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Candlelight study at Panjab varsity
Chandigarh, April 21
Low voltage, frequent power breakdowns and no back-up arrangements in Panjab University’s 11 hostels have given resident students of the campus some anxious moments last week. With power supply playing truant, more often, since the annual examinations got underway on April 12, three power breakdowns were reported last week.

Short-circuit incident: 1 kid dead
Mohali, April 21
Rajnish, a 12-year-old child, who along with seven other children had sustained severe burns during a short circuit accident, died at the PGI this morning. The accident had occurred on April 16.

Zoo violates guidelines in burying rhino
Chhat Bir (Patiala), April 21
Prince, a male rhino, was first cremated and then buried. In burying the rhino, the guidelines of the Central Zoo Authority regarding the disposal of carcasses have been violated.

Fake degree racket unearthed
Chandigarh, April 21
A fake B.Ed, JBT and computer course degree racket operating from the city has been unearthed. Students registered with the Sector 22 D-based Innovative Welfare Society have complained to the police that a few of them were given hand written examination papers along with books to solve them.

Hot weather hits wheat yield
Chandigarh, April 21
The country is poised to reap yet another bumper harvest of wheat. But the unexpected rise in temperature in March and April has affected the per acre yield of wheat and reduced the market arrivals by 10 to 15 per cent in the region.

Cop beaten up by woman, six others
Chandigarh, April 21
A Chandigarh police constable was allegedly beaten up by a group of seven persons, led by a woman, at Gobindpura in Mani Majra. The constable earned the ire of the woman shopkeeper when he went to her shop on the complaint of a person who alleged that his mobile phone had gone missing.

ELECTION 2004

Crorepati Bansal files papers Chandigarh, April 21 Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, the Congress candidate for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, was accompanied by a large number of supporters to the Deputy Commissioner's office here to file his nomination papers today. Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, Congress candidate from the city Lok Sabha seat, on his way to file his papers in Chandigarh on Wednesday. — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan

Jain blames Bansal for MC failures
Chandigarh, April 21
The Congress-led Municipal Corporation has failed on all fronts, Mr Satya Pal Jain, the BJP candidate for the UT Lok Sabha seat, said addressing a rally here today. He held Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, the Congress nominee for the seat, was responsible for the failure of the Corporation.

Dhawan for decorum and debate
Chandigarh, April 21 The Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party candidates for the local seat were using derogatory language against each other. Mr Harmohan Dhawan, the INLD candidate for the seat, said this while addressing a press conference here today. Mr Dhawan said “the city of the literates is known for its debates among prominent candidates. Decency has been the hallmark of such exercises.
Mr Satya Pal Jain (BJP) shares a joke with Mr Harmohan Dhawan, INLD (right) and Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal (Congress), at a discussion organised by the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal on Tuesday night in Chandigarh. — Tribune photo by Pankaj Sharma

Candidates’ assurance to traders
Chandigarh, April 21
The local Beopar Mandal submitted a charter of demands to the three major candidates for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat late evening. The Beopar Mandal demands include withdrawal of the Rent Act notification, amendment of building bylaws, abolition of leasehold system and uniform tax structure.

3 candidates declare assets
Chandigarh, April 21
Mr Mohammad Ibrahim, the Apna Dal for the UT Lok Sabha seat has zero bank balance. Mr Ibrahim has said this in his affidavit to the Returning Officer. He has jewellery worth Rs 6000 and an ancestral house worth Rs 10000.

• Ex-servicemen cell to support Congress

• Voters’ list: 12,000 apply

COMMUNITY

Rules bent for PUDA officials Mohali, April 21 The rules seem to be different for senior government officials and the common resident here when it comes to the construction of centre verges on roads in the town. The authorised gap in the centre verge on the road in front of the houses of the Senior PUDA officials in Mohali on Wednesday. — A Tribune photograph

FCI’s regional office inaugurated Chandigarh, April 21 The new Punjab regional office building of the Food Corporation of India was inaugurated today in Sector 31-A by the Union Food Secretary, Mr S. K. Tuteja. Constructed at a cost of Rs 3.34 crore, the building has five bays and six storeys including basement.
S.K. Tuteja, Food Secretary, Government of India, addresses a meeting at the inauguration of the new FCI building in Sector 31, Chandigarh, on Wednesday. — A Tribune photograph.

Family rendered homeless
Chandigarh, April 21
Using law as the cover, a landlord in Sector 23-D threw out a widow along with four children from the rented accommodation. Unfazed by requests from Ms Anju Mehta and the children, the landlady reportedly used orders of the district court as a reason to get the first floor of house number 3201 in Sector 23 D vacated.

Complaints of low-water pressure aplenty
Panchkula, April 21
Though the heat wave is yet to intensify, yet complaints of water shortage have been pouring in from different sectors. With the Haryana Urban Development Authority allegedly turning a blind eye to the problem, the residents have been facing the problem of low-water pressure for the past more than a week now.

