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SI suspended for assaulting couple
Panchkula, April 18
The “moral policing” of the Panchkula police has once again come under fire from various quarters, following the assault on a married couple near Tawa Chowk late last night. The police had assaulted a young man, Mahavir Sharma, and his wife, Monica, after mistaking them as “love birds showing affection in public.”

City to get less power from Centre
Chandigarh, April 18
The Union Power Ministry has cut the share of Chandigarh from the Central power pool by around 20 MW. To tide over any crisis which may occur in the summer, the Chandigarh Administration has asked the Power Trading Corporation to purchase power from other sources.

Devotees take part in ‘abhishek’ ceremony on the occasion of Sh Jagannath Annual Utsav in Sanatan Dharam Radha Vrindavan Chander Mandir in Sector 12, Panchkula, on Friday.  — Photo Parvesh Chauhan

Another woman commits suicide
Chandigarh, April 18
A 21-year-old woman of Dadu Majra Colony committed suicide by hanging herself in a temple here this evening. The victim, Pinki, was married to Devinderjit, about 11 months ago. The father-in-law and husband of the victim work as priests at Kabir Temple in the colony.

Supply of fruits comes to a virtual standstill
Chandigarh, April 18
The supply of fruits, lemon and onion came to a virtual standstill in the city as truckers’ strike entered the fifth day today. Traders have started projecting an artificial shortage of various essential commodities on the pretext of the strike.

Keep surroundings clean or get penalised
Chandigarh, April 18
It’s time for city residents to be very careful for the insanitary conditions in and around their houses or commercial buildings.

SUMEDH SAINI CASE
Charge-sheet against Bhullar, 5 others
Chandigarh, April 18
The UT police today filed a charge-sheet against six persons, including Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, who has been sentenced to death in a case relating to a bomb attack on former All-India Youth Congress President Maninderjit Singh Bitta, for their alleged involvement in carrying out a blast in the city to eliminate former UT SSP Sumedh Singh Saini. Mr Saini is presently posted as the IG (Operations), Punjab.

40,000 cr for energising power sector
Chandigarh, April 18
A sum of Rs 40,000 crore has been earmarked for carrying out improvements in the power sector in the next five years. Besides, stress will be laid on increasing hydro power generation in the country, said Union Power Minister Ananth G. Geethe, minutes after laying the foundation stone of an additional block of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) headquarters in Sector 19 here today.

R.K. Sharma comes home, refuses to talk to media
Panchkula, April 18
Mr Ravi Kant Sharma, former Inspector-General of Haryana police and accused in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case, arrived here today on a five-day bail to attend his elder daughter Pragatti's wedding to be held on April 20.

Mr R.K. Sharma, a former IG, Haryana, and accused in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case, who arrived in Panchkula on Friday on five-day bail to attend his daughter’s wedding. 
— A Tribune photograph

TRIBUNE IMPACT
SDO’s orders cut short Baisakhi fair
Organisers to sue officer for damages 
SAS Nagar, April 18
In the absence of a written permission with the organisers to use the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) land, the eight-day Baisakhi fair in the township came to a premature end here today with the organisers made to remove all stalls from the site on the orders of the SDO (buildings).

• SDO shifted, inquiry ordered

J.F.R Jacob completes five-year term
Chandigarh, April 18
The five-year term of the governor of Punjab and Administrator of UT, Chandigarh, Lt-Gen JFR Jacob (retd) expired today.

COMMUNITY

Sophisticated radars for highway
Dera Bassi, April 18
Alarmed over the sharp increase in accidents on the Zirakpur-Jharmari stretch of the Chandigarh-Ambala national highway, the Punjab police has decided to introduce sophisticated radars to check overspeeding and rash driving.

A day of fasting and prayers
Chandigarh, April 18
It was a day of fasting and prayers for so many Christians living all over the region. Immaculately dressed up, they religiously thronged the churches all over the city for attending the worship service. Among them were foreigners visiting the city.

GOOD FRIDAY: Devotees enact the Stations of The Cross at the Sector 19 cathedral in Chandigarh. — Photo Manoj Mahajan

Long queues annoy residents
Chandigarh, April 18
Excitement over buying a vehicle turns into dejection soon after city residents reach the registration office recently inaugurated at the Sector 42 stadium. A small room in the basement stuffed with people standing in a serpentine queue, meagre staff behind the counter, smell of sweat and just two fans throwing warm air makes it impossible for you to wait for your turn.

