01112025-CT-01.qxd 11/1/2025 1:04 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune A TALE OF TWO CITIES: MOHALI TURNS 50, CHANDIGARH 59 TELEGRAM-BASED SCHEME FRAUDSTER IN POLICE NET CITY LADS TO FACE MP IN RANJI TROPHY TIE TODAY The cities have taken diverging paths — one carefully planned but stagnating, the other chaotic yet booming. P2 Cybercrime cell nabs third accused in Telegram-based scam in which a city woman was duped. P3 Chandigarh to encounter hosts Madhya Pradesh in third match of Ranji Trophy Elite Group. P6 » » MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 30°C | MIN 17°C YESTERDAY MAX 30.9°C | MIN 18.8°C SUNSET SATURDAY 5.36 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6.37 AM » SATURDAY | 1 NOVEMBER 2025 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST /THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Centre dissolves 59-yr-old Panjab University Senate, Syndicate THE TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 31 For the first time in 59 years, the Union Government has completely restructured the Senate and Syndicate of Panjab University (PU), transforming the Syndicate from elected to a fully nominated body. Constituted on November 1, 1966, the top decision-making Syndicate of the 142-year-old university, originally established in Lahore in 1882, will now function without elections, marking a decisive shift from political to academic control, highly placed sources told The Tribune on Friday evening. The sweeping changes, notified under the PU Act, 1947 (East Punjab Act 7 of 1947), have abolished the Graduate constituency altogether and slashed the Senate’s strength from 90 members to just 31, including 18 elected, six nominated and seven ex-officio. For the first time, the Chandigarh MP the , UT’s Chief Secretary and Education Secretary have been included as ex-officio members, alongside senior officials from Punjab. Under the substituted Section 13 of the Act, the category of Ordinary Fellows has been redefined. Their number shall not exceed 24, and the composition now includes two eminent PU alumni nominated by the Chancellor, two professors elected from the university’s teaching departments (one each from Arts and Science), two associate or assistant professors similarly elected, four principals of affiliated or constituent colleges, six teachers from affiliated colleges and two members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly nominated by the Speaker, provided they hold a university degree. The remaining members will be nominated by the Chancellor from among distinguished personalities in public life or those with notable contributions to education, research or innovation. All elections of Ordinary Fellows will require the Chancellor’s WHAT IT MEANS ■ End of politicised polls: Marks a decisive shift from election battles and graduate vote-bank politics to a governance-by-nomination model. ■ Central control reinforced:Gives the Centre a firmer grip over Panjab University’s top decision-making process. ■ Stronger Chandigarh role: Inclusion of the Chandigarh MP and officers ensures the UT’ greater say in PU affairs — long a demand from local stakeholders. ■ Academic orientation: Designed to RECAST SYNDICATE prioritise merit, expertise and institutional efficiency over political affiliations. ■ Reduced representation: Critics may see it as dilution of democratic participation, especially with graduates losing their century-old voting rights. ■ Faster decision-making: Smaller, nominated bodies expected to make PU governance more agile and policy-driven. ■ Historic reset: Rewires the university’s governance structure for first time since its post-partition rebirth in 1966. ■ Vice Chancellor to chair ■ 10 members to be nominated by VC on seniority-cum-rotation basis ■ Ex-officio members now include Punjab CM, Chief Justice of Pb & Hry High Court, education ministers and senior bureaucrats ■ Chancellor’s approval must for all Ordinary Fellow elections ■ Term fixed at 4 years for nominated or elected members ELECTION SYSTEM GOES, GRADUATE CONSTITUENCY SCRAPPED, SENATE REDUCED ■ Election system abolished: Syndicate will now be fully ■ Senate downsized: Membership reduced from 90 to 31 nominated, ending 59 years of elections ■ Graduate constituency scrapped: No representation for registered graduates ■ New ex-officio members: Chandigarh MP, UT Chief approval, with each term fixed at four years. Those who vacate their seats may be renominated, but anyone losing their qualifying position automatically ceases to hold office. Any dispute over eligibility — whether a person qualifies as principal, professor or associate professor — will be resolved by the — 24 nominated and 7 ex-officio Secretary and Education Secretary join governing structure. Vice Chancellor (VC). Section 14 of the Act has also been omitted in the amended statute. The Senate retains powers to constitute faculties in various subjects through regulations under the Act. The university’s executive authority will continue to vest in the Syndicate, but its composition and functioning have undergone a major overhaul. The Syndicate will now include the VC as Chairperson, the Secretary, Higher Education, Government of India (or representative), Punjab and Chandigarh DPIs, a Senate member nominated by the Chancellor and 10 members nominated by the VC on a rotational seniority basis — two each from the Deans of Faculties, university professors and college principals, and one each from university associate and assistant professors, college professors and other teachers. The Syndicate has also been empowered to delegate its executive functions to the VC, a subcommittee or other designated authorities as prescribed by regulations. The ex-officio members of the Syndicate