08122021-CT-01.qxd 12/8/2021 12:39 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh TRIBUNE WEDNESDAY | 8 DECEMBER 2021 | CHANDIGARH P’KULA MC PLANS STUDY TOUR AS SWACHH RANKING FALLS MC decides to send its councillors and officials to Indore and Bhopal to study the ways of solid waste management there. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY TRICITY COVID REPORT CHD SAMPLES TESTED POSITIVE RECOVERED NEW CASES ACTIVE CHANGE DEATHS NEW P’KULA MOHALI 8,37,762 65,508 64,623 8 65 3 820 0 4,81,277 6,69,843 30,844 68,998 30,450 67,870 1 7 15 55 — 5 379 1,073 0 0 PAGE 2 MAX 24°C | MIN 9°C | YESTERDAY MAX 22.6°C | MIN 9°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 5:23 PM 119 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD INBRIEF DIST COURTS LAWYERS SUSPEND WORK Chandigarh: Lawyers of the District Courts here suspended work in protest against the alleged attack on advocates on Monday night. Work was suspended on a call given by the executive committee of the Bar Association. In a resolution, the executive committee has condemned the alleged attack on three advocates, Sukhwinder Singh, Barinder Singh and Amandeep Singh Waraich, and demanded that strict action be taken against those involved in the attack. TNS Bicycle thief flees from police custody Chandigarh, December 7 A 27-year-old resident of Balongi, who was involved in several thefts of high-end bicycles, fled from police custody here today. The suspect, Divesh Gupta, was arrested under Sections 379, 411 of the IPC at the Sector 39 police station on Sunday. Cops take out a flag march from the IT Park police station to areas under the Mani Majra police station in view of the coming MC elections in Chandigarh on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR SEE ALSO PAGE 3 DC asked to prepare report on shorter routes in 10 days Dushyant Singh Pundir Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 7 For convenience of residents, UT Adviser Dharam Pal today directed the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and the UT Chief Engineer to prepare a report on alternative shorter routes to the international airport from Chandigarh. The Adviser gave 10 days’ time to the officials to submit the report on the options available for the shorter routes to the airport after studying the ground situation. Earlier, the road distance from the Tribune Chowk to the airport was 2.71 km, but people have to now cover an extra distance of 14.5 km to reach the airport through Mohali. To reduce the road disFILE PHOTO Was nabbed with 13 high-end bicycles on Sunday He was produced before the court yesterday and was remanded in one-day police custody. Erring police officials are being identified and strict action will be taken against them, police officials said. Teams have been despatched to nab the accused. A fresh case under Sections 223, 224 of the IPC has been registered. The accused was nabbed with 13 high-end bicycles which he had stolen from houses. — TNS NO CONTESTS DURING CHRYSANTHEMUM SHOW Owing to the Omicron threat, there will be no contests during Chrysanthemum Show at the Terraced Garden. Mass gatherings will be avoided. The show will be opened to public on December 10 at 11 am and will go on till 7 pm. The timings for December 11 and 12 will be 10 am to 7 pm. All precautions to check the spread of coronavirus will be taken. — TNS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT tance, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had recently decided to conduct a feasibility study on the connectivity to the airport from the Purv Marg side near Sector 48. The road will run through the Jagatpura area. For this, land acquisition may be required in Punjab which would be done by the state government. In its earlier recommendations, the committee had stated that it was aware that a short approach road towards the airport was functional in the past. “But now, around 30 km extra need to be covered while travelling to the airport as the entry has been shifted to the other side and reaching it is time consuming,” said the panel. In response to the recommendations of the committee, the MHA submitted that three alternative approaches were suggested in the Chandigarh Master Plan, 2031. These alternatives were discussed at various meetings, but failed to reach a conclusion. People have been demanding an alternative route, which will make it easier and shorter for residents of Chandigarh and Haryana to reach the airport. Chandigarh, December 7 The 39-year-old returnee from South Africa is not infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus, reveals his whole genome sequencing report this evening. The Sector 36 resident returned from South Africa on November 21 and was quarantined at home on his arrival. He was RT-PCR negative on arrival. However, he was again tested for Covid after eight days as per the protocol and the report came positive. His positive sample was sent to the NCDC, New Delhi, for whole genome sequencing (WGS). The variant of concern detected in the sample sent for WGS is Delta (B.1.617.2). His wife and son had also tested positive for Covid-19 and are currently under isolation at the GMCH- 32. — TNS Shakti Prakash of BJP takes on lone SAD councillor Hardeep in Ward 30 MC ELECTIONS Sandeep Rana Tribune News Service BJP candidate Shakti Prakash Devshali and Hardeep Singh of the SAD campaign at Sector 41 in Chandigarh on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: NITIN MITTAL FORMER ALLIANCE PARTNERS The BJP and the SAD have been fighting the MC poll as alliance partners. However, the alliance broke over the three farm laws. In the 2016 MC poll for 26 wards, the BJP contested on 21 seats. While the BJP won 20 seats, the SAD fought on four and could claim one. This time, the saffron party has fielded candidates from all the 35 wards (seats increased after 13 new villages were merged into the MC). The SAD (19 seats) is fighting in an alliance with the BSP (16 seats). parties are in alliance or are separated, the issues of public will remain like that. The issues of water tariff hike, sanitation, dumping ground and building bylaws had remained unresolved during the BJP tenure, but