16 liquor vends closed for one day
Chandigarh, April 21
The Additional Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Mr Inderjit Singh Sandhu, has ordered the closure of 16 liquor vends in the city for a period of 24 hours as the contractor was selling liquor at reduced rates. The closure period started at 5 pm today.

Kundi load leads to minor fire
Chandigarh, April 21
A major spark erupted in an electric pole near house number 137 of Sector 48-C, Mohali and took the form of a minor fire at about 10 p.m. Later, the fire spread to about eight houses adjoining house number 137. Electric wires broke lose from the pole failing to withstand the load due to the kundis.

MC blamed for poor development
Panchkula, April 21
The House Owners’ Welfare Association of Sector 9 has blamed the municipal council for poor development works in the sector. According to Mr Suresh Chand Kaushal, president of the association, the work on the recarpeting of internal roads has been stopped midway and the potholes on the roads had made the area accident-prone.

Mohali Diary
Parshuram Jayanti celebrations today
Mohali, April 21
Bhagwan Parshuram Jayanti will be celebrated at the Bhagwan Parshu Ram Bhawan here at Kambala village here tomorrow. This was decided at the meeting of the executive committee of Shri Brahman Sabha here held under the Chairmanship of Mr Vijay Kumar Sharma.

• ESPL delegation

• Elected

• Blood donation camp

Swallowed pin removed without surgery
Chandigarh, April 21
He has reportedly removed toothbrushes, coins, nails, needles and even nail-cutters, accidentally swallowed by people without surgery. Dr Neeraj Nagpal claims he has so far removed 650-odd such foreign objects.

• Army-Air Force joint exercise next week

• IT Dept office shifted

CRIME

Two held with 40 boxes of liquor
Chandigarh, April 21
The Chandigarh police today arrested in Kajheri two persons along with 40 boxes of Indian made foreign liquor which were being smuggled to Punjab hidden below the back seat of a Maruti car.

Pet owner held
Chandigarh, April 21
The owner of a pet in Sector 27 was arrested when his chained dog pounced upon a Moti Ram School student in Sector 27-C and injured him. The owner, Mr Satnam Singh, was reportedly taking his dog along when it attacked a 14-year-old Sumit Jaggi, a Class X student.

• Two bank employees held for fraud

BUSINESS

Airtel ties up with ICICI for bill payment
Chandigarh, April 21
Airtel, in a joint initiative with ICICI Bank, announced a series of mobile bill payment options for Punjab and Haryana customers. The multiple options includes making payments via phone banking, through ATM’s, through one’s mobile phone, through the Internet or by direct debit to a customer’s ICICI Bank account.

EDUCATION

Law students in dark about exam datesheet
Chandigarh, April 21
The Law Department of Panjab University is in a soup over its datesheet muddle, leaving the students confused over the date of the commencement of semester examinations. To add to their worry, the roll numbers, too, have not reached the department.

Hamara School The emphasis is on creative learning Stepping Stones Secondary School, Sector 37, Chandigarh, runs the primary classes. It is housed in a 2-acre plot. In the modern classrooms and open grounds, we strive for achieving high academic standards. We aim at promoting national consciousness and overall development of students, preparing them to face the challenges of life.

We toughen up children to face challenges
It is with a sense of great satisfaction and pride that I look forward to the new academic session of the junior wing in Sector 37. The new school has got real positive response from both parents as well as students.

Bansal appointed Principal
Mohali, April 21
Dr G. D. Bansal, an academician from Chandigarh, has joined Chandigarh Engineering College, Landran, Mohali, as its Principal. Dr Bansal did his BE with honours and ME with distinction from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh and PhD from University of Roorkee, Roorkee.

ODE to organise seminar on learning disability
Panchkula, April 21
The fifth annual seminar of voluntary organisation Optimising Development in Education will be held on April 23 at The Gurukul, Sector 20, Panchkula. ODE helps parents and children deal with learning disability that effects 10 to 12 per cent of all school going children.

Slum kids attend literacy programme
Panchkula, April 21
A fortnight-long literacy programme for slum children concluded at the State Bank of India Staff Training Centre, Sector 14, here today. Mr Ramesh Sethi, AGM of the bank, who distributed prizes among the participants, stressed the need for eradicating illiteracy in the country.

COURTS

CAT expunges adverse remarks from doctor’s ACRs
Chandigarh, April 21
The Central Administrative Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench, has ordered the UT Administration and the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, to expunge adverse remarks written in the annual confidential reports of a doctor working in the hospital.

Notice served on DC
Panchkula, April 21
The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Gulab Singh, today issued notice to the Deputy Commissioner on an application filed by two local advocates. The advocates, Mr Yogesh Mohan Sharma and Mr M.G. Sharma,had filed an application before the court saying that the licences of the two stamp vendors, which expired last month, had not been renewed by the DC.