C H A N D I G A R H

While the parents had a tough time with the organisers, tiny-tots strike a pose, all ready to participate in the Mega Baby Show — 2000 at Spring Fest. — Tribune photo by Pankaj Sharma.
Crowds, music at Spring Fest	Sweet kids, sour show

Excise policy for Chandigarh after March 14
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — The announcement of dates for holding of auction of retail vends of both country liquor and Indian Made Foreign Liquor on March 24 notwithstanding, the new excise policy of Chandigarh for the year 2000-2001, expected to be “softer” than that of Punjab and Haryana, is likely to be announced after March 14.

Chat, learn, visit cyber cafes
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — What’s in a trend? Any guess? Yes, the cyber cafes. Being in trend and on competitive ground, the cyber cafes of the city are using “marketing gimmicks”, which in turn indicates that the cyber cafe business has entered the center-stage.

COMMUNITY

Several illegal structures along highway
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — A large number of unauthorised structures have come up along the Chandigarh-Ambala highway over the past five years in violation of the National Highway rules and the Punjab Urban Development Authority Act.

Hailstorm lashes city
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — A hailstorm, accompanied by lightning and thunder, lashed the city and its surrounding areas this evening.

CTCC flays hike in petrol price
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — The Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee while criticising the recent hike in petrol prices has alleged that business and interests of residents of Chandigarh were suffering because the officials on deputation in Chandigarh were trying to please their bosses of their respective states of Punjab and Haryana.

Anti-encroachment cell doing well
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — The new anti-encroachment cell in the Estate Office building is receiving a good number of complaints against encroachments, much more than what was initially expected by the authorities.

Phones go dead
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — Over 40,000 telephone subscribers in the city were put to a lot of inconvenience as the lines snapped.

CRIME

Body found from lake
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — The body of a Sector 18 resident, Baldev Singh, was fished out of the Sukhna Lake by the police today.

Police rounds up 21 men
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — The police has arrested 12 persons from different parts of the city on the charge of moving around under suspicious circumstances. Five persons have been arrested on the charges of creating nuisance under the influence of liquor.

BUSINESS

Y2K bug costs banks crores
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — The Y2K issue is probably the biggest technology challenge faced by the financial industry. Every automated system, including equipment with computer chips embedded inside, was potentially at risk and had been analysed and renovated or replaced.

Interest rates cut
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — The LIC Housing Finance Limited has slashed the interest rates on its housing loans.

Computerised revenue documents
SAS NAGAR, March 12 — The process of issuing documents relating to the sale or purchase of property, power of attorney, general power of attorney, sale deeds and other revenue related documents at the local Sub-division office will be computerised from April 1.

'Town to be IT centre'
SAS NAGAR, March 12 — The Public Relations Department Minister of Punjab, Mr Natha Singh Dalam, said here yesterday that the town was poised to become a nerve centre of information-technology facilities.

New garment brand in city
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — The Indian readymade garment industry is worth Rs 6,000 crore a year while the share of the two main players is only about Rs 600 crore, says Mr Sriram Srinivasan, Managing Director of Indus-league Clothing, a Bangalore-based company.

EDUCATION

Marked absent ‘while on duty’
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — Despite their presence at an international university-level function in Panjab University, teachers of the English Department have been marked absent from duty in their own department.

BA exams of PU begin on April 4
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — The annual examination for under-graduates in Panjab University are scheduled to commence on April 4, official sources said here today.

COURT

Lawyers’ rally today
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — Lawyers from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh are expected to participate in a rally to be held here tomorrow as a part of the ongoing agitation by lawyers against the proposed amendment in the Civil Procedure Code and in the Advocates Act.

CULTURE

‘Fusion music in, rock out’
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — Punjab has a rich musical heritage which extends far beyond Bhangra, said Palash, the lead singer of a noted rock group — Euphoria — here tonight.

HEALTH

Ayurvedic teachers meet Jacob
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — A deputation of the Staff Coordination Committee of Shri Dhanwantry Ayurvedic College Teachers led by the Convener, Dr S. Bhardwaj, yesterday met the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, Lt-Gen ( retd) Mr M.M Jacob to highlight their long-pending demands and plight of teachers, who are on an indefinite strike since March 6.

Show on AIDS awareness
PANCHKULA, March 12 — A road show to educate the people about prevention of HIV/AIDS, was organised by the Haryana AIDS Control Society in Sector 10, here today.

Doctors spread message via local channel
CHANDIGARH, March 11 — Preventive medicine has an important role in minimising the incidence of some common diseases, both infectious and seasonal, says Dr Sarvinder Gandhok, child specialist.

Time to implement biosafety guidelines
PANCHKULA, March 12 — Guidelines regarding universal precautions and other biosafety practices have been made mandatory since long. Ironically, their strict implementation in health care settings has hardly been put into practice in India, reportedly, due to paucity of funds.

SPORT

Tina, Vikramjit win 100 m races
CHANDIGARH, March 12 — Tina Kochhar in the girls’ section and Vikramjit Singh in the boys’ section, won the 100 m races, on the concluding day of the two-day VIIth Annual Athletics Meet of the Government Medical College, Sector 32, at sports complex in Sector 46 today.