we will get them resolved.” Firing a salvo at his rival BJP nominee, Hardeep, who is also city continued on page 3 c m y b WHAT ADMN SAYS ■ Each of the sacked employee will submit a request in writing accepting the mistake and giving assurance of better conduct in future ■ They will voluntary and unconditionally withdraw the FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE difference in working hours, leaves and other service conditions, then the appropriate revision of salary under the NHM may please be considered sympathetically. After detailed deliberations, the UT Health Secretary decided that each of the terminated employee will submit a request in writing accepting the mistake and giving assurance of better conduct in future. They will voluntary and unconditionally withdraw the pending court case on the issue and submit a copy of the withdrawal petition. The Health Secretary further clarified that the salary under the NHM continued on page 2 Chandigarh: On account of martyrdom day of Guru Teg Bahadur, the UT Administration has announced a public holiday for Wednesday. According to an order issued by Nitin Kumar Yadav, UT Home Secretary, December 8 will now be observed as a public holiday in all government offices/boards/ corporations/institutions, including industrial establishments, under the Chandigarh Administration, instead of a restricted holiday already declared on account of the martyrdom day. TNS SCHOOLS TO REMAIN CLOSED, CBSE EXAMS WILL BE HELD AS PER SCHEDULE UT logs 8 cases CHANDIGARH: The city on Tuesday reported eight cases of Covid-19 and no death due to the virus. As many as five patients were cured of the disease in the past 24 hours. — TNS 1 death, 7 fresh cases in Mohali MOHALI: One person died of Covid-19 while seven new cases were reported in the district on Tuesday. The deceased is a 52-year-old woman of Adarsh Nagar who died at the PGI on December 4. She was a housewife and suffering from comorbidities like highpertension and diabetes. One patient has recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours. Among the new cases, three are from Kharar, and two each from Dhakoli and Mohali. The active cases in the district are 55. The toll has reached 1,073. — TNS One new case in Panchkula PANCHKULA: Panchkula reported one fresh coronavirus case, taking the overall tally to 30,844. The toll, however, remains at 379. While 30,450 people have recovered from the infectious disease so far, 15 cases are still active. The recovery rate stands at 98.72 per cent. — TNS FILE PHOTO pending court case on the issue and submit a copy of the withdrawal petition ■ The salary of staff under the NHM couldn’t be equal to the DC rates because of the lesser working hours, better leave and other service conditions PUBLIC HOLIDAY IN UT TODAY SA returnee not infected with Omicron variant Friends turn rivals on civic body poll pitch Chandigarh, December 7 Sitting councillors Shakti Prakash Devshali of the BJP and Hardeep Singh of the SAD are locking horns in Ward Number 30. The two had a good friendly equation and had been favouring each other’s policies till the SAD broke alliance with the BJP over the three farm laws. After the separation of their parties, the two have been questioning each other’s works. “Friendship will be there, but it is a fight of ideologies,” quipped Shakti. Hardeep, the lone SAD councillor in the current MC House, said, “Whether our TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD Tribune News Service 52 MOHALI SUNRISE THURSDAY 7:07 AM Chandigarh, December 7 The UT Health Department finally decided to withdraw the termination of 178 contractual appointments under the National Health Mission (NHM) during a meeting here today. The representatives of the NHM staff, whose contractual appointments were terminated about a month ago by the Health Department, met the UT Adviser today. The employees requested that the orders for termination of contractual appointments might be withdrawn and the staff be allowed to join their duties at the earliest. Their contractual employment may be counted without any break in service and the intervening period of absence may be regularised with leave without pay. The employees assured that they would like to continue as contractual employees under the NHM and do not opt for the option of outsourced employees on DC rates. They have demanded that in case the salary under the NHM can’t be equal to the DC rates because of the PAGE 2 City shuttler Varun Sharma wins doubles silver medal at Senior Masters World Championships held in Spain. UT to reinstate 178 NHM employees MC poll buzz 76 PANCHKULA CITY SHUTTLER VARUN SHARMA WINS SILVER MEDAL IN SPAIN Chandigarh Volleyball Association decides to dedicate state junior championships to Nirmal Milkha Singh. AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH PAGE 2 VOLLEYBALL ASSN DEDICATES UT MEET TO NIRMAL MILKHA SINGH Jaguar driver performs stunt near club, held Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 7 The police arrested a resident of Sector 18, Samyak Kapoor (19) for rash driving and endangering human lives while reportedly performing stunts near Pipe and Barrel Club in Sector 9 on Sunday. A case under Sections 279 and 336 of the IPC has been registered at the Sector 3 police station. The complainant, constable Parveen Kumar, reported that around 9 pm on December 5, he was on patrol duty in Sector 9. A luxury car (Jaguar) came in the parking area and the driver started driving rashly and performing stunts. When he signalled the driver to stop the car, he sped away. The driver was apprehended by Parveen yesterday. The youth was arrested and granted bail later. Four injured in car crash Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 7 A speeding luxury car bedecked with flowers for a marriage hit the railing of the road separating Sector 52 and 53 and went on to damaging three cars and an auto on the other side of the road this morning. The driver and the copassenger on the front seat suffered injuries and were rushed to a private hospital. Two more occupants of the car, both women, were also injured in the accident. The police are investigating the incident.