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TOP STORIES

Major fire in paper unit
SAS Nagar, October 31
A tissue paper manufacturing unit in Industrial Area, Phase IX, was destroyed in a fire that started in the wee hours here today. Due to highly inflammable material lying in the factory, the fire raged for over four hours before it was doused by fire fighters.

Inspection of draft rolls from November 7
Chandigarh, October 31
The Election Commission of India has ordered for special revision of electoral rolls of the Chandigarh parliamentary constituency with January 1, 2003, as the qualifying date.

Charges & counter-charges galore on PU poll eve
Chandigarh, October 31
Allegations and counter-allegations reigned supreme at the open-house debate of different student organisations a day before the elections to the Panjab University Campus Students’ Council here today.

A sea of students at the open house debate on the eve of elections to the Panjab University Campus Students Council in Chandigarh on Thursday. — Tribune photo Manoj Mahajan

Councillors give themselves Divali gift
Chandigarh, October 31
Members of the fund-starved Municipal Corporation here today gave themselves a Divali gift unanimously passing a resolution to increase meetings’ allowance and approving telephone, constituency and stationery allowances.

Separate bylaws for  Mani Majra on cards
Chandigarh, October 31
Residents of four villages of the Municipal Corporation and Manimajra are likely to get a big relief with the corporation considering to grant them no objection certificates under a separate set of bylaws for these areas.

COMMUNITY

A ‘slight bias’ in favour of three Panchkula sectors?
Panchkula, October 31
Other than three oldest developed sectors here, the rest of township does not figure high on list of priorities of Haryana Urban Development Authority. In terms of maintenance of roads and streetlights, clearing of road berms and sanitation, residents of the township are like poor cousins of residents living in Sectors 6, 7 and 8.

BJP morcha for Wakf Board in Punjab
Chandigarh, October 31
The BJP’s national Minority Morcha today urged its local unit to immediately get a Wakf Board constituted in Punjab and also launch a house-to-house campaign for encouraging the children of the minority community to go to schools.

Travails of having 8-seater vehicle
Chandigarh, October 31
A class of vehicle owners in Chandigarh, who own eight-seater vehicles like Maruti van, Toyota Qualis, Tata Sumo, Mohindra Bolero or any of the big jeeps, are facing harassment at the hands of the Chandigarh Administration.

Fire Deptt launches awareness drive
Chandigarh, October 31
Handle crackers with care — with this objective in mind, Chandigarh’s Fire Department has launched a massive drive for creating awareness among school students. The initiative to educate the children about fire safety measures has been taken by the Bharatiya Yuva Sangh.

CSIO helps India succeed in ALH project
Chandigarh, October 31
The Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) added glory to country’s scientific efforts during the year by filing 12 patents in six countries, winning the technology award for developing a crucial equipment for the indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA) and earning Rs 9.05 crore through research projects.

Free medical camp by ITBP

Ramgarh, October 31 As many as 400 residents and 60 pets were examined by a team of doctors of the unit hospital during a free medical check-up camp organised by the ITBP, BTC, Bhanu, at Asrewali village, near here today. Dr Tek Chand, a veterinary doctor of the ITBP, BTC, Bhanu, treats a camel during a free medical check-up camp organised by the unit at Asrewali village, near Ramgarh, in Panchkula on Thursday.

Markfed staff on warpath
Chandigarh, October 31
Employees of Markfed went on mass casual leave and staged a dharna in front of the office for the second day today. They are demanding the payment of bonus and ex-gratia as per previous years practice.

Black Divali for tubewell corpn staff
Chandigarh, October 31
Hundreds of employees of Punjab State Tubewell Corporation (PSTC) will have to celebrate Divali festival, like Dasera without salary in their pockets. Despite state government’s orders to release the salary, the treasury has not paid the salary.

