Chandigarh, June 11
For eight-year-old Sayali from Agra it was a train journey her parents booked till Kalka for onward journey to Shimla. The last stretch of her journey between Chandigarh and Kalka was, unexpectedly, completed on a air-conditioned bus.

Though skeptical at first at the thought of travelling by bus, her parents were satisfied with the arrangements the Railways made to transport them along with hundreds of others on road as the Kalka- Chandigarh-Ambala section was closed for 12 hours to replace two bridges. Mr K.R. Agnihotri, Sayali’s father, while boarding the bus said it seemed comfortable. He also said the Railways had made announcements on the train.

The Railways had closed the rail section for about 12 hours as two major bridges were replaced in a mammoth operation involving more than 1,000 workers and officers. This included laying of new bridges, aligning the track afresh and also the overhead electrical cables. The operation was successfully completed at 8 pm.

Like Sayali and her parents the 1138 people transported by the Railways were largely satisfied by the arrangements. A total of 69 passengers travelling on the Delhi-Kalka-Himalayan queen sought a refund for the journey between Chandigarh and Kalka as the train was terminated at Chandigarh. Most of these people were annoyed at the thought of having to travel by bus.

A total 12 buses, six air conditioned and six non AC besides 20 Toyota Qualis vehicles were pressed into service to transport people from Ambala to Chandigarh or Kalka and also in the reverse direction, said the Senior Divisional Commercial Manger, Mr Aneet Dullet.

This morning the railways first closed down traffic between Chandigarh and Kalka The closure was delayed by half an hour from the scheduled time of 7.30 a.m. The Kalka mail running towards Kalka was late by half an hour forcing the delay. The bridge on this section was more than 110 years old and built by the British. It is one of the nine old bridges to be replaced by the Ambala Division till 2006-07. This bridge was reopened to traffic at 8 pm

A total of 64 porters were provided for luggage and 22 ticket checkers boarded the trains to guide passengers.

The second bridge to be closed was the one near Lalru on the Ambala-Chandigarh section. It remained closed between 11 a.m. and 6.20 p.m., said Mr Dayal Dogra, Additional Divisional Railway Manager. This bridge at Lalru was damaged in rain on August 3.

Things went largely as per schedule. The Shatabdi departing from here was delayed by 15 minutes as the passengers from Kalka arrived a bit late by bus. The Himalayan Queen leaving from Chandigarh in the evening had been re-scheduled to leave at 6.50 p.m. instead of 5.30 pm.

As expected, toughest job was to transport passengers travelling on the Paschim Express. Ticket checkers boarded the train at Kurukshetra telling passengers about the travel by buses from Ambala to Chandigarh or Kalka, said Mr Dogra.

About 200 passengers were on board this train alone.

At Ambala Cantt railway station, passengers said they did not face difficulty as proper arrangement had been made. Mr S. Singh, who arrived from Kalka, said he and his family members did not face any problem.

Panchkula, June 11
Sidelining the local MLA and Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Chander Mohan, Mr Tarun Bhandari — a close associate of local MP Kumari Selja — was today unanimously elected President of the Panchkula Municipal Council.

Ten councillors, seven owing allegiance to Mr Chander Mohan, two BJP councillors and former President Seema Chaudhary, abstained from attending the meeting.

However, since only simple majority is required to elect the President and the Vice-President, the 21 members (of a total of 31 members, besides the local MLA and MP, who are ex officio members of the MC), unanimously elected Mr Bhandari as the second President of the Municipal Council.

The councillors owing allegiance to the Selja group and Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had to take support of the six INLD-supported councillors — Mr Gomti Prasad, Ms Sharanjit Kaur, Ms Kuljeet Waraich, Mr Sunil Talwar, Mr Balwinder Singh and Mr Vikas Goel — to elect the President from their group.

In return, the post of the Vice-President was offered to INLD supporter Kuljeet Waraich. Earlier also, she was the Vice-President of the MC, and had been removed by a vote of no confidence, along with former President, Ms Seema Chaudhary.

