A lit fest to showcase military history
The first Military Literature Festival will begin in Chandigarh on Friday. Being a military historian and author, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has initiated the festival, which is being jointly promoted by the Punjab government and the Chandigarh Administration with an objective to spread awareness among public about military literature. Thinkers, authors, historians, curators and experts on defence matters will take part in the event.
The idea of such a literature festival was mooted by Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore. The event will feature panel discussions on the major wars after Independence, military figures from ancient to modern times, military expeditions and prominent military operations including in Kargil and Kashmir, among other topics.
In the Swachh Bharat race
The Chandigarh Administration and the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation have told municipal workers in the city to download Swachh Bharat app on their mobile phones and send pictures of any garbage they see lying around. This has not gone down well with many of the employees who find the work an extra burden.
They have come up with the excuse that most of them don’t have Internet access and that they are finding it difficult to download the app. However, the authorities are in no mood to buy these excuses, since the city went down in the ranking for clean cities in the country this year. They are leaving no stones unturned to be number one in public participation.
There’s a robocop on the highway
The NHAI has installed a robot to regulate traffic near Zirakpur on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway, where road works are on. The robot has a light fitted on it and sports reflective tapes so that drivers can see the humanoid from a distance. It also has a light so that drivers can see it in fog, and holds a red flag in one hand to stop vehicles.
Tablets to check vehicle theft
With Chandigarh Police distributing tablets to all 16 Station House Officers in the city to check vehicle thefts the SHOs will now have information at their fingertips. They only have to feed in the vehicle registration number in the tablets to know if it is stolen. The software will also provide info about the type of vehicle, its make and model. The tablets will help police to check information about vehicles at the checkpoints. Thieves often put fake number plates on vehicles, but information from the tablets will help police nab such criminals. This year, 760 vehicles have been stolen in the city so far, up from 616 last year.
Panjab University may hike fees
Students in colleges affiliated to Panjab University may have to shell out more money for the 2018-19 session, as a five percent fee hike will be discussed in a meeting on December 10. The hike (a maximum of Rs 1,000), which will will include exam and tuition fees, is meant to pay for better infrastructure and amenities.
The university is running short of funds and has been told by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to generate its own funds. In the 2016-17 financial year, out of its Rs 250 crore income, 50 percent had come from examination fee, 32 percent from tuition fee and other charges, and the rest from other sources such as hostel, sports and entrance test fees.
Harpreet Bajwa
Our correspondent in Chandigarh
hsbajwa73@gmail.com