In Brief

UT teachers’ job scam: CVC registers complaint
CHANDIGARH: The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC),New Delhi,has registered a complaint forwarded by local human rights activist Arvind Thakur against UT Home Secretary Ram Niwas,SSP S S Srivastva and SP (City) Madhur Verma alleging rampant corruption during the appointment of teachers in Chandigarh. It has further been alleged in the complaint that probe was hushed up in a very abject manner. Instead of handing over the case to the CBI,the matter was given to the UT police intentionally,Thakur said. Meanwhile,in a communiqué by the commission,it has been stated that the complaint has been registered and forwarded to the chief vigilance officer,Ministry of Home Affairs. The teacher’s recruitment scam had rocked the city after the Chandigarh Police team had arrested two persons,Jolly and Hardev Singh,who allegedly approached candidates to secure the jobs advertised by the Chandigarh Education department. During the investigation of the case,the police had suspected the involvement of some senior officials but no one was named.

Flights delayed due to poor visibility
CHANDIGARH: Various flights from Chandigarh were delayed due to poor visibility on Wednesday. Passengers had to wait for several hours for their flights to arrive at the airport and subsequently take off. The Go-Air flight for Delhi which extends to Goa was delayed by three hours. Against the scheduled departure of 9.30 am,it took off around 12:30 pm. Similarly,the Jet Airways flight for Delhi was delayed by around 1 hour and 45 minutes. It departed at 4.00 pm against its scheduled time of 2.25 pm. The Kingfisher flight for Delhi was also delayed by two hours. The reason for delay cited by airline officials was poor visibility. The non-functional Instrument Landing System at the Chandigarh airport added to the woes of passengers.

Cong leaders celebrate Sonia Gandhi’s birthday
CHANDIGARH: The Manimajra unit of the Chandigarh Territorial Youth Congress (CTYC) celebrated the 64th birthday of party president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday. Sweets and fruits were distributed among residents and shopkeepers of Manimajra. A cake was also cut on the occasion. CTYC President H S Lucky administered a pledge to the youth to follow the path of simple living and high thinking. He also appealed to the youth to educate people to stay away from drugs. Meanwhile,the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee held celebrations at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan. Leaders conveyed their wishes to Sonia Gandhi on the occasion.

AKSIPS students visit Air Force Station
CHANDIGARH: Aerospace club members of AKSIPS-41B,comprising Class VIII and IX students,got a first-hand experience of flying when they visited 3BRD of Air Force Station in Sector 31,Chandigarh,on Wednesday. The children were left awestruck when they toured the interiors of mighty helicopters and aircrafts and saw vital systems being repaired. Students were also apprised of the norms and precautions exercised by pilots while flying and landing aircrafts. They also witnessed the IL76 taking off.

Mukesh Anand takes charge as MC superintending engineer
CHANDIGARH: Mukesh Anand joined as the Superintending Engineer (B&R) in the Municipal Corporation on Wednesday. Anand was the Executive Engineer with the UT Administration. He has been appointed after Yogesh Gupta was repatriated to Punjab.

Financier murder case: Accused sent to 14-day judicial custody
CHANDIGARH: A local court on Wednesday sent all the six accused in the murder of Sector-20 financier to 14 days’ judicial custody. The financier was shot on November 25. The four accused,who were arrested on December 7 including Manpreet Singh,alias Manu of Fatehgarh Sahib,Surinder Singh,alias Maana,Amrik Singh and Kuldeep Singh of Ludhiana who were earlier sent on two-day police remand,were today sent to judicial custody. Meanwhile,the two other accomplices of Davinder Singh alias Whiskey,who were arrested on Tuesday — Ravinder of Khanna and Manish of Faizulapur village in Fatehgarh Sahib district — were also sent to judicial custody.

Neurosciences journal gets international names on board
CHANDIGARH: Several international scientists have joined the editorial board of ‘Annals of Neurosciences’,which is the official journal of the Indian Academy of Neurosciences,said Dr Akshay Anand from the Department of Neurology,PGI,while addressing the media on Wednesday. Dr Anand is the new editor of the magazine. Denis English has accepted to be the Senior Editor of the journal along with Professor S Prabhakar,the Head of Department of Neurology,PGI. The other senior editors include Professor Ante Padjen from the International Brain Research Organisation and Prof Satyanarayana who is the editor of Indian Journal of Medical Research. Prof Gurudutta from the Stem Cell Group in Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) and Prof Shashi Bala Singh,Director of DRDO,Leh,are also part of the Editorial Board team. The team is joined by Colin Masters from Australia and Moussa Youdim from Israel. Prof Anand Swaroop from NIH,USA whose leading work in retinal regeneration is well known,has agreed to be the Executive Editor. The quarterly journal is being published for the last 16 years.

Congress leader demands construction of underpasses,elevated bridges on NH-21
MOHALI: Congress leader Jagmohan Singh Kang on Wednesday demanded the construction of underpasses and elevated bridges at strategic locations on the Mohali-Kharar stretch of National Highway-21,which is being four-laned. In a letter to Punjab PWD Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa,All India Congress Committee member and former Punjab minister Kang urged the state government to immediately consider the public demand to prevent road accidents. The Congress leader wrote that the Kharar bus stand,Jandpur-Jhungian T-point,Bansan Wali Chungi T-point and Sunny Enclave T-point were the main locations,which immediately require either underground passages or elevated bridges to cross the busy highway.

Man duped of Rs 2 lakh
Chandigarh: A man was duped by a swindler of Rs 2 lakh on Tuesday. The incident took place at 2 pm when Tilak Raj,a resident of Sector 45,went to the SBI in Sector 34 to withdraw cash. He was approached by a person who claimed himself to be an employee of the bank and offered to count his money by the note counting machine. When Tilak handed him the cash,he ran away quickly. A case under Section 420 of the IPC has been registered.