Chandigarh, June 11
The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr M.M. Sharma, today adjourned a case relating to the production of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) militant and main accused in the Burail jailbreak case Jagtar Singh Hawara to June 15.

However, the CBI could not file its reply to a petition filed by an undertrial in the Beant Singh assassination case, Navjot Singh. The petition prayed that the militant, who was an accused in the Beant Singh assassination and the Burail jailbreak cases, should be produced and tried here.

On June 8, the Judge had issued notice to the CBI regarding the production of Hawara in a local court. Counsel for the CBI pleaded that the officials concerned were busy probing the Amritsar sex scandal following which the court adjourned the case to June 15.

It may be recalled that counsel for Hawara had alleged that he had been falsely implicated in the Delhi blasts cases. Since the Beant Singh assassination and Burail jailbreak trials were being conducted here, he should have been brought for trial here, they contended. The Delhi police claimed to have arrested Hawara from Narela while it is widely believed that he was arrested from outside Punjabi University in Patiala.

ADMISSIONS' 05

P’kula dist colleges attract students with new courses
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 11
With schools and colleges closed for summer holidays, education and career fairs are attracting aspiring youngsters. These fairs act as guides as national and international educational institutes converge under one roof and students choose the subject and place of their choice and get information regarding options, admissions and criteria for selection and job options, all first hand.

The 18th International Education and Career Fair was inaugurated today at the CII Convention Centre and it will continue till tomorrow. The event, being organised by Global Events Expositions, has seen a tremendous response with today about 2,000 visitors converging at the CII.

Siddharth Jain, chief, Marketing Operations for Global Events and Exposition, says, “This region generates the highest number of students interested in going abroad to study and therefore, it makes sense to bring a plethora of institutes, consultants and options here”.

The question of whether these fairs are really useful is a moot point. Most educational institutions and consultants believe that this is simply a way of exposing students to information vis-à-vis the options available.

The IAF representatives from the city who participated in the fair have come to publicise the job opportunities available with it. Their recruitment procedure is strict.

Though most of them are not recruiting directly, there are some exceptions. Mr C.C. Ashoka, Director, School of Aeronautics, Delhi, said out of the 60 seats for students each year, the school recruits 30 per cent directly. “We have had several interested queries and we will decide tomorrow.”

Chandigarh, June 11
With the school uniform gone, first year degree course students will don the hues of summer from this session. Studying will be more fun. They are free to flaunt the clothes of their choice. The tactics to draw appreciative glances from the opposite sex are in. Many innovative city brats are bound to inspire fashion gurus. Refashion the old styles and bring in new combinations is their guiding mantra.

They will definitely add bouts of freshness to the fashion scenario. Imbued with a feeling to inaugurate their college life on a high note, they are leaving nothing to chance. A lot of them are gearing up for an adventurous life with style.

A chit-chat session with the younger lot recorded their vain dreams and fond styles. Though a dilemma regarding their career can be spotted clearly on their faces, the verve to be in sync and trendy is always there. No wonder, many have started market research to acquire the latest clothes. Let us check out what will be the style during this academic session in city colleges.

Government College for Girls, Sector 11, and MCM DAV College, Sector 36, are the most happening places in the segment of city girls’ fashion. Hordes of beautiful girls of these colleges force the boys to go on the geri route.

This time A-lined long skirts are very much in. These can be teamed up with embroidered kurtis and sleeveless t-shirts. Colours like pink, lemon and white are likely to rule the scene. Capris will also be seen as they are comfortable in summers and give a style statement too. Those who want to embrace an elegant look, will go for chikan and Luckhnavi suits. These are available in the right blend of traditional and modern.

For the extra oomph, wrap-arounds in soft and bright colours will be perfect for college wear. As usual, jeans never go out of fashion. Faded jeans with different style of pockets are in. In footwear Kohlapuri chappals and slip-ons will rule the scene. For different and tomboyish looks, cargos can be a good choice. Denim short skirts and churidaars are strictly no this season. But junk jewellery is hot, much needed to cool the fashion passion.

