13 more nations to get visas on arrival

NEW DELHI: The number of nations whose citizens are eligible for visas on arrival (VoA) in India is likely to be expanded to include 13 countries largely from Europe, south-east and central Asia after a review convened by the PMO felt security conditions need not be a hurdle to promote tourism.

Countries that could be offered VoA includeMalaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, Russia, Ukraine,Kazakhstan, Brazil and South Africa. At the meeting - also attended by officials from other ministries like culture and environment - it was made clear that security cannot be invoked to strike down important government initiatives.

In a separate, but related review, government is planning a major boost to skill development by aiming to add a eight-crore-strong workforce over the next five years. A big step in this direction could be introducing vocational study as elective options in classes IX to XII so that credits in these subjects can be counted for university admissions.

Home ministry has been asked to work on details of the proposed visa regime in a manner that factors in security concerns by utilizing information-sharing agreements with Asean and theEuropean Union while ensuring that travel to India becomes less hassle-free.

Ramping up tourist numbers is seen as a significant revenue earner with 600,000 foreign visitors a year being a miniscule proportion of global tourism. With timely intervention, the sector can grow much faster than the 24 million jobs currently targeted in the 12th Plan. So far, the VoA scheme has registered modest success with over 10,000 visas issued last year.

At present, 13 countries whose nationals can avail a visa on arrival include Finland, Japan,Luxembourg, New Zealand, Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laosand Myanmar. But the list excludes more populous nations even in the Asean who can be tapped for a much larger tourist footfall.

Tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahai said, "Government is aware of the urgent need to develop infrastructure to ensure there is adequate connectivity, hotel room availability and facilities for tourists." The government is also drawing lessons from European countries that have leveraged tourism to tide over financial woes.

The government is also considering a spate of measures to kick start its skill-development programme by roughly doubling the targeted addition of skilled persons from existing 40 lakh a year. This is seen as essential, keeping in mind rapidly growing sectors like tourism, information technology and textiles.

The problem of lack of skilled people had caught the attention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during UPA-I, but despite reports being commissioned and submitted, the issue was never quite addressed. Now, the government has initiated a curriculum evaluation that is intended to introduce vocational study as elective subjects in classes IX to XII.

In a departure from past practice, study of these subjects will count for students keen on attending university as it is felt that if they can earn credits and keep options open, they might be tempted to take up vocational areas in school itself.

On tourism, the PMO has also asked the MHA and the ministry of external affairs to resolve the confusion around restrictions on re-entry of tourists within a 60-day period. The visa rule is likely to be relaxed and a solution reached in the next one month.

Besides increasing VoA facility to four additional airports, including Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi and Bengaluru, the PMO has asked the civil aviation ministry to improve the facilities in the existing airports of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai so that tourists do not have to stand for hours for emigration and other clearances. The ministries of home and civil aviation have also been asked to increase counters and accept immigration fees in both Indian currency and dollars.

20 pc decline in consumer cases in UT area

Chandigarh, January 21
The consumer courts in Chandigarh have witnessed 20 per cent decline in the cases filed by consumers as per figures released by the Secretary of UT State Consumer Commission.

As per analysis of the figures of the last five years, only 2,798 cases have been received by the consumer courts till December 31 last year, as against the average annual filing of 3,530 cases for the last five years in Chandigarh, which has the dubious distinction of having the highest per-capita filing of consumer complaints.

“But the decline is neither due to higher consumer satisfaction nor due to any inertia on the part of the consumer public,”  said president of the Ghuman Law Firm, Chandigarh. The apex court is continuously restricting the scope of consumer jurisdiction on account of strict interpretation of law, he explained.

