigarh has agreed to have a tie- with International Travel House, Wanderlust, Sita Travels, Swagatam and others along with European outbound top travel groups at ITB Berlin. India was the partner country at the ITB Berlin this year.
Director Tourism, Mr. Vivek Atray represented Chandigarh Tourism at the fair. The Incredible India campaign was promoted successfully at event. Chandigarh had a aggressive awareness campaign at the fair. Chandigarh’s earlier image of being a simply a stop over for the Himalayas was removed to a large extent. Brochures and CDs about Chandigarh were distributed.
After the visit to ITB Berlin, Chandigarh Tourism has worked out a detailed action plan for promotion of Chandigarh. As per the plan, Chandigarh Tourism would tie up with select companies through STEPS for distribution of memorabilia like magnets, key-rings, flags, cards, souvenirs and, cards apart from t-shirts, pens, mugs, mouse pad etc. as per standardized formats in Chandigarh.
Wide spread availability of brochures and pamphlets relating to various aspects of Chandigarh Tourism would be made available for distribution of such material in all hotels and tourism locations in the city and the other parts of the country.
Trained and qualified multilingual guide with an audio system would be added to the Hop On Hop Off Bus city tour on the pattern of city tours in developed tourism destinations. Chandigarh Tourism had earlier engaged guides on specified rates to be paid by tourists for assistance in visiting tourism locations in the city. The department would again seek applications from interested youth and even residents of Chandigarh, who would then be duly trained at IHM Sector 42. These trained personals would be designated as Tourist Guides or Volunteers.

Cyber security centre at Chandigarh

2007-03-11T03:39:00.000-07:00

Chandigarh shall have a Regional Cyber Security and Research Centre(RCSRC) at the Punjab Engineering College.
RCSRC will be a security research centre the primary focus of which would be to conduct high quality research in the general areas of security, and performance optimization in Networking, at affordable costs. The Centre will be a platform to provide defense against threats such as information warfare. The Cyber Security Research Centre will carry out studies and hosts seminars that move society towards rational and informed discussion of....READ FULL STORY...

Speech of President A P J Abdul Kalam at Panjab University convocation

2007-03-10T01:23:00.000-08:00

I am delighted to participate in the Annual Convocation of the Panjab University, which has been serving the educational needs of the country for over 12 decades. My greetings to Vice Chancellor, Principals of Colleges, Heads of Departments, faculty members, students, parents and distinguished guests on this post independence platinum jubilee year.
My congratulations to all the graduating students for their academic accomplishment. I am happy that the University aims to provide a complete, meaningful and relevant education to the people of Punjab and neighbouring States so that they are intellectually well trained, morally upright, socially aware and spiritually inspired. I greet all the pioneers who have contributed in establishing and growing this University.
This University has produced many distinguished personalities who are contributing in different disciplines in India and abroad. Since the university is a multi-disciplinary educational center, I thought of sharing with you certain thoughts on the subject "National Prosperity Index and societal peace". National Prosperity Index While we are happy that our economy is in the ascent phase and our GDP is growing at nearly 9% per annum, it is evident that the economic growth is not fully reflected in the quality of life of large number of people, particularly in the rural areas and even in urban areas.
Hence, we have evolved what is called National Prosperity Index (NPI) which is a summation of (a) Annual growth rate of GDP; plus (b) improvement in quality of life of the people, particularly those living below poverty line plus (c) the adoption of value system derived from our civilizational heritage in every walk of life which is unique to India.
That is NPI=a+b+c. Particularly, ‘b’ is a function of availability of housing, good water, nutrition, proper sanitation, quality education, quality healthcare and employment potential. ‘c’ is a function of promoting joint family system, creation of a spirit of working together, leading a righteous way of life, removing social inequities, and above all promoting a conflict free, harmonious society.
All our efforts in improving the national economic performance should be guided by the measured National Prosperity Index of the nation at any point of time. Improvement in the GDP is no doubt an important factor for the prosperity, though it is not the only factor. Progressive reduction in the number of people living below poverty line leading to near zero by 2020, increase in quality of life of all citizens in terms of food, shelter, water, energy, infrastructure, education and health will be major indicators of the growth of (b). Efficient, receptive and transparent system of governance, peace in families and communities, reduction in corruption index, reduction in court cases, reduction in violence against children and women and reduction in communal tensions will all decide the growth of (c). Hence the NPI is the resultant of overall prosperity derived from the implementation of all the three factors (NPI = a+b+c).
We need to discuss the various elements of NPI, which is truly reflective of the targets for NPI, and periodically review them for improvement. Since the academic community of Panjab University is research and teaching oriented, the thoughts on NPI can be further developed in the form of an equation defining and expanding the contents and relationship among multiple elements as discussed.
Now, I would like to discuss about evolution of conflict free human life. Is it possible? Let us start from the Origin of Life. Origin of Life Ancient human history has been revealed beautifully by Paleo-anthro-pology. Life originated in this globe 600 million years ago and continental drift occurred 200 million years ago making our one land into five continents. Mammals evolved 140 million years ago, Hominid (human type) evolved 26 million years ago but the modern man only some 200,000 years ago.
That too he emigrated and colonized the rest of the world only since 50,000 years. Spoken language was some 10,000 years old while written only a few thousand years old. All the phenomenal progress of Man was thus only within this short span of 400 -200 generations (i.e., 10,000 -5,000 years). So far human society from origin until now has always been at war within and between groups and has led to two World Wars and two limited wars recently. Presently, terrorism and low intensity warfare are affecting many parts of the world. In this context, is it possible to have a happy, prosperous and safe planet earth? Evolution of enlightened citizens Dear friends, I know you are all concerned how do we bring peace to the world, can terrorism be eliminated? Is it possible to aim at a peaceful, prosperous, happy and safe planet? YES. I am putting forth this thought to the multi-disciplinary gathering of researchers, graduate members and academicians, so that during their career, they can contribute in the evolution of enlightened citizens.
How do we create such an enlightened society, which has three components (a) Education with value system (b) Religion transforming into spirituality and (c) Economic development for societal transformation? Let us discuss. (a) Education with value system: The best part for a person is his or her childhood and the learning period in school. The prime learning environment is five to seventeen years of age. Of course, at home, love and affection are imparted. But again most of the time in a day is spent in preparing school's homework and study, eat, play and sleep. Hence the school hours for children are the best time for learning and need the best of environment and mission oriented learning with value system.
During this stage, they need value based education in school and at home for them to become good citizens. This reminds me the echo from a great teacher's saying, "give me a child for seven years. Afterwards, let the God or devil take the child. They cannot change the child." This indicates the power of the great teachers. For parents and teachers, school campus and home have to have an integrated mission that is education with value system. They must inculcate moral leadership amongst children which involves two aspects. First it requires the ability to have compelling and powerful dreams or visions of human betterment, a state of things in which human beings could be better off in the future than they are now. Secondly, moral leadership requires a disposition to do the right thing and influence others also to do the right thing. If the child misses the value based education in the school, no government or society can establish a transparent society or a society with integrity.
During this period, it is essential to elevate the young minds through a moral science class at least for one hour each week, delivered by great teachers. That will elevate the young minds to love the country, to love other human beings and elevate the young to higher planes. Throughout the world in every school till the age of 17, it is essential that moral science is taught. Such enlightened individuals will definitely promote peace and harmony in the planet. Now, I would like to share an experience that I have witnessed regarding religion transforming into a dynamic spiritual force. (b) Religion Transforming into Spirituality: Universal Mind I would like to recall an incident, which happened four decades ago. Prof Vikram Sarabhai is the visionary of space programme in India. He is well known for his cosmic ray research area that led to evolving the space research programme for the nation. Prof Vikram Sarabhai was looking for a site to establish space research station in the equatorial region. He visited a number of places.
The scientific community for space research selected Thumba in Kerala as it was near the equatorial region and was ideally suited for ionospheric research in upper atmosphere apart from study of atmospheric structure. When Prof Vikram Sarabhai visited Thumba, the locality had series of villages and thousands of fishermen folk were living in that area. It also had a beautiful ancient church, St Mary Magdalene Church, Pallithura and a Bishop's House. Prof Vikram Sarabhai met many politicians and bureaucrats to get the place for the work of space science research. It did not move further because the nature of the place.
He was asked to see the Bishop of Trivandrum, at that time in 1962, Rev Father Dr Peter Bernard Pereira. It was a Saturday when Prof Vikram Sarabhai met the Bishop. The Bishop smiled and asked him to meet him the next day, ie Sunday. In the morning after the Church Service, the Bishop told the congregation, "my children, I have a famous scientist with me who wants our church and the place I live for the work of space science research. Dear children, science seeks truth by reasoning. In one way, science and spiritualism seek the same divine blessings for doing good for the people.
My children, can we give the God's abode for a scientific mission?" There was a chorus of 'Amen' from the congregation and the whole church reverberated. Subsequently, the big event took place in 1962. Rev Dr Peter Bernard Pereira, the Bishop of Trivandrum, took the noble decision to dedicate the church in recognition of the national goal for the establishment of the Indian Space Research Organisation at Pallithura, Thumba. That was the church where we had our design centre, started rocket assembly, design of filament winding machine for FRP product and the Bishop's house was our scientists' place. Later, the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) led to the establishment of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and multiple space centres throughout the country. When I think of this event, I can see how enlightened spiritual and scientific leaders; all converge towards giving reverence to the human life. New church and new schools were established in record time. Of course the birth of TERLS and then VSSC gave the country the capability of design, development and produce world class huge rocket system and subsequently, India has the capability of launching geo-synchronous, sun-synchronous and meteorology spacecraft, communication satellite, remote sensing satellite thereby provided fast communication, weather forecasting and also locate water resources for the country.
Today, among us, Prof Vikram Sarabhai is not there, Rev Dr Peter Bernard Pereira is not there, but those who are responsible for creation and make the flower blossom will themselves be a different kind of a flower as described in the Bhagwat Gita: "See the flower, how generously it distributes perfume and honey. It gives to all, gives freely of its love. When its work is done, it falls away quietly. Try to be like the flower, unassuming despite all its qualities". What a beautiful message for all generation of this nation, on integration of minds and universal mind. No where in the world a church has been given for scientific research, it has happened in India. It is a great message to be spread. The message is, the best component of the religion can be transformed into a spiritual force that will shape the society.
Let me now discuss with you the third component of the enlightened society for transforming the developing nation into a developed nation through achieving economic prosperity, so that large societal imbalances can be removed. In this connection, let me take an example of India, which has one sixth of the global population. (c) Transforming our nation into a economically developed nation We have a population of over one billion people of which 220 million are still living below the poverty line.
They need education, they need habitat, they need health care, and creation of employment potential. To meet their needs we have the second vision of transforming India into a developed nation by the year 2020. We have identified five areas where India has a core competence for integrated action: (1) Agriculture and food processing (2) Education and Healthcare (3) Information and Communication Technology (4) Infrastructure development such as power, transportation, communication and including Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) network and (5) Self reliance in critical technologies. These five areas are closely inter-related and if implemented in a coordinated way, will lead to food, and economic security, and national security. A strong partnership among the R&D, academy, industry and the community as a whole with the Government departments will be essential to accomplish the vision for a developed India. Indian GDP is growing at an average rate of 8% p.a. whereas the economists suggest that to remove the poverty of 220 million people, we have to grow at the rate of 10% p.a. consistently for over a decade.
One of the components through which the rural-urban divide will be bridged and prosperity will be brought to the seven hundred million people living in six hundred thousand villages is Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) in seven thousand clusters. The University system should build the capacity among the students to work in the creation and management of PURA clusters and various PURA components in the rural and semi-urban areas. With the experience of Panjab University in conducting PG diploma courses in health, family welfare, environmental science and population education, the university can definitely introduce inter-disciplinary courses which will provide the quality human resource for creation and maintenance of PURAs in Punjab which will lead to enhancement of the quality of life of people living in the rural areas.
Now, I would like to talk about the importance of interdisciplinary research for capacity building among students. Inter disciplinary research In addition to the above, the University system can introduce the students on societal missions such as removal of illiteracy in the rural areas, promoting social values in the neighbouring villages, counseling the people in the villages for leading a good life free from any form of addiction and gambling.
They can also work for removing the social problems such as crime against women and children, dowry, child labour, and support to elderly people, through debate and discussions with the people in adopted villages by the University and affiliated colleges. The students can also be introduced for providing help to the differently abled people and persuading the parents about the necessity of immunization and post-natal care to the mother and the child which is essential for bringing down the MMR and IMR in our country. These integrated actions by the University with the active participation of students and the faculty members will create awareness among the students about the national problems even before they enter into their professional career.
The University has over 56 teaching and research departments with core competence in biotechnology and in corporate management. The aim should be to bring out the importance of each department and the specific contribution they can make in making a difference in the life of the people. For example, students from environmental sciences could suggest to the people methods by which they can upgrade their environment and live in a pollution free atmosphere by using renewable energy to the maximum extent possible, conversion of waste into energy, recycling of water, using green materials for construction having minimum embodied energy. You can see how environmental scientists can bring the importance of energy specialists, water specialists, construction specialists and waste management specialists.
This type of interdisciplinary working will enable the students in facing the economic, social and cultural problems of the society with higher level of confidence and promote respect for multiple disciplines. Conclusion Since I am in the midst of academic and research community, I thought of sharing with you an incident about Sir CV Raman, a Nobel Laureate in Physics for discovering Raman Effect. Raman gives the view that the color of sky is blue due to molecular diffraction, which determines the observed luminosity, and in great measures also its color. This led to the birth of the Raman Effect. Raman was in the first group of Bharat Ratna awardees. The award ceremony was to take place in the last week of January, soon after the Republic Day celebrations of 1954. The then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad wrote to Raman inviting him to be the personal guest in the Rashtrapati Bhavan to receive the award. Sir CV Raman wrote a polite letter, regretting his inability to attend. Raman had a noble reason for his inability to attend the investiture ceremony. He explained to the President that he was guiding a Ph.D. student and that the thesis was positively due by the last day of January.
The student was valiantly trying to wrap it all up and Raman felt, he had to be by the side of the research student and see that the thesis was finished, sign the thesis as the guide and then have it submitted. Here was a scientist who gave up the pomp of a glittering ceremony associated with the highest honour, because he felt that his duty required him to be by the side of the student. It is this unique trait of giving value to research that promotes research. I am sure, all the members of Panjab University will emulate this example in their academic and research pursuit. Once again let me congratulate all the graduating students and my best wishes to all the members of Panjab University community for success in the mission of developing quality human resources needed for improving the National Prosperity Index of India. May God bless you. Seven Point Oath 1. I realize, I have to set a goal in my life.
To achieve the goal, I will acquire the knowledge, I will work hard, and when the problem occurs, I have to defeat the problem and succeed. 2. As a youth of my nation, I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all my tasks and enjoy the success of others. 3. I shall always keep my home, surroundings, my neighbourhood, environment and myself clean and tidy. 4. I realize righteousness in the heart leads to beauty in the character, beauty in the character brings harmony in the home, harmony in the home leads to order in the nation and order in the nation leads to peace in the world. 5. I will lead an honest life free from all corruption and will set an example for others to adopt a righteous way of life. 6. I will light the lamp of knowledge in the nation and ensure that it remains lit for ever. 7. I realize, whatever work I do if I do the best, I am contributing towards realizing the vision of developed India before 2020.