This time boys’ awareness level about fashion is registering a new high. They spend extra time on their looks and do lend a thought on matching their clothes. After all who wants to lose an opportunity to impress beautiful gals. In boy’s fashion, DAV College, Sector 10, is known for the style statement. For boys’ half pants, trousers, cargos and stylish jeans are in vogue. Sports wear is in. It can be teamed up with ganjis and shirts and tees. In footwear sport shoes and floaters will be perfect in the humid weather. But leather shoes are out in summers. Boys will look good with short cropped hair. In accessories trendy foreign watches will rule the scene.

Chandigarh, June 11
Reservation has not helped in attracting girls for the vocational courses like automobile, airconditioner and refrigerator repairs Education Department in government schools at the plus- two level. After having failed to elicit any response from the fairer sex for the two courses, the department has decided to scrap the 20 per cent quota reserved for them.

These two courses have failed to attract girl students ever since these were introduced in 1990. The department gave the go-ahead for reservation of 20 per cent seats in 2003 academic session as an incentive to attract girl students. Of the 25-seat courses available at GMSSS-23, five seats per course were reserved for girls.

After the lack of interest shown by the girls for about 14 years, the department had taken the chance of opening doors for them through reservation and they were expecting a positive response.

However, their efforts came to naught after not a single girl turned up for the admission counselling last year while boys competed with each other to get seats in these job-oriented courses.

These seats were reserved by the department on the lines of Bangalore, where girl students who passed out with a degree in a course similar to automobile repair opened a garage of their own. This proved to be a big hit with women customers who preferred this work station for car repairs to those managed by men.

Last year, after the admissions, the seats reserved for women stood cancelled automatically. “These seats were created in addition to the 20 existing ones in the courses with the sole motive of attracting girls. Without them, these have no meaning and can certainly not be converted to the general category,” an official said.

While other vocational courses being offered at the Class XII level have always drawn both boys and girls, these two courses have had only boys. Boys completing this course have got jobs in private companies or are self-employed.

Regular courses in science, commerce and humanities — if that’s not your cup of tea, government schools of the city have another specialised stream to offer. Vocational education offers 21 courses in Home Science, Health, Para Medical, Engineering and Commerce in 17 schools of the UT Education Department. The most-popular courses are:

*Health and para medical based courses: Medical Lab Technology, X-ray technician, Ophthalmic techniques, auxiliary nursing and midwifery

*Hotel management and bakery courses

*Information Technology

*Fashion designing and textile designing.

*Life Insurance courses

Chandigarh, June 11
Government College, Sector 46, is the only co-educational government college in the city that imparts instructions in BA, BCom with honours in many subjects and BCA and MCom (semester system). As many as 70 subject combinations are available in the arts stream.

Ready to introduce MSc (IT) from the current session, the college is all set to advance the cause of the progressive generation.

For vocation-conscious students, there are courses on advertising, sales promotion and sales management (70 seats).

Established in 1982, the college has made steady progress. It has been bestowed with B+ grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

The career guidance cell of the college provides the latest information about job opportunities. It has a library and the Internet facility for students.

The college also popularises traditional languages. Meritorious students who had taken Sanskrit in Class XII and opt it as an elective subject in BA I are eligible to apply for Sanskrit scholarship in BA I, II and III.

In its annual magazine, Amarnath, the college strives to give expression to the writing skills of its students. The college has a hostel in Sector 15.

With the strength of 2,000 students, the college has four computer labs where 70 computers are available. All departments and the library have been interlinked. The college plans to computerise its office this year to simplify the admission process. An auditorium is also being constructed that will have 750 seats.

Mr A.N. Garg, Principal of the college, said, “We cater to the needs of the below average income group, particularly in arts. We also help poor students with books and other required things. The government has sanctioned Rs 10 lakh for the Principal’s residence in the college.”

The prospectus has been made available since June 6 and last date of submitting applications is June 24.

Chandigarh, June 11
In a first-of-its-kind civilian initiative to pay homage to brave sons of the nation, a unique war memorial will come up in the Bougainvillea Garden in Sector 3, here.

