C H A N D I G A R H

Housewife braves robbers
Neighbours, cops help nab culprits
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — A housewife in her late 50s proved to be more than a match for two robbers who beat a hasty retreat after facing stiff opposition from her and were eventually nabbed by the police with the cooperation of the public.

Award for brave lady

Mohali may face water shortage again this summer
SAS NAGAR, Feb 24 — The town is once again likely to face a water shortage in summer, thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of the Municipal Council and the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board towards the residents’ basic need.

MCC clears Budget amid protests
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — As the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) passed the Budget for the year 2000-2001, amounting to Rs 167.55 crore, today, the differences between the two factions of the BJP again came to the fore.

Barring hiccups, repoll peaceful
PANCHKULA, Feb 24 — Repoll at the five polling stations in Sector 17, here, today went off peacefully, barring a few "hiccups''. Nearly 50 per cent votes were cast at the booths against 45 per cent of February 22 when voting remained suspended for three hours owing to a scuffle between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party workers.

Festival of Gardens opens today
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — The annual three-day Festival of Gardens begins at Zakir Rose Garden in Sector 16 here tomorrow. While festivities and entertainment will begin tomorrow under a strict security, the Flower Arrangement Show was held today.

Daily-use items, IT rebate main concerns
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — Expressing apprehensions regarding a tough budget creating more difficulties in household management, city residents are hoping that the prices of daily-use commodities do not go up. More rebate on savings and an increase in standard deduction is also being desired.

COMMUNITY

Lawyers hold dharna
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — Responding to the Bar Council of India's call for a nationwide strike, proceedings in the Punjab and Haryana High Court here, besides the Sector 17 District Courts, came to a standstill as advocates abstained from court work to protest against the proposed amendment in the CPC and the Advocates Act.

City gets Bulbous Garden today
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — Final touches were given to the Sector 23 Bulbous Garden which is slated for an inauguration tomorrow by Mrs Vineeta Rai, Adviser to the Administrator of Chandigarh, as part of the ensuing Festival of Gardens.

Encroachment on mini park
PANCHKULA, Feb 24 — A mini park in Sector 10, surrounded by scores of houses, where the Water Works Department of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) a year ago had set up a tube-well reportedly against the wishes of the residents, is today being illegally encroached upon by some of the employees of the department.

'More political reasons behind LoC'
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — The Line of Control between India and Pakistan drawn at the time of partition seems to have had more political reasons than geographical ones before drawing, remarked Mr Salman Khurshid, a former Minister of State for External Affairs, at the concluding ceremony of the conference on 'Rethinking boundaries: geopolitics, identities and sustainability' at Panjab University here today.

CTCC against black flag rally
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — Mr Kulbhushan Gupta, President, Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee, said in a written statement that his party does not approve of the suggestion of the all-party meet that black flag demonstration be held outside the venue of the first meeting of the Administrator’s Advisory Council.

CRIME

19 held, encroaches booked
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — In a five-day special drive to check the illegal practice of allowing the consumption of liquor in hotels and pubs, officers from the Central Division carried out raids at various establishments in the city late last night. Nineteen persons were arrested for various offences.

BUSINESS

Medical firm launches products
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — A Singapore-based medi-aids company launched its surgical and disposable products in North India, at a function held at the UT Guest House here yesterday.

EDUCATION

8 convicted for unfair means in exams
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — As many as eight students have been shown the doors by Panjab University following their conviction for using unfair means in the annual examinations.

Campus Beat

Map quiz for students
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — As part of the ongoing celebrations of the National Science Day-2000, a map quiz for students of classes IX to XII from various schools of the city was organised this morning by the North Western Circle, Survey of India, Sector 32, at its office premises.

• Rally by college employees
• Teachers go on mass leave
• Kids synchronise with piano notes
• Hike in honorarium sought
• Headmaster honoured for educating poor
• MCM DAV wins debate competition

COURTS

Rose Garden stalls case hearing today
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — The suit challenging the allotment of stalls within a radius of 200 metres from the “two entrances of the Rose Garden” during the Festival of Gardens continued today with the defendants seeking the dismissal of the stay application and the plaintiffs asking for the appointment of a local commissioner. The two applications will come up before a city court for further hearing tomorrow.

Court seeks report on bribery case
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — Directing the Station House Officer of the Sector 17 police station to "only investigate the case" of alleged demand of bribe by two employees of the Electricity Department, UT Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr S.S. Lamba, today asked him to "send the report by March 11".

HEALTH

Monitoring patients in ICU discussed
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — Early detection of any problem in the vital functioning of the body, immediate intervention, close monitoring and the prevention of any complications are of foremost importance in the management of a critically ill child. This was the focus today of the pre-conference CME of the second national conference on paediatric intensive care being organised by the Advanced Paediatric Centre (AMC), PGI, on the AMC premises. The subject of the pre-conference CME was the basic intensive care workshop.

AIDS awareness road show
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — The AIDS Control Centre, in collaboration with a home appliance company, will organise a road show on February 27 to create awareness on AIDS. The highlight of the event will be various addresses to the crowd by patients having this disease.

SPORT

Eagerly awaited sport facility
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — Sport activities in Panchkula are restricted to schools mostly as no good-standard sport facility exists. The Haryana Urban Development Authority has constructed some community centres in various sectors in the town where only limited sport can be played. These facilities are also not regularly available, as at the time of social functions at these centres, players have to forego the practice.

Cricket prodigy shaping up well
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — A passion for cricket along with eight hours of rigorous practice daily at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium, is the story of young Simrandeep Singh Brar. His resolve to become a good cricketer has been reinforced after watching the heroic performance of Yuveraj Singh at the recently concluded World Youth Cup. Simrandeep, a student of Yadavindra Public School in SAS Nagar, has recently taken the Class IX examinations.

City carrom team chosen
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — The Chandigarh Carrom Association has selected a five-member team, including two women, to represent the city at the XXIX Senior National and Inter-State Carrom Championship to be held at Ongole (AP) from February 29 to March 5

ADMINISTRATION

Admn begins land acquisition work
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — The Chandigarh Administration has started proceedings for acquisition of land in various villages for the development of Phase III sectors. In a notification issued recently under Sections 6 and 7 of the Land Acquisition Act, the Administration has made its intentions clear of acquiring nearly 225 acres in various villages of the Union Territory.

UT notifies policy on power supply
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — The Chandigarh Administration has notified its policy for supply of power to Cooperative House Building Societies facilitating release of connections to the societies at a single point or on an individual basis to members concerned to meet its requirement of providing trunk periphery services by the Engineering Department.

ESIC’s anniversary
CHANDIGARH, Feb 24 — The Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) is safeguarding the interests of 5,16,300 workers in the states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.