• 700 phones go dead
• Chief copy holder retires
• K.K. Kapila

CRIME

Three vehicles stolen
Chandigarh, October 31
During the past 24 hours the police has registered three cases of vehicle thefts from different parts of the city. Bajaj Chetak scooter (CH03A-3001) of Mr Rattan Singh, a resident of Sector 46-B, was reportedly stolen from a parking of Shivalikview Hotel, Sector 17, yesterday.

2 held in dowry death case
Dera Bassi, October 31
The police has arrested the husband and the mother-in-law of Kiran Bala, who was allegedly set on fire by her in-laws for inadequate dowry on Friday night in Shakti Nagar Colony here.

3 impostors arrested
SAS Nagar, October 31
The SAS Nagar police has arrested three person on charges of fleecing money from street vendors and vegetable sellers posing as employees of the Municipal Council and the police here.

BUSINESS

Electronic goods market hots up
Chandigarh, October 31
After two years of slump, market of electronic goods is again warming up on the eve of Divali. Companies are competing with each other to offer discounts and freebies to boost festival sales. The dealers here are thrilled over the customers’ response and expect that the total sales during the next few days would surpass their target.

Organic foods register heavy sale
Chandigarh, October 31
For the first time since its much-hyped inauguration at Kala Gram, Manthan, the organic food counter of Chandigarh sold considerable amount of stock. Out of 60 stalls put up under the aegis of the Tribune-sponsored Rural Development Enterprise summit that concluded at CII yesterday, the organic food stall of CAPART (Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology) fared exceptionally well, recording 200 per cent sale of most varieties of chemical-free foods. 

Shopping picks up as big day approaches
Chandigarh, October 31
The shopping has already started. As the clock is silently ticking towards the boisterous festival of “patakas” and “dhamaka”, residents are busy looking out for gifts to present on the big day.

Lijjat papad to set up bakery in Ludhiana
Chandigarh, October 31
Punjab is the only state in country that has imposed sales tax on papad, prepared by rural women affiliated to Shri Mahila Udyog Lijjat Papad. Though government claims to create more jobs to empower women, it is actually killing jobs, says Ms Aruna Sharma, Director, Shri Mahila Udyog Lijjat Papads.

Chip that takes care of cell fears
Chandigarh, October 31
An electronic chip aimed at protecting mobile phone users from harmful radiation has hit the Indian stores this Divali season. Farnad Eco Friendly, headed by Mr K.R.Khan, is marketing this chip under the name of Strahlex in India.

• MARKET PULSE
• BSNL mobiles to ring shortly

EDUCATION

PU youth festival concludes

Chandigarh, October 31 It was an ecstatic crowd at the grounds of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, here today, which set the mood for the afternoon session of folk dances on the concluding day of the Panjab University Zone B Youth Festival. Girls present giddha on the concluding day of the PU Zone-B Youth Festival at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, Chandigarh, on Thursday. — Tribune photo Parvesh Chauhan

PU professor is UGC member
Chandigarh, October 31
Prof Aruna Goel from the Sanskrit faculty in the Correspondence Studies Department of Panjab University has been nominated as a member of the University Grants Commission, an apex body of higher education. The nomination has been done for a period of three years by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Kids hold rallies against crackers

Panchkula, October 31 Students of various schools in district today organised rallies in order to educate against use of crackers. Rallies were held out and marches organised by students of Satluj Public School, New India Public School and Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 7. Students of DAV Public School hold a rally against fire crackers at SAS Nagar on Thursday. — A Tribune photograph

Education board gets new Vice-Chairperson
SAS Nagar, October 31
Within hours of having retired as the Director Public Instructions (Primary) Punjab, Mrs Hardayal Kaur, was today appointed Vice-Chairperson of the Punjab State Education Board.

Tiny tots celebrate Divali
Panchkula, October 31
It was Divali time for the students of ACC DAV Senior Public School, Surajpur. The festival of lights was celebrated with religious fervour. The celebrations began with a bhajan recital by students.