The most recent exclusion from consumer jurisdiction is of disputes relating to telecom/mobile billing. The National Commission judgement relies on the order of the Supreme Court, in “General Manager, Telecom Vs M Krishnan & Another”, in an appeal No.7687 of 2004 filed by the BSNL, wherein it was held that the Indian Telegraph Act was a special law and its provisions would prevail over a general law like the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

“It is a settled law that general law must yield to special law,” observed the bench and noted that there was a remedy prescribed under Section 7B of the telegraph Act for resolution of all disputes regarding telecom through arbitration. The bench said since there was a specific remedy prescribed, it would oust the jurisdiction of consumer courts.

“In spite of the downfall in the total number of complaints, there is a noticeable increase in the complaint cases relating to the housing sector”, he said , who keeps a close watch on the consumer trends.

An analysis of the figures since the inception of consumer courts in the city shows that the telecom had been the third highest litigation category. Insurance and banking took the first and second spot, respectively. But now with the telecom taking a backseat, housing has emerged as the prime litigation category, pipping even banking to bag the second spot and relegating the latter to the third spot.

Admn bids to save Sukhna

Tells Punjab to stop flow of Kansal rivulet into lake

Chandigarh, January 21
In an effort to save the city’s landmark, Sukhna Lake, the UT Administration has written a letter to the Punjab Government to make arrangements to stop the flow of seasonal rivulet from the Kansal area in Punjab into the Sukhna. The committee, constituted by the UT Administration to save the Sukhna, has sent a letter to the Punjab government. If the UT Administration officials are to be believed, this polluted water is one of the major reasons behind the problem of weed in the Sukhna.

According to information, the seasonal rivulet that passes through different areas of Punjab also passes through the Kansal area. In the Kansal area, there are some cracks in the seasonal rivulet and from there the water enters into the Sukhna sanctuary and further enters the lake.

Sources added that as the water passed through fields before entering the Sukhna, pesticides, which farmers used in their fields, also entered the lake.The problem of polluted water increased in the rainy season.

A senior official of the UT Administration said that though they had issued letter to the Punjab government, but the Administration was also taking a few steps. The Administration is planning to build a check dam in the sanctuary and will store the polluted water, which will evaporate naturally. This water could be used for the Sukhna sanctuary’s work as well, he added.

Last year, the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), had submitted a report to the UT Administration identifying types of weeds. In their report, the NBRI experts had identified five types of the weeds namely vallisneria spiralis, potamogeton crispus, hydrilla, ceratophyllum and typia that grows in the Sukhna.

Medical Centre launched in Chandigarh

Morpheus IVF Indo-German chain of fertility centre, in association with Chaitanya Hospital, launched its state-of-the-art fertility centre here today . The centre is equipped with advanced fertility procedures using assisted reproductive techniques that will help in providing safe and viable alternative to childless couples. Talking to mediapersons, Dr Poonam Kumar of Chaitanya Hospital said that the IVF's fertility specialists are trained in advanced fertility management techniques and human reproductive endocrinology. This enables doctors to offer patients quality treatment in terms of protocol management and professional counseling guidance. The centre will offer a unique program, ‘Double your chance of pregnancy’, for IVF and other treatments, which is a cost effective treatment plan and clinically result oriented, claimed experts.

Jeev Milkha gets clean chit in accident case

Range Rover was being driven by his driver on the day the mishap occurred

Chandigarh, January 21
The Chandigarh police has given a clean chit to international golfer Jeev Milkha Singh with the police establishing that his driver only drove the Range Rover on the day of accident. The complainant whose car met with the accident on October 31 had alleged that the person who was booked by the police and surrendered at the police station the next-day was not the one who drove Milkha’s vehicle at the time of accident, following which the case was re-investigated by the police and the accident scene was also recreated.

The incident took place when the car being driven by Sunita Malik collided with the car of Jeev Milkha, which was being driven by his driver, Ramkumar.

DSP Kamal Deep, who investigated the case, said that the CCTV footage installed at the traffic light point was verified and the accident scene was recreated. It was found that Ram Kumar was the one who was driving Milkha’s vehicle.

