IN FOCUS
SAS Nagar faces brunt of UT slum
SAS Nagar
After spending lakhs on building houses in Phase 3-A here, their owners feel they are “living in hell”. The adjoining “Nehru Colony” in the Union Territory has made life miserable for them. The residents complain of offensive smell, flies, mosquitoes and pigs rummaging about in the SAS Nagar residential area.

PANCHKULA DIARY
And stray cattle roam free
Panchkula
While the municipal council goes about inviting tenders to decide a contractor to tackle the stray cattle menace, the number of such cattle seems to be growing by the day.

KHARAR DIARY
Not enough safai staff with civic body
Kharar
The municipal committee is facing a number of problems and is under pressure for providing sanitation in municipal limits. The Punjab Government is not permitting it to employ more safai karamcharis even when the municipal limits have been extended many times since 1970 and the number of safai karamcharis has remained the same as it was in 1970.

Seminar on Sikh centenary celebrations
SAS Nagar, August 18
There is need to learn from drawbacks in earlier centenary celebrations related to Sikh religious events and draw up a long-term plan on such function coming up in the future

Parking blues in city markets
Chandigarh, August 18
The city may be a planned one but markets in city continue to face acute parking problems. According to a random survey, the major shopping centres in Sectors 17, 22, 34 and 35 continue to be plagued with parking problems thus causing a lot of inconvenience to the public.

Reminiscences
When kids preferred outdoors
Chandigarh
Sharp piercing rays of the morning sun illuminate the study in his Sector 42 house as D.S. Saroya savours steaming cup of tea. Tired after two hours of putting at the Golf Course, the Director Public Instruction for Schools is in no mood to talk. As he flips through the pages, an advertisement about children creating images on computers catches his eye and he multers! “Computers were not what we used to play with as kids”.

Open power connections, demand Kansal residents
Chandigarh, August 18
Residents of Naya Gaon and Kansal villages are much agitated over the Punjab Government attitude of not releasing electricity connections to the people who have built houses with their hard-earned money in Naya Gaon, Kansal and adjoining villages.

Meira wants Simla pact documents made public
Chandigarh, August 18
The Babu Jagjivan Ram All-India Samta Movement today demanded that the secret documents relating to the Simla Agrement should be made public. Raising this demand at a press conference here today, the president of the movement, Ms Meira Kumar, alleged that the hard-won victory in the battlefield was “completely surrendered” by the Indian leadership at the negotiating table.

Tributes paid to R.S. Gill
Chandigarh, August 18
Rich tributes were paid to Mr R.S. Gill, the doyen of hydro-electric engineering, at his bhog and antim ardas here today. Mr R.S. Gill, father of former Punjab DGP, Mr K.P.S. Gill, died here last week. He was 93. A pioneer in hydro-electric projects in India. Mr Gill was also an authority on river water distribution.

BPL launches CTV Chandigarh, august 18 BPL today launched Studio Line 21— a 1,000-watt seven speaker colour television — here today. Film actors Priyanshu, Himanshu and actress Sandali of Tum Bin fame launched the new model at the BPL Gallery, Sector 35 here.
Film stars Sandhli Sinha (R), Himanshu (centre) and Priyanshu in Chandigarh on Saturday. — Photo Pradeep Tiwari

Deepti Nath cremated
Chandigarh, August 18
Ms Deepti Nath, an elder sister of Ms Tripti Nath, Senior Staff Correspondent, The Tribune, and a daughter of Mr Tribhuvan Nath, a veteran journalist, was cremated at the Manimajra cremation ground here this morning.

Cop hurt in group clash, two youths held
Chandigarh, August 18
Shemsher, a local police constable, sustained minor injuries after he was hit by a ‘brick’ while he was trying to disperse two groups of youths who had entered into a brawl in Sector 15 here today. Later two of the youths, including a student of the DAV College, Sector 10, were arrested.

Gold ornaments stolen
Chandigarh, August 18
During the last 24 hours, the police has received two burglary complaints. According to the police sources, burglars struck at house No. 3174 in Sector 15 here yesterday. Owner of the house, Rohtash said he was out of station at the time of the incident and the estimate of the theft could not be ascertained yet.

BUSINESS

ROADSIDE ENTREPRENEUR
Cobblers are in demand
Chandigarh
With the availability of a wide range of footwear, the people, especially the younger generation, have started possessing several pairs of shoes to suit every occasion. Many buy branded shoes but their duplicates are also on sale. It is these duplicate shoes, which bring business to the hundreds of cobblers in the city.

CAMPUS ROUