C H A N D I G A R H

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TOP STORIES

Rail track repair causes inconvenience to road users
Panchkula, June 9
Thousands of commuters on the busy Ambala-Shimla national highway were put to great inconvenience for more than five hours today.

Railway employees repair the track at the Pinjore-level crossing due to which vehicular traffic was disrupted on the Shimla-Kalka National Highway-22 for over five hours on Saturday; (right) the police diverts traffic away from the highway. — Photos Karam Singh

• 5-hour ordeal for passengers

City’s sewerage system spells misery downstream
Manauli (SAS Nagar), June 9
More than 30,000 villagers living south of Chandigarh are forced to live along side a seasonal rivulet which carries untreated water and sewage from the city, leading to skin problems, contamination of underground water and diseases to cattle, besides the ever-prevailing foul smell.

Should SAS Nagar get district status?
SAS Nagar, June 9
District status for SAS Nagar? Well, the issue has come up time and again. Most of the residents are keen that the town should be given this status so that it becomes independent and they don’t have to rush to places like Kharar and Ropar to meet various requirements relating to legal and other matters.

MES officer faces court martial
Chandigarh, June 9
An Army Colonel serving with the Military Engineer Service is facing trial by a General Court Martial  on charges of defraud and omissions prejudicial to good order and discipline.

Computer education fraud: probe ordered Chandigarh, June 9 Following the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the UT Superintendent of Police (Operations) has been asked to take up a probe against Wintech Computers in the city. The firm is said to have duped about 200 local students to the tune of Rs 50 lakh and thousands of students all over the country to the tune of over Rs 200 crore.

City petrol stations lack effluent treatment plants
Chandigarh, June 9
Several petrol and service stations in city continue to release untreated waste water into the sewerage system thus adding inorganic waste oil and sludge which seeps underground. Notices to more than 40 petrol stations have not helped. Only a few of them have approached the Pollution Department and installed effluent treatment plants.

FILM REVIEW

Difficult to digest
‘PAAGALPAN’ (Nirman) is a pathetic presentation and surely not a welcome note for the newcomers Karan Nath and Aarti Agarwal. Karan, son of Rikku Rakesh Nath, secretary of Madhuri Dixit, could have managed a better debut. The story lacks cine-magic, the tunes seem only to fill space and the web of relations is far too complex for any solution digestible to the crowd.

COMMUNITY

REMINISCENCES
No time to stop and relax
Chandigarh
The whisper of the cool morning breeze is drowned in the incessant drone of cars whizzing past. Punjab Advocate General Hardev Singh Mattewal stops jogging in the Leisure Valley in Sector 10, and wonders why people are rushing at such an early hour, even on a Saturday. He wants to stop one of them and ask this question, but decides to continue with his exercise.

New Rotary District Governor
Chandigarh, June 9
The new District Governor of the Rotary District 3080, Mr Subhash Garg, will be installed at the annual district assembly,‘manavta milan’ here tomorrow.

‘20th century was a battleground of tyranny’
Chandigarh, June 9
“Twentieth century was the century marked by violence,” said Sir Martin Gilbert in his talk on “Reflections on the 20th century” at the Punjab Raj Bhavan here today. Sir Martin Gilbert drew an outline history of the major human tragedies during the wars. He spoke on different aspects gripping human civilisation during contemporary times as a result of change in tide of time in the 20th century.

Dhawan demands MC’s dissolution
Chandigarh, June 9
Mr Harmohan Dhawan, president of the Chandigarh Vikas Manch, today demanded the dissolution of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh for its failure to take up any development work during the past over five months.

ROADSIDE ENTERPRENEURS
Potters taking up new themes
Chandigarh
Today most of the people own refrigerators and they do not need earthen pots to store water. But that has not made potters irrelevant. They are earning their livelihood by making other earthenware such as crockery, vases, and a variety of pieces of decoration.

Pottery stacked on the roadside in Sector 25 in Chandigarh. — Tribune photo by Pankaj Sharma

OFF-BEAT PROFESSIONS
Cashing in on wit & humour
Chandigarh
If you have a pleasing voice and the presence of mind to keep a large audience engaged, you can try your luck in compering which is the latest fad in the city. Compering a show which some youngsters started as a hobby has now become a desired profession for many.

Protest rally by workers
Lalru, June 9
More than 200 workers from different industries held a protest rally against the lathi charge resorted by the Lalru police on the striking employees of Anand Nishicova Industry on May 26. In the lathi charge about a dozen of workers were injured and police had booked 32 workers for rioting.

Director on talent hunt
Chandigarh, June 9
A local lad, Jagmeet Bal, who has directed serials for Alpha TV Punjabi, is in the city in search of fresh actors and dancers for the teleserial screen test.

Punjabi serial shooting
Mullanpur Garibdas, June 9
Sach, a Punjabi serial based on real crime stories, is being shot in this area. Shooting for the fifth episode was completed at the Mullanpur-Garibdas (Kharar) police station yesterday. Each episode would be based on a separate story, said its director Navneet Satpal, adding that the serial would be aired on Zee Alpha.

FENG SHUI TIPS
Successful office layouts-II
IF a building has one particular corner missing, it means the luck represented by the direction of the missing corner will be greatly lacking. For example, if the north of a building is missing, the occupants will find it tough to advance in their careers. Triangular, L-shaped and U-shaped floor-plans are difficult to write in.