The foundation stone of the memorial, christened ‘Chandi-garh War Memorial’, was laid by the Punjab Governor, General S.F. Rodrigues (retd), at the garden today.

The GOC-in-C of the Western Command, Lieut-Gen S. Pattabhiraman, was the guest of honour at the glittering ceremony.

Apart from the serving and retired Defence officers, parents of martyrs and donors also attended the ceremony.

The memorial, an outcome of the initiative led by the Indian Express group, aims at engraving the names of over 9000 martyrs, since Independence, from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.

The memorial is going to see the light of the day owing to an year of relentless fund-raising by the Indian Express group.

Estimated to cost about Rs 57 lakh, the memorial will be completed by the Chandigarh Administration in the next 12 months and the Administration will also be responsible for its upkeep.

The project, designed by students of the Chandigarh College of Architecture, Shivani Guglani and Nanki Singh, was unveiled by the former Punjab Governor, Lieut-Gen J.F.G. Jacob (retd), on April 28, 2003.

The individual donations have exceeded those from the corporate and institutional donations, said organisers of the event.

Mr Surinder Singla, Finance Minister, Punjab, was also present on the occasion. He announced a grant of Rs 5 lakhs for the memorial.

Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister, Haryana, too promised to donate liberally for the cause.

Mr Shekhar Gupta, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Indian Express, said: "They laid down their lives for us. Now let's make sure their sacrifice is never forgotten. Let's build a memorial."

He said: "Though the estimated cost of construction of the memorial was Rs 57 Lakh, The Indian Express has committed an equal amount of funds for the welfare of war widows and their children, following a suggestion from the President of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam."

The funds would be used for setting up or upgrading schools and hospitals in those villages where quality education and medical care was missing. So far Rs 88 lakh had been collected, he added.

Lieut-Gen Pattabhiraman said the war of 1965 was a glorious year for the Western Command and the memorial would be a befitting tribute to the martyrs.

Panchkula, June 11
Making Panchkula the most-beautiful town in Haryana will be my top priority, says the newly-elected President of the Municipal Council, Mr Tarun Bhandari.

Talking to mediapersons after being elected as President, the 29-year- old Congress leader, says that his top priority will be to beautify the town with lush green and well-manicured parks, better roads and sanitation services and other civic amenities in the slum areas.

“If the past two years have seen a decline in services, the coming years will see the city being regarded as the most-beautiful in the state. I will work to remove corruption in the functioning of the council.

I have the support of my councillors, and together we will work for the betterment of the city” he assured.

Mr Bhandari has been involved in active student politics from his college days. He served as President of the District Youth Congress (rural) from 1999 to 2002, and since then has been holding the post of President of the District Youth Congress (urban).

Answering querries on why seven councillors from his party and the local MLA, Mr Chander Mohan, were been opposed to his election, he said he would now woo his party men back. On why, an INLD councillor, Ms Kuljit Waraich, has been re-elected vice-president, Mr Bhandari said the elections were neither fought on party ticket, nor his election based on party lines. “All councillors have risen over party politics to elect the President and Vice-President,” he said.

Chandigarh, June 11
The country will have an 'Integrated Law on Food Quality and Standards', said Mr Subodh Kant Sahay, Union Minister for Food Processing, while addressing a press conference at the UT Guest House here today.

Mr Sahay said currently India had more than 16 laws on the subject of quality standards which made the system a rather loose one. The bill concerned is likely to be tabled in the July session of Parliament. He said it was pertinent to mention that the entire Europe had a common law on standards.

He said more than Rs 50,000 crore worth food items in the country went waste each year because of various reasons. The country processed only 2 per cent of the food items.

The government plans to set up at least 10 mega-food processing units in the country, Mr Sahay said. The main aim is to attract foreign investors. The government can finance the projects with amounts ranging between Rs 75 and Rs 100 crore.

Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, the local MP, Mrs Anu Chatrath, Mayor and Mr Subhash Chawla, a former Mayor, were also present on the occasion.

Mr Sahay said it was unfortunate that VAT was also extended to the food sector.