Eight years stay allowed for Chandigarh school principals

2007-03-10T01:17:00.000-08:00

The Chandigarh Administration has finalized the transfer policy of School Principals, Headmasters, Headmistresses, Lecturers, Masters, Mistresses, JBT Teachers, Nursery teachers etc. for the academic session 2007-08.
The Education Department would shortly invite the applications for transfers from the eligible teachers as per the policy. As per the policy the school Principals, Headmasters, and Headmistresses shall be transferred after the completion of eight years’ stay.
The lecturers, masters, C & V teachers, JBT teachers and other category teachers can be transferred after putting in ten years of service in a school. However, teachers who have put in more than three years of service in the present school can be shifted on request basis for which their results will be taken into consideration.
While transferring heads of the schools or teachers on administrative grounds, genuineness of the request will be considered or where the results of the teachers are extremely poor, the period of stay will not be applicable. For transferring school teachers on request basis from village, they should have completed the stay of two years and the teachers who have not served in schools of rural areas will be transferred there. A teacher can give as many options as he wants in the order of priority for transfer purpose.
However, no mid-term transfer will be made except on administrative grounds. Those teachers who are retiring within one year or less will not be disturbed. In case there are surplus posts in a school, the senior most teachers in the respective cadre will be transferred without taking into consideration the period of stay.
As per the policy, mutual transfers would be allowed generously and on extreme compassionate grounds, the stay would not be applicable. Every fresh appointee, either by direct recruitment or by transfer on deputation will initially be posted in rural area schools and would have to put in at least two years of service in rural area schools before being posted in urban areas schools.

Chandigarh bans sale of correction fluid to children

2007-03-10T01:14:00.000-08:00

Chandigarh has banned sale of correction fluids to the minor children in the Union Territory, Chandigarh for a period of 60 days.
Orders were issues as a measure of emergency under section 144 CRPC. This order is being issued keeping in view that some minors specially school going children are committing crimes, after using correction fluid (while fluid generally used by typists for making corrections on types matter). It is a matter of grave concern and the recent repots of crimes triggered by its use by juvenile criminals, needs to be taken seriously.
This order shall come into force with effect from the March 7 and shall be effective for upto May 7, 2007. District Magistrate has also prohibited carrying fire arms in the Union Territory of Chandigarh. Any breach of this order shall be punishable under the provision of the Indian Penal Code.

