Santa ready for trip around the world

His sleigh has been inspected, his bag of toys has been scanned, and his reindeer have successfully completed their takeoff and landing tests.

Santa Claus has been cleared for takeoff from the North Pole, Transport Canada announced Friday, and now eager present-seekers can track the man in red's flight through the skies.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) is once again providing detailed updates on Santa's movements on its website, www.noradsanta.org or by contacting 1-877-Hi-NORAD starting at 6 a.m. ET. Trackers also can send an email to noradtrackssanta(at)gmail.com.

Norad "Santa cams" are positioned around the world and this year, the command centre also is offering a Santa-tracking app for mobile devices. Tracking opportunities also are offered on Facebook, Google+, YouTube, and Twitter.

Like any pilot, Santa had to pass a series of flight and medical tests before Transport Canada cleared him for flight.

"I'm very happy Santa has passed these latest tests," Mrs. Claus wrote in a text message sent to Transport Canada. "I made sure he focused on his tasks, not emptying the cookie jar or surfing the web too much, lol."

Santa's journey is expected to be smooth as usual, said Norad Capt. Jeff Noel in an interview with Global News.

"In all the years and centuries that Santa's been on the go, there's been no responsibility whatsoever for him ever missing a Christmas Eve," Noel said.

Only Santa knows his route, so Norad can't predict when he'll hit any particular home, Noel said. But one important detail is known.

"He usually arrives only when children are asleep. So in most countries, it seems Santa arrives between 9 p.m. and midnight."

While the technology for tracking Santa evolved, the tradition is more than 50 years old.

In 1955 a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co., advertisement misprinted a telephone number for children to call Santa. The number put children through to Norad's predecessor's operations hotline. The director of operations at the time had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa so the children who called were given updates.

It became a well-received tradition.

SDO told to compensate complainant

Chandigarh, December 23
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-I has directed SDO, sub-division office, electricity department, Sector 40-B, to pay Rs 5,000 as litigation charges to a resident of Maloya village near Chandigarh.

The forum comprising president PD Goel and members Rajinder Singh Gill and Madanjit Kaur Sahota also quashed the sundry charges raised in the bills from the month of October, 2010, to June, 2011, as the respondents failed to prove any evidence.

The complainant, Lakhmir Singh, submitted that in the month of September, 2010, the said tubewell did not work due to some defect and he installed a new tubewell about 60m away from the old one, and thereafter, requested the opposite party to transfer the connection on October 1, 2010, so that he could use the new tubewell. However, on October 7, he received a provisional assessment letter with regard to illegal demand of Rs 42,195 on account of theft of energy. The opposite party again sent bill dated November 9, 2010, in which the amount of Rs 42,602 was added as sundry charges. He received another bill dated December 10, 2010, for Rs 47,148.

The counsel for the opposite party averred that the electricity connection of the complainant was checked on September 30, 2010, and the complainant was found using “kundi connection”. Accordingly an amount of Rs 42,195 was charged on account of average for the period April 30, 2009, to September 30, 2010, at the rate of Rs 882 per unit, (per month) at domestic rate as the tubewell connection was being used for cattle shed as well as for service station. The complainant was advised to apply on proper A & A Form, along with proof of ownership, and also to pay the pending electricity bills for shifting the meter. However, he shifted the meter without any approval from the opposite party. It was further averred that the amount of Rs 49,187 was still outstanding, which the complainant had not paid.

The forum further observed that the report given by the checking officer had not been supported by any affidavit. “The report loses its evidential value and is not sufficient to prove that the complainant committed any theft.”

Appoint nodal officer for Nari Niketan, HC orders UT admn

Chandigarh, December 23
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today asked the UT administration to appoint a nodal officer for Nari Niketan.

The Bench headed by Justice Surya Kant has also made it clear that the officer should preferably be a woman for looking after the day-to-day needs of the daughter of the Nari Niketan rape victim.

The 19-year-old victim was raped when she was staying in Nari Niketan. She was shifted to Sector-47 based ‘Aasherya’. She was found pregnant on May 16 last year by the Aasherya authorities. The administration moved the High Court for the termination of her pregnancy on the medical grounds.

The High Court ordered to terminate the pregnancy, which later was overturned by the Supreme Court. Later, she delivered a baby girl. Both mother and daughter are presently living in Ashreya, a UT-run shelter home.