Ram Kumar was taken to the accident scene in November, last year, and asked to narrate the accident scene. The driver was questioned about how the accident took place and what did he do and where did he go after coming out of the vehicle. This was done to establish whether Ram Kumar had the same story to tell as was captured in the CCTV. Police officials said that the entire exercise was recorded in the same CCTV that was matched with the footage recorded on the day of incident.

The police investigation had revealed that Milkha’s Range Rover jumped the traffic signal while the Alto coming from the Panchkula side crossed the Zebra line when there was yellow light that led to the accident. Cases were registered against Ram Kumar and Sunita Malik.

Jazzy B’s show draws CGC tech fest to a close

Chandigarh, January 21
The concluding day of the tech fest at Chandigarh Group of Colleges, Gharuan, was marked by a rocking performance by famous Punjabi singer Jazzy B. Hundreds of students from institutes like IITs, NITs, UBS, UIET, CCCET, participated in various competitions in the fest.

The performance, which left students enthralled, was followed by a spectacular show by a rock band from Kolkata named ‘Underground Authority’.

The day started with an event called ‘Battle of Bands’ where the winning band walked away with Rs 10,000. Students from IET Bhaddal won the first prize in the ‘Track-o-Mania (Landrover)’ event while Lovely Professional University students walked away with the top prize in web designing. Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) bagged the top award for ‘Best Recipe’. This was followed by a fashion-show featuring bridal wear, western, fusion and winter wear.

Chief guest Gurpreet Singh Bhullar and SSP Mohali appreciated the event, particularly the rare mix of technological and cultural competitions it offered. CGC Chairman Satnam Singh Sandhu also congratulated students for the fest. 

Legal aid clinic comes up at PU

Chandigarh, January 21
The Panjab University Department of Laws in collaboration with the State Legal Services Authority has set up a legal aid clinic to help those who cannot afford to hire lawyers.

The clinic was inaugurated by Justice MM Kumar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, while Justice Jasbir Singh, Judge, Punjab and Haryana High Court, and executive chairman, State Legal Services Authority, was the guest of honour.

Para-legal student volunteers, trained by the State Legal Services Authority, will manage the clinic. The volunteers will not only render legal aid to the needy, but will also visit villages and colonies to spread legal awareness among residents.

“The unique clinic will serve twin purpose. On the one hand, residents will be able to avail benefit, while on the other students will get ample practical experience. More than giving legal aid we look forth to make people aware of laws of land and their utilisation,” said GK Chatrath, Dean, laws. 

Hotel guard ‘misbehaves’ with US women

Chandigarh, January 20
In a huge embarrassment for the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation Limited (CITCO), a security guard of Hotel Mountview, reportedly, misbehaved with two women from the US who were staying there. Scared after the incident, the women called up their friends and left the hotel. The hotel has dismissed the guard from the service and has even stopped his salary. The guard was on a contractual basis and was working with the hotel for past two years.

The incident occurred during the intervening night of January 12 and 13. The guard while helping the women open their rooms, allegedly, touched them in an indecent way. The entire episode is reported to have happened within a minute. The women reached the corridor at 3.09 am and left the floor a minute later. However, there was nothing against the guard in the CCTV camera of the corridor. At 3:54 am their friends reached the hotel and the women left with them.

According to information received, the two women were staying in rooms 247 and 249. They had booked their stay from January 8-18, but due to the incident, they left the hotel on January 13.

Before leaving the hotel, though the women did not submit any written complaint against the security guard, they informed the night staff about the incident, and one of the employees entered everything in the logbook.

Sources say that the women shifted to JW Marriott hotel in Sector 35 on the same night and now have left the city.

On the next morning, their friends even cleared the hotel’s bill, which was around Rs 50,000.

When contacted, Vijay Sharma, general manager of the hotel, said that guests were of utmost importance to the hotel, and although there was no written complaint or any evidence available in the CCTV footage, the security guard had been dismissed.

To stop such incident in future, orders have been issued to ensure that only regular employees of the hotel are deployed on night duty, he added. CITCO Managing Director DK Tiwari said that he had checked about the incident with the hotel staff, and despite the fact that there was no written complaint, the guard was dismissed.

