C H A N D I G A R H

Bus queue shelter collapses in rain, 2 hurt
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — Heavy monsoon rains that lashed the city and its surrounding areas, including Ambala and Patiala, today resulted in the collapse of a bus queue shelter in Sector 18, causing serious injuries to two persons waiting under the shelter.

The bus queue shelter in Sector 18, Chandigarh, that collapsed in the rain on Monday, causing injuries to two persons. — A Tribune photograph 

Road stretch washed away
PANCHKULA, July 17 — Roaring Ghaggar today afternoon washed away a 10-feet stretch of road near the bridge in Sector 21. Police personnel set up nakas on both sides of the road to divert the traffic.

COMMUNITY

Panchkula has a weird guest
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — A metre-long lizard-type creature with overlapping horny scales made its appearance in Phase I of Panchkula’s Industrial Area last night . The guards on duty captured the creature. This morning Col R.S. Gill rang up The Tribune talking about a weird creature that had landed at Amartex House.

Open pit mocks public attitude
SAS NAGAR, July 17 — This is a typical case of passing the buck by various government departments, while the common man waits for things to change. A valve pit, more than two-foot deep and almost three-foot wide, has been lying uncovered on a footpath just outside one of the entrances of the Phase 3B1 Rose Garden here.

Doctors living in filthy conditions
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — Resident doctors at the PGI, who work long hours to save the lives of thousands of people, face appalling living conditions in their own hostels.
Unlit corridors, stinking toilets, choked drains, water leakage , poor power supply and creaking doors make a picture of neglect at the old Command Hospital hostel in PGI. The problems of the hardworking resident doctors living here are endless.

Drive to challan vehicles
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — The police will launch a special drive to challan drivers of heavy vehicles and four wheelers on July 20.

Youth Parliament
Should driving licence age be lowered to 16 ?
Gavish Singla, plus one student: I am against lowering the age limit for issuing a driving licence. Talking from my own experience, I was fully trained to drive a geared scooter when I was in the ninth standard, but my parents did not allow me to drive because the rules and regulations would not permit it. I had friends who managed fake licences. 

Phone subscribers at receiving end
SAS NAGAR, July 17 — With competition from the private sector looming large, the Department of Telecommunications doesn’t seem to have got its act together even as far as local connectivity is concerned.

Citizens and Public Offices
The long queues, the humidity and the hurry
CHANDIGARH, July 17
Time :12:30 pm
Place : Driving licence and registration branch, new Estate Office building, Sector 17.
Problem: Unending queues due to inadequate number of counters causing unnecessary harassment to the visitors. Different counters for “seemingly unimportant formalities”. No staff to guide people regarding the procedure.

Bhavans galore in city
Generally known as the City Beautiful, Chandigarh is on its way to acquiring a new sobriquet, ‘the City of Bhavans.’ With a surfeit of 36-odd bhavans, some managed by the government and some by different sabhas and societies, Chandigarh can easily be called a city with the largest number of bhavans in the smallest area! A majority of these bhavans are predominantly caste and community-based. 

Debate
Should Chandigarh have an international airport?
 VARIOUS writers are expecting a world class international airport from authorities who have miserably failed to maintain even a semblance of standard at the domestic airport. The pathetic conditions at the local airport have more than once been highlighted by the press with photographic illustrations. The canteen with a leaking roof over head and third class catering, leaves much to be desired. Add to this the below-average bath-rooms.

New Rotary chief installed
CHANDIGARH, July 17— “Rotary is a service organisation with an extremely noble cause, which cannot be bound within countries,” said Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, Minister for Local Government, Labour and Employment, Punjab, which speaking at the installation ceremony of Mr Praveen Chander Goyal as the President of the Rotary Club of Chandigarh for 2000-2001.

‘Savera’ faces a bleak future
CHANDIGARH, July 17—Jogavali Devi. Age, 31 years.Village, Serpur Agahra, District Chappra, Bihar. Jogavali came to Savera, a short-stay home for destitute women and children in Sector 43 two years ago. “ My husband, JWO S.N. Singh, remarried and threw me out of the house. For the past 15 years, I followed him around various Air Force stations in India. His last posting was at Chandigarh. Thereafter, he retired and went back to Bihar. My mother, brother and my husband did not want me back home, so I came to ‘Savera’ and have stayed here since,” says Jogavali.

Scooter rally by BSP
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — The local unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party, led by its President, Mr Mata Ram Dhiman, held a scooter rally which moved through different Sectors. According to Mr Ajit Singh Saini, General Secretary of the unit, the purpose of the rally was to highlight the problems of the residents of the city.

Residents allege harassment by HUDA
PANCHKULA, July 17 — The House Owners Welfare Association on Monday alleged harassment by HUDA in view of the notices to residents of Sector 10 to deposit demolishing charges. 

Martyrdom day of Udham Singh
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — The 60th martyrdom day of Shaheed Udham Singh will be observed by the Shaheed Udham Singh Memorial Bhavan Society at Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir Auditorium, Sector 24, here on July 30.

CRIME

2 held for setting man afire
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — The police has arrested two persons on the charge of setting a man afire.

EDUCATION

Private candidates await results
SAS NAGAR, July 17 — Private candidates who appeared in the class XII (humanities stream) examination of the Punjab School Education Board, returned empty-handed from the board office here today when they were told that their result gazette would be available on July 22. Earlier the gazette was to be made available today.

Entrance tests, BA, B.Sc (hon) results out
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — The results of the entrance tests for admissions to the LLM, MBA and Master of Mass Communication courses of Panjab University have been declared. The university has also declared the results of the final-year BA and B.Sc (Honours) examinations held in April.

Function marks new academic session at PGI
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — Interaction in research is essential in view of the globalisation of research activity. This was emphasised by Prof Goverdhan Mehta, Director, Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore, while speaking at the inaugural function of the new academic session of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research at Bhargava Auditorium here today.

MBBS academic session opens
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — The new academic session of the 10th batch of MBBS students of Government Medical College, Sector 32, was inaugurated today by Prof I.C. Pathak, former Director and Dean, PGI.

6,119 admissions in govt schools
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — As many as 6119 students have been admitted in various government schools at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23. Admissions to science and commerce closed on Saturday in all government schools , where 2171 students were admitted in humanities stream and 874 in vocational courses.

CULTURE

NZCC to constitute panel to recover money from PSU
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — The governing body of the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), at its meeting here today, decided to constitute a sub-committee to explore the various options available to the NZCC to recover Rs 5 crore and interest from a public sector undertaking.

Takamaka performance in city today
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — Eight singers and musicians of Takamaka, a musical band from the Reunion island in the Indian Ocean, will perform their foot-tapping sega rhythms at the Sector 17 Plaza here tomorrow.

Gunjan on July 23
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — The third annual function, Gunjan, of the Himachal Vikas Manch will be held at Tagore Theatre here on July 23.

SPORT

Anjali, Gagandeep win carrom titles
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — Anjali Negi and Gagandeep won the women's and men's singles titles, respectively, in the Raj Kumar Babuta Memorial Carrom Ranking Tournament which concluded here past evening in St Stephen's School, Sector 45. The three-day tournament was organised by the Chandigarh Carrom Association. Mr R.P. Malik, Director of the Seed Certification Agency of Haryana gave away the prizes.

Shikha, Harish top paddlers
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — Shikha Sharma in the women's section and Harish Kumar of AG (Haryana) in the men's section, emerged winners in the sixth Bhawan Hawk's Table Tennis Tournament which concluded past evening in the Sector 23 hall. The three-day tournament was organised by the Sector 27 Bhavan Vidyalaya. Ms Meenakshi Mohindra, Principal of the school, had made the tournament open to players of all age groups a few years ago.

No SAI scheme for u-14 kids
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — The Sports Authority of India, which has a number of schemes for young players, does not have any such scheme for the children below 14 years.

ADMINISTRATION

CTCC's memo of demands to Jacob
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — A deputation of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee led by its President, Mr B.B. Bahl, met the Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), today and submitted to him a detailed memorandum containing various demands of the residents of the city.

MCC schemes reviewed
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — Various development works undertaken by the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) during the the April-June quarter were reviewed at a meeting of the Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) here today.