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Robbers hack man to death, injure 5 of family
Even two-year-old not spared
Zirakpur, January 5
In a brutal robbery incident, one person was hacked to death while five members of his family, including a two-and-half-yr-old daughter, were critically wounded when a group of armed robbers struck at Hill View Colony at Dhakauli village, near Zirakpur, in the wee hours today. The robbers also took away cash, jewellery and other valuables worth lakhs of rupees from the houses.

A policeman inspects a pool of blood at a house in Hill View Colony, Dhakauli village, near Zirakpur, where armed robbers killed Deepak Mishra (inset) and left five members of his family critically injured in the wee hours of Sunday. — Tribune photo Pravesh Chauhan

Over 1.18 lakh children below the age of five were administered polio drops during the first phase of the pulse polio immunisation campaign, which was kicked off by the UT Administrator, Lt-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd) from the Mauli Jagran Rehabilitation Colony here today. 57,862 children get protection against polio in Panchkula Children given polio drops
A child from Mauli Jagran in Chandigarh gets oral polio vaccine from UT Administrator Lieut-Gen JFR Jacob (retd) on Sunday. — A Tribune photograph

Banners of candidates removed
Panchkula, January 5
The Administration today acted tough with candidates violating the code of conduct for the Municipal Council elections here. In a four-hour operation, banners and posters of candidates from various parties and also Independents on electricity poles and trees and semi government, government and public property were removed.

Second-hand vehicles, first-hand trouble
Accident files gather dust
Chandigarh, January 5
Hundreds of files regarding investigations in cases of road accidents in the city that involved second-hand vehicles are gathering dust in record rooms of the Chandigarh police. Reason: the particulars of the owners of the vehicles are not available with the police.

IYC to set 6-pt agenda for youth
Chandigarh, January 5
The Indian Youth Congress will unveil a new agenda for the youth at a rally to be addressed by AICC President Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on January 12, the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, which is celebrated as the National Youth Day.

• IYC wants plan to end unemployment

• IYC Youth Day on Jan 12

Youth electrocuted on temple premises
Chandigarh, January 5
A 20-year-old youth from Nagpur was charred to death in a one-room accommodation in the Sector 19 Arya Samaj Mandir here this evening. The body of the victim was found lying on the floor.

CHANDIGARH CALLING THE tradition of sending greeting cards on New Year eve is in danger if the owners of greeting card showrooms are to be believed. Most of them were surprised over the sharp decline in the sale of New Year greeting cards this year. The postal department and courier services also complained of decline in business. Begging in New Year’s name IAS poet Sunbath Met observatory Book on cancer

COMMUNITY

One dead, 3 hurt in car mishap
SAS Nagar, January 5
Dense fog leading to low visibility claimed its first victim in the township late last night. While one person, an employee of the Municipal Council here, was killed, three others were seriously injured in the accident.

Cold wave claims 2 more lives
Amritsar, Ludhiana coldest in region
Chandigarh, January 5
The cold wave conditions in the north-west plains has claimed two more lives, each in Karnal and Sangrur, during the past 24 hours, taking the toll in Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh to 20 since early this week to 22.

Air Force sets precedent
Winter induction of troops by air
Chandigarh, January 5
With winter cutting off land routes, the IAF has set a precedent by inducting troops in high altitude areas in the northern sector by air this year. Earlier, induction of troops was mostly an Army affair, undertaken by road when the land routes were open.

Jacob releases book Chandigarh, January 5 Justice Surinder Singh’s book on ‘Transcending Sorrow Through Dhyana’ was released by the Lieut Gen (retd) JFR Jacob here yesterday. Speaking at the book-release function, General Jacob, said, “This book deals with the spiritual philosophy of healing deadly diseases through the power of dhyana/meditation coupled with proper medication.
The Punjab Governor and Administrator, Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), releases a book written by Justice (retd) Surinder Singh titled “Transcending Sorrow Through Dhyana” in Chandigarh on Saturday. — A Tribune photograph

Auto-rickshaw unions to meet Administrator today
Chandigarh, January 5
Nearly 2,000 auto-rickshaw operators in the city have been on strike for the past one week, to the discomfort of the public, especially schoolchildren. They are protesting against the State Transport Authority’s decision to impound 15 years old or more autorickshaws, on the directions of the Supreme Court. The Administration has so far declined to bow before their pressure and is trying to implement the decision.

National awardee honoured
Chandigarh, January 5
The Assistant Audit Officers Association here organised a function to honour a section officer, Mr Prem Singh, who was recently presented with a national award for his excellent work for the welfare of leprosy patients by the President of India.