CCTV FOOTAGEThe hotel’s CCTV footage remains inconclusive as the camera was not facing the room directly. The footage just shows the guard entering the corridor, checking the lights, and helping the women open their rooms. The part where he, reportedly, entered their rooms is not visible.

Flights bound to Delhi cancelled

Chandigarh, January 20
Dense fog at the New Delhi airport today inconvenienced commuters as several trains and flights were cancelled or delayed while vehicles moved at a snail’s pace here today.

Sources said three Delhi-bound flights from the city -- Jet Airways morning and evening flights and Kingfisher flight -- were cancelled today after visibility dropped to “less than 50 metres” at the Delhi airport in the morning.

Even though most trains are running on schedule, 12011 New Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabdi and the 14095 Himalayan Queen were delayed by about an hour and 45 minutes against their scheduled arrival of 10.50 am and 11.05 am, respectively, said station superintendent Parveen Kumar.

Meanwhile, cold wave conditions continued to lash the region as the minimum temperature dropped by about 4 degrees Celsius to 5.7 degrees while the maximum temperature continued to hover around 15.1 degrees Celsius.

Weather officials have predicted mainly clear sky with fog or mist during morning and evening hours. Local Met department director Surinder Pal said the western disturbance over northeast Afghanistan and adjoining Pakistan persisted. He said minimum temperatures would fall in the next couple of days and thereafter, the situation would improve gradually with the western disturbance moving towards east-north-east.

Dense fog would occur in many parts of Punjab and Haryana during morning and evening hours. Ground frost may occur at isolated places in the neighbouring states over the next two nights.

Law Commission of India making ‘Honour killing non-bailable offence’

Created 21 Jan 2012

The Law Commission of India on Thursday termed the practice of so called “honour killings” as “flagrant violation” of law and sought to make such acts non-bailable offences. The commission has come down heavily on khap panchayat diktats against couples who go for “sagotra” or inter-caste marriage.
Seeking public opinion on khap panchayats and honour killings, a consultation paper was also issued by the commission. The draft Prohibition of Unlawful Assembly (Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial Alliances) Bill, 2011 stated that offences under the Act will be cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable.
The draft bill proposes that offences under the Act be tried by special courts to be headed by a sessions judge or an additional session judge. The special courts, to be set up by states in consultation with the high courts, will have the power of a sessions court.
“The commission is prima facie of the view that there is no need for introducing a provision in Section 300 IPC in order to bring the so-called ‘honour killings’ within the ambit of this provision. The existing provisions in IPC are adequate,” the commission said. The step comes nearly two years after the government had proposed to make honour killing a separate crime after repeated cases of honour killings were reported from various states. Sources stated that a Group of Ministers under finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is also looking into the issue.
The commission also made it clear that “sagotra” marriages are not prohibited by law, “whatever may be the view in olden times.” “The Hindu Marriage Act does not prohibit sagotra or inter-caste marriages,” it said.
Under the draft bill, no person or a group shall gather, assemble or congregate with the intention to deliberate on, or condemn any marriage, not prohibited by law. It explains that “marriage” also includes a proposed or intended marriage.
It proposes that such gatherings will be treated as unlawful and attract a punishment of not less than six months in jail and a fine of `10,000. People indulging in criminal intimidation of the couple, their relatives or supporters will face punishment with a jail term of not less than one year.

CTU officials inspect ISBT-43

Chandigarh, January 19
Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) officials today visited the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) at Sector 43 here to check facilities there. Sanitation was their prime concern. CTU manager SP Parmar paid a visit with other officials to check cleanliness.

The contract for sanitation at the terminus expired around a year back. Since then, a handful of employees hired by the transport department had been looking after sanitation.

In the absence of adequate staff, there were heaps of debris and garbage on the platform used by passengers.

Official sources said the department would increasing the strength of employees looking after sanitation shortly.