Anupam Kher signs agreement for acting institute at Chandigarh

2007-03-05T05:39:00.000-08:00

Renowned Actor Anupam Kher and Chandigarh Administration have entered into an agreement for setting up and running a premier Acting Institute in Chandigarh. The name of the Institute would be Chandigarh Acting Institute (CAI). Society for Tourism and Entertainment Promotion in Chandigarh(STEPS) under the aegis of Department of Tourism, Chandigarh Administration and Actor Prepares(AP), an organization set up by renowned actor Mr. Anupam Kher signed Memorandum of Understanding here today.
Agreement was signed between Mr. Anupam Kher and Mr. Vivek Atray, Director Tourism & CEO STEPS. Chandigarh is the hub of north India, and with its excellent educational infrastructure and it is fast coming up on the national map. Chandigarh Administration has been promoting Chandigarh city and neighbouring areas as a destination for film making. It has been felt that there is a need for quality training of the youth here in this field so that their talent can be utilized by the TV and the Film Industry.
Mr. Yash Chopra, Chairman, Chandigarh Advisory Tourism Forum (CTAF) had suggested that such an institute may be set up in Chandigarh at the earliest. Mr. Anupam Kher has already set up such an institute at Mumbai and has a vast experience in acting and in training actors. STEPS CEO Mr. Vivek Atray disclosed that the Institute will be located at the premises of the Central Crafts Institute, Sector 11, Chandigarh and utilize the vacant and unutilized space.
Acting course will be of one year and six months duration and likely to start from May 1, this year. Interviews and auditions are likely to be held in the 1st week of April. The course will have semester system and two breaks for holidays in between the semesters. The fee structure would be mutually decided from time to time by STEPS and AP, keeping in view prevailing trends. Up to 15 percent of the students of CAI would be given fee concession, if they are from economically weaker sections. AP would be responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the CAI including all courses, training programmes, faculty and all necessary technical or training inputs.
As per the agreement, signed STEPS would provide space, equipment and other logistical support to CAI. Talking to all media persons at the signing ceremony, Mr. Kher thanked the Chandigarh Administration for taking prompt step of setting up of the CAI. He said that the adjoining areas and states of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Chandigarh have immense talent and the people of this area would not have to go to Bombay to learn acting. He said that the school would cater to the needs of the people of the area.
While getting nostalgic Mr. Kher said that he was the product of Chandigarh and it is a very emotional moment for him. He said that he started his journey from Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh and now it was time to pay back. Mr. Kher said that school would be of international standard and the teachers would also come from Bombay and abroad. CAI would also start certain other related projects and casting agency. The CAI would hold classes for various teachings for the modern cinema. The courses would be carefully chosen as per the needs of the film industry, added Mr. Kher. "Marketing oneself is also important and we will teach the students how to market themselves in the film and TV industry" added Mr. Kher. Joint Secretary Technical Education Mr. S.K. Setia, CTAF members Rani Balbir Kaur, Neelam Mann Singh Dr. R. Kumar, Prof. Rajnish Wattas , Prof. Kiran Joshi, IHM Principal Mr. Naveen Kumar were also present on the occasion.

Chandigarh to observer 2007 as Year of Placement of ex servicemen

2007-03-04T02:52:00.000-08:00

The Chandigarh Administration has decided to observe the year 2007 as the “Year of Placement of ex-servicemen.
During the year, a special drive will be launched to place ex-servicemen in the existing and new avenues of employment, both in public and private sectors. Help of Private sector would also be solicited. Ex-Servicemen are a vast repository of human resources in varied semi and technical skills. They are specialized in a host of fields like technical, mechanical, transportation, administrative, medical, aviation, security, fire safely, inventory management, tourism, hospitality, construction, IT industry, etc.
More schemes to utilize the services productively of ex-servicemen would be explored so that maximum employment for ex-service could be generated. As per the directions of UT Administrator Gen. (Retd) S.F. Rodrigues, Home Secretary Mr. Krishna Mohan has requested all the departments and offices of Chandigarh Administration to take required measures to generate maximum employment for ex-servicemen in the area of Union Territory Chandigarh.

Harnoor Kaur is Rose princess

2007-02-26T05:35:00.000-08:00

The 35th Rose Festival is going on in full swing with great pomp and show. The results of Rose Prince and Princess Competition, which was held today at Rose Garden, have been declared.
In the age group of 1 to 1½ years, Harnoor Kaur bagged the first prize of Rose Princess and the second prize in the same category was won by Danika Bhatia. In the age category of 1 ½ to 2 years, Harshita was adjudged as the first prize winner of Rose Princess competition and Ishani Batra stood second in the same category.
In the age group of 2 to 3 years, Ashmit Kaur Reen was the Rose Princess and Kuhu won the second position. In the Rose Prince competition, in the age group of 1 to 11/2 years, Krish Guleria won the first position and Dilraj Singh bagged the second position. In the age group of 1 ½ to 2 years, Harshpreet Singh was adjudged as Rose Price and the second position in the same category went to Kanwaljeet Singh Sidhu. Similarly, in the age group of 2 to 3 years,
Idarsh Khurana won the title of Rose Prince and Angad Sachdeva won the second position in the same category. Various other highlights of the day included a Rose Quiz competition, cultural programme and Kumar Sanu nite.
For making the Rose festival a feast to the ears of the visitors, Tim Hoffman, Performing Artist and Ethnomusicologist, gave an enthralling performance at Art Gallery today. Tim Hoffman has worked on fusion of various Asian music forms. He lectures, writes and sings in Japanese, Hindi and English. He is an authority on performing Indian and Japnees music and has completed 5-year programme in Hindustani Classical music in Flute, using Japanese Shakuhachi instrument. Created with novaPDF Printer (www.novaPDF.com). Please register to remove this message.

Poinsettia and Ixora garden inaugurated at Chandigarh

2007-02-23T11:19:00.000-08:00

The Punjab Governor and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh, Gen. (Retd.) S.F. Rodrigues, PVSM VSM, inaugurated the Poinsettia & Ixora Garden in Sector 11, here today.
Developed in an area of about 6.25 acres, the garden is equipped with 1000 plants of Poinsettia in 17 beds and 600 plants of Ixora, in 13 beds. The Poinsettia Shrubs blooms in winter whereas the Ixora in summers
Apart from this, 225 shrubs like, Lagerstroemia Indica, kaner, Gulmohari, Cassia biflora, Hibiscus etc. have been planted.....READ FULL STORY....

Health camp inaugurated at Manimajra madrasa

2007-02-23T11:13:00.000-08:00

Governor of Punjab and UT Administrator Gen. (Retd.) S.F. Rodrigues will inaugurate the Health mela being organized by Health Department at Manimajra near Zama Masjid Madarasa on Saturday i.e. February 24 at 10.45 am.
The Health mela is being organized with a view to serve the community and under privilege at their doorstep. The curative services will be made available by the specialist deputed from the Hospital in various specialties and routine laboratory investigation and treatment will be rendered free of cost. The various health programme namely State AIDS Control Society, Tuberculosis Iodine Deficiency, Goiter, Blindness Control Immunization, Reproductive Child Health etc. will display their various activities for more public awareness and various schemes available for the beneficiaries.

Rose festival inaugurated in Chandigarh

2007-02-23T11:11:00.000-08:00

Marked with the festival spirit, creativity, jubilation and enthusiasm, the eagerly-awaited Annual Rose Festival was inaugurated by the Punjab Governor and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh, Gen. (Retd.) S.F. Rodrigues, PVSM VSM, at a colourful ceremony at Zakir Rose Garden, Sector 16, here today, amidst releasing of balloons, beating of drums, playing of bands and displaying of traditional art forms by folk dancers......READ FULL POST...

Photography competition results announced

2007-02-23T11:09:00.001-08:00

The judges on Photography Competition at the Rose festival has selected prize winners participated in Photography Competition held on 22.2.2007 at 12.20 pm at Inspection Bunglow, Sector 19 Chandigarh.
Prizes will be given on 25.2.2007 at 2.30 pm.

Detail of prize winners is as under:-

Professional Category
Pardeep Mahajan SCF 24, Sector 16D Chandigarh Ist
Vinay Malik # 2682, Sector 40 C, Chandigarh IInd
Anand Sharma # 2804 Sector 38 C, Chandigarh IIIrd

Amateur Category

Gurpreet Singh # 1889, Phase V Mohali Ist
Dr. Sandeep Chhatwal IInd
Dr. Subh Mohan Office PGI, Chandigarh IIIrd

Consolation Amtaeur
Siddharath Bhardwaj #289, Sector 10 Panchkula
Neha Kaura #2810, Sector -10, Chandigarh

Choginder Gupta #566-P Sector 21, Panchkula Consolation

Switzerland organising a exhibition Twilight of the Plan Chandigarh and Brasilia

2007-02-20T14:13:00.000-08:00

Universita della Svizzera italiana, Mendrisio, Switzerland is organizing the exhibition on Chandigarh and its architecture. The exhibition “Twilight of the Plan: Chandigarh
and Brasilia” is being organised by the Universita della Svizzera italiana, Mendrisio, Switzerland. Principal, Chandigarh College of Architecture, Prof. Rajnish Wattas attended the exhibition as representative of the Chandigarh Administration. The exhibition will remain open till 18 March....READ FULL STORY..

Kumar Sanu, Vinod Sehgal and Hans Raj Hans to perform at Rose festival

2007-02-19T14:18:00.000-08:00

Noted Bollywood singers Kumar Sanu, Vinod Sehgal and Hans Raj Hans will perform at Rose Festival on February 24, February 23 and February 25. One of the most prolific singers ever to work in the Indian film industry, Kumar Sanu will perform on February 24 at 7 pm in Leisure Valley, Sector 10, Chandigarh.....READ FULL STORY....