CRIME

Dacoits behind temple thefts held

Panchkula, January 5 The police has busted a gang of dacoits who had been operating in the district over the past one year as ‘Kaale kachchewale’. With the arrest of all six members of this gang last night, the police has been able to solve at least three major cases of dacoity in temples here and in Pinjore over the past one year. Members of the CIA branch of the Panchkula police with a gang of dacoits. — A Tribune photograph

They used duplicate keys to steal cars
Chandigarh, January 5
The recovery of six stolen cars by the Chandigarh Police from a gang could just be the tip of the iceberg. The police has found that the gang members were also involved in preparing forged driving licenses.

Car-snatching incident takes new turn
Chandigarh, January 5
The last night incident of the alleged robbing of a Tata Indica car at gunpoint by three persons at the Sectors 27 and 28 traffic junction took a new turn today. Bhalinder Singh, who had been named as the main suspect in the case claimed that it was he who had been coerced and cheated by a surveyor of an insurance company.

Three burglaries in one night
Lalru, January 5
In a chain of burglaries, masked miscreants struck at three houses in Ballopur and Malikpur villages, near here, last night and decamped with cash and jewellery worth thousands of rupees.

Burglars break into scribe’s house
Chandigarh, January 5
Two incidents of burglary were reported from the city today. Burglars broke into the Sector 22 house of a senior journalist of Punjab Kesri newspaper and took away a laptop and a desktop computer.

Couple commits suicide
Panchkula, January 5
A young couple reportedly committed suicide by jumping before a train near Surajpur. Their mutilated bodies were found on the railway tracks this morning. The police says the victims could have been killed any time between midnight and early morning today. The male victim’s body that had split into two and the severed arms of the women were spotted around 9 am today.

BUSINESS

SCL gears up for 25th anniversary
SAS Nagar, January 5
Semiconductor Complex Limited, a Central Government enterprise engaged in the design, development and manufacture of very large integrated circuits commonly known as chips, will complete 25 years of its incorporation on January 12.

Finest samples of wool at expo
Chandigarh, January 5
Some finest samples of woollen products from all over the country are being showcased at Wool Expo 2003 that opened at Circus Ground complex this evening. Being organised for the first time in the city by Himachal Pradesh Cooperative Wool Processing and Marketing Federation, Shimla, the grand fair is being sponsored by the Central Wool Development Board, Jodhpur.

BSNL undeterred by tariff cut
Chandigarh, January 5
The decision of major cellular operators to slash long-distance call rates across the country may have created an initial euphoria, but Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is still undeterred, claiming that its basic landline and cellular subscribers would not shift to the private operators.

EDUCATION

CAMPUS NOTES
Migrations in Law Dept questioned
‘Unconditional’ migrations allowed to the Law department of Panjab University from the law department of the university centre at Muktsar have been questioned by students and interestingly also by a section of teachers. The candidates under question had joined the law department at Muktsar (because they were placed low on the merit list in the entrance test) and next year migrated to the campus.

HAMARA SCHOOL
GGMSS SCHOOL SECTOR 18-D
A nice blend of discipline, freedom
This is a place where every girl is made to feel important, strong and at the same time proud of their femininity. This is also a place where each girl child is being equipped to face life with proper academic knowledge but a sense of confidence which comes from exposure and extra curricular activities. This is Government Girls Model Senior Secondary School, sector 18, one of oldest schools in the city which has been catering to the girls population.

• ‘We teach them to take pride in their femininity’

• Poems by students

CULTURE

Dhillon’s documentary arouses interest
Chandigarh, January 5
Feeding a passion is not so easy a job, especially when it demands compromises at every level. When Mangal Dhillon took the road to religion by devoting himself to the documentation of historical facts that make Sikhism worthy of its name, he was ready to keep his commercial career aside for a while.

Connecting cultures with sonic bridges
Chandigarh, January 5
In less than a fortnight of hosting a unique photo exhibition of computer prints capturing elements of Asian cities, Alliance Francaise is ready with another show that stands out for the rarity of concept and execution.

SPORTS

Tender Heart lads shine
Chandigarh, January 5
Rohan Kakkar of Tender Heart School, Sector 33, claimed two gold medals, while his younger brother Rahul Kakkar bagged two silver medals in the Fourth Chandigarh Mountain Bike Championship held at Kaimbala hilly terrains, near Saketri, today. The one-day meet was organised by the Chandigarh Amateur Cycling Association.

• Cricket trophy

• ITBP sports meet

• NY marathon

• Sport Dept-XI register win