03012023-CT-01.qxd 1/3/2023 12:38 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune HIT BY SPEEDING TRUCK, MAN KILLED IN AMBALA UT SAW 22.63% GROWTH IN GST COLLECTION UP TO DEC P’KULA MC COLLECTS RECORD PROPERTY TAX IN A MONTH A man was killed after being hit and dragged by a speeding truck near Sherpur village in Ambala. P2 UT registered a robust growth of 22.63% up to December 2022 in comparison to the revenue generated last year.P2 Cash-strapped Panchkula civic body collected a record ~2.21-crore property tax in December 2022. P3 » » TRICITY COVID REPORT CHD P’KULA MOHALI POSITIVE 99,351 48,433 1,01,155 RECOVERED 98,164 48,012 99,987 NEW CASES 0 0 0 ACTIVE 6 0 1 CHANGE 1 0 0 DEATHS 1,181 421 1,168 NEW 0 0 0 AIR QUALITY INDEX MAX 15°C | MIN 6°C YESTERDAY MAX 14.2°C | MIN 6.5°C SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 7.19 AM FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Mayoral polls on Jan 17, three-way fight on cards Nominations for posts of UT Mayor, two deputies till Jan 12 CHANDIGARH 304 PANCHKULA 219 MOHALI 238 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD MAINLY CLEAR SKY SUNSET TUESDAY 5.35 PM » TUESDAY | 3 JANUARY 2023 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD INBRIEF 7-YR-OLD CRUSHED UNDER OIL TANKER Zirakpur:A seven-year-old girl was crushed to death under an oil tanker near a petrol station here on December 31. Raj Rani, daughter of Jaswant Sharma, was playing near her father’s cart when a speeding truck coming from the Airport Road ran her over. The driver fled the scene, leaving the vehicle behind. A case under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered against truck driver Sant Deva of Ludhiana. TNS MAN HELD WITH 6.30-GM SMACK Chandigarh:The UT police have arrested a 24-year-old man with 6.30-gm smack. The police said Harshit Puri, a resident of Ludhiana, was arrested near Ram Darbar with the contraband. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered at the Sector 31 police station. TNS PICKPOCKET NICKS MOBILE AT MALL Chandigarh:A pickpocket stole a mobile phone of a woman at Elante Mall. Shaista Rangi, a Panchkula resident, claimed her iPhone was stolen from the pocket of her coat at the mall. On scrutinising CCTV footage, a man was seeing stealing the phone. A case has been registered at the Industrial Area police station. TNS MAN NABBED FOR THEFT AT HOUSE Chandigarh:A suspect has been arrested for theft at a house in Mani Majra. A woman claimed an unidentified person stole silver ornaments from her house. A case was registered at the IT Park police station. Later, suspect Nanhe of Mauli Jagran was arrested in the case. TNS Chandigarh, January 2 The elections to the post of Chandigarh Mayor will be held on January 17, said acting Deputy Commissioner Yashpal Garg today. A threecornered contest is expected this time, as the Congress had abstained from polling the last time. As many as 35 elected councillors and an ex-officio member i.e. the local MP will be eligible to vote and elect the next Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor through a secret ballot at 11 am on January 17 in the 36member MC House. Nominated councillor Amit Jindal will be the presiding officer. The candidates have to file their nomination papers for the three posts by January 12. This time, the post of Mayor is not reserved. Last year, it was reserved for a woman candidate. The oneyear tenure of the current Mayor, Sarbjit Kaur, comes to an end this week, but she will hold on to the position till the time the new one takes over. In the last elections, unruly scenes were witnessed as the AAP had accused the BJP of winning the polls fraudulently. AAP councillors had tried to prevent the new Mayor from addressing the House, prompting BJP councillors to surround her chair. Later, both were marshalled out. — TNS TOP POST NOT RESERVED ■ Mayor’s post is not reserved this time, unlike last year (for woman) ■ 1-year term of BJP Mayor Sarbjit Kaur comes to an end this week HOW PARTIES STACK UP Party BJP AAP Cong SAD Majority mark AAP and Congress councillors protest in MC House meet. FILE Councillors 15* 14 6 1 19 (14 councillors & ex-officio member — local MP) AAP, Cong may join hands Sandeep Rana TALKS ON FOR ‘OUTSIDE ALLIANCE’ Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 2 The city Congress may throw the Mayor’s post into local AAP’s kitty in lieu of senior and deputy mayor’s posts in the mayoral elections. This is what the current political developments indicate following a joint major protest by the councillors of the two parties against BJP’s Mayor Sarbjit Kaur in the last House meeting of her tenure in December. Following a logjam in the House, the Mayor had suspended the two councillors for unruly behaviour. Some of them were forcibly taken out of the House by marshals. The local SHO along with oth- ■ Congress may give