All the perishable and non-perishable fooditems should be exempted from VAT because the product was a seasonal one and the reap varied each year.

Mr Sahay also made reference to government scheme on rural employment. Mr Bansal clarified that the matter was still under consideration. As many as 150 villages in the entire country had been identified for special benefit.

A family showing no earning for 100 days is likely to be compensated by the government. No village from Punjab or Haryana falls in this category.

Mr Sahay said the U-turn by Mr Lal Krishan Advani on the issue of calling Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Pakistani Quaid-e-Azam, as secular, showed how the BJP was fast losing its ground in the country. " The 180-degree turn shows that the party is breaking and trying to impress Muslims," he said.

He said "it is high time for NDA leaders to realise the hollow statements of the BJP and reconsider their alignments.

He said Mr Jinnah was a communal leader who caused pain and anguish in lives of thousands who died or were uprooted during Partition".

Chandigarh, June 11
Write the right way or expose yourself. Mr Mohan Ray is here to guide you or teach you the correct way to curl your Ks. For, Ray is an handwriting expert and is the founder of the Institute of Healthy Handwriting, the first handwriting school in India.

Mr Ray is a firm believer that handwriting is a reflection of the subconscious, a mirror to your inner thoughts. “Writing is much more than stringing alphabet together. It reveals what we try to conceal”. So, what this means is, not only can he read your handwriting and give you a list of your personality traits, he can also change your behaviour pattern by changing your handwriting.

All this is not mumbo-jumbo, assures a visibly amused Ray who specialises in workshops for healthy handwriting for all age groups. “This is all part of Graphology. It is a behavioural science which correlates handwriting patterns with personality traits,” and enables the ‘part-psychologist’ Ray to develop the courses according to the needs and requirements of the youngsters. His methods are vouched for his students and 10-year-old Tejkiran stands as guarantor, saying her angst ridden temper tantrums have reduced since she began the course.

For Mr Ray who has been certified by renowned American handwriting expert, Kate Gladstone, conducted a research in schools where he discovered that teachers did not instruct children on how to write and what is more, did not know how to do it. Thus embarked this prolific man, on a journey of healthy writing from cursive to calligraphy for, writing correctly can improve your speed in exams by 20 per cent.

Mr Ray believes the right way to deal with a child is not at a behavioural level but by a study of the skill sets of the child. “Instead of saying, your handwriting is bad, ask him how he can be helped in correcting his writing. Ask the child what is easy for him or her to do?”

Since each stroke reflects an individual thinking habit, Ray says it is essential not to force children to write in a cursive hand in schools. “You cannot push a pre-defined style because brain patterns cannot adjust to cursive as it may not suit your handwriting.”

Mr Ray is certain since handwritings reflects the character of an individual, it can be used very effectively to judge a person. Not only this, countries like Israel and France are using handwritings to assess candidates for job recruitments and for matchmaking as it reveals more about a person than an interview or a meeting can.

So the next time you decide to match make your best friend, daughter or acquaintance, ask for an handwriting sample instead of matching patris. That will keep you better.

Chandigarh, June 11
The Fire Department of the Municipal Corporation has gone high-tech with arrival of the hydraulic platform-cum-turn table ladder from Finland. The platform fitted on a Volvo chasis, transported by Bronto Skylift company, had landed at Mumbai earlier this week.

The fire tender will be an effective tool in combatting fire, particularly in high-rise buildings of the city. The machine has the capability to become fully operative within 100 seconds. The water discharge capacity of the vehicle is 2000 litres.

The fire tender has a capability of launching fire fighting operations on buildings as high as 42 metres.

One of the highlights of the new machine is that it can turn at an angle of 360 degrees making rescue and fire fighting operations easier.

The vehicle is fitted with an air conditioned cabin which can house four occupants. The vehicle is also fitted with a collision guard system which will prevent damage to the machine in case of an accidental collision with the walls during the operation. For protection of the crew members, the cabin is duly protected against electric shocks even if it comes in contact with live wires.