Rose festival in Chadnigarh on February 24-25

2007-02-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

The biggest rose show of the country at the Zakir Rose Garden and Leisure valley will be celebrated from February 24 to 26 with much pomp and show. A large number of activities have been planned to make the event impressive and unforgettable.
Wide Varieties of magnificent roses would be on display. Governor of Punjab & Administrator, U.T., Chandigarh, Gen. (Retd.) S. F. Rodrigues will inaugurate the festival on the February 24. On the same day, he will also inaugurate a park at Sector 11, Chandigarh.
The attractions at Rose Garden will include Morning Raga, Photo Exhibition, flower competition, Brass and Pipe Band Competition, Folk performance, joy rides, Tambola and eatables.
Rose prince and princess competition for the children will be held on February 24. Photography, rose quiz competitions will also be held on February 24. On the spot painting competition, Antakshri competition will be held on February 25. Prize distribution will be held on the concluding day at 3.30 pm.
At Leisure valley there will be tourism pavilions of different states of North India, including Chandigarh Tourism, Haryana Tourism, Punjab Tourism, Himachal Tourism. There would be joy rides, fun, frolic, food and music. The Jan Marg would be specially decorated to give the event a festive look.
Gazal night will be organized during the festival, where many celebrated national singers would participate. There will be two Mega Entertainment Evenings at Leisure Valley. On February 24 there will be a bollywood night where top artists would perform to enthrall the audience. On February 26 the festival will conclude with a musical evening in which famous Punjabi artists would perform.
The administration also announced that there would be no road blockades. Jan Marg will be open for general traffic.

Chandigarh to promote beer and wine

2007-02-15T10:48:00.000-08:00

The new excise policy of Chandigarh seeks to promote wine and beer in Chandigahr. After ensuring that the city was virtually overflowing with liquor vends last year, the city has now come up with another excise policy.
The administration said the thrust of the excise policy for the year 2007-08 is to wean away people from hard liquor to low content alcohol such as wine and beer by making their availability relatively easier, to promote decent and dignified premises for sale and consumption of liquor to encourage responsible drinking habits and create an environment where consumption of alcohol is subject to regulation of domestic budget.....READ FULL STORY....

Exhition on Great masters of Punjab at Patiala

2007-02-15T10:40:00.000-08:00

Patiala Heritage Society, Punjab has invited the Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh for presenting an exhibition ‘Great Masters of Punjab’ at Banasar Ghar, Sheesh Mahal, Patiala from February 17 to March 2 in the Patiala Heritage Festival.
The Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh will be display painting and sculptures of all the known artists of Punjab such as Amrita Shergill, Sobha Singh, S.G Thakar Singh, Jaswant Singh, Phulan Rani, Satish Gujral, Sarabjit Singh, Devender Singh, Sohan Qadri, Arpana Caur from its reserve collection. The exhibition is going to be opened on February 17 and will remain on view till March 2.

No commercial stalls during Rose festival

2007-02-15T10:38:00.000-08:00

No commercial stalls would be allowed during the Rose Festival. Chandigarh Administration has stated that the Administration has not authorized any private event company for the
booking of stalls for the Rose Festival. It added that due legal action will also be taken against the concerned company for misleading the public.
The stalls can only be put up by the Non-Government organizations or sponsors of the festival at the site of Leisure Valley in front of the Museum and Art Gallery Sector 10 with the due permission of Chandigarh Administration.

Chandigarh bans AXN television channel for two months

2007-02-14T13:12:00.000-08:00

UT Chandigarh has restricted the telecast of transmission/re-transmission of AXN Satellite
T.V. Channel up to March 15 by local cable operators.

An order passed by the Chandigarh administration said that in exercise of the powers conferred by Sub-section (2) of Section 20 of the cable television networks (Regulation) Act, 1955 as amended from time to time, District Magistrate had issued such orders. The orders have been issued in public interests as the transmission/re transmission of AXN satellite TV channel was reported to be against good taste and decency and were likely to adversely affect public morality.

Film festival at Chandigarh to begin on December 26

2006-12-23T14:26:00.000-08:00

Chandigarh Administration has finalized a detailed action plan for celebration of Chandigarh New Year Festival. A meeting held under the Chairmanship of UT Home Secretary, Mr Krishna Mohan decided to hold many programmes for the Chandigarh New Year Festival.
The festival starting on December 26 will present programmes for all age groups i.e. children, young and old age groups. Renowned play back singers Udit Narayan and Sonu Nigam will perform during the New Year Festival. Their programmes will be held on December 29 and December 31 at Leisure Valley and Chandigarh Club respectively.
Children will have lot of fun and attention during the festival. Sector 17 plaza will witness lot of day time children’s activities on December 26. Centre for carnival arts will also organize a musical evening at Sector 17 Plaza on same day. Youth of Chandigarh can enjoy rock show on December 27 at Sector 17 Plaza. “Wonder Boys”, a group of 20 young artists from Mumbai, will perform as singers, dancers and musicians in the show. A bakery demonstration will be held at Institute of Hotel Management, Sector 42 as part of celebrations. Old film song lovers will have a treat on December 30.
Singers will sing the songs and melodies of K.K Saigal, Talat Mehmood, Pankaj Malik, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Sharda, Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt, Mubarak Begaum, Suman Kalyanpuri in the programme “Old is Gold’ at Sector 22.There will also be a plaza carnival at Sector 17. New year 2007 will begin with classical music performance by Mr. Subhash Ghosh at Sukhna Lake on January 1, 2007. Concluding function will be held on January 2 at Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management, Sector 42. Nehru Yuva Kendra Troupe will also present cultural programmes on the day. Lunch for slum children will be organized at the Sukhna Lake by Tourism Department in collaboration with Hotel & Restaurant Association and CITCO.
Chandigarh Administration’s buildings will be lighted up in the festival days. Fire works display will be organized on December 31. Events December 26 • Day time children’s activities at Plaza Sector 17 •
Musical evening organized by the Centre for Carnival Arts at Plaza Sector 17 December 27 Rock Show at Plaza Sector 17 December 28 Wonder Boys event Sector 17 (in which 20 artistes from Mumbai will perform as singers, dancers and musicians). December 29 Udit Narayan Nite at Leisure Valley December 30 • Old is Gold at Sector 22 (singers will sing the songs of K.K. Saigal, Talat Mehmood, Pankaj Malik, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Sharda, Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt, Mubarak Begaum, Suman Kalyanpuri) • Plaza Carnival at Sector 17 December 31 • Sonu Nigam Nite at Chandigarh Club January 1, 2007 • Classical music performance by Subhash Ghosh at Sukhna Lake January 2, 2007 • Concluding function at CIHM(FCI) Sector-42 at 12 PM • Cultural programme by Nehru Yuva Kendra Troupe. • Lunch for slum children at lake in collaboration with Hotel & Restaurant Association & CITCO

