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Mercury hits a scorching 44.5°C

Chandigarh, June 20 The mercury hits a scorching 44.5°C, a whopping 5°C above normal in the city today. It was 2°C removed from the city’s highest ever maximum temperature recorded on May 28, 1988, at 46.5°C. Last year, May 17 witnessed a similar blazer of a day at 44.4°C.

Beating the Heat: Children splash about in a tank at Mansa Devi Temple Complex in Panchkula on Monday, as the mercury shot to 44.5° C. — Tribune photo by Pankaj Sharma

Queueing up to fill tanks at old rate, last time
Chandigarh, June 20

For many residents, it was a long wait in the scorching heat as they queued up at the five company-owned and operated petrol stations in the city, the only ones which functioned today.

Heavy rush at a company owned petrol station in Chandigarh on Monday. — A Tribune photograph

Hike in fuel prices invites brickbats

Hide’n seek costs child her life
Kharar, June 20
A 5-year-old girl today died of asphyxiation when she got locked in a trunk while playing hide and seek at her house in Shingariwal village, near Mulanpur Garib Das, here.

Chaos at PU as B.Ed aspirants scramble for roll Nos
Chandigarh, June 20
Chaos prevailed at Panjab University today when hundreds of students thronged the university office to get their duplicate roll number cards for B.Ed entrance test scheduled for June 22.

Cops ‘misled’ to visit Hawara aide’s sister
Mohali, June 20
Showing undue alacrity in wanting to nab the various accomplices of Jagtar Singh Hawara, the Mohali police today visited the residence of Harminder Kaur, sister of Paramjit Singh Bheora, who lives in a flat in Darshan Vihar, Sector 68, here.

City cops come back without Hawara
Arrest of terror suspects: human rights body moves NHRC

Chandigarh Calling Hot winds that started blowing in the second week of June continue unabated and the mercury has been rising steadily. The only relief that the people have been seeking is looking at other places in the country where the temperature is a few degrees higher than that in Chandigarh. Blissful these days are the sweetened water kiosks or chhabils set up from sector to sector. Ice-candy man

COMMUNITY

22-yr old awaits good Samaritans
Chandigarh, June 20
Battling for survival at the PGI, 22-year-old Harpreet Kaur eagerly awaits good Samaritans to give her a ray of hope for leading a healthy life. Diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease, Harpreet is more worried as to who will look after her four-month-old daughter if her health continues to deteriorate.

Monkey menace spreads to Sector 44 Chandigarh, June 20 Monkey menace affronted residents of Sector 44 here this evening. At least 40 monkeys, were divided in different groups, scared the residents who rushed to salvage the clothes hanging on the lines. A group of monkeys invades water tanks in Sector 44, Chandigarh, on Monday. — Tribune photo by Pradeep Tewari

MC’s ‘safai abhiyaan’ a non-starter in colonies
Chandigarh, June 20
The much-publicised “safai abhiyaan” launched by the Municipal Corporation in various labour colonies of the city earlier this month is far from visible there. With monsoon around the corner, sanitation work in these areas is unlikely to be completed in time.

Tension in village over land ownership
Zirakpur, June 20
Tension has gripped Gazipur Sainian village, near here, over “dispossession” of around 50 acres of agricultural land from 60 families allegedly at the behest of bureaucrats, police officials and politicians.

When death is preferred to separation
Chandigarh, June 20
For them, the agony of living life separately was more than the pain of death. Nothing else can explain the extreme step taken by a couple in Fatehgarh Sahib on Sunday. The two allegedly ended their lives by consuming poison after reportedly entering into a suicide pact.

Fauji Beat
Ex-servicemen Helpline makes a mark

Never will Lieut-Gen S.S. Mehta (retd), a former Army Commander of Western Command Headquarters be forgotten by the ex-servicemen for starting the Helpline service for them. The first of its kind, this service for the welfare of ex-servicemen, their wards and defence widows was inaugurated on September 15, 2002. Ex-servicemen Helpline team at Command Hospital, Chandimandir, provides help to armed forces personnel.