The platform cum turn table ladder has been purchased at a cost of Rs 2.70 crore. The funds have been provided by the Centre. The corporation had to pay a customs duty of Rs 96 lakh. The vehicle is parked at the Fire Station of Sector 17.

Preliminary training has been imparted to eight personnel of the Fire Department. An expert from Finland will be in the city later this month to train the personnel.

Chandigarh, June 11
Old tiles in Sector 17 will be replaced with paver blocks very soon. This was decided during a visit to the market by Mr S.K.Sandhu, Finance Secretary, accompanied by Mr P.S. Aujla, Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, here yesterday.

Ms Anu Chatrath, Mayor, Mr Pradeep Chhabra, area councillor, and Ms Renu Sehgal, Chief Architect, also accompanied the team.

The drive will utilise funds from the Rs 10 lakh approved by Mr Pawan Bansal, local Member of Parliament, from his MPLAD funds.The entire concrete area in the market will also be redone. The visiting team also heard to grievances of the shopkeepers.

Chandigarh, June 11
Three vehicles were reportedly stolen from the city in the last 24 hours as per the information released by the Chandigarh Police here today.

Mr Munish Pathania, a resident of Sector 15-A, filed a complaint with the police that his Maruti car (CH-03-Q-7396) was stolen from parking area near Himachal Bhavan, Sector 28.

Mr Rajinder Kumar of Sajawalpur village in Nawan Shahr district reported to the police that his motorcycle (PB-20-6361) was stolen from Garin Market, Sector 26.

Chandigarh, June 11
In an effort to reconstruct the events that took place on January 18 before the alleged murder of Dr Babita Kaura, the police today carried out raids and quizzed the staff of Dr Deepak Kaura’s private hospital in Sector 15, here.

Police sources said the focus of the interrogation was to reconstruct the event of that fateful day leading to the alleged murder of the doctor. The police officers quizzed the staff members and nurses who were present on that day in the Annie Heart and Medical Centre, Sector 15. The staff members told the police that Dr Babita Kaura and Dr Deepak Kaura had taken drinks at the hospital that night. Thereafter Dr Babita left the hospital in her own car and Dr Deepak Kaura reportedly went to drop a nurse working at his hospital in his car.

The police has also interrogated the nurse, who hails from Fatehgarh Sahib district in Punjab, whom Dr Deepak had gone to drop in a hostel that night. She also admitted before the police that Dr Deepak had dropped her in the hostel. The investigating team also enquired about Dr Deepak’s reputation from the women staff. The staff members, however, told the police that they were aware that Dr Deepak’s reputation was not good outside but they had no untoward experience with him.

The police on suspicion was looking into another angle of pornographic movies being made in the hospital. The police checked the computers and CD’s found in the hospital. However, nothing incriminating was found.

The police sources said the hospital staff was not at its full strength following the arrest of Dr Deepak. The sources, however, added that they would interrogate the remaining staff to make the picture clear.

After dropping the nurse at the hostel Dr Deepak Kaura went to a liquor vend in Sector 22 and bought a bottle before heading home.

A case of murder was registered against Dr Deepak and his sister Deepali on June 9 after experts of the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL) submitted a report.

Dr Babita was working as Assistant Professor at the immuno-pathology, PGI, and had succumbed to her injuries on January 19 at the PGI before the police could record her dying declaration. A day earlier, she was critically injured and found lying in pool of blood below her flat in Sector 24.

Chandigarh, June 11
With the arrest of a kingpin and two women, the Crime Branch of the Chandigarh police today busted a flesh trade racket being operated in the city for the past more than six months. They were arrested near S.D. College in Sector 32, this afternoon.

Acting on a tip off, the DSP Crime Branch, Mr Om Parkash, laid a trap today and arrested two pimps, a man and a woman, along with a 20-year-old-girl.

According to the police, a decoy customer was sent to Manohar Kumar Gupta, a resident of Dhanas village, and a woman pimp, Mona Sharma of Sector 32 to strike a deal for a girl. They demanded Rs 2000 and the customer handed over Rs 500 in advance. As soon as the accused took the money the customer signaled the police team which, swooped down on them.