Mayor’s post to AAP, settle for Senior and Deputy Mayor’s posts ■ AAP’s UT chief Prem Garg says this is a possibility, but the final decision will be taken by the party high command ■ A Cong leader says they are in talks, but are yet to decide on whether to contest 1 or 2 posts HAND IN GLOVE, WILL EXPOSE BOTH PARTIES They are hand in glove. We dare them to have open alliance. We’ll expose them. Will sacrifice 10 posts of Mayor, but won’t compromise on principles. Arun Sood, UT BJP CHIEF ❝ ❞ TRUCK MAY HARM GRAND OLD PARTY Cong is weakening itself by aligning with AAP. It is giving it room to take a post and show work to public. We saw this in some state elections. A political analyst ❝ er policemen had to be called in to manage the situation. Sources say talks between ❞ some of the top leaders of the two parties are on for an outside Continued on page 3 Cops in tizzy as shell found near Punjab CM’s residence Bomb squad cordons off area | Army’s help sought Chandigarh, January 2 A live artillery shell was found barely 2 km from Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s official residence here today, sending cops into a tizzy. The shell was found in a forest area on the Kansal and Nayagaon road. Around 2.50 pm, the police control room received information about the shell lying near the T-point along the road. The UT police, a bomb disposal squad and a disaster management team were dispatched to the scene and the area was cordoned off. DSP (Central) Gurmukh Singh said the bomb disposal squad secured the area. “We have informed the Army to send in a team of experts to assist us,” DSP added. Sources said the Army LIKELY TO BE MISFIRED AMMO ■ Shell ‘used by Army’ found in orchard on Punjab-UT border ■ Prima facie examination The shell found in a mango orchard. experts would visit the scene on Tuesday morning. Senior officials from the Punjab Police, including ADGP AK Pandey, also inspected the scene. In a statement, the UT police said the shell generally used by the armed forces was found in the middle of a mango orchard on the PunjabChandigarh border. Prima facie examination by the bomb disposal squad of the suggests it was a misfired shell, say UT police ■ Army experts likely to visit scene on Tuesday morning, say sources Chandigarh Police and discussion with Army officials suggested it was a misfired shell. Meanwhile, an investigation has been initiated at the Sector 3 police station. “The area will be guarded by police personnel till the time the experts arrive,” said a police official. Earlier too, such explosives have been found in the forest area close to the CM’s residence. — TNS TRIBUNE PHOTO: NITIN MITTAL MCcancels building plan of showroom Mohali, January 2 The Kharar Municipal Council today cancelled the building plan of the under-construction building that collapsed at Chajju Majra here on Saturday. The civic body officials are also mulling action against the Kharar-based architect who had given approval to the plan. Contractor Dinesh Kumar of the under-construction building has already been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder at the Kharar City police station. The authorities and the MC KHARAR COLLAPSE May act against architect Naina Mishra have further recommended an FIR against the showroom owner as permission was sought only for the basement and ground floor. A construction worker was killed and another injured in the incident on December 31. The deceased was identified as Ajay Kumar, 40, a native of UP while Nitish Kumar, 25, of , Madhepura, Bihar, sustained injuries and was admitted to the Phase-6 Civil Hospital in Mohali. — TNS Tribune News Service Tribune News Service ■ Commuters brave dense fog on the Chandigarh- Zirakpur road on Monday. As many as 12 flights were cancelled at the International Airport. 550 48 EXOTIC BIRDS SPECIES 5 LAKH VISITORS LAST YEAR FOOTFALL ON JAN 1 Adults Kids Total* 5,110 1,137 6,247 (*Excluding kids below 5) schoolchildren are thronging the park on educational trips,” he said, adding other than birds, the park had become a major attraction for nature lovers due to its landscaping and natural environment. “It has become a mustvisit destination of Chandigarh,” he said. The Forests and Wildlife Department will expand and relocate the most popular Can only prescribe generic drugs, UT govt doctors told 12 FLIGHTS CANCELLED ■ Poor visibility forced cancellation of eight flight arrivals and four departures. Most of the morning flights were three to four hours late. BirdParkseesrecord6.2KvisitorsonNewYear’sDay Chandigarh, January 2 On the first day of the year, the Chandigarh Bird Park witnessed the highest-ever footfall on a single day. Situated at Nagar Van, at the rear end of Sukhna Lake, 6,247 persons, excluding children below five years of age, visited the park on January 1. Debendra Dalai, Chief Conservator of Forest-cum-Chief