HUDA nets Rs 30 cr from auction
Panchkula, January 28
The property prices in the town are going up with each passing day. The auction of commercial sites by the Haryana Urban Development Authority( HUDA) proved this yet again today.

Bollywood stars descend on city
Pooja Bhatt, John Abraham came calling today
Chandigarh, January 28
Pooja Bhatt loves flaunting the strange relationship she has with Bollywood. Why else would she, with all her disagreements about the way things work in the world of Hindi cinema, still describe it as a medium with a wonderful idiom. But her father's daughter as she is, Pooja always evolves her own vocabulary to bring the idiom down to the level of her sensibilities.

Bobby Deol also stops by
While most media remained preoccupied with the visit of ''Paap'' team led by its director Pooja Bhatt, another star quietly sneaked into a city hotel. Bobby Deol could have escaped attention had it not been for the excited fans who spotted the hunk right away.


On his way to Manali, Bobby Deol halts for a while in Chandigarh to catch up with friend John Abraham on Wednesday. 
—  Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan

Country Club membership fee may be refunded
Mohali, January 28
With the Punjab Vigilance Bureau booking Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer and former MD of the Punjab State Electronics Development and Production Corporation G.S. Pirzada for allegedly allowing the grant of 99-year lease to Country Club here, the club management is talking in terms of refunding its members of their membership fee if the club closes down.

Country Club at Mohali. — A Tribune photograph

Volunteers to be trained in AIDS-control methods
Chandigarh, January 28
Volunteers and staff working with the Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh AIDS Control Societies, will be sent for training to high-prevalence states like Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, to be able to learn and replicate from the experience of those who are fighting against the killer disease in these areas.

COMMUNITY

Pramod fighting a losing battle
Chandigarh, January 28
Even after spending Rs 1.50 lakh on getting a kidney transplant done at the PGI, Pramod Kumar, feels that he is fighting a losing battle as the family which hails from Jaunpur village in Uttar Pradesh, has no money to buy medicines which are essential for the body to accept the donor’s kidney.

Students of Tender Heart School, Sector 33, Chandigarh, during their visit to The Tribune office on Wednesday. — A Tribune photograph

Book on Lajpat Rai released
Chandigarh, January 28
“India can ill afford to ignore the vision of Lala Lajpat Rai in today’s context, when the country is faced with acute problems of poverty, illiteracy, corruption, communalism and terrorist violence,” said Andhra Pradesh Governor Surjit Singh Barnala, here today.

Overall trophy goes to city police
Chandigarh, January 28
The Chandigarh police bagged the overall trophy during the Republic Day marchpast at Parade Grounds, Sector 17. The following contingents won first prizes in their respective categories:

Readers Write
The Panchkula Municipal Corporation’s decision to exempt defence personnel from paying house tax and fire tax should be extended to senior citizens. With the government regularly decreasing the rate of interest on small saving schemes, including PPF, and the rise in prices of essential commodities, it is very hard for pensionless senior citizens to sustain themselves.

Website for Dalits
Chandigarh, January 28
The Jogi Ram Trust has launched a website — www.dalitawaz.com — for educating Dalit government employees on the safeguards available to them under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

CRIME

Women pick-pockets of Sansi tribe held
Mohali, January 28
The local police today arrested four women, belonging to the Sansi tribe, on charges of theft. The four, two of them sisters, along with their two infants were caught by the police from the Phase IV market and a purse was recovered from them.

Photography equipment worth 25,000 stolen
Mohali, January 28
Breaking into a photography studio located in Phase III B 2, Mohali, later this evening, thieves stole goods worth Rs 25,000.

EDUCATION

‘Economic viewpoint reigns supreme’
Chandigarh, January 28
“People live and work for money. The good human being is lost in this rush to build bank balances. The economic viewpoint to redefine success has taken a toll on our society and we need to deal with it,” said Prof S.L. Sharma, a former faculty member of Panjab University, at a seminar on “Towards a moral society” organised by the Sociological Society of Government College, Sector 46, here today.

Students attend courses on networking
Mohali, January 28
Specially designed training programmes for international participants on “Advanced Course on Networking Management” and “Computer Aided Drafting and Designing’’  were inaugurated at the Centre for Advanced Computing, here yesterday.

Participants at the specialised training programme on networking management at CDAC, Mohali, on Tuesday. 

Where stress is on varied experiences
Chandigarh, January 28
Ryan International School, Sector 49, is a branch of St Xavier’s Group of Schools, Mumbai. It began with its first session in April last year. “The school wants to give their child varied experiences in sports and other co-curricular activities”, explained Ms Poonam Sharma, Principal. She said the objective and methodology behind Ryan group was to take care of the child in every respect.

RIMC entrance test on June 1, 2
Chandigarh, January 28
The next entrance examination for admission to the Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehra Dun, for January 2005 term will be conducted at scheduled centres on June 1 and 2 this year.

Storytelling sessions for kids
Chandigarh, January 28
British Library and Chitkara International School will organise storytelling sessions for children between three to seven years and their parents from 11 am to 1 pm on February 1 at British Library.

COURTS

Application sought for lawyer chambers
Chandigarh, January 28
Following the Chandigarh Administration’s decision to shift the District Courts Complex from its present location in Sector 17 to a more spacious place in Sector 43, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has put up a notice in the complex seeking names of lawyers practising in the courts and seeking chambers in the new complex.

CULTURE

Seeking peace in turbulent times
Chandigarh, January 28
“Bheed mein akele”, the Hindi translation of playwright Bernard Marie Koltes’s “Dans la solitude des champs de coton”, explored the anxiety of urban existence on the stage of Alliance Francaise, Sector 36, last evening.

Impressive cultural programme by PNB
Chandigarh, January 28
A cultural programme was organised by Punjab National Bank today at Tagore Theatre, Chandigarh, in which various cultural items like one act play, skit, group song, group dance, gazals and western classical instrumental music were presented by the PNB Northern Zone cultural team. The cultural items presented here have been prepared by the PNB team for presentation at the PNB All India Inter Zone Cultural Competition to be held from February 3 to February 7, 2004, at Pearey lal Bhavan, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi. 

Art works with a difference
Chandigarh, January 28
Punjab Kala Bhavan, Sector 16, and Government Museum, Sector 10, opened to the exhibits put up by Sanjay Gupta, a city-based art instructor, who has taken the lead in holding two exhibitions simultaneously.

Basant fest concludes on a springy note
Chandigarh, January 28
The three-day Basant festival organised by the Environment Society of India wrapped up at Leisure Valey on Monday with the distribution of prizes to the winners in various categories of contests. Although the festival did not turn out to be as spirited as was expected, it offered a healthy platform on which children from various schools of Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali, Parwanoo and Nalagarh competed for the first position.

LIFESTYLE

Home Decor
A home that is contemporary, yet traditional
T HE Tanwars’ home is warm and welcoming. Its like a whiff of fresh air, and unlike most other homes in the city, this home is designed to let in sunshine, and allow you to gaze at the stars on a clear night. Inspite of the space constraints’ — the covered area of the top floor flat in Sector 48 is 1,500 square meters — the house encompasses all the hues from white to black, and still the element of space is not lost. 

A cafe that will entertain Airtel staff
I f the consumer is the king, then the employee is supreme. Following in the footsteps of large multinational companies which try to provide the best possible working environment to their employees, Airtel here today launched a concept cafe and entertainment centre in the office for the exclusive use of its employees.

Mr Alok Kumar, international cue sports star and Arjuna awardee (extreme right), at the inauguration of “Wheelz” cafe at Airtel office in Mohali on Wednesday. Mr Harshvendra Soin, GM, Northern Region (centre), is also in the picture. — A Tribune photograph

Eating out
The food island beckons you
THERE are times when you look for a retreat. A time to spend in a leisurely manner. Where there is enough for everyone in the family to feel okay about. Specially the kids. They must not feel neglected or bored. Some entertainment to keep them happily occupied. At the same time, you can also relax with your family or friends.

A new fabric for the fashion conscious
AS the winter is preparing a retreat, Malavika Sen, an upcoming entrepreneur, is all set to introduce to the fashion conscious crowd of the city a new fabric for the coming summer, Bagh. Though the name immediately conjures up an image of the bright floral patterns of our own Bagh embroidery, Malavika’s Bagh is very different from what we see. This Bagh offers a variety of block printed cotton dress materials which is essentially ethnic in nature but highly adaptable to suit the modern taste.

‘A good man for us artistes’
Parvesh Sethi, well-known theatre artiste of this region, has been awarded with a lifetime achievement award by the UT Administration for his contribution towards performing arts. He was given a commendation certificate by Mr Lalit Sharma, Adviser to the UT Administrator on the Republic Day function organised at the Sector 17 Parade Ground.

Suri, Pathak head panels
Chandigarh, January 28
The PGI Dean and Head of Radiodiagnosis Department, Prof Sudha Suri, has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Standing Academic Committee. The Union Health and Welfare Ministry constituted the governing body and other important committees of the PGI after their term expired on December 3 last. 

Increase in PGI budget to help complete projects
Chandigarh, January 28
An enhancement of Rs 9.50 crore in the non-plan budget will enable the PGI to not just complete some of the ongoing projects but will also help the institute to undertake new projects.