Wardwise results of elections to Chandigarh municipal corporation

2006-12-23T14:20:00.000-08:00

General Election to Municipal Corporation in UT Chandigarh-2006

Ward No. 1
Sno. Candidate Name Party Affiliation Votes Secured
1 Sh. Bal Krishan Kapoor BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 2210
2 Sh. Chander Mukhi Sharma INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 2607
3 Sh. Madan Lal Soni INDEPENDENT 1198
4 Sh. Gurnam Singh Sidhu INDEPENDENT 543
5 Sh. Dinesh Singh Sidhu INDEPENDENT 321
Total of Valid Votes Polled 6879
Ward No. 2
1 Mrs. Anu Chatrath INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 4476
2 Mrs. Rajni Gupta BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 2893
3 Mrs. Anita Sahni BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 292
Total of Valid Votes Polled 7661
Ward No. 3
1 Sh. Pardeep Chhabra INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 4069
2 Vijay Uppal BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 2684
3 Sh.Surinder Pal Chauhan INDEPENDENT 191
Total of Valid Votes Polled 6944
Ward No. 4
1 Sh. Surinder Kumar Jagota BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 3870
2 Sh. Subhash Chawla INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 3628
3 Sh. Joginder Pal BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 259
4 Sh. Victor NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY 167
Total of Valid Votes Polled 7924
Ward No. 5
1 Sheela Devi INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 5323
2 Meena BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 2010
3 Sumitra RASHTRIYA JANATA DAL 1576
4 Raj Dulari BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 846
Total of Valid Votes Polled 9755
Ward No. 6
1 Kamlesh INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 2989
2 Farmila BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 1869
3 Sunita BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 1533
4 Jaswinder Kaur NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY 1116
5 Manjeet LOK JANSHAKTI PARTY 633
Total of Valid Votes Polled 8140
Ward No. 8
Sno. Candidate Name Party Affiliation Votes Secured
1 Rita Sharma INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 5188
2 Kamla Sharma BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 5037
3 Neena Tewari INDEPENDENT 594
4 Vishav Bharti BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 376
Total of Valid Votes Polled 11195
Ward No. 9
1 Sh. Jagjit Singh Kang INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 4860
2 Sh. Charanjit Singh SHRIOMANI AKALI DAL 2125
3 Sh. Ishwar Dutt Sharma NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY 489
4 Sh. Daya Parkash Gupta INDEPENDENT 181
Total of Valid Votes Polled 7655
Ward No. 10
1 Sh. Gurnam Singh SHRIOMANI AKALI DAL 3159
2 Sh. Jagat Bhushan Sharma INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 1843
3 Sh. Jasbir Singh NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY 1757
4 Sh. Gurdeep Singh INDEPENDENT 1593
5 Smt. Shyama Negi INDEPENDENT 660
6 Smt. Nirmal Kaur INDEPENDENT 631
7 Sh. Birendra Singh Rawat INDEPENDENT 405
8 Sh. Joginder Pal LOK JANSHAKTI PARTY 252
9 Sh. Ramesh Chopra INDEPENDENT 55
Total of Valid Votes Polled 10355
Ward No. 11
1 Sh. Manjit Singh INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 2737
2 Sh. Kewal Krishan BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 2334
3 Sh. Manovar RASHTRIYA JANATA DAL 2199
4 Sh. Jaspal Singh BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 824
5 Sh. Prem Shankar NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY 510
6 Sh. Ram Narayan INDEPENDENT 500
7 Sh. Bir Singh INDEPENDENT 414
Total of Valid Votes Polled 9518
Ward No. 12
1 Sh. Kuldip Singh INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 4191
2 Sh. Anand Singh INDEPENDENT 3154
3 Sh. Girdhari Lal Jindal BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 966
4 Sh. Vidya Singh RASHTRIYA JANATA DAL 292
5 Sh. Sat Pal INDEPENDENT 230
6 Sh. Ajay Kumar Sharma BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 116
7 Sh. Vajinder Kumar LOK JANSHAKTI PARTY 86
8 Sh. Shankar SAMAJWADI PARTY 54
Total of Valid Votes Polled 9089
Ward No. 13
Sno. Candidate Name Party Affiliation Votes Secured
1 Sh. Ram Sumer Morya BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 2552
2 Sh. Pawan Sharma INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 1959
3 Sh. Bhim Sain Aggarwal BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 1481
4 Sh. Mohinder Singh INDEPENDENT 1389
5 Sh. Ram Sajiven Sharma INDEPENDENT 900
6 Sh. Bharat Singh INDEPENDENT 409
7 Sh. Nazir Hussain INDEPENDENT 351
8 Sh. Surinder Kumar RASHTRIYA JANATA DAL 216
9 Sh. Mohd. Usman SAMAJWADI PARTY 210
10 Smt. Rita Thakur INDEPENDENT 176
11 Sh. Chandar Man INDEPENDENT 174
12 Sh. Tek Chand INDEPENDENT 173
13 Sh. Mohd. M.Muddin INDEPENDENT 40
Total of Valid Votes Polled 10030
Ward No. 14
1 Sh. Vijay Singh Rana INDEPENDENT 5239
2 Sh. Satpal Gupta INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 2150
3 Sh. Sanjiv Kumar BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 1633
4 Sh. Jagir Singh BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 396
5 Sh. Sagir Ahmed INDEPENDENT 383
6 Ms. Manjit Kaur C.P.I. (M) 187
7 Sh. Jaspal Soni INDEPENDENT 129
8 Sh. Ashok Kumar INDEPENDENT 106
9 Sh. Naresh Kumar INDEPENDENT 82
10 Sh. Firasat Ali SAMAJWADI PARTY 49
Total of Valid Votes Polled 10354
Ward No. 15
1 Smt. Harjinder Kaur SHRIOMANI AKALI DAL 4592
2 Smt. Ravinder Kaur INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 3604
3 Ms Kanta Nijhawan INDEPENDENT 294
Total of Valid Votes Polled 8490
Ward No. 16
1 Sh. Rajesh Kumar Gupta BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 4592
2 Sh. Harmohinder Singh Lucky INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 4211
Total of Valid Votes Polled 8803
Ward No. 17
1 Ms. Anju Beniwala INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 3477
2 Ms. Veena Kohli BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 3302
3 Ms. Narinder Kaur INDEPENDENT 176
Total of Valid Votes Polled 6955
Ward No. 18
Sno. Candidate Name Party Affiliation Votes Secured
1 Sh. Devinder Singh Babla INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 6758
2 Sh. Mohinder Singh SHRIOMANI AKALI DAL 3000
3 Sh. Lalit Kumar INDEPENDENT 593
4 Sh. Kamlesh Pundir BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 532
5 Sh. Tarsem Mittal INDEPENDENT 247
6 Sh. Om Parkash Gupta INDEPENDENT 65
Total of Valid Votes Polled 11195
Ward No. 19
1 Smt. Sarita Devi INDEPENDENT 5256
2 Ms. Sunita INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 3807
3 Mrs. Jubeda Khatoon INDEPENDENT 1176
4 Smt. Surinder Kaur BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 786
5 Smt. Navreet Kaur INDEPENDENT 490
6 Smt. Sailta BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 473
7 Ms. Veena INDEPENDENT 190
Total of Valid Votes Polled 12178
Ward No. 20
1 Smt. Rajkumari INDEPENDENT 3402
2 Smt. Indu Singla INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 3382
3 Smt. Munni Devi Verma BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 2411
4 Smt. Manjeet BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 1225
5 Smt. Jyoti LOK JANSHAKTI PARTY 575
6 Ms. Kiran Devi INDEPENDENT 313
7 Smt. Anita RASHTRIYA JANATA DAL 229
8 Smt. Chanan Kaur INDEPENDENT 190
9 Smt. Tirth Devi SAMAJWADI PARTY 174
10 Smt. Santosh INDEPENDENT 147
Total of Valid Votes Polled 12048
Ward No. 21
1 Sh. Ravinder Pal Singh INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 3194
2 Sh. Balwinder Singh INDEPENDENT 2199
3 Sh. Davesh Moudgil BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 2123
4 Sh. Pawan Kumar Gupta INDEPENDENT 612
5 Sh. Kanwar Naunihal Singh INDEPENDENT 432
6 Sh. Manjit Singh Tiwana COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA 311
7 Sh Balbir Singh BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 216
8 Sh Kamal Jit Singh INDEPENDENT 125
9 Mrs. Kanchana Devi NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY 95
Total of Valid Votes Polled 9307
Ward No. 22
Sno. Candidate Name Party Affiliation Votes Secured
1 Sh. Jatinder Bhatia INDEPENDENT 2703
2 Sh. Arun Kumar BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 1731
3 Sh. Surjit Chaudhry INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 1097
4 Sh. Rajneesh Luthra INDEPENDENT 272
5 Sh. Sandeep Sharma BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 70
Total of Valid Votes Polled 5873
Ward No. 23
1 Sh Ram Lal BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 3200
2 Sh Satish Kumar INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 3101
3 Sh. Harmohan INDEPENDENT 1666
4 Sh. Satu BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 1519
5 Sh. Om Parkash RASHTRIYA JANATA DAL 1152
6 Sh. Ajay Pal Singh INDEPENDENT 988
7 Sh. Satyawan INDEPENDENT 806
8 Sh. Ishwar Singh INDEPENDENT 548
9 Sh. Sanjeev Kumar INDEPENDENT 505
10 Sh. Surmukh Singh INDEPENDENT 458
11 Sh. Baldev Singh INDEPENDENT 316
12 Sh. Balwant Kumar INDEPENDENT 243
13 Sh Chander Shekar INDEPENDENT 223
14 Sh. Ashok Kumar NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY 182
15 Sh. Rajinder SAMAJWADI PARTY 174
16 Sh. Hira Lal INDEPENDENT 164
17 Sh. Manoj Kumar INDEPENDENT 146
18 Sh. Lalan INDEPENDENT 99
19 Sh. Surinder Pal LOK JANSHAKTI PARTY 80
Total of Valid Votes Polled 15570
Ward No. 24
1 Sh. Anil Kumar BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 5092
2 Sh. Mukesh Bassi INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 2822
3 Sh. Ram Lal INDEPENDENT 1576
4 Sh. Shiv Kumar BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 921
5 Sh. Ajay Verma NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY 891
6 Sh. Ram Asre RASHTRIYA JANATA DAL 650
7 Sh. Mahboob SAMAJWADI PARTY 523
8 Sh. S.M.Khan INDEPENDENT 487
9 Sh. Uma Shankar INDEPENDENT 235
10 Sh. Satyavir Singh INDEPENDENT 196
11 Sh. Paras Nath INDEPENDENT 105
12 Sh. Ram Kumar INDEPENDENT 44
Total of Valid Votes Polled 13542
Ward No. 25
Sno. Candidate Name Party Affiliation Votes Secured
1 Sh. Gurcharan Dass Kala BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 5946
2 Sh. Surinder Singh INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 3767
3 Sh. Des Raj Gupta INDEPENDENT 1745
4 Sh. Subhash Chander INDEPENDENT 528
5 Sh. Jaspal Singh BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 438
6 Sh. Satish Kumar Bansal INDEPENDENT 107
7 Smt. Pavinder Kaur LOK JANSHAKTI PARTY 103
8 Sh. Gulshan Lal Gandhi INDEPENDENT 50
Total of Valid Votes Polled 12684
Ward No. 26
1 Smt. Sunita BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 2414
2 Smt. Pushpa Sharma INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 1918
3 Smt. Inderwati INDEPENDENT 1446
4 Smt. Neetika Gupta INDEPENDENT 1234
5 Smt. Sanaj Begam LOK JANSHAKTI PARTY 889
6 Smt. Nirmala Devi BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY 485
7 Smt. Balbiri Devi INDEPENDENT 392
8 Smt. Renu INDEPENDENT 143
9 Ms. Rachna Sharma SAMAJWADI PARTY 97
Total of Valid Votes Polled 9018

9 nominated to Chandigarh Municipal Council

2006-12-21T13:59:00.000-08:00

The following persons have been nominated by the Chandigarh Administration to the Municipal Council.