Criminal tracking project hits roadblock

Chandigarh, January 19
The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), a Central government project for connecting all police stations and supervisory offices across the country for sharing crime and criminal information while automating the functions at the police stations, has hit a roadblock in the city.

Sources said the year-long exercise had hit a roadblock as the firm, which was shortlisted for the project, had withdrawn from the project. Sources added that the firm was demanding much higher amount against the figure calculated by the UT administration.

A senior official of the UT administration said the firm was demanding more than Rs 12 crore but the consultant hired by the UT administration had estimated the project cost around Rs 4 crore to Rs 6 crore.

The official added that as the firm was demanding more money, the administration was not ready to pay this much amount and finally the firm withdrew from the project. He added that he UT administration would soon float new tenders.

With the implementation of the CCTNS project, the record of all types of criminals would be available only with a click of a button.

The system would bring about a revolutionary change in the working of the Chandigarh police and also increase its credibility in the eyes of the public.

A senior UT police official said the CCTNS would help investigate, detect and also prevent crimes. There would be a citizen’s portal too, which would provide information on crimes and criminals to the citizens.

He added that it would also help passport and immigration offices verify the records of applicants.

UT estate office ‘misplaces’ property records

Adversely impacts MC’s tax collection

Chandigarh, January 19
The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) continues to grope in the dark with regard to the realisation of property tax from over 50 per cent defaulters among 1,848 tax payees as the estate office has “misplaced” or “lost” the relevant records.

The property of a majority of tax defaulters came under the purview of the estate office, but they were required to deposit property tax with the MC. The MC has a list of defaulters in its possession, but does not have addresses and other relevant records of the properties. As a result, there are a number of property owners who have not deposited commercial property tax since 2004, when it was introduced in the city.

MC Additional Commissioner Lalit Siwach said the MC was regularly communicating with the estate office for seeking details of the property of defaulters, but it had failed to supply the records to date.

In the wake of the missing records, there has been a negligible increase in the collection of property tax in the last three years. The area under the jurisdiction of the MC has increased manifold during the period under study. In the current financial year (2011-2012), the collection target was Rs 19 crore, but the department could manage only Rs 14.02 crore till December. During the last financial year, the MC had managed to collect Rs 14.42 crore. In 2009, the tax collection was about the same. A senior official said as per a provision under the Commercial Property Tax Act, if any property was rented out by the owner, the authorities could attach the rent to recover the pending tax amount and it would come in the kitty of the MC.

As per another clause, if the owner is using the property, the MC could attach the movable and later immovable property to collect the pending tax. Expressing helplessness, the official said it was a setback to the authorities as they could not take stringent action against the defaulters.

Video conferencing to take more time

Link between Burail Jail, Sec-17 dist court

Chandigarh, January 18
The video-conferencing facility to link the Burail Jail and the district court complex at Sector 17 will be delayed for between two and three months.

The BSNL has informed the UT Administration that connectivity is still a problem. After the receipt of this response, the Administration has invited other companies for starting the facility.

Yogesh Kumar, Director Information Technology, said officials of the BSNL had informed the Administration about the problem with connectivity and it was now in touch with other companies.

He added that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had given it time and so, it was hopeful that the facility would be started shortly.

A few right-wing activists attacked BKI terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara on the district court premises here on November 11 past year.

In response to a public interest litigation, the Administration had promised to begin the facility by September 9 past year.

CHB fined Rs 50,000

Chandigarh, January 17

Setting aside the decision of the district forum-I, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) for its failure to maintain the record resulting in accrual of interest on the due amount for the shop allotted to a Sector-46 resident.

State Commission president Justice Sham Sunder and members Neena Sandhu and Jagroop Singh Mahal while setting aside the impugned order observed, “We are, however, of the opinion that instead of directing the opposite party to refund the whole amount of Rs 2,06,109 to the complainants, interest of justice would be met if we direct that a sum of Rs 50,000 be paid by the opposite party as compensation to the complainants. The opposite parties shall
also pay Rs 5,000 as costs of litigation.”

