C H A N D I G A R H

Lt Gen. B.S. Malik, Chief of Staff, Western Command, lays a wreath at Veer Smriti, the war memorial in Western Command Headquarters in Chandi Mandir, to pay homage to those who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty on Saturday. — A Tribune photograph

UT may ban coloured polythene bags
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — The Chandigarh Administration is all set to extend the Recycled Plastics Manufacture and User Rules, 1999, to the Union Territory of Chandigarh without pursuing the draft notification it issued last year for banning the recycling of polythene bags.

Rs 80 lakh grant for villages remains unused
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — Tomorrow it will be a year since the panchayat elections were held in 18 villages of Chandigarh. However, the subsequent democratic process of forming the panchayat samiti, market committee and zila parishad are still lying in cold storage.

Trucks that violate all laws
PANCHKULA, Jan 15— “Maut Ke Kuan”, as they are satirically known as, the scores of half-body trucks make their presence felt almost everywhere in the district, especially in surrounding areas of the township.

High Court moved over board appointment
SAS NAGAR, Jan 15 — A deputy secretary of the Punjab School Education Board has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court for quashing the State of Punjab's orders sending a deputy director on deputation to the board as the controller of examinations.

COMMUNITY

Army Day function
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — Army Day was observed with great enthusiasm at Western Command, Chandimandir cantonment, near here, today. A wreath-laying ceremony was held at Veer Smriti War Memorial to pay homage to soldiers who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

Astro-advising on the Internet
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — A Panchkula-based astrologer, Dr Prem Kumar Sharma, is one of the few astrologers of the region to have gone hi-tech. He has created a website (www.premastrologer.com) to give astro-advice globally through e-mail.

Sharp drop in temperature
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — After the three days of rain, the cloud cover lifted, but the minimum temperature dropped sharply and was recorded at 2.6°C, the coldest yet for the ongoing winter season.

Open areas become garbage dumps
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — Open areas in the villages of City Beautiful have become garbage dumps.Garbage bins placed in these areas are not used properly. Waste material is normally thrown outside the bins.

Students stress on traffic rules
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — A cycle rally by school students was organised as part of the ongoing Road Safety Week by the traffic police here today. The rally passed through various sectors and culminated at Sukhna Lake.

Villagers meet Minister
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — A delegation comprising panches and sarpanches of Naya Gaon and Kansal villages along with Mr Jagmohan Singh Kang, General Secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, met Mr Balramji Dass Tondon, Local Bodies Minister of Punjab, for the establishment of Nagar Panchayat in the area.

CRIME

Car company’s dealer booked
SAS NAGAR, Jan 15 — The authorised dealer of a car-manufacturing company at Chandigarh has been booked by the local police for cheating an ex-serviceman of Phase 2 here to the tune of Rs 6 lakh. The car dealer Mr Amardeep Singh, is a resident of Sector 33 in Chandigarh, who was an authorised dealer of Premier Automobiles Ltd, Mumbai.

Neighbour held for trespass
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — The police has arrested a Ram Darbar resident on charges of trespassing and outraging the modesty of the wife of his neighbour.

BUSINESS

Punjab may absorb sacked PAC staff
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — It was at a heated and a frenzied meeting of the members of the Punjab Arts Council this afternoon that the issue of termination of four of its junior staff members was taken up yet again. The decision to terminate the services of the “excessive” staff was taken earlier this month in the wake of a financial crisis.

Tubewells lack power connections
PANCHKULA, Jan 15 — Following the inability of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam to provide power connections to scores of tubewells, farmers, especially in the Doon and Raitten areas of the district, are facing a tough time.

EDUCATION

Decline of Urdu ‘unfortunate’
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — “Literature was a fertile area where culture and nation registered their impact,” said Prof Bhisham Sahni in his valedictory address at the seminar on “The making of the nation: culture, literature and politics”, organised by the Department of Evening Studies in Panjab University here today.

Seminar on higher education
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union will organise a seminar on ‘challenges of higher education’ at MM Modi College, Patiala, on January 16, a press note said here today.

COURTS

Jailbreak case hearing on Feb 5
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — Following the stay on further proceedings by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the alleged jailbreak case, the UT Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr R.C. Godara, today fixed February 5 as the next date of hearing.

Interim bail for travel agent
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — Granting interim bail to a travel agent accused of sending a person abroad after luring him, the UT Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr G.S. Sandhu, today asked him to surrender before the Superintendent of Model Jail here on February 7.

CULTURE

Sardool Sikandar releases cassette CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — Sardool Sikandar, a popular Punjabi singer, today released his latest Punjabi cassette ‘O-Ho’ at Hotel Mountview, Sector 10 this afternoon. Students exhibit drawings, paintings CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — An exhibition of drawings and paintings by three students of the Government College of Arts, Sector 10, opened this afternoon at the Punjab Kala Bhavan, Sector 16. A thought-provoking play IS the interest of some people above the interest of inhabitants of a town? Should people face death so that pockets of bureaucrats continue to overflow with money? These queries haunt one's mind after watching the play Jan Shatru, being staged by students of Indian Theatre, Panjab University.

A work of Shaminder Hundal on display at a group show at the Punjab Kala Bhavan, Sector 16, on Saturday. — A Tribune photograph

Free flow of colours
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — A medico-turned-government official dabbles with paints and brushes. The result is a set of water colours and oil pastels that remind the viewer of Rorshach ink blot tests. This exhibition opened today at the IndusInd Art Gallery, Sector 8.

Sa Re Ga Ma now in Punjabi
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — There is a good news for budding singers as Alpha TV, the Punjabi channel of Zee TV, has decided to telecast musical programme Sa Re Ga Ma in Punjabi.

HEALTH

Oral cancer rate highest in India
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — Increase in population and introduction of fast-moving vehicles has led to an increase in the cases of high-velocity trauma and the severity of injuries.

AIDS workshop in Kot
PANCHKULA, Jan 15 — In all, 120 children and 10 teachers took part in a day-long orientation workshop on HIV-AIDS held at a dharamshala in Kot, near here today.

Poor ailing boy with none to help
PANCHKULA, Jan 15 — The staff of hospitals at times face a tough time dealing with patients who have no one to attend to them.

SPORT

Rohit, Ripudaman lead in UT chess
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — Rohit Chadha and Ripudaman, with three points each, were leading at the end of the third round of the Chandigarh State Chess Championship for players under the age of 18 which began at Sports Complex in Sector 42 today.

Cricket mania affecting other sport
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — Cricket in India, gets the attention of the majority. Even grandmothers are also interested in the score and players. Only a few countries of the world play this game, which is not even an Olympic or Asiad sport.