Shri. Arshad Khan,
#120, Sector 28-A,
Chandigarh.
2. Shri. M.P.S. Chawla,
#1067, Sector 15,
Chandigarh.
3. Brig. Kuldip Singh Chandpuri,
#1117, Sector 33,
Chandigarh.
4. Dr. A.P. Sanwaria
#3204, Sector 21-D,
Chandigarh.
5. Dr. Neelam Malik,
#184, Sector 11-A,
Chandigarh.
6. Ms. Pam Rajput,
#2064, Sector 15 C
Chandigarh.
7. Shri. Resham Chand Jakhu
#35, Sector 21-A,
Chandigarh.
8. Ar. P.K. Mukerjee,
# 109 Sector 11-A,
Chandigarh.
9. Mrs. Amrit Bolaria,
#226, Sector 9-C,
Chandigarh.

Chandigarh district courts gets a website

2006-12-16T10:44:00.000-08:00

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Vijender Jain, the Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court launched the website of Chandigarh District Courts (http://chddistrictcourts.gov.in) here today. Hon’ble Mr .Justice S.S. Nijjer, Administrative Judge, Chandigarh Session Division and Chairman Computerisation Committee (Punjab & Haryana High Court) presided over the function. Other members of Computerisation Committee Their Lordships Hon’ble Mr. Justice J.S. Khehar (Executive Chairman, U.T. Legal Services Authority), Hon’ble Mr. Justice M.M. Kumar, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Hemant Gupta and Hon’ble Mr. Justice S.S. Saron (Chairman, Chandigarh City Courts Computerization Committee) also graced the occasion.
With the launch of this website, litigants, lawyers and public at large would have access to Daily Cause lists, Judgments, brief orders passed by various Courts functioning in the Session Division. Functioning of all the Courts and Offices in Chandigarh Session Division has now been computerized. The project was undertaken under the auspicies of Supreme Court of India and Ministry of Law and Justice, Govt. of India and Technical aspect of the project has been completed by National Informatics Centre, New Delhi and its Chandigarh State Unit.
Sh. B.S. Mehandiratta, District & Sessions Judge, Chandigarh welcomed the guests which also included members of the Punjab & Haryana High Court Bar Association, Chandigarh, District Courts Bar Association, Sh. Ajay Rampal SIO, National Informatics Centre, Chandigarh and others. District Bar Association, Chandigarh celebrated the launching of website by hosting tea.

Chandigarh war memorial to be promoted as tourist destination

2006-12-16T10:43:00.000-08:00

Chandigarh Tourism is promoting the Chandigarh War Memorial as one of the premier tourist destinations in the city. Ever-since its inauguration a large number of tourists and visitors have visited the War Memorial. Wide publicity in various national level tourism related magazines has also been received by the Memorial. The official website of Chandigarh Tourism i.e. Chandigarhtourism.gov.in carries details about the Chandigarh War Memorial.
The War Memorial picture is also being given pride of place in the Annual Calendar of Chandigarh Administration being brought out shortly. Chandigarh Tourisms own calendar would also carry pictures of the War Memorial. The Hop on Hop off Bus would also be routed near the War Memorial by CITCO shortly.

WAN for entire Chandigarh

2006-12-16T10:41:00.000-08:00

13:-Chandigarh Administration’s plan for setting up a Wide Area Network for the entire Union Territory of Chandigarh was approved by Department of Information Technology, Government of India, which has sanctioned an amount of Rs.4 crores for the procurement of hardware, software & networking items. Chandigarh Administration has also approved an amount of Rs.5 crores additionally for the project in the next five years.
This amount would be spent over 5 years for meeting the operational and maintenance cost of the project. Apart from this, state Headquarter site under SWAN Project will be prepared and the same would be located in U.T. Secretariat. NICSI a GOI body, has been entrusted the task of preparation of the State of the art Centre, which will also act as the networking cum data centre.
A meeting of the SWAN Implementation Committee was also held today under the chairmanship of Director I.T, Mr. M.S. Brar to discuss and plan the modalities. It was attended by all senior officers of National Informatics Centre, which is technical consultant for the project, and Shri P Chandrekar, Additional Director I.T., Govt. of India and BSNL authorities from Chandigarh. Department of IT, Govt. of India. The details regarding the equipment and the bill of material for the project was approved. Under its efforts to strengthen E-Governance commitment, Chandigarh Administration is setting up State Wide Area Network (SWAN) under a Government of India Scheme.
Over the last few years the progress in Communications & information Technology, has been gradually building up in the city. The Chandigarh Administration has taken initiatives in ensuring back office computerization and its consolidation in order to cater citizen services. The reliable network backbone & last mile connectivity to be taken care under this scheme will significantly help further in Government to Government (G2G) & government to citizen (G2C) interfacing and bridging the gap. Under the SWAN scheme, Network & Data Centre at UT Secretariat will be connected with 7 Major PoPs (Points of Presence) - MC Office, DC Office, SDM South, SDM East, GSSH-16, GMCH-32 and Registering and Licencing Authority - in the City and around 125 sites including ESampark, Jan Sampark, Gram Sampark and other offices of Chandigarh Administration. The Administration is hoping to complete the task by the end of this financial year.

Chandigarh seeks art objects for acquisition

2006-12-16T10:39:00.000-08:00

Government Museum and Art Gallery, UT Chandigarh has invited the art objects namely ancient, medieval and contemporary sculptures, miniature and contemporary paintings, drawing, graphics, textiles, manuscripts and rare coins for selection by the Art Acquisition Committee, for the Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh. Persons desirous of offering such objects for sale may immediately write to the Director, Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10-C, Chandigarh 160011 enclosing complete lists of objects (in triplicate) duly signed along with their prices, titles, medium, sizes, brief description, year and name of artists or exhibitors so as to reach him latest by January,21 2007.
The number of contemporary art objects offered for sale should not exceed three in each individual case duly labeled with price, title, medium, size, year etc. on the back except in the case of ancient and medieval sculptures, miniature paintings, textiles, costumes rare coins and manuscripts. The art objects, which have been considered previously and rejected by the Committee, should not be brought. The art objects which are not selected for purchase by the Committee will be returned to the parties concerned at their own cost and risk.
The persons offering antiquities should indicate in their applications that these have been registered under the Antiquities and Treasures Act, 1972. The work of the living artists would be purchased at the price quoted by the Artists, if found reasonable. Since there would be no bargaining, only reasonable prices should be quoted. In the case of antiquities, however, the Art Acquisition Committee may assess the prices and make suitable offers.

First ever Chandigarh Film Festival launched

2006-12-16T10:35:00.000-08:00

Launching the first ever Chandigarh Film Festival jointly organized by Chandigarh Tourism, CII and the National Film Development Corporation, at Fun Republic, here today, Punjab Governor General (retd.) J F Rodrigues said that the process for setting up the film city project is on the fast track and various innovative facilities like digital studio, multimedia university, animation and acting institute are being created to provide opportunities to our children to develop their potential and achieve prominence in the field.
He said that special focus will be given on educating our children about our rich heritage and promoting their creative endeavours. We have somehow lost track of our culture & heritage and need to take joy in our antecedents. General Rodrigues said that we are creating a good support infrastructure and 6-7 more multiplexes in the City and that this film city project will also have a special focus on research. Complementing the Chandigarh Tourism, CII and National Film Development Corporation for this initiative, General Rodrigues expressed the hope that it will be made broad based by attracting maximum participation and totally professional and that we will address the inadequacies that manifested themselves in Goa.
Mr. Gautam Kaul, President of the Delhi Film Society, and a noted film critic, in his keynote address said that, since the inception of international film festival in 1952 in the country, which is today the oldest event, the Chandigarh Film Festival is the youngest which needs to be nurtured for its proper growth. Mr. Krishna Mohan, Home Secretary, Chandigarh Administration, providing a brief overview of the growth of cinema over the years, said that it has always been reflecting the aspirations and psyche of the Indians amidst the changing times, from romance, to violence, to anger, to emergence of antiheros.
Mr. Partap Aggarwal, Chairman, CII Chandigarh Committee, said that media and entertainment has been accorded the status of an industry and this Rs.222 billion industry has shown great promise for achieving 16 percent growth through benchmarking with some of the best production techniques and standards available in the international entertainment industry. " India: The Big Picture Brand" is one of the major CII initiatives at the national level to give boost to the industry, he said. Mr. Vivek Atray, Director Tourism, UT Administration, said that this is just the beginning to the mega film festival to be organised in the city annually and part of the endeavour to promote the city for cinema tourism too.
The current film festival has been organised in collaboration with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), Embassies of France and Hungary, and the Chandigarh Film Society, which has famous personalities like Yash Chopra and Anupam Kher on the board. Mr. J.S. Jolly, Senior Vice President, Fun Republic in his vote of thanks, informed that the festival opened with the famous award winning comedy, "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron" in the Audi 1 of Fun Republic. Other pictures screened today include French films 'Clean' and 'The Ax', Hungarian film 'Slap Jack', besides the Hindi movies, 'Mirch Masala', and 'Salaam Bombay'.