The complainant, Saroj Dogra, submitted that she along with her late husband purchased a booth in Sector 49-A, in the name of their son Nipun Dogra from the CHB for Rs 15.70 lakh in an auction held on October 30, 2002. They deposited 25 per cent of the bid money along with Rs 71,667 towards ground rent for first nine years within time and took the possession on December 18, 2002. They were required to pay 75 per cent of the bid price which was Rs 11,77,500 either within 30 days (without interest) or with 18 per cent interest per annum in three instalments payable up to December 1, 2005. After paying 75 per cent, they approached the CHB to issue a ‘No Due Certificate’. The CHB asked them to deposit another sum of Rs 2,62,000 towards interest which was deposited by them on September 18, 2004. However, to their utter surprise, the CHB instead of issuing the ‘No Due Certificate’ informed on June 28, 2010, that it had not deposited the balance 75 per cent payment of bid money. After they gave all details of the amounts deposited, the CHB on August 9, 2010, asked them to deposit Rs 3,83,789 (Rs 1,77,680 as principal and Rs 2,06,109 as interest) which was deposited by them in protest on September 15, 2010.

The counsel for the CHB pleaded that the complainants deposited the instalments in piecemeal manner at their own sweet will and evidently in contravention of the payment schedule. Thus, they were rightly burdened with the interest and they could not escape its payment being a contractual obligation. It was further pleaded that ‘No Dues Certificate’ could not be granted to the allottee after reconciliation of the accounts an amount of 3,83,789 was found due against them.

The commission further ordered, “CHB would be free to recover the amount of compensation, interest and costs from its officials who were required to maintain the record but did not send any reply and rather misplaced the application, of course after following proper procedure as required under the Service Rules.”

Proposal to ‘liven up’ area beyond Sector 17 plaza impractical

Chandigarh, January 16
The UT Administration today carried out a “futile” survey in the area beyond the main plaza in Sector 17 for making it lively by sprucing up the environs and getting some tourist outlets functioning. The area remains dark and dead after office hours every day.
Senior functionaries of the administration are said to be trying to “liven up” the area, particularly during evening hours. However, survey officials said they did not know what they were doing. “The exercise is totally impractical,” a senior functionary said.
During the survey, it was found that about 90 per cent offices were being run on the ground floor of these buildings. “We have sent our report to the UT Adviser,” said Rahul Gupta, assistant estate officer. Terming the survey a futile exercise, a senior official of the administration, requesting anonymity, said nothing would come out of it.
Today’s survey by the estate office aimed at furnishing complete details of shops as well as offices being run on the ground floor of the buildings. A surveyor said: “We have done the survey, but we don’t know for what. The administration cannot ask private offices or banks, particularly on the ground floor, to clear their premises for some ambitious project of the administration to promote tourism.”
The survey was conducted following the directions of the Adviser, KK Sharma, to the UT Administrator who wanted to infuse “life” into the area.
This is not the first time that the administration or the municipal corporation has chalked out a plan in this direction. About half a dozen projects of beautification of the business hub by the MC were either kept in abeyance or scrapped for over a decade.
“What will they do after getting the details of shops and offices in the area? Are they planning to evacuate the offices from here to give the place to shops? I am unable to understand the initiative,” the official remarked.

Past failures

In the budget of the current year, the MC had allocated Rs 1 crore for improving the infrastructure in the sector. But the past record of the projects -- some of them are over a decade old -- is poor as most of the projects have failed to see the light of the day.
Classic examples include projects like multi-level parking; conversion of circus ground into an exhibition site; and making plaza a vehicle-free zone. These have been put in the cold storage for the last over five years. As per the records of the MC, the proposal of five multi-level parkings was mooted in 2005. The authorities planned to construct a multi-level parking on each corner of Sector 17. But the projects have yet to start.
Another project recommended in 2006 was to make plaza a vehicle-free zone, which has been shelved. As per the proposal, the authorities suggested that all parking lots near the plaza should be closed and landscaping should be undertaken at those sites.
Similarly, a project of Rs 60 lakh for converting the circus ground in Sector 17 into an exhibition ground for proper maintenance of the space has been lying pending for over seven years. The proposal to construct a boundary wall around this open space and provide it with proper public toilets and parking space near the ground has been hanging fire.
In 2009, the corporation commenced work on an amusement park near the general post office in Sector 17, but it has not been completed yet.

