C H A N D I G A R H

Grace & poise
PANCHKULA, Jan 16 — Seventeen appears to be the lucky number for the new Femina Miss India World, Priyanka Chopra. Though her badge number read 23, “Mimmi”, as she is called by family members and friends, was “at the top of the world” yesterday in her 17th year ( she was born on July 19, 1982), when she was crowned Femina Miss India World at a contest held at Pune.

Desperadoes’ bid to rob Panchkula resident
PANCHKULA, Jan 16—Three men, aged around 30, tried to rob Surinder Kumar Malhotra, a resident of Sector 19 here, at gun-point at his residence this evening. Relating the sequence of events, Mr Malhotra’s brother said the three persons rang their house bell at 7:30 pm when Surinder Kumar Malhotra was alone with his sister.

PO work suspension upsets depositors
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — The Post Office savings bank account holders are both upset and agitated over the sudden suspension of operations indefinitely by post offices yesterday following the decision of the Union Finance Ministry to cut interest rates on all small savings schemes and the Public Provident Fund.

COMMUNITY

Rs 86 lakh for widening of Kalka-Ambala road
ZIRAKPUR, Jan 16 — The Punjab Public Works Department has started work on the widening of the road in order to reduce traffic congestion on the Kalka-Ambala highway.

Rally by Naya Gaon residents
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — To press for its demands, the Ghar Bachao Committee, Naya Gaon, organised a rally at Sector 17 Housing Board Chowk here today.

Living under the shadow of fear
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — The residents of the housing complex of the Chandigarh Housing Board in Sector 61 here, who have been living with problems galore for the past sometime, now have another problem on their hand. This time it is the problem of daylight thefts.

Encroachers having a field day
SAS NAGAR, Jan 16 — Haphazard growth of the rehri market in Phase 3B 1 here has brought things to such a pass that encroachers are having a field day, with the authorities turning a blind eye.

CRIME

Cop suspended on rape charge
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — In a new development to the alleged rape of a minor girl of Kharar by a Chandigarh police constable, a re-examination by a board of three doctors has reversed the findings of the earlier medical examination.

Booked for theft
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — The police has registered a case against Panch Lal Jha of Bhawanipur village in Bhagalpur district of Bihar on the charge of stealing Rs 23,000.

BUSINESS

Shopkeepers oppose scooter bazaar
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — There is a strong resentment among shopkeepers of Sector 21-C over grant of permission to certain agents to run a scooter bazaar from the parking area of the shopping centre.

Hindi weekly launched
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — Chandigarh Charcha, a Hindi weekly for the city, was launched here this morning. Mr Abhijit Chatterjee, President, Chandigarh Press Club, released the inaugural eight-page issue.

EDUCATION

Cultural programme by DAV-8 students
PANCHKULA, Jan 16 — Students of DAV English Medium Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, organised a colourful cultural programme as part of the carnival celebrations on the school premises, here today.

Stress on science practicals
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — The Educationist, a voluntary organisation of the city, today held a science workshop at Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 22.

School hosts races, drills
PANCHKULA, Jan 16 — Races and drills marked the annual sports meet of Satluj Public School (Primary wing), Sector 2, on the school premises here today. Students participated in various sport events and presented ribbon drill, french drill etc.

Interactive workshop on education
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — “Education needs to be fun, and only then would the children react positively”. This seemed to be the credo today at an interactive session on ‘Learning can be fun’ with school teachers, organised by Dorling Kindersley, a UK-based company that deals with education, at the Shivalik View, Sector 17.

SEMINARS

Symposium on poet’s works
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — A symposium on the poetic journey of Dr Sudha Jain was held at DAV College Auditorium, Sector 10, here today.

‘Terrorism a challenge to democracy’
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — Development and security of the country can go side by side, Maj-Gen Rajinder Nath (retd) said while presiding over an open discussion “Menace of terrorism — a grave challenge” here today.

CULTURE

Feast of classical music
KALKA, Jan 16 — A classical music programme was presented at Inder Sharma Sangeet Vidhalaya here today afternoon.

HEALTH

PGI faculty to be trained in advanced system of teeth implants
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — The arrival of a good system of implants to replace missing teeth has been much awaited in the region, but patients from this region can now look forward to a better alternative for getting artificial teeth.

Advances in oral surgery discussed
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — A wide range of topics related to advances in oral and maxillofacial surgery were discussed at the four-day 25th annual national conference (AOMSI), which concluded here today.

All alone with disease and disorder
PANCHKULA, Jan 16 — With no voluntary social organisation coming forward in aid of the old woman, suffering from psychiatric problems, the doctors at the General Hospital, Panchkula, have no choice other than to retain the patient on humanitarian grounds.

SPORT

Amarjit helps LIC enter semis
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — A superb performance by Amarjit Kumar who scored unbeaten 72 runs in 58 deliveries, including 12 fours, and got three wickets for 21 runs, helped the Life Insurance Corporation of India team beat the Haryana State Industrial Corporation team by ten wickets today in the Inter-Financial Bank Employees Cricket Tournament being played here at DAV College, Sector 10.

Shweta, Ripudaman win chess titles
CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — Shweta and Ripudaman emerged champions in girls' and boys' sections, respectively, in the Chandigarh State Chess Championships for under-18 players, concluded here today at Sports Complex, Sector 42.

CHANDIGARH CALLING

Chandigarh Marathon on February 6
THE National Adventure Club is all set to introduce and institutionalise a new event — Chandigarh Marathon — from this year. The first edition of the marathon will be held on February 6, the last day of the sixth National Adventure Festival.