Beware before using cyber cafe in Chandigarh

2006-12-16T10:33:00.000-08:00

The District Magistrate, Chandigarh Administration has prohibited the use of Cyber Cafes by unknown person whose identification would not be established by the owner of the café. The Cyber Café’s owners would maintain a register for identity of the visitor/user by making the entry of visitor’s name, address telephone number and identity proof.
The visitor/user would also make entry in his/her handwriting alongwith address, telephone number and identity proof and would sign the register kept for this purpose. The identity of the visitor would be established through I Card, Voter Card, Ration Card, Driving Licence, Passport or Photocredit card. Activity server log would be preserved in main server for at least six months.
The owner of the Cyber Café would inform the police station, if any suspicious activity of the visitor is noted. The Cyber Cafes would maintain record about the specific computer used by the person. This order has been issued under section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code and will be valid upto February 13, 2007. The orders have been because it was noticed that certain anti-social elements, criminals and terrorists might use the facility of cyber cafes to mislead the security/investigating agencies, create panic in the public and danger the security of general public, VIPs, and Government institutions.
The Cyber café might be used by anti national for their terrorist activities affecting the security of the state.

Chandigarh invites nomination from schools for computer awards

2006-12-09T14:57:00.000-08:00

Chandigarh Administration has invited nominations from various schools for the award of Computer Literacy Excellence Awards(CLEAS). The Department of Information Technology (DIT) has invited these nominations from various schools through the DPI Schools.
This Award has been instituted by Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Government of India, at State and National Level to create IT awareness among schools and to encourage Computer Literacy among students in early stage of schooling. All recognized schools of Chandigarh, Government and private, teaching Computers and Information Technology in their schools are eligible to compete for the award.
The evaluation of the nominations for State level Excellence Awards will be carried out by DIT. Similarly, for the evaluation for National level awards will be carried out by DIT, Govt of India by normalization of the evaluation forwarded by the State/UTs. The Awards will be for three categories namely State Awards, National Awards and an All India Winner Award.
The National award will be given to each school in two categories; Category‘A'- Private/Government Aided Schools and Category‘B' Government/Municipal Schools/Kendriya & Novodaya Vidyalays. Each school under the state award will be given a trophy and cash award of 1.50 lakhs. The winning school in both of the category ‘A’ and category ‘B’ will receive Rs. 7 Lakh each whereas the winner of the National Award will be given trophy & cash award of Rs.10 lakhs.
The last date for submission of proforma by schools to the Department of IT, Chandigarh Administration through the DPI Schools is January 15, 2007. Thereafter the same will be evaluated by a Committee of Chandigarh Administra

Three companies shortlisted for Chandigarh film city

2006-12-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

EMAAR MGF, Parsvnath Developers Ltd, DLF Ltd and KRBL Ltd and their respective partners have been shortlisted for the multimedia cum film city to be set up in Chandigarh.
The Multimedia Centre-cum-Film City will be spread over 30 acres of land. The Multimedia Centre-cum-Film City will consist of digital studio and facility for post production processing of digital film and also modern high-tech facilities for animation and gaming laboratories. It will also have a multimedia park with......more

H K Dua inaugurates print media seminar

2006-12-07T13:13:00.000-08:00

Editor-in-Chief, The Tribune, Mr H.K.Dua has called upon the lecturers to adopt the Wall Paper Activity strategy and encourage the learners to contribute articles to the journals periodically. Mr Dua was addressing the lecturers on ‘Opportunities for Youth in Print Media’ as part of the one-week seminar on Revisiting Pedagogic Concerns from December 4-9. The seminar is being organized by Regional Institute of English (RIE).
Addressing the audience, Mr. H. K. Dua traced the evolution of English as the link language, to move on to ascertain its position as the Global language. At a time where controversies surrounded the 3-language formula, the Indian Government set up Institutes like Central Institute of English (Hyderabad) and RIE (Chandigarh & Bangalore) to enrich the Indian students with the English language.
In the process of gaining a hold over other languages, English has also been instrumental in inspiring people to invest in science and technology. During the interactive session with the participants Mr.Dua appraised the participants about the opportunities for the youth in the field of print journalism. In order to hone the reading and writing skills of the students, he suggested that students should be encouraged to do creative writing.
That would be a stepping stone for the learners to join the print media. Welcoming the guest, Director RIE, Dr. Sharda Kaushik appraised about the deliberations of the participants attending the seminar on the standards of improving English in India.

Sports meet at Guru Gobind Singh collegiate school

2006-12-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

UT Home & Education Secretary Mr. Krishna Mohan has appealed the students to take active part in sports and other educational co-curricular activities for their all round personality development.
Mr. Krishna Mohan was speaking here today on the occasion of inaugural ceremony of Annual Sports Meet of Sh Guru Gobind Singh Collegiate Public School, Sector-26. He said that qualities of team spirit, discipline, tolerance and leadership would be inculcated in students only through sports and allied activities. He inaugurated the Meet by releasing colorful balloons in the air. Mrs Agamjot Kaur Mann, Principal of the school threw the light on school’s contribution in the fields of Education, Sports. Science, Cultural & other activities.
She informed that the school’s Volleyball team was state Champion of the year and a science project prepared by the school students was awarded first position in a Regional Science Exhibition organized in Jalandhar. Sh. Gurdev Singh Brar, (Retd. lAS) gave away the prizes to the winners of Sports Meet. Apart from the different sports competitions, the drills, which included the impressive March Past, Spanish Dance and an Umbrella Dance, were the center of attraction for viewers in the Sports Meet.

Film festival from December 15

2006-12-07T13:10:00.000-08:00

5 French films, 2 Hungarian films and one Finnish film will be screened at the first Chandigarh Film Festival , beginning here on December 15. The Film Festival is being organized jointly by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Chandigarh Tourism with the support of National Film Division Corporation Ltd (NFDC) and the Embassies of France, Hungary and Finland from December 15 to 17 at Fun Republic,Chandigarh. A total of 18 films will be screened during the festival including 10 Hindi films.
The festival will be inaugurated by His Excellency Gen. (Retd.) S.F. Rodrigues, Governor of Punjab & Administrator UT, Chandigarh on 15th December at 11.00 AM. The films include Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Travaux on Sait Quand Ca Commence, Mirch Masala, Salaam Bombay, Viva Laldjerie, Main Zinda Hoon, Hanuman(an animated film for children), Violence des Echanges en Milieu Tempéré, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Rudali, Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda, Veer Zaara, Les Mauvais Joueurs "Travaux On Sait Quand Ca Commence" ("Work is Known When it Begins") will be screened on December 15. Directed by Birgitte Rouan, the film is about Chantal Letellier, a lawyer who always wins. But in her private life, Chantal, a divorcee with two badly brought up children, is a "loser".
French filmmaker Jean-Marc Moutout‘s feature debut with the drama Violence des Echanges en Milieu Tempéré (Work Hard Play Hard) will also be screened. Jérémie Rénier stars as Philippe Seigner, an ambitious young executive at a management consulting firm. Things are going well for him at work and he starts dating single mom Eva (Cylia Malki). Soon his boss, Hugo Paradis (Laurent Lucas), chooses him for a special job auditing a company outside of Paris. When Philippe realizes that he's been effectively downsizing a company, he begins to feel a moral opposition to his task. Work Hard Play Hard was nominated for the Golden Leopard at the 2003 Locarno International Film Festival. Eminent Bollywood personalities have been invited for the film festival.
A Mega Musical evening will be organized on 16th December at Leisure Valley to celebrate the Festival. Chandigarh Tourism is making efforts to promote Chandigarh as a destination for tourism therefore various innovative types of tourism promotion methods are being taken up like Cinematic Tourism, Medical Tourism, Heritage Tourism, Rural Tourism and Sports Tourism. The festival is part of this process.