Bitta seeks jobs for kin of terrorist victims
Chandigarh, April 18
The All-India Anti-Terrorist Front (AIATF) here today urged the UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd) to give jobs to kin of victims of terrorism and provide them with houses on subsidised rates, free education, bus and rail travel facilities.

Families of terrorist victims meet Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd) at Punjab Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh on Friday. — A Tribune photograph

Footpath workers to hold ‘halla march’
Chandigarh, April 18
The footpath workers’ Rozgar Bachao Samiti (FWRBS), Chandigarh, has decided to hold a ‘halla march’ to Punjab Raj Bhavan on April 21 in protest against the alleged callous attitude of the UT Administration towards their demands.

Bonsai show opens today
Chandigarh, April 18
Year after year, the Bonsai Club of India brings the best of living art forms to the city. Thanks to the annual bonsai show, organised by the club, appreciation for the art form is growing not only in the city, but also in the region. No wonder then that the club that started with a thin membership now has a strong list of members.

Bonsai in full bloom

• How to make a bonsai

City accidents: human error major cause
Chandigarh, April 18
The Chandigarh Police has found that human negligence is the major cause of fatal accidents on the city roads in the past three-and-a-half months. So far this year, 37 persons, including six women, have died in road accidents.

Chandigarh most livable city
Chandigarh, April 18
Chandigarh is the best city and Delhi consistently the worst on several counts in India. Six of the top 10 cities in the country are from South India, according to a survey.

1 killed as car rams into tree
Panchkula, April 18
A 60-year-old woman was killed and her husband and son were seriously injured when their car rammed into a tree on the national highway No. 22 while trying to overtake a truck.

SAVE SUKHNA
Technical experts needed
The constant inflow of silt into the lake amply establishes it as an engineering failure because of a lack of comprehensive planning and defective maintenance. The malady needs immediate remedy.

READERS WRITE
Sahir was a poet of love and beauty
THIS has reference to ‘Sahir’s logic was his magic’ by M.S. Cheema, Chandigarh Tribune, April 6, 2003. Sahir Ludhianvi (1922-80) was essentially a poet of love and beauty.

• Why no holiday on Ram Navami
• Top positions for professors
• Our hypocrisy on Sony TV
• ‘Ajitgarh’ should be the right name

EDUCATION

Teachers resent transfers in middle of session
Chandigarh, April 18
Transfer of school teachers in the middle of an academic session has caused resentment among teachers and students alike.

ABVP for new laws on admissions
Chandigarh, April 18
The Centre and the state governments should enact laws to ensure transparency in admissions and appropriateness of fee structure, particularly in professional colleges at the state and the national level.

Special chance for honours students
Chandigarh, April 18
Panjab University has decided to give a special re-appear chance to students of the second and third year of the honours subject in BA, B.Sc or B.Com in affiliated colleges, official sources said here today.

Will PU students be affected by fee hike?
Chandigarh, April 18
Will the fee hike, announced by the Punjab Government recently, affect the students of the Panjab University campus? The question gains importance in view of the conflicting views on the subject given by the Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University and the Principal Secretary, Higher Education, Punjab.

Science literacy workshop enters fourth phase
Chandigarh, April 18
The Centre for Education and Voluntary Action’s (CEVA) special programme aimed at introducing science and technological literacy in the city today entered its fourth phase.

COURTS

DISTRICT COURTS
3,000 summoned for special lok adalat
Chandigarh, April 18
As many as 3,000 persons have been summoned in connection with various summary cases, including traffic challans and cases under the Shop Act, by a local court for a special lok adalat to be held on April 19.

• 6-month RI in theft case

Cable TV wires: notices to MC, 4 others
SAS Nagar, April 18
Ms Preeti Sahni, Civil Judge, (Senior Division), Kharar today issued notices to the Municipal Council (MC), SAS Nagar, and four others for July 22 on a public interest petition filed by the Federation of Consumers Rights and Mr Arunjeev Singh Walia, a local resident, directing the MC to remove all cable TV wires and poles erected on streets in the town without permission which endangered people’s lives.