Wildlife Warden, said as many as 1,137 children and 5,110 adults thronged the park on Sunday. It was the highest-ever number of visitors to the park on a single day this season, he added. More than five lakh persons visited the park up to December 31 last year, he said. “The popularity curve of the park is going up. Apart from the regular visitors, Punjab ADGP (Security) AK Pandey inspects shell on the Kansal road, Chandigarh. PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR section of the park — “Winged Wonders” — where visitors can get their pictures clicked with birds. People will soon be able to see the world’s tallest and second tallest birds at the park. The department plans to bring ostrich, found only in Africa, and emu, the largest bird of Australia, to the Bird Park. The department has prepared a special enclosure for six birds of the species each. Besides, American ducks will also be kept at the park. Recently, the department had carried out successful breeding of an exotic pair of black swans, natives of Australia, at the park. So far, 42 chicks of different species, including three of black swan, have born here. On August 18, 11 newly born budgerigars were c m y b released into the main enclosure, while four newborn wood ducks were released into the aquatic aviary of the park on August 12. Spread over 6.5 acres, the park has 58-ft flying height and nearly 200x150 ft of ground area each for terrestrial and aquatic birds. The facility has two small and two walk-through aviaries. The enclosures have been designed in such a way that the birds, apart from taking a flight and nesting in the natural habitat can stay at the aviary and visitors can walk past these. Terrestrial plants, ferns, shrubs, bushes, aquatic plants, trees and creepers have been provided suiting to the natural habitats of birds. The park currently has nearly 550 exotic birds of 48 Continued on page 3 2.9-kg gold seized from Dubai traveller Mohali, January 2 The Customs Department seized 2.907-kg gold, worth Rs 1.59 crore, from a passenger at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport here on December 31. The passenger had arrived on a flight from Dubai. He was stopped in the green channel and on examination, officials recovered six rectangular pouches from his underwear. He was taken away for further questioning. An official said: “Based on profiling, officers of the Ludhiana customs at the airport intercepted a passenger of an Indigo flight (6E56) from Dubai to Chandigarh, and detected six rectangular pouches pasted inside his underwear. Continued on page 3 Chandigarh, January 2 The UT Health Department has ordered prescription of generic medicines by all doctors in government hospitals of the city. Health Secretary Yashpal Garg has ordered that all doctors must prescribe drugs with generic, non-proprietary, pharmacological names only. “However in case of drugs with a narrow therapeutic index, biosimilars and similar other exceptional cases, this practice can be relaxed,” says the order. The doctors have been asked to avoid prescribing “branded” generic drugs and educate medical students, patients and public regarding the equivalence of generic medicine with their branded counterparts. The orders says all health facilities and doctors of the Chandigarh Administration are advised to comply with the National Medical Commission (NMC) Regulations on “Generic Medicine and Prescription Guidelines”. However, in exceptional circumstances where branded medicines are prescribed, a date-wise diary may be maintained by all physicians, specifying reasons for prescribing a branded generic drugs. It will help in further streamlining the functioning and also in dealing with all sorts of allegations. The order says as a regulatory measure, the NMC has circulated the Registered Med- UP TO 80% CHEAPER ■ Generic medicines 30% to 80% cheaper than branded drugs ■ These have same clinical benefits/therapeutics effect as branded ones ■ Move will help reduce out-ofpocket spending on medications EXCEPTIONS ■ In case of drugs with narrow therapeutic index, biosimilars and similar other exceptions, this norm can be relaxed ■ In such cases, date-wise diary may be maintained by docs, specifying reasons for prescribing a branded generic drug ENSURE AVAILABILITY Chemist shops within government health facilities premises to ensure availability of generic medicines. Clause will be incorporated to ensure availability in all shops operating within premises in future tenders. ical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations, 2022. These regulations include Generic Medicine and Prescription Guidelines to reduce out-of-pocket spending on medications, which accounts for a major proportion of public spending on healthcare as generic medicines are 30 to 80 per cent cheaper than branded drugs. Garg says prescribing Continued on page 3