Governor for health cover for rural masses

2006-12-07T13:05:00.000-08:00

With a view to ensuring comprehensive health cover to the rural people and improving their quality of life, the Punjab Governor and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh, Gen. (Retd.) S.F. Rodrigues, PVSM VSM today launched the Chandigarh Rural Health Mission by opening a Rural Poly Clinic at Village Attawa, a joint initiative of Healthcare India, an NGO and the Chandigarh Administration.
This first Health care project, one of five to cover the entire rural belt of Chandigarh under this mission, has an excellent support structure, equipped with modern medical techniques and will cover the population of villages Attawa, Kajheri, Baterala, Badheri, Colony No 5 and Nehru Colony. Accompanied by Home-cum-Health Secretary, Mr. Krishna Mohan, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Mr. PS Aujla and other senior officers of the Administration, the Administrator went round the Poly Clinic Complex and took stock of the various facilities and services. He inspected OPDs, x-ray room, laboratory, ECG, ultra-sound and dental wing and suggested innovative measures for ensuring quality preventive and diagnostic services to the needy patients.
In his brief address on the occasion, General Rodrigues emphasized the need for broadening and deepening the scope of Public-Private partnership in improving the quality of life of rural people and said that it is incumbent on all of us, as concerned citizens, to look after the ‘have nots’ and ensure them basic healthcare services, to ensure their growth as healthy citizens. He said that we must develop confidence in ourselves, evolve our own strategies and move ahead together, to meet the set goal in different fields of endeavour.
He said that the time has come for us to reinvent ourselves and educate our people about healthy living styles as a preventive measure to check the occurrence of diseases. Describing this project as a visionary and extra-ordinary benchmark, General Rodrigues said that the four remaining centers under this new mission to be set up at Maloya, Mauli Jagran, Ram Darbar and Sarangpur, will be commissioned within one month, after renovating the buildings and arranging necessary medical equipment.
He said that with the start of these centers, the complete rural population of the Union Territory will be provided quality healthcare services. General Rodrigues further suggested the need for instutionalizing correct physiotherapy treatment for the challenged children, with a follow up exercises support system in their homes. He also called for evolving a programme for extending physiotherapy exercises to the senior citizens, to keep them physically and mentally fit to contribute to the society. Suggesting the need to put in place a well-structured action plan for organizing and extending referral services to the needy patients in Government Hospitals, General Rodrigues called upon the medical professionals and social activists to give their time, expertise and commitment in this endeavour. He also emphasized the need for associating Rotary Clubs, Lions Club and other NGOs, having efficient appropriate mechanisms, for coordinating the activities in these rural healthcare centers.
He complemented Dr. (Brig.) M.L. Kataria and his team for their commitment and dedication in this innovative initiative. Dr. (Brig.) M.L. Kataria, Chairman of Healthcare India, in his welcome address said that his organization has associated eminent doctors, philanthropists and social activists in this rural healthcare programme and all services will be given free of cost. He said that the volunteers of his organization will continue to work with devotion, dedication and commitment for ensuring quality services to the poor and needy and give them full support in these hospitals. General Rodrigues also honoured eminent philanthropists and social activists for their contribution in this noble cause.

People asked to notify households

2006-12-07T13:04:00.000-08:00

District Magistrate, Chandigarh has asked the residents of UT to note to employee any domestic servant, helper without permission their particulars to the concerned Station House Officer. In an order issued here today District Magistrate said that antecedents of domestic servant should be verified in the pubic interest. This order will be applicable to all the landlord, tenants and those running, commercial establishment

Mass Comm building inaugurated

2006-05-12T09:04:00.000-07:00

The Punjab Governor and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh, Gen. (Retd.) S.F. Rodrigues, PVSM VSM called upon the media to play a pro-active role in upgrading educative strategies for enabling our people to face challenges successfully, in this competitive world. The time has now come for our newspapers and different media to mobilize our human resources for the efforts needed to develop the potential of our people, for carving out a niche in different fields of endeavour.

Addressing a Seminar of Mass Communication professionals, after inaugurating the Art Block of Mass Communication in Panjab University, here today, General Rodrigues said that there is a need for evolving an action plan by interacting with society at large, in the context of the problems facing the country in its march towards progress and prosperity. He emphasized that the image of our country, which is known for its ancient culture and civilization, reflecting our unity in diversity, must be projected in the right perspective in the comity of nations. The media, which have a global impact, can play a vital role in this process.

General Rodrigues said that India has a bright future ahead with huge opportunities for our people. Sincere efforts are being made, at different levels to achieve the goal of 8% sustained growth and various surveys have indicated that India is on its way to become one of the world’s largest economies. We have to empower the 260 million people living below the poverty line to be effective instruments in this process of growth and economic development. Our Universities and education institutions will have to reorient and restructure their educational strategies, to produce professionals, technocrats and skilled people to, meet the growing demands in different sectors of economy. He appealed to the media to generate an awareness among the people to develop their capacities and capabilities, to be active partners in this fast changing scenario.

General Rodrigues said that, in our own humble way, we have initiated the process for changing the attitudes and mindset of our people and improving their quality of life through participative endeavour.

Mr. H.K. Dua, Editor-in-Chief, The Tribune Group of Publication and an old alumni of the Mass Communication Department, while sharing his experience of the student days, appreciated the healthy trend of more girls joining the profession of journalism and doing their duties with courage and confidence.

Mr. Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-chief, Indian Group of Newspapers, while sharing his experiences said that rapid advancement in the field of journalism have taken place and there is a great demand of people of Mass Communication in different sectors all over the world. He lauded the role of Department of Mass Communication of Panjab University for producing talented people in this profession, who made mark of their intelligence, honesty and integrity.

Prof. K.N. Pathak, Vice Chancellor of Panjab University in his welcome address said that the Department of Mass Communication is one of the oldest department which trained large number of professionals and are serving the society. He said that number of seats of journalism are being further increased to meet the growing demand. He said that the mass communication department has been accommodated in this new building constructed at the cost of Rs. 83.50 lakhs.

General Rodrigues went round of the new building and appealed to the Vice Chancellor and Professors of Mass Communication to the innovative and create facilities with latest technologies in the field.

School bus conductor killed

2006-05-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

Buses in Chandigarh continue to be in the news. This time it is a bus conductor who has been crushed to death.
The bus conductor was crushed to death at a roundabout near Sectors 8-9, when the driver started the bus without checking whether the conductor was aboard. The conductor had apparently disembarked to drop a few school students, when the driver suddenly started the bus.
The conductor lost his balance and fell off, to be crushed under the wheels to the same bus.

Ban on watering of lawns

2006-04-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

Chandigarh may be a green city, but the civic administration imposes restrictions on the use of water. Come May1, watering of lawns would be banned during morning hours.
Not only that, evening washing of cars during morning hours is banned.
This is done keeping in view the water shortage in the city.

New taxi service in Chandigarh soon

2006-04-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Chandigarh is all set for a new taxi service, with three service providers Mega Cabs, Hetiz and Indus Travels all set to launch their service. The taxi service is expected to roll out by the middle of May. The cabs shall have eletronic meters and the administration is granting them permits to ply in the city.
The rates for these taxis shall be fixed by the city administration, and would be given special registration numbers.
Taxi service in the city is virtually non existent, with most taxi operators not willing to ply in Chandigarh as they prefer to undertake longer journeys.
For city travel, most taxi drivers insist on hiring their cab for the entire day, and the cost is about Rs 500 for a full day for a non air conditioned taxi. For half day, they charge Rs 300. Not only that, after dusk, some of them demand late evening charges.
The private carriage business is controlled by auto rickshaw owners, but they too continue to be unregulated. A visitor can get prepaid vouchers at both the Railway station and the Inter State Bus Terminus, but at other places, a visitor is at the mercy of these drivers. Rarely does a auto rickshaw charge by the meter, and they try and negotiate with the customer.

power cuts

2006-04-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

A 90 minute (one hour and 30 minutes)of power cuts has been imposed in the entire city. So all residents sweat it out in the entire summer. It is April and power cuts are already on.
Imagine what would happen in May and June when the temperature sizzles and you get baked in the sun.
But wait, not the entire city will face the wrath.
The Laat Sahib, or the Governor Sahib will not face any power cuts. The sprawling 100 odd acres of Raj Bhawan, which houses the Governor shall not face any power cuts.
And the reason for the power cuts is not far to seek. Chandigarh still does not produce any electricity, and purchases from all over. This time they claim they do not have the money to buy power.
So the dream city of Le Courbusier sweats it out!

Doctors back to office

2006-04-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

The strike has been called off.
The doctors are back in office, and presumably back to work as well.
So the Medical College will finally start functioning.
voila!

Doctors on strike

2006-04-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

Patients be dammed, doctors on strike
Doctors at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32 went on a lightning strike after being manhandled by relatives of a patient.
It all began with a lady patient who was brought to the hospital after an alleged overdose of sedation. When the doctor tried to examine her, an attendant of the patient objected stating that she should not be touched. An argument ensued and the doctor was hit and assaulted by attendants. Another doctor tried to intervene and he too was beaten.
Doctors at the college went on a strike. Later affiliate doctors at other government run institutes also decided to lend support to the striking doctors.
A little later when police intervened, associates of the attendants assembled together and protested against the police.
So the alleged assaulters and the doctors both are busy protesting.
Meanwhile patients are advised to be patient.

Le Corbusier must be turning in his grave

2006-04-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

Le Corbusier must be turning in his grave.
His dream city becomes liquor capital.
For years, Chandigarh was the capital of two states. Perhaps the only city to have this distinction, is now becoming the liquor capital.
The Chandigarh administration, perhaps from pressure under the liquor lobby is opening liquor vends all over.
The city of a mere 50 odd sectors in now going to have 250 liquor vends.
So every sector, which measures a mere one mile by one mile is going to have five liquor vends each. A surfeit of liquor booths means liquor would become cheaper, and the city would fast get converted from city beautiful to a city of alcoholics.
And what does the administration gain out of it?
it gets more revenue from liquor cartel, and more taxes.
Let the citizens be doomed.