In Brief

Orientation programme held for parents
Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School organised a three-day orientation programme for parents of newly admitted nursery students with an objective of developing a positive relationship with the parents. Indu Sharma,the kindergarten coordinator,gave an overview of the curriculum being followed in the school for the holistic development of a child. Dr Kulpreet Dhillon,the school psychologist,also shared some parenting tips.

Workshop on health schemes held
A district level workshop of the National Rural Health Mission was held at Dana Mandi on Friday. Rajinder Singh,behaviour change communication facilitator who coordinated the workshop said,“People were made aware about the various schemes being run by the health department. These included the Janani Suraksha Yojana for women below poverty line and Scheduled Caste families,Surakshit Janepa Yojana and the Accredited Social health Activists. Jagbir Singh Sokhi,councillor of Shimla Puri area,District Family Welfare Officer Dr Reena Sandhu and District Immunisation Officer Dr K S Saini were also present.

MC engineers call off mass leave
Engineers of the Building and Roadways department on Friday came back to work after Commissioner A K Sinha agreed to recruit staff on ad hoc basis till the time a policy was framed for regular posts. Sinha said they will recruit staff on contractual basis or will call from other departments on deputation. “This will be done soon,” assured Sinha. Regarding the fake bill scam,he said,”Rs 35 lakh was outstanding payment of contractors in question with the MC and we will be adjusting this amount in our accounts and the remaining payment will be taken from them soon.” Soon after coming back to duty,the staff went to Shastri Nagar and demolished a part of the building that was being made commercial in the residential area.

Ansal Plaza stores sealed for not paying tax
The House Tax branch of the MC today sealed various stores of Ansal Plaza due to non-payment of house tax of around Rs 75.38 lakh in total. These stores included the Food Court (against which Rs 30 lakh is pending),Moti Mahal (the famous chain of restaurant which had to pay Rs 7 lakh as house tax),Sai Hospitality (Rs 8 lakh),Gemmin Kids Corner (which had to pay Rs 15 lakh. Hues store was also sealed due to non-payment of Rs 3.38 lakh house tax. Another store,Kapson,which was undergoing renovation had to pay Rs 20 lakh. They assured to pay the pending tax. “As this store had no doors,it was not sealed. Moreover,the manager assured to pay by tomorrow,” said MC staff. Most of the stores had some legal tussle with the mall management,but the MC staff said they had nothing to do with it and the stores will not be opened till the tax was paid.

Class X students say question not complete in science exam,seek grace marks
Students who appeared for the CBSE Class X science exam on Friday complained of a mistake in Set 3 of the question paper. Seeking grace marks,students said: “Question number 16,carrying three marks,had a glaring mistake. For solving the second part of the question,the potential difference between batteries was not given and only figures for three resistances were provided.”