COMMUNITY

Illegal bridges by Railly villagers pose danger
PANCHKULA, Feb 7 — Two illegally constructed bridges, one of which is dilapidated, connect Railly village to Sector 12-A of the township. This has been done by the villagers "to establish contact with the world outside the village".

Causeway collapse hits villagers
PAPPRI (SAS Nagar), Feb 7 — Excess discharge in the sewer and heavy vehicular traffic caused the collapse of a causeway on the Kambala- Manauli road here.

Half-km stretch of knee-deep slush
ZIRAKPUR, Feb 7 — Ditches full of mud and slush have turned about half a kilometre stretch of the Zirakpur-Bartana road into a death trap. This section of the road has knee-deep potholes filled with slush. The bitumen has vanished from the road surface completely.

Road widening at snail’s pace
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — Work on the widening of two major roads — one linking the city with SAS Nagar and the Purv Marg along the Mango Belt of Sector 29 — is progressing at a snail’s pace, putting the motorists to inconvenience.

A potential traffic hazard
Chandigarh’s Sector 16 is still considered the VIP sector because top bureaucrats of not only Punjab and Haryana, but also of the Chandigarh Administration live in sprawling and spacious bungalows.

CRPC flays BJP
PANCHKULA, Feb 7 — The Constitutional Rights Protection Council of India, at its general body meeting held today in Sector 4, criticised the BJP for its plans to constitute a special committee rather than a Joint Parliamentary Committee to review the Constitution.

Employees threaten agitation
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — Members of the The Welfare Assocition of the Family Welfare Staff, in their annual general body meeting held today at the Sector 22 Health Centre, unanimously decided to go on an agitation if their long-pending demands were not accepted at the earliest by the Health Department authorities.

CRIME

Contractor commits suicide
SAS NAGAR, Feb 7 — A 36-year-old private contractor of Phase VI here allegedly committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance here past evening. He was, reportedly, facing some financial crisis and owed money to many persons. He is survived by his wife and three children.

Mentally sick boy missing
ZIRAKPUR, Feb 7 — Ramesh Mandal, a 12-year-old mentally sick boy, who has been missing from Vikas Nagar since January 22, has not returned home even after 15 days. Complaints about his disappearance have been made at the Mani Majra police station and Lohgarh police post in Zirakpur.

One killed in accident
KHARAR, Feb 7 — Mr Jasbir Singh a resident of Kharar, was killed when the scooter on which he was riding was knocked down by a mini-bus (PB-12 D-9550) this morning on Kharar- Mohali road.

BUSINESS

Change in liquor vends’ auction policy likely
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — The policy under which the Chandigarh Administration auctions liquor vends in the city on an annual basis may undergo a change and its finalisation is likely to be delayed.

NIFD to honour Lara
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — The National Institute of Fashion Design, Sector 27, will honour Lara Dutta, Femina Miss India Universe, 2000, on February 15 at the annual convocation of the NIFD at Tagore Theatre.

EDUCATION

CBSE exams from March 2
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — The Class XII examinations to be held by the Central Board of Secondary Education will commence from March 2 and the Class X examinations from March 3. This was announced by a spokesperson of the CBSE today.

HEALTH

Hospital staff seek patient care allowance
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — Employees of various unions of the Sector 16 General Hospital held a gate meeting today to demand the release of patient care allowance.

Clinical pharmacology workshop begins
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — A wide range of topics will be discussed along with practical demonstrations at the XVIII National Workshop on Clinical Pharmacology, which began here today. The workshop will conclude on February 12.

PGI employees flay committee
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — The PGI Employees Union, at its meeting held here today, strongly condemned the Standing Finance Committee, which did not clear the implementation of the Assured Career Progression Scheme for group B, C and D employees of the institute on the central pattern.

SPORT

Mala wins four titles
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — Mala Gaba, a student of St Anne's School, Sector 32, was today awarded the best player trophy in the Chandigarh State Badminton Championships, which ended at the Sector 42 Indoor Badminton Hall. Mala bagged four titles — women's singles, under-19 doubles and under-16 singles and doubles.

Meet of special kids begins today
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — More than 400 special children, including around 150 girls from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Panchkula and Chandi Mandir will participate in the two-day Regional Meet of the North-West Zone Special Olympics Society beginning at the Sector 7 Athletic Stadium from tomorrow.

Panchkula juniors win gold
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — The Panchkula district juniors table tennis team, comprising Neeraj Kumar, Vikrant Batra, Neeraj Chaudhary and Rahul Batra, won gold medal in the recently concluded Hero Honda Haryana state inter-district and open TT championship at Gurgaon.

ADMINISTRATION

CHB chief relinquishes charge
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — The Chairman of the Chandigarh Housing Board, Mr Balbir Singh, and the Assistant Commissioner-I of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh, Mr R. K. Rao, relinquished charges today.

Chinese restaurant opened
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — Ms Vineeta Rai, Adviser to the UT Administrator, inaugurated Magic Wok, a roof-top Chinese restaurant, in the new block of Hotel Mountview here today.

Rs 3 lakh donated for Kargil martyrs
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — A delegation of office-bearers of the Chandigarh Club, led by its President, Mr Chaman Lal Sharma, met the Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen J. F. R. Jacob (retd) and presented to him a cheque for Rs 3 lakh for the Army Central Welfare Fund.

IFS probationers visit Nepli forest
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — A group of 32 Indian Forest Service probationers today visited Nepli forest to study the soil conservation work in the catchment area.

Sgt Dhali judged Best Airman
CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — The No.20 Provost and Security Unit of the IAF celebrated its 37th Raising Day here today.