Drunk cop suspended for creating ruckus

Chandigarh, December 23
A constable with the police control room created a ruckus at the Sector 17 police station in a drunken state here today.

The constable, Jasbir Singh, was reportedly drunk at the time he was to report at 10 am. He misbehaved with the munshi staff, who were taking morning attendance of the PCR staff.

The matter was brought to the notice of senior police officials following which the constable was taken to Government Multi Specialty Hospital in Sector 16 where his medical examination was conducted and heavy alcohol content was detected in his blood.

He was immediately placed under suspension and transferred to the police lines. DSP PCR Roshan Lal said the constable visited the MHC PCR office situated at the first floor of the police station and created a nuisance.

The police said that he had been suspended earlier too for the same offence.

Congress to finalise candidate for Mayor’s post today

Chandigarh, December 23
The Congress is likely to finalise the candidate for the post of Mayor tomorrow at a meeting to be presided over by the Union Minister and local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal for the next Municipal Corporation (MC), which commences on January 1, 2012. Party sources revealed that the final decision on the mayoral candidate would be taken with the consent of local senior leaders.

Sources in the party said that as both women candidates, who were in fray for the general women reserve seat, for the first term of Mayor includes Raj Bala Malik and Gurbax Rawat. Since they are first timers, their final selection will be done at the meeting.

The sources said that both the candidates are strong contenders for the Mayor’s post as Raj Bala Malik has a strong links in the Haryana political circle while Gurbax Rawat’s husband is holding the post of chairman of the Congress Uttrakhand Cell. The sources said that the senior leaders of the party would also meet the BSP to secure their support for the Congress. The sources said that the final decision on this issue would also be taken at a meeting to be chaired by Bansal.

Even though the BJP does not have clear majority in the House but still the party is short listing the candidates for the post of Mayor.

Ahead of polls, UT seeks tenure extension of officers

Chandigarh, December 23
Three officers on verge of transfers to their parent cadres and a PCS officer seeking repatriation, the Chandigarh Administration has pressed panic button writing the MHA to allow extension in tenure of the officers concerned, at least, for the time being.
These officers, including Ajoy Sharma, Director, Higher Education (DHE), CITCO Managing Director DK Tiwari, MC Commissioner Prerna Puri and SS Khara, Joint Secretary, finance.
Already senior officials of the UT Administration were holding a number of departments and if these officers were transferred or repatriated then the situation would become worse. Overburdened with departments, Finance Secretary VK Singh was holding the charge of 15 departments whereas the Home Secretary was heading 17 departments.
In a communication to the UT administration, Ajoy Sharma, a Punjab cadre IAS of 1999 batch, who had been on a six-month ex-India leave, had sought repatriation to his parent cadre.
Similarly, the deputation term of DK Tewari, an IAS officer of 1994 batch of Punjab cadre, who is also holding charge of the Special Secretary, health, is going to be completed on December 31.
Likewise, the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT), has issued transfer order of the Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Prerna Puri, a 2006 batch IAS officer from AGMUT cadre, to Arunachal Pradesh.
Not only IAS officers, but a PCS officer SS Khara, who is on deputation with the UT Administration, holding the charge of the Joint Secretary, finance, has also sought repatriation to his parent cadre.
A senior UT official said that as the Chandigarh Administration is already facing shortage of officers, therefore in the case of DK Tiwari and Prerna Puri, they have now sent a letter to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to allow these officers to work with the UT Administration till the time MHA does not send their replacement.
Besides, in the case of Ajoy Sharma, a senior UT official added that his wife’s study course will take time and the UT Administration cannot afford to give him more leaves, therefore, Ajoy Sharma has sought repatriation to his parent cadre.
The official further added that Khara wa going to retire next year, therefore, he had also sought repatriation as he wanted to retire from his parent cadre.

Elections in February, 2012

As the polls in Punjab are scheduled to be held in February, 2012, and the model code of conduct will be in place, therefore, it will be difficult for the UT Administration to get replacement of these Punjab cadre officers in near future.

50,000 surveyed, but no child eligible

Chandigarh, December 23
The UT education department zealously went ahead with getting over 1,500 seats reserved under the Right to Education (RTE) Act in private schools for admissions to poor children, but failed to find even a single child eligible for it. In line with gaping holes in recording the EWS status, the much-awaited child-mapping results of the education department have failed to find even a single child out a total of 50,000 children surveyed in the appropriate age group for admission to nursery in the entire city.