CRIME

Booked for stealing power
Chandigarh, June 9
On complaint of the Electricity Department, the city police has registered a case against Gurdeep Singh and others, residents of Palsora village, for electricity theft here yesterday. The accused were caught stealing power using kundi connections. A case under the Electricity Act was registered.

EDUCATION

CAMPUS ROUND-UP
Five-star status gives PU a boost
Chandigarh
At a time when Panjab University is facing a financial crisis, the report of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council has come as a morale booster. The university has been accorded a ‘Five Star’ status, bringing it on a par with the premier universities of the country.

Confusion over MCA question paper duration
Chandigarh, June 9
The entrance examination for the Masters in Computer Applications (MCA) course held at Panjab University today proved to be a confused affair for the 2800 candidates and an exercise in crisis management for the PU examination branch.

No NSS activity on PU campus
Chandigarh, June 9
Panjab University, which is running the National Service Scheme (NSS) units in 90 of its affiliated colleges, does not have a single NSS unit functioning on the campus now. In what might surprise many, there has been no NSS activity for at least 10 years. Unconfirmed sources, however, state that the last activity of the PU campus NSS unit was held in 1977.

Spare the rod and the child blooms Chandigarh, June 9 Sounds of laughter filled the Sector 17 piazza today. Around 600 persons had gathered in front of the Neelam Cinema. While one wondered over what was so delightful as to arrest the attention of so many passersby, the eyes got riveted on a bunch of 17 bubbly children from various schools of the city, who had gathered there to voice their concern against the practice of rebuking through the medium of a street play.

Artistes from the theatre of joy present a play “Daantate Raho” at Sector 17, Chandigarh, on Saturday. — Photo Pradeep Tewari

Disability no deterrent
Chandigarh, June 9
For someone who is unable to hear and consequently unable to converse, securing a distinction in Class XII examination is an achievement. Amrita Singh lost her hearing when she was just an year old. She has secured 82 per cent in the CBSE examination this year.

Theatre workshop concludes
Chandigarh, June 9
About 43 kids participated in a theatre workshop held at St Stephens School, Sector 45, which concluded here today. The workshop concluded with a musical play “Harry and his magic lamp” enacted by the kids. “We wanted to make kids familiar to music, dance and theatre,” said Niti, in charge of the camp.

Students get prizes worth 10 lakh
Chandigarh, June 9
As many as 422 students got cash prizes worth Rs 10 lakh at the prize distribution ceremony of All-India Talent Search Examination conducted by the Vision Academy at the Tagore Theatre here today.

A summer training camp for schoolchildren in progress at CMC Limited in Sector 7 of Chandigarh. — A Tribune photograph

Training camp for students Chandigarh, June 9 A summer training camp for schoolchildren in the age group of 5 to 15 years is being organised by CMC Limited, Sector 7. A total of 35 students have been enrolled for the course. Children less than eight years are being imparted skills in basics and the rest are being taught the basics of web designing.

National child award for local boy
Chandigarh June 9
A local boy, Gunjit Singh, who has just passed Class X, was awarded the ‘‘National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement,’’ by the Government of India, at Delhi yesterday.

COURTS

HC sets aside Estate Officer’s orders
Chandigarh, June 9
Allowing a writ petition, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court here has set aside the orders passed by the UT Estate Officer and two other respondents rejecting the application of a Sector 18 resident seeking the retransfer of a shop-cum-Office in Sector 8 here.

DISTRICT COURT
Dowry case adjourned
Chandigarh, June 9
The dowry case filed against Surjit Singh Barnala and his other family members by his daughter-in-law Parveshbir Kaur, today was adjourned by the UT Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, till August 10.

Lok Adalat held in Panchkula
Chandigarh, June 9
The Lok Adalat held at Panchkula today settled 99 out of 120 cases of different categories. Mr R.S. Virk, Member Secretary of the Haryana State Legal Services Authority, inaugurated the Lok Adalat in which cases relating to motor accident claims, summaries, civil and IPC cases were taken up in the court of an Additional District and Sessions Judge, JMIC and Civil Judge (JD).

• 99 cases settled
  
  

CULTURE

Innovator of fusion music
Chandigarh, June 9
It made a contrasting picture at Planet M in Sector 17 where India’s ace flutist Pandit Ronu Majumdar in his traditional dhoti kurta performed in the backdrop of scantily clad figures dancing to the tunes of electric guitars and drum sets.

HEALTH

Two-day CME on arthroscopy
Chandigarh, June 9
On the first day of the CME on arthroscopy organised by the PGI Orthopaedics Department today, specialists gave live demonstrations of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. The two-day CME will have live demonstrations by a faculty of four doctors specialising in arthroscopy. 

• PGI MD test results
  
  

SPORTS

Chetna club win, enters final
Chandigarh, June 9
The Chetna Cricket Club moved into the final ousting the Godrej Cricket Club by three runs in a nail-biting crucial match for Hindustan Times Trophy organised by the UT Cricket Association, Chandigarh, in the fifth UT Summer League Cricket Tournament played at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium, here today.

ADMINISTRATION

Discussions on vital MC issues pending
Chandigarh, June 9
It has been six months since the Municipal Corporation transacted any business, and all meetings, except the budget session, have ended up as adjourned.