Now, Ombudsman for higher education institutions in India

To be covered

n Central universities, the IITs, IIMs and NITsn All technical and management institutions recognised by the UGC, AICTE and the National Council for Teacher Educationn Deemed universities recognised by the Centren Non-degree granting institutions approved by academic regulators

New Delhi, January 16
Students attending higher education institutions run by the Centre and recognised by academic regulators will now have a platform to register their grievances and seek redress.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development today passed an executive order to mandate all central higher educational institutions like the central universities, the IITs, IIMs and NITs, among others, to appoint an ombudsman to redress grievances of students by the start of the next academic session.
The order will be equally applicable to all technical and management institutions recognised by regulators such as the UGC, the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education. It will also apply to deemed universities recognised by the Centre and the non-degree granting institutions approved by the academic regulators.
The move comes in the wake of persistent resistance that the ministry’s ambitious Bill on establishment of educational tribunals met with in the Rajya Sabha where the Bill remains in a limbo.
“We can’t keep waiting. We have to move,” HRD Minister Kapil Sibal today said, adding that the ombudsman would be responsible for addressing students’ grievances related to denial of admission, non-observance of declared merit in admissions, non-observance of applicable regulations for reservation, withholding of documents and non-refund of fees in case of withdrawal of admission, discrimination and matters concerning students in pursuit of studies in the institution.
In matters concerning weaker sections such as SCs, STs, OBCs or minorities, the ombudsman can co-opt a person of eminence of the area from a weaker section to assist him.
The ombudsman will have to deliver his judgment in a month and though his order would not be binding on the institution, the institution can lose recognition from the regulator in case of repeated violations and non-compliance with the orders of the ombudsman.
“Non-compliance can lead to withdrawal of recognition,” Sibal explained.
The ombudsman will have to be a person with a judicial or legal background. The institute would have to appoint him from a panel suggested by the affiliating university in case of technical and management institutions and the Central Government in case of deemed universities.
The suggestion of instituting an ombudsman was made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD when it was looking at the Bill on Prevention of Unfair Practices in Technical and Management Institutions.
“The committee made this suggestion and we are going to implement it. Although the idea was to set up a grievance redress mechanism through the Educational Tribunals Bill, but if the Bill does not come, I am not going to wait,” Sibal said.
The proposed ombudsman would not cover grievances related to teachers.

201 Indians rescued from cruise ship

Captain’s ‘ERROR’ behind accident

The arrested captain of the 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia has been accused of manslaughter and abandoning his ship before its 4,200 passengers had been evacuated. An official said he appeared to have made "serious errors of judgment" and had brought the ship too close to shore where it struck a rock that tore a large hole in the hull.

2,300 tonnes of fuel on ship

The chairman and CEO of Costa Cruises said 2,300 tonnes of fuel was aboard the capsized cruise ship, but that no sign of leakage could be seen so far. Pier Luigi Foschi told a press conference cruise ships such as the Costa Concordia had "no safety problem"

Rome, January 16
One Indian is missing in a luxury cruiser drowning incident off the Tuscan coast in Italy while 201 crew members from the country have been rescued, officials said here today.
As efforts were on to trace the missing Indian, the Indian government set up control rooms both in New Delhi as well as here to facilitate information about the rescue.
Indian embassy officials here said while one Indian named Robello Russel Terence, who was a Waiter on the ill-fated Costa Concordia, was yet to be traced and efforts were on to verify other details about him, no casualty among the Indians has been reported so far.
The incident, which happened on Saturday, left six persons dead. The ship hit a reef or rock near the Tuscan island of Giglio, before it went down.
Visvesh Negi, a spokesman of the Indian embassy here, said "there were a total of 203 Indians on the ship - one passenger and 202 crew members". In Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs said it has set up control rooms to deal with enquiries about the Indians on board the ship. "Out of the 202 crew members, 201 have been traced and are safe. One person is missing. We are co-ordinating with the Italian Government and trying to trace the missing crew," Negi said.