While the records of all sectors and a majority of colonies stands at “nil”, surprisingly in areas like Faidan, almost 95 per cent of children, a majority of who are well above 10 years of age and already studying in school, have been declared eligible.

The anomalies have left private schools up against the UT for the “sham” survey that may translate into vacant seats for them. “I checked the website today and found that the colony near my school does not have a single child who the department thinks is of the right age to be admitted to nursery. I have no choice, but to convert the reserved seats into general category as I cannot afford 25 per cent seats to remain vacant. It is no rocket science to deduce that the entire survey has been made up,” said a private school principal.

While senior officials of the education department chose to be tight-lipped, the principal of a local government school said: “Frankly, we could not visit all homes and the department left us confused. It probably knew that there were not enough children so it asked us to abstain from writing nil in the age column and put a dash or zero instead. My teachers marked the column sitting in the school only.”

WORLD’S LARGEST MALL

GMADA to get feasibility study done

Mohali, December 21
The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has decided to get a feasibility study done before going ahead with the proposal of coming up with the world’s largest mall in Sector 62 here.

According to sources, the decision of getting the feasibility study done was taken at a meeting of the development authority held on Saturday under the chairmanship of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. The help of a project management consultant will be taken in this regard.

The sources said that the authorities concerned were a little apprehensive about the major project and wanted to know the exact requirements of the area before giving the green signal to the world’s largest mall. A very large mall, measuring about 20-lakh square feet, was coming up in Chandigarh and was being set up by L&T. As such GMADA authorities now wanted to know whether big business houses would be interested in purchasing space in the Mohali mall as well when they had already spent huge sums in getting unit for themselves in the Chandigarh mall. The project was likely to be executed only when the GMADA authorities were sure that almost the entire area would be sold out.

GMADA officials said that there was a proposal to set up a mall in Sector 62, spread across 5.7 million square feet . The largest mall at present was in the USA which was spread over an area measuring 4.2 million square feet. They were of the view that it would not be difficult for the development authority to sell out the space in Mohali’s city centre.

GMADA had proposed to set up the mall in 76 acres and had come out with 1,400 units of different sizes for office and commercial use. The use of the units like restaurants, shops, cinemas, hotels, exhibition halls, etc, would be defined by the authority. An amusement park, spread over an area of 20,000 square feet, had also been proposed as part of the largest mall. The estimated construction cost of the project was Rs 2,350 crore.

ENVIRONMENT CLEARANCE

Housing scheme for CHB staff hits new roadblock Board not aware of rule on govt-notified consultant

Chandigarh, December 21
UT ‘babus’ will have to wait more in owning houses under UT Administration’s innovative housing scheme for its employees at Sectors 52 and 56.

Surprisingly, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) had engaged a private consultant to prepare the report for environment clearance.

It was reminded at the time of submission that only a consultant notified by the Government of India could do so.

CHB Chairman Satya Gopal said the board was now sending the documents to the government-recognised consultant to prepare a report for environment clearance.

“After the report being prepared, it would be sent to the department concerned for environment clearance. The process will take over a month,” he said.

However, he said tenders would be floated by the end of February. “We want to start the project as soon as possible,” he said. The scheme, floated in 2008, had hit several roadblocks.

Anu Chatrath implicated in hate mail against VC

Chandigarh, December 21
Politics has hit rock bottom in Panjab University (PU) with a hate mail against the Vice-Chancellor being traced to the residence of Anu Chatrath, a former Mayor.

Anu Chatrath’s husband, Dr Deepak Kapoor, is in the race for the post of Dean, Business Schools, the elections for which are scheduled for tomorrow.

The Vice-President holds the post of the Chancellor of the university.

The issue, which is bound to dampen the celebrations of the Chatrath group which won 13 seats in the Syndicate elections, came to the fore about a month ago when the Vice-Chancellor’s office reportedly received a communication from the Chancellor’s office.

According to the Chancellor’s office, one of the university professors had accused the Vice-Chancellor of misappropriation of funds and demanded an inquiry into his telephone records.

The language left the Vice-Chacellor, RC Sobti, suspicious and he contacted the professor concerned, but got to know that he had not complained and that the mail id was fictitious.

Following this, he shot a complaint to the IG Police, who forwarded the case to the cyber cell.