now include the Punjab CM, Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Punjab Education Minister, Chandigarh Chief Secretary, Punjab Higher Education Secretary, UT Education Secretary and the Chandigarh MP — making it a high-powered body with direct representation from both the UT and the state of Punjab. According to senior officials, these structural changes were carried out by the Department of Higher Education, Union Ministry of Education, under the relevant provisions of law. They are based largely on the recommendations of a special committee constituted in 2021 by the then Vice President of India and PU Chancellor M Venkaiah Naidu. The panel comprised the VCs of PU, Central University of Punjab (Bathinda) and Guru Nanak Dev University (Amritsar), with former MP and long-time Senate member Satya Pal Jain representing the Chancellor. The committee submitted its report in 2022, and the reconstitution now closely aligns with its recommendations. The previous term of the PU Senate expired on October 31 last year. The Centre had been deliberating on its reconstitution since then, but the process was delayed following the departure of former Vice President and PU Chancellor Jagdeep Dhankhar. The final nod came after the new Vice President and PU Chancellor, CP Radhakrishnan, who assumed charge on September 12 this year, reviewed and approved the committee’s report. Sources indicated that the formal notification announcing the reconstitution of the Senate and Syndicate is expected shortly. Show proof of lapse in probe, says HC Wife moves court for release of late Hry on plea seeking transfer of case to CBI IGP’s phone, laptop Bench adjourns hearing giving petitioner’s counsel more time to prepare case WHAT’S ON IPS OFFICER’S SUICIDE CHANDIGARH Alumni meet: The 6th PU Global Alumni Meet at the university auditorium (9 am to 5 pm) Ramkrishan Upadhyay PANCHKULA Exhibition: Haryana Governor Ashim Kumar Ghosh to inaugurate a three-day cultural programme-cumexhibition at Yavnika Garden on the occasion of 60th Haryana Foundation Day (10 am) MOHALI Live performance: Sufi singer Kamal Khan to perform live at F Lounge, Mohali Walk Mall (8 pm) APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 40, 43 & 49 Panchkula: Sector 14 Mohali: Sectors 71 and 82 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com INBRIEF REALTOR BAJWA IN ED REMAND Mohali: An Enforcement Directorate court has sent Bajwa Developer managing director Jarnail Singh Bajwa to three-day remand in a money laundering case. Bajwa, currently lodged in the Ropar Jail, was produced in the court here on Friday. His production warrants were issued a day before. The ED had recorded Bajwa’s statement in the jail over his Rs 662.49-crore property and moved an application in the court for his formal arrest in the case. TNS POWER SHUTDOWN MOHALI 10 am to 5 pm: Sectors 67 to 71, Phase 3A, 3B1, 3B2, 5 to 10, Mataur village, Kumbhra and nearby areas Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 31 Hearing a public interest litigation for transfer of the investigation in the suicide case of Haryana IPS officer Y Puran Kumar to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today questioned the petitioner to show proof that the agencies were not conducting the probe in a free and fair manner. “You have to point out some anomaly in the investigation, some lapse. The CBI is already quite overburdened. Let’s not casually pass orders for transfer of probe,” stated the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry. The court observed that since the investigation into the Haryana cadre officer’s death was being conducted by the Chandigarh Police, there was no question of partiality. “Had it been conducted by Haryana, that would have been different,” observed the Bench. The counsels of the Haryana state and Chandigarh Police also opposed the PIL during the hearing. Deepak Balyan, Additional Advocate General representing the state of Haryana, said the petitioner was a resident of Punjab. The court has adjourned the matter as it granted the petitioner’s counsel more time to prepare his case. The PIL has been filed by Navneet Kumar, a resident of Ludhiana, under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India. He stated that the death of such a high-ranking public servant under mysterious and disturbing circumstances sent shockwaves across the nation, eroding public confidence in the internal accountability mechanisms of the civil services. The recovery of multiple suicide notes, one allegedly written nearly a month before the incident, explicitly naming eight IPS and two IAS officers as responsible for his death, pointed to a grave possibility of systemic abetment, castebased persecution and criminal conspiracy within the very institutional framework he served. The petitioner, who is president of Hope Welfare Society, an NGO, invoked the writ jurisdiction of the court to protect the integrity of the Indian Police Service, to safeguard the rule of law and to ensure that justice is done free from local influence or institutional bias. He said the Chandigarh Police, which were present- ly investigating the matter, had territorial, institutional and administrative limitations, as the deceased was a Haryana-cadre officer and the UT Administration was closely intertwined with both Haryana and Central establishments. These conflicts of interest rendered the ongoing investigation neither impartial nor effective, claimed the petitioner while seeking the transfer of investigation to the CBI. The petitioner has also submitted a representation to the respondent-Central Government. He also prayed for immediate directions to preserve all material evidence, including the suicide notes, call data records, CCTV footage and digital communications, and to restrain the Chandigarh Police from continuing any further investigation during the pendency of his petition. Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 31 Amneet P Kumar, IAS officer of Haryana and wife of late IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, has filed an application before a local court seeking directions to the Chandigarh Police to return his mobile phone and laptop that were seized during the investigation in the suicide case. The court has issued notices to the respondents. The family of the Haryana IGP had handed over the laptop to the UT police as part of the investigation on the direction of the court. The police had approached the court after the family delayed handing over the laptop to them. It was allegedly used by Kumar to type his ‘final note’ before he died by suicide. The police claimed that the laptop was a crucial piece of evidence and had to OFFICER COMMITTED SUICIDE ON OCT 7 ■ Y Puran Kumar, a 2001-batch IPS officer, was found dead with a gunshot wound at his Sector 11 house on October 7. ■ Kumar had named 16 senior IAS and IPS officers in his note, alleging harassment and holding them directly responsible for his decision to take the extreme step. be sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for authentication of the note and fingerprint analysis and scrutiny of the officer’s email accounts. Cops had also seized two cellphones of the 2001-batch IPS officer, who was found dead with a gunshot wound at his Sector 11 house on October 7. Kumar had named 16 senior IAS and IPS officers in his note, alleging harassment and holding them directly responsible for his decision to take the extreme step. Mohali civic body House meet on Youth, NSS volunteers march for unity Nov 3, garbage disposal on agenda Tribune News Service Gaurav Kanthwal Tribune News Service Mohali, October 31 The Mohali Municipal Corporation has called a General House meeting on November 3 to discuss the issues of garbage disposal and dumping ground. According to the agenda of the meeting, two garbage processing units are being run by the civic body at Phase 5 (Shahimajra) and near Jagatpura, but residents are complaining of foul smell and unhygienic conditions. They are demanding the relocation of both the plants. Mayor Amarjit Singh Sidhu said it would take at least two years for the dumping site at Samgoli to become functional as there was no approach road to the proposed site. The development work was yet to be carried out there. “The Mohali MC generates around 100 tonnes garbage within its limit and around 50-60 tonnes of garbage is dumped here from outside,” he said. Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh has also been invited to the meeting. Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor Kuljit Singh Bedi met GMADA Chief Administrator Sakshi Sawhney and submitted a demand letter highlighting key civic issues concerning the Mohali region. Among them were the need for improved waste management and a new dumping ground, completion of pending major roads, construction of a new cremation ground and relocation of old foot-over bridges. Bedi pointed out that due to the closure of the old dumping ground, garbage had been piling up in several parts of Mohali, creating serious health concerns for residents. Therefore, he urged GMADA to immediately identify a new site and initiate a waste-to-energy or waste-to-fuel project, which would ensure sustainable sanitation in Mohali in the long run. He added that the matter was beyond the capacity of the MC and should be handled directly by GMADA. In addition, he sought timely completion of important road projects such as PR-6 Road, the parallel road adjoining IT City, the damaged Sector 104 road, and the stretch from Kumbhra Chowk to Bawa White House and from Bawa White House to the Airport. Bedi said considering the city’s growing population, a new cremation ground was the need of the hour, as the existing one was located on only one side of the city, forcing residents from other areas to travel long distances. Along with this, he urged the authorities to relocate old and unused foot-over bridges to locations where these were required the most such as YPS Chowk, Civil Hospital (Phase 6) and Gurdwara Singh Shaheedan Chowk. c m y b Chandigarh, October 31 Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria led the Sardar@150 Unity March held to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Iron Man of India, at Sukhna Lake here today. The event, organised by the Chandigarh Administration in collaboration with MY Bharat under the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, saw participation of around 800 youth and NSS volunteers. On the occasion, the Governor administered the ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ pledges to participants. Addressing the gathering, Kataria said the march was not merely a commemorative event but a powerful national movement to awaken the spirit of unity, integrity and service among the youth. He remarked, “Sardar Youth and NSS volunteers participate in Unity March organised by the UT Administration at Sukhna Lake to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. PHOTO: VICKY Patel played a monumental role in the unification of India. If we take a pledge and think deeply about what Sardar Patel did for the country, each one of us will feel inspired to con- tribute something meaningful to the nation.” Kataria urged the young generation to stay away from drugs and dedicate themselves to the service of the nation. “A strong and self- reliant India can only be built by disciplined, healthy, and responsible youth,” he said, adding that self-reliance reflected not only economic independence but also moral and social strength.