201 Indians rescued from cruise ship

Captain’s ‘ERROR’ behind accident

The arrested captain of the 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia has been accused of manslaughter and abandoning his ship before its 4,200 passengers had been evacuated. An official said he appeared to have made "serious errors of judgment" and had brought the ship too close to shore where it struck a rock that tore a large hole in the hull.

2,300 tonnes of fuel on ship

The chairman and CEO of Costa Cruises said 2,300 tonnes of fuel was aboard the capsized cruise ship, but that no sign of leakage could be seen so far. Pier Luigi Foschi told a press conference cruise ships such as the Costa Concordia had "no safety problem"

Rome, January 16
One Indian is missing in a luxury cruiser drowning incident off the Tuscan coast in Italy while 201 crew members from the country have been rescued, officials said here today.
As efforts were on to trace the missing Indian, the Indian government set up control rooms both in New Delhi as well as here to facilitate information about the rescue.
Indian embassy officials here said while one Indian named Robello Russel Terence, who was a Waiter on the ill-fated Costa Concordia, was yet to be traced and efforts were on to verify other details about him, no casualty among the Indians has been reported so far.
The incident, which happened on Saturday, left six persons dead. The ship hit a reef or rock near the Tuscan island of Giglio, before it went down.
Visvesh Negi, a spokesman of the Indian embassy here, said "there were a total of 203 Indians on the ship - one passenger and 202 crew members". In Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs said it has set up control rooms to deal with enquiries about the Indians on board the ship. "Out of the 202 crew members, 201 have been traced and are safe. One person is missing. We are co-ordinating with the Italian Government and trying to trace the missing crew," Negi said.

Stale info on ut Admn website

Chandigarh, January 15
Logging on to the official website of the Chandigarh Administration does not mean that you will get correct information.

As per the website-chandigarh.gov.in-- the population of the city is 9,00,735, the figure of 2001 census report, whereas it has crossed a million mark-10, 54,686 - in the census report, 2011 (released in February), but the officials here are yet to update the information.

Similarly, the website gives ‘stale’ information about the gender ratio, literacy rate and density of population etc. of the city.

In its ‘General Information’ icon, the gender ratio here is being shown as 777 females per 1,000 males, whereas the city’s skewed gender ratio stands at 818 females per 1,000 males. Presently, the city has the second highest per sq-km density of 9,252 but the website still displays the density of 7,900 per sq km.

If you click the ‘administrative structure’ icon, it will still display Ravinder Pal Singh ‘Palli’ as the city’s Mayor. Interestingly, the city had got Raj Bala as its new Mayor on January 2, but when one logs on to the municipal department’s icon, it shows the city’s new Mayor Raj Bala’s profile along with her photograph.

The same icon displays Ritu Chaudhary as the Chief Executive Officer of the Chandigarh Housing Board while the Haryana Civil Service officer Chaudhary has completed her deputation. The UT Administrator had issued orders to relieve her on January 10.

The ‘New Initiatives’ icon still shows the details of those mega projects like Film City, Theme Park, Medi city and Integrated Milk Production Village, which have been shelved by the administration for over one year now.

“An official portal or website is the face of any government or administration. Failure of the administration in updating its website is just contrary to its tall claims about effective e-governance here,” said Sat Pal Kansal, an RTI activist.

The responsibility of updating the website is with the local office of National Informatics Centre (NIC), based on information provided by the UT Administration.