The IP address was traced back to a Sector 8 house which belongs to the in-laws of Anu Chatrath, former Mayor and PU Senator. Her husband Deepak Kapoor teaches business studies at the university and made headlines for accusing the VC of misbehaving with him during an interview for the controller examination.

While Sobti refused to comment, one of his close officials revealed: “It came as a shock to all of us that Senators could stoop so low. We have just learnt about it and will decide on the further course of action soon.”

Cardiologist found murdered

Dr Kaura was convicted last year in connection with his wife’s suicide

Dera Bassi/Chandigarh, December 21
Dr Deepak Kaura, a city-based cardiologist who went missing from his Sector 19 house last night, was found murdered in his Tata Aria car parked on the Dera Bassi-Habatpur road this afternoon. The 45-year-old victim, who was the owner of Oxford Hospital in Sector 19, was last seen in his car with a woman. In 2010, Dr Kaura was sentenced to four-year imprisonment in connection with his wife’s suicide. He was granted bail by the High Court last year and got engaged to a Canada-based NRI woman on December 10. They were scheduled to get married in January.

The police has registered a case of murder on the complaint of his father, Dr HM Kaura, who suspects that the murder was preplanned. The diamond engagement ring of the doctor, his mobile phone as well as the keys of his car were missing from the spot. The police has recovered Rs 24,000 from the pocket of the victim.

The murder came to light at 2 pm when a passerby spotted the abandoned car and peeped inside. He saw a man wrapped in a blanket lying motionless with the front seats pulled back. He called the police, which reached the spot and identified the body as that of Dr Kaura. The face had turned blue and there were blood spots on the nose and ears.

His family members told the police that he had left the hospital at 7 pm yesterday and returned after some time to examine a patient. He told his driver, Harpreet, to keep his tiffin containing home food in the car. Harpreet told the police that when he went to the car to put the tiffin he saw a woman sitting on the front seat. Dr Kaura left at around 10 pm.

The victim is survived by a daughter who is studying in class X and a son who is at a medical college in Ludhiana.

Tower location The mobile tower location of the doctor showed him to be at Sukhna Lake at 7 pm when he first left his house. He then returned to his hospital and left again. He took the road to Sector 18 in Panchkula and then from Dhakoli towards Dera Bassi. He also gave a missed call from his mobile phone to his hospital at 11 pm following which his phone was switched off. The police also recovered a bottle of whiskey from his car and suspects the woman accompanying him to be involved in the murder.

Past CaseDr Babita, wife of Dr Deepak Kaura, had committed suicide in 2005. She was assistant professor in the department of immunopathology at the PGI and had strained relations with her husband. The police filed a chargesheet for abetment to suicide against Dr Kaura. The deceased’s sister-in-law, Deepali Kohli, was reportedly at the Sector 24 residence of Dr Babita when she committed suicide by jumping from the third floor. On July 12, 2010, Dr Kaura was convicted in the case. Holding him guilty, the court held: “It is true that the accused had driven Babita to suicide. He abetted suicide by creating circumstances by his habits of sexually indulging with female colleagues working under him.” The court granted him bail in November last year.

UT ropes in Bollywood faces

Chandigarh, December 20
The UT Administration has roped in Bollywood celebrities to enthral the people during their one-week long New Year Extravaganza celebrations, starting from December 25 to December 31.

Bollywood actor Tusshar Kapoor and Kulraj Randhawa will be the special stars of the festivities who would turn up on December 17 at Sector 17 Plaza for promotion of their new movie “ Chaar Din Ki Chandani”, releasing in January. Apart from that ‘Desi Playaz’ music group will perform on December 26. The group, comprising two members Andy BIG (Bikram Bhullar) and Mista H (Harmeet Cheema), is known for invented a new genre of music called Punjabi-Funk (P-Funk). Besides, Indo-Brazilian performer Carlyta Mouhini, who has several hits to her credit like ‘Dilli ki Sardi’, ‘Excuse Me’ (Style movie), Le le Maza le (Wanted) Senorita (Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara), prominent Punjabi singers Honey Singh, Alfaaz, Jay Star and and Deep Money, will also give a live performance.

