In brief

50-year-old dies in accident
A 50-year-old man met with a fatal accident on Tuesday after he was hit by a Punjab Roadways bus (PB 12 C 9032) at the Airport light point at 9.15 am. Inderjit,a resident of Behlana village was on his bicycle when he was hit by the speeding bus,the police said. The victim was rushed to GMC Hospital-32 where doctors declared him brought dead. The driver of the bus,identified as Bhupinder Singh,a resident Mughalmajri in Ropar district was arrested.

Action Finance director convicted in rape case
A lower court has convicted the director of a company for raping his employee. Anurag Aggarwal of Action Finance,a company dealing in providing finance and loan,was accused of raping his personal secretary in January this year. The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Raj Shekhar Atri said on Tuesday the quantum of sentence would be announced on October 29. According to prosecution,Anurag had first taken the girl to Kalka and then to Shimla on the pretext of a business meeting and then raped her.

Five more suspected cases of H1N1 in city
The city reported five suspected H1N1 cases on Tuesday. Three people suffering from upper respiratory disorder have been put on ventilators and admitted in the Government Medical College and Hospital. The patients include a 22-year-old man from Sector 31,14-year-old girl from Manimajra and an 18-year-old boy from Ambala.
Officials said throat swab samples of patients were collected and sent for testing to the PGI. Meanwhile,two more suspected cases from Kaithal and Mohali have been admitted in the isolation ward of the PGI this morning.
“All the five cases received today are admitted and their samples have been taken. Their condition is stable,” said a health official. The doctors added that some of these cases were asthmatic,which complicated the respiratory problems.

‘HIV positive cases down in Chandigarh’
The number HIV positive cases and related deaths have declined in Chandigarh. This was stated by Dr Vanita Gupta,Project Director,State AIDS Control Society,Chandigarh on Tuesday. She said in 2007,114 persons had fallen victim to the disease,the toll came down to 97 in 2008; and to 61 in the first eight months of 2009. Regarding HIV positive cases,she said in 2006,of the 8,924 persons screened,1,066 (12 per cent) were found to be HIV positive. “In 2007,13,630 persons were screened out of which 1,144 (eight per cent) were found positive. In 2008,the percentage of HIV positive cases further came down to seven per cent: 1,239 were found HIV positive out of the 17,405 persons screened. And up to August,2009,out of the 15,162 persons screened,only 780 (five per cent) were found positive,” she disclosed. Also sharing the figures on the annual blood collection reports,Dr Gupta said Chandigarh topped the list from the standpoint of blood donation in the country. “The percentage of voluntary blood donation which stood at 49 in 1999,has increased to 80 per cent. On the other hand,the percentage of replacement which was 51.4 in 1999,came down to 20 per cent in August,2009. It confirms that more and more people are coming forward to donate blood voluntarily,” she added. “The awareness campaign of the administration has reached every nook and corner of Chandigarh. Thanks to the inclusive awareness campaign,more and more people are coming forward for AIDS test”,dr Gupta stated.

ABVP honours 470 students
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidya Parishad organised a topper-felicitation program on the successful completion of 60 years of the orgainsation today. On this occasion,Punjab State Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla was the guest of honour. Four hundred and seventy students were felicitated on the occasion. “I congratulate the students who have been felicitated based on their meritorious positions but more than that the efforts of the students who have put together this function should be appreciated,” said the minister. She congratulated the students and told them that education was the best means to get ahead and to grow in life. She also motivated the students to do better in life and to use their educational qualifications in the best possible manner and in the development of the country.

Students’ Council meets Sobti
The Students’ Council of the Panjab University met Vice-Chancellor Prof R C Sobti and discussed facilities and infrastructure on the campus. The members apprised the Vice-Chancellor of the problems being faced by hostellers and how the food quality in hostels was not up to the mark.
The Vice-Chancellor promised to address their issues at the earliest. Talking to Newsline,Barinder Dhillon,SOPU,President,said,“We have discussed all issues with the V-C and he has promised us due action. We have formed a core committee of students in every hostel which would take feedback from students on the quality of food being served.” It was decided that the Students Council would meet the Vice-Chancellor every fortnight and apprise him of issues of students,if any. The V-C promised them of more transparency and systematic approach in the administrative set-up of the university.

Seminar to review national policy for elderly held
A seminar to review the implementation of the National Policy for Older Persons was organised by the HelpAge India in collaboration with the Centre for Participatory Management and Voluntary Organisation on Tuesday. The seminar was held at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration and focused on improving the quality of life of the elderly. The representatives of Senior Citizen’s Associations from various parts of Punjab including Moga,Bathinda,Malerkotla,Rajpura,Patiala ,Mohali,Ropar and Khanna participated in the seminar.
The participants were divided into groups who had deliberation on various provisions of the national policy and groups presented their recommendations. The recommendations were compiled and will be presented to the government for the formation of a state policy.

Man held for driving ambulance under influence of liquor
PANCHKULA: Roaming under suspicious circumstances,an ambulance was impounded by the traffic police at the Mansa Devi Chowk on Tuesday. The driver,who was found in an inebriated state,was arrested. The traffic police had noticed the ambulance being driven at a high speed towards Chandigarh,even as the driver was blowing the hooter,late in the afternoon. On its way back too,the driver was blowing the siren,which led to suspicion among the policemen. “They intercepted the vehicle and found an opened bottle of alcohol,besides a carton of more bottles,during a search. The driver was drunk,” said Balwant Singh of the MDC police station. The driver will be produced before the district excise officer on Wednesday.

Ambala canal water pipelines damaged
Ambala: The pipeline of the canal drinking water project for Ambala Cantonment,which was in its final stage,got damaged on Tuesday,thus,delaying the project further. While the project was running late by six months,fresh damage will incur a loss of Rs 75 lakh. It is alleged that the damage to the pipeline was caused due to the casual attitude of the department to maintain the pipeline from the Jansui head works of Bhakra canal system to Ambala Cantonment. However,the officials of the department plead that the pipeline was broken because of heavy vehicular traffic especially tractor trailers and trucks passing over the pipeline. They said farmers use the passage over the pipelines to reach their fields despite restrictions imposed by the department.

Factory staffer held with stolen articles
MOHALI: An employee of the Diplast factory in Industrial Area,Phase VI,was arrested allegedly with articles stolen from the factory,the police said on Tuesday. Factory manager Amarjeet Singh told the police that security guards had on Monday night caught hold of the employee,Mukesh Kumar,a resident of Dadumajra Colony in Chandigarh,with three bags full of plastic grains allegedly stolen from the unit. The police arrested the accused under Section 380 of the IPC.

3 students injured as car overturns
MOHALI: Three college students sustained injuries after their Tata Indica car overturned on the Mohali-Kharar stretch of the National Highway-21 on Tuesday. Amarinder Singh,Prabhjot Singh and Damanjeet Singh of Mohali were rushed to Civil Hospital,where Amarinder and Prabhjot were admitted while Damanjeet was discharged after first-aid. According to information,the three were on their way to college in Ghataur village near Kharar. The accident occurred when a cyclist suddenly came in front of the car,following which the driver lost control and the car hit the highway divider before turning turtle.

Conference on streamlining RTI Act held
CHANDIGARH: For reviewing the better implementation of the Right to Information Act in Punjab,the Centre for Probity and Transparency in governance set-up organized a conference at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration on Tuesday.Various issues,mainly appointment of competent Public Information Officers,pro-active disclosure of information,creation of departmental websites,supplying of voluminous information,administrative measures taken for implementation of the Act,review system to take stock of its various aspects of the implementation of the Act and administrative constraints of the departments in its implementation were deliberated upon.