Divali with a difference
Chandigarh, October 31
It was Divali celebrations with a difference at Little Kingdom school in Sector 8. Instead of just the students, mothers too exhibited their talents. They decorated candles, diyas, cards and pooja thalis. Colourful and innovative rangoli patterns were also traced to adorn the driveway. Lanterns and lamps made by children were also displayed.

COURTS

DISTRICT COURTS
Remand extended in forgery case
Chandigarh, October 31
Tarjinder Singh, who was arrested by the CBI on charges of cheating, forgery and corruption from Hisar on October 29, was today again remanded in police custody by the UT Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr C.L. Mohal. The CBI has sought his police custody to identify other accused and to recover the documents related to the case.

Orders extended to check crime
Chandigarh, October 31
To keep a tab on the activities of anti-social elements who may disguise themselves as petty job seekers in the city, the District Magistrate has extended his orders under Section 144 of the CrPC directing all those seeking employment in petty and informal trade or services like contract labour, including rickshaw-pullers, rehriwallahs, phariwallahs, washermen and cobblers, to provide their particulars along with their passport size photographs to the local police to enable identification or verification of criminal elements.

CULTURE

NEW RELEASES
Kareena, Tusshar back with ‘Jeena Sirf Mere Liye’
Vashu Bhagnani has launched many newcomers. After the box-office failure of his last film ‘”Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein”, he is back with another love story, “Jeena Sirf Mere Liye”. The film stars Kareena Kapoor and Tusshar Kapoor.

Halloween spirit at discotheques

Chandigarh, October 31 Masks were not required. Ignorance about Halloween was “no deterrent”. Little wonder, city residents, foreign to the term and significance of the alien festival, jumped onto the bandwagon and rushed to various discotheques for celebrating the occasion. Masked Marvel: Youngsters at the Halloween bash at a discotheque in Chandigarh on Thursday. — A Tribune photograph

Sa re ga ma pa auditions on Nov 10
Chandigarh, October 31
The popular Zee talent show sa re ga ma pa is coming to the city to announce auditions for its all-India inter-collegiate talent hunt. Entries are invited from all talented youngsters at graduate and postgraduate levels for the special screening that will be held in Chandigarh’s DAV College, Sector 10, on November 10 at 10 am sharp.

HEALTH

Workshop on verbal autopsy
Chandigarh, October 31
A workshop on verbal autopsy was organised by the PGI’s Department of Community Medicine in association with the Registrar General of India and University of Toronto, Canada.

Fortis to start free OPD shortly
SAS Nagar, October 31
The Fortis Heart Institute will be starting a free OPD on the hospital premises soon. This was stated by the Mr Daljit Singh who took over as the new CEO (operations) of Fortis Healthcare limited this week.

SPORTS

PU win rowing championship

Chandigarh, October 31 Panjab University emerged winner in both women and men’s section of the All India Inter University Rowing Championship here at Sukhna Lake.  Gurpreet Kaur, representing Panjab University, Chandigarh, and the star of the All-India-Inter-University Rowing Championship, being complimented by other fellow medal winners at the Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh, on Thursday. — Tribune photo Manoj Mahajan

ADMINISTRATION

Nine sites identified for sale of crackers
SAS Nagar, October 31
The Deputy Commissioner, Ropar has identified nine locations in the township for the sale of crackers. The DC has, however, also agreed to a proposal of the SDM that all applications for permission for sale of crackers be routed straight through the Municipal Council who after having charged the ground rent, be allowed to sell crackers and the ground rent receipt be considered the requisite permission. 

SDM meets cable operators, residents
Panchkula, October 31
The district administration has decided to intervene in the ongoing cable war between residents and cable operators for a uniform rate in township. A meeting was called by the SDM (Civil), Mr Inder Singh, here today. Representatives of residents welfare associations and cable operators were present. Residents complained that cable charges had been enhanced several times during the past one year.

Judge suspended
Chandigarh, October 31
Panchkula’s Additional District Sessions Judge Dr S.K. Kapoor was today placed under suspension by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He had reportedly written an objectionable letter to a senior judge with regard to a case.