Fresh faces form majority in new MC

Cong wins 11 seats, BJP 10 & SAD 2; 10 candidates are women; biggest margin 2,779 votes 

Chandigarh, December 19
In an important development, the municipal corporation (MC) got 16 fresh faces out of the 26 elected to the fourth House since its inception in 1996. More interestingly, it was the loss of heavyweights of the two prominent parties -- the Congress and the BJP -- which paved way for fresh blood.

The Congress remained the top seat gatherer with 11 seats. The BJP is a close second with 10 seats while two seats have gone to its ally, the SAD. The Congress has got four seats less compared to its previous tally in the outgoing House while the BJP has got four more than its previous figure.

The 16 new faces are Raj Bala Malik (Cong), Saurabh Joshi (BJP), Asha Kumari Jaswal (BJP), Sat Prakash Aggarwal (Cong), Laxmi Devi (BJP), Arun Sood (BJP), Gurbax Rawat (Cong), Darshan Kumar (Cong), Kashmiri Devi (Cong), Satinder Singh (BJP), Naresh Kumar (BSP), Satish Kumar (Cong), Heera Negi (BJP), Davesh Modgil (BJP), Jannat Jahan (BSP) and Rajinder Kaur (BJP).

The old ones who were successful in grabbing the seats are Pardeep Chabbra (Congress), Subhash Chawla (Congress), Malkiat Singh (SAD), Sheela Devi (Congress), Harphool Chander Kalyan (Congress), Harjinder Kaur (SAD), Rajesh Kumar Gupta (BJP), Gurcharan Dass Kala (Independent) and Des Raj Gupta (BJP). The swearing-in ceremony of the new House will be held on January 1.

Interestingly, among all the fresh faces, at least six have routed the “armies” of the old heavyweights who were “well entrenched in city politics”. The highest victory margin of 2,417 is by a new face Darshan Kumar (Congress) was in Ward No. 11 who unseated the BJP sitting councillor Anil Kumar Dubey. The lowest victory margin of the first-timer is of Davesh Modgil from Ward No. 22 with a margin of 261 votes against Congress sitting councillor Jatinder Bhatia.

The BSP bagged two seats and Gurcharan Das Kala, a former BJP Mayor, was the only Independent to win the corporation elections. He is the first Independent councillor to win the election ever. The Chandigarh Vikas Manch, which was originally floated by a senior BJP leader and had bagged four seats last time, did not contest the polls this year.

As many as 10 candidates out of the total 26 are women.

As per data available with the election department, the highest number of 7,702 votes were polled by the oldest Congress candidate, Kashmiri Devi Rana, from Ward No. 14. She also won by the highest margin of 2,779 votes, 944 more than the highest margin during the last elections in 2006. The lowest victory margin was in Ward No. 21, where BJP candidate Heera Negi won by 120 votes, which is 100 votes more than the lowest margin in the last elections.

The lowest number of votes -- only 2,933 -- were polled by Sat Prakash Aggarwal of the Congress who won from Ward No. 6.

Cong largest party in Chandigarh civic poll

Chandigarh, December 19
Winning 11 seats, the Congress emerged as the single largest party in the local Municipal Corporation elections results for which were declared here today.

The BJP-SAD combine bagged 12 seats out of which 10 were captured by the former. The alliance is still one short of the clear majority among the directly elected councillors. Clearly, the list of the nine nominated councillors will hold the key to the election of the city mayor.

The BSP bagged two seats. Gurcharan Das Kala, a BJP rebel, won as an independent candidate. Surprisingly, the Congress won 11 seats despite anti-incumbency factor and the Anna Hazare wave. The heaviest voter turnout of 59 per cent shows an anti-power group voting pattern. The results have, however, proved to be different.

Devinder Babla, a close confidant of the local member of Parliament Pawan Kumar Bansal was among the prominent losers. Interestingly, he was contesting from the ward where Bansal cast his vote. Kamlesh and Anu Chatrath, both former Mayors, Chandermukhi and H.S.Lucky were the other major upsets the Congress suffered. The BJP, too, witnessed some surprise defeats like those of Ram Lal, Anil Dubey, Raj Kumari Mishra and Satinder Dhawan, wife of a former member of Parliament and a former councillor.

Surprisingly, 16 out of the 26 winners were fresh faces. These are: Raj Bala Malik (Congress), Saurabh Joshi (BJP), Arun Sood (BJP) and Gurbax Rawat (Congress) and Kashmiri Devi, mother of a former councillor Vijay Singh Rana.

Hello World!

19th December, 2011