Functioning of housing society questioned
Chandigarh, June 20
Irked at the alleged irregularities in the Popular Cooperative House Building First Society, Sector 48-B, certain members today demanded an impartial inquiry into its functioning.

Reinstatement of PSEB staffers sought
Mohali, June 20
A gate rally was organised by employees of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) outside the Sohana subdivision office today. The protesters demanded the immediate and unconditional reinstatement of board employees who were suspended for not being present in the complaint centre by the Kharar MLA.

Rs 2 cr for nutrition of women, kids sanctioned
Mohali, June 20
The Punjab government has sanctioned Rs 2.15 crore for improving nutrition among pregnant women and children up to 3 years of age who were being looked after by anganwadis in Ropar. The scheme was given a nod by the Planning Board here today.

Readers Write
Open-ended career needed to make defence services attractive
Apropos article headlined ‘‘Army service unattractive’’ written by Pritam Bhullar, published in the Chandigarh Tribune (May 31, 2005) where in it was pointed out that even officers with very bright career prospects with in the Army were leaving (nay, deserting) it.

CRIME

Nine held for gambling
Chandigarh, June 20
The local police has arrested nine persons for gambling at public places from various parts of the city in the past 24 hours, according to information released by the local police, here, today.

BUSINESS

HUDA sells 32 sites for Rs 16.63 crore
Panchkula, June 20
The intense heat wave in the region did have its toll on the auction of commercial sites, organised by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) today.

Prototype of low-floor bus in city
Chandigarh, June 20
The first prototype of low-floor buses purchased by the UT Administration has arrived in the city, sources said here today. The bus would be run on different routes in the city during the coming 10 days to check its efficiency.

EDUCATION

Move to privatise govt schools dropped: Johar
Mohali, June 20
The Minister for School Education, Punjab, Mr Harnam Das Johar, said today that teachers employed in government schools in the state would not be asked to do any government work other than teaching. Talking to mediapersons following a meeting of the District Grievances Committee held here, Mr Johar categorically said the move to privatise government schools in the state had been dropped.

Stop political interference in education: staff
Mohali, June 20
Political interference in the working of the Punjab School Education Board and various universities in the state should be stopped. Even the finance and audit departments should not interfere.

Roll Nos issued for CPO exam
Chandigarh, June 20
The admission certificates to all eligible candidates for the recruitment of Sub-Inspectors in the Central Police Organisations (CPOs) examination —2005, scheduled to be held on June 26, have been issued.

Book exhibition in Sector 17
Chandigarh, June 20
The National Book Trust of India (NBT) organised a book exhibition at Central State Library, Sector 17, today. NBT is an organisation of the Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource and Development, which is engaged in the promotion of books. It keeps on holding such exhibitions from time to time across the country.

E-commerce course denied approval
Chandigarh, June 20
Panjab University (PU) has decided not to grant approval to start the course of Masters in E-Commerce Technology in the academic session 2005-06. The introduction of other courses, including Master of Business Economics and Postgraduate Diploma in Knowledge Management and Entrepreneurship, which were not cleared by the PU Syndicate, are likely to be considered again by the Syndicate.

Institute opened for accountants
Panchkula, June 20
The Institute of Computer Accountants was inaugurated here today. This is the eighth ICA centre to be set up in Haryana. The institute provides training in computer accounting to aspiring accountants. Mr Naresh Gupta, Centre Director, informed that the institute offers two courses — industrial accountant and industrial accountant plus, which are offered in eight modules. He said that the Institute also offers a job guarantee scheme, wherein the institute arranges for placement of all its students.

COURTS

Tehelka case: Brig terms GCM observations as illegal
Chandigarh, June 20
Brigadier Iqbal Singh, who is being tried by a General Court Martial (GCM) for professional impropriety in the Tehelka case, has termed the court’s observations in regard to a witness’ statement pertaining to the summary of evidence (SOE) and the court’s directions calling for the matter to be investigated, as “illegal and unprecedented”.

LEISURE

Today is day for music lovers
FOR all music buffs the party has just begun. For the world is all set to celebrate ‘Music Day’ on June 21. Music binds nations and peoples together, over-riding racial differences and hatred.

Experts shed light on trends in Punjabi singing
“Folk music is a living and integral constituent of any music culture and represents the cumulative expressions of many ages but the contemporary trends fast emerging in Punjabi singing are polluting our cultural tradition”, opined Dr Nahar Singh, a folklore scholar, in his keynote address at a seminar on “Punjabi singing: traditions and trends”.

Giving voice to animals
Kallu and Sisi met each other incidentally and started talking. They discussed their problems, likes, dislikes and showed an attitude to each other too! In the end, Sisi fell in love with Kallu and committed to stay with him forever. What makes this tale so endearing is that the love-sick couple is a pair of dogs!

Religious album released

HEALTH

Teeth implant system launched
Panchkula, June 20
The new- age teeth implant system launched on Monday by Biolok Dental Implants, USA, aims at getting a share in the booming dental tourism sector, besides offering world-class oral healthcare here.

                                                                Dr Manpreet Walia

UT improves TB cure rate
Chandigarh, June 20
Chandigarh ranks among the top three states of the country in the case detection and cure rate of tuberculosis and also effectively implementing the revised National Tuberculosis Programme.

SPORTS

Uphill task for girls to join sports
Chandigarh, June 20
It is difficult for girls to adopt sports as career as compared to boys due to gender bias in society. It has been noticed that girls face the first opposition from their parents for not ‘indulging’ in sports. Though situation is still better in cities than in smaller towns, but still most of the girls have to pass through difficult times to overcome the societal pressure. Chandigarh Tribune talked to women who love sports or are associated with sport for their opinion on this issue.

TT camp at DAV-8 Chandigarh, June 20 Enthusiasm galore among 14 probable paddlers who are undergoing the national schools table tennis camp here at DAV Public School, Sector 8. The Indian schools under-18 team is to take part in the 3rd Asian Schools TT Championship going to be held in Malaysia in the first week of July. Players in action at the ongoing national camp at DAV Public School, Sector 8.

Indians shine in Indo-Pak tennis series
Chandigarh, June 20
Indian tennis players shine in the just concluded Indo-Pak Friendship Tennis Series held at Lahore. The players arrived last evening in the city. Digvijay Singh Mehta won both finals in boys’ singles beating Faizan Khwaja in the under-12 category and Heera in the under-14 category.

526 seats allotted to sports wing
Chandigarh, June 20
The Sports Department of Chandigarh has allotted 526 seats of sports wing to the city schools and sports coaching Centres of the department for the year 2005-06. Out of the total 361 seats have been allotted to the schools and 165 to the coaching centres in all disciplines of the sports. Last year, the department had allotted 517 wing seats to the schools and the centres.

Trials to select cricket team
Panchkula, June 20
Trials to select the Panchkula district cricket team (under 19) will be held at Hansraj Public School, Sector 6, here on June 22 at 3.30 p.m. Players born on or after September 1, 1986 are eligible to compete. They must come in proper kit along with their proof of age.

Tennis camp for children
Chandigarh, June 20
The Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association, will hold a special mini tennis camp at the CLTA Tennis Stadium, Sector 10, for young tennis players in the age group of four to seven years . The duration of the camp will be from June 21 to June 30, Mr Rajan Kashyap, Chairman, CLTA, said. The timings will be from 6.30 a.m. to 7.30 a.m. everyday.

ADMINISTRATION

Focal Point Scheme failed due to fund paucity: DC
Mohali, June 20
Mr Harnam Das Johar, Chairman of the Grievances Committee, Ropar, today asked Mr H.I.S. Grewal, Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, to review the Focal Point Scheme floated by the Akali government in villages across the state. According to the scheme, a cluster of villages were turned into focal points and were given common facilities.

• Revenue stamps’ sale till 5 pm