C H A N D I G A R H

Records damaged in MC building fire
No casualty reported    DC orders inquiry
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — Records of the Licensing and Registration Branch, Union Territory, of the past three decades was reportedly reduced to ashes following a major fire which broke out in the record room in the ground floor of the Municipal Corporation building here this afternoon.

Firemen try to control the fire that broke out in the office of the Municipal Corporation in Sector 17, Chandigarh, on Tuesday. — Tribune photo by Parvesh Chauhan 

Traffic chaos follows road closure
DERA BASSI, Dec 5 — Confusion and traffic jams marked the first day of the closure of the Chandigarh—Ambala highway today. The road has been closed as work is on to construct a railway overbridge at Bhankharpur, about 2 km from here.

IT scheme starts today
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — Responding to the requests from tax payers, who have not received their PAN cards, the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, North Western Region, Ms Surinder Pal Kaur, today announced the launching of a special drive for allotment of PAN to all the tax payers in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Chandigarh.

City IG order on release of vehicles
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — Accident victims will not have to wait for court orders to get their vehicles released. The Inspector-General of Chandigarh Police, Mr B.S. Bassi, today directed all Station House Officers to hand these over to the owners on supardari. The direction is significant as about 70 to 100 vehicles are involved in mishaps every month.

• Holiday for cops, too

COMMUNITY

BSNL may make access to Internet free
New package from Jan 1
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — The Department of Telecom, which has recently been corporatised and re-named as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), is about to change the way computer users ‘‘surf ’’ the net. BSNL, which is one of the major Internet service providers in the country, is all set to make access to Internet free of cost.

Rampur ki Dawat at Red Bishop
PANCHKULA, Dec 5 — There is good news for food connoisseurs looking for delicacies to tickle their palate—Haryana Tourism Department has come up with a unique idea to pamper them with exquisite cuisines from all over the country, at a food festival.

Executive development programme begins
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — An executive development programme (EDP), designed to upgrade the skills of project identification, formulation, appraisal, implementation, monitoring and recovery of loan of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries, was inaugurated at Kisan Bhavan, Sector 35, here today.

Police beat up phariwallas
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — The Chandigarh police today allegedly beaten up phariwallas and reportedly arrested 198 of them, while they were protesting in front of the office of the Municipal Corporation. Hundreds of members of the Old Phari Market Association today gehraoed the MC office for two hours and raised slogan against them.

Thanking the good Samaritans of the city
‘I’ll be back,’ says grief-stricken sister
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — Irmgard Exo came to India on October 20 with dreams for a holiday, she had long planned for. She will leave with her sister Mechthild, most probably sometime next week, but in the form of in an urn ashes.

CM on inauguration spree
PANCHKULA, Dec 5 — On an inauguration spree, Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala here today formally opened school buildings and health centres, and later declared the 46th national school games open at Hansraj Public School in Sector 6.

City resident wins 3.2 lakh in KBC
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5— It was a dream come true for city resident Vijay Sharma, Zonal Manager of Nicholas Pirmal India Limited, who recently won Rs 3,20,000 on the Star TV programme Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC).

MLAs enroll for computer classes
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — Legislators of Haryana enrolled themselves for computer training at the swank e-governance center of the Haryana Civil Secretariat here today.

14 jhuggis gutted in fire
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — As many as 14 jhuggis were gutted in a fire which broke out at Khuda Lahora this evening. No loss of life was reported.

Workshop on innovative urban management
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — Capacity building and training for the persons involving in the local government for better functioning was emphasised during a three-day training workshop on “innovative urban management and financing of urban infrastructure” organised by the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID) in collaboration with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), New Delhi, here today.

Unauthorised taxi stands removed
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — The enforcement wing of the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, today uprooted tents of as many as 15 unauthorised taxi stands in various parts of the city. There are at present only 58 authorised taxi stands in the city.

Girl hurt
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — A 15-year-old school girl, Deepa of Sector 28, was admitted to the PGI with serious injuries after she fell from a local bus today. In another case, a Colony Number 4 resident, Sunita, was admitted to the Sector 32 Government Medical College and Hospital after she consumed poison.

‘Govt delaying notification’
SAS NAGAR, Dec 5 — Apprehending that the government was going to “intentionally” delay the issuing of the notification of the election of the President of the SAS Nagar Municipal Council, the councillors of the Kulwant group are contemplating to take legal course once again.

• BSNL advice on phone bills

CRIME

Shopkeeper booked for keeping porn films
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — Acting on a tip-off, the Chandigarh Police today booked a Sector 22 wholesale shopkeeper on the allegations of keeping blue films, besides other new-releases.

Cheated of Rs 37,000
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — A resident of Ludhiana district has reported that he had given money to a city resident for arranging visa to the USA four years ago but till date neither the visa has been arranged nor the money has been returned.

BUSINESS

‘Most agroportals useless’
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — Agroportals in the country are not providing sufficient information to farmers. Most of these are providing only theoretical solutions to practical problems faced by farmers.

EDUCATION

Issue of re-employment of teachers rankles PU staff
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — Many Panjab University teachers who would have retired by the age of 60, continue to serve with full pay and allowances. Even as the first teacher of Panjab University to serve till the age of 62 years, retired on November 30, University authorities await the Central Government’s notification of the amended regulations in this regard.

Handsome research grants for PU departments
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — Cash-crunch-hit research in Panjab University got a shot of strength in the Botany department with a grant of Rs 23 lakh for updating source availability.

Kataria is DPI (Colleges)
Chandigarh, Dec 5 — The Chandigarh Administration ordered a minor reshuffle of its officials today. Ms Madhvai Kataria, Director, Social Welfare, has been posted as Director, Public Instruction (Colleges), in addition to her own duties. She relieves Mr K.A.P. Sinha.

COURTS

RI for rash and negligent driving
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — Vijay Kumar, a resident of Kangra, was today sentenced to one and half years' rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 500 by the UT Judicial Magistrate in a rash and negligent driving case.

High Court
Mayor’s election challenged
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — The election of Mr Brij Mohan Kapur as Mayor of Amritsar was challenged today in the Punjab and Haryana High Court by Mr Sunil Dutt, Municipal Councillor of the corporation. He sought quashing of the result, a recount of votes and restraining Mr Kapur from functioning as Mayor of the Municipal Corporation.

• Pre-arrest bail for ex-minister’s sons

• Order to conduct police body poll

• Notice to Bhajan Lal’s sons

SPORT

DAV-10 win inter-college relay races
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — DAV College, Sector 10, Chandigarh, won the inter-college relay races (men) with 50 points. SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur, PU Campus Chandigarh and GNN College, Doraha, secured second, third and fourth position, respectively. Khalsa College for women, Ludhiana, won the women event while Ramgarhia Girls College, Ludhiana, secured second position and GGS College, Sector 26, stood third.

Customs officers corner glory
CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — Two officers of the Customs and Central Excise Department, Chandigarh, brought laurels to the department as well as to the city in the recently concluded Central Revenue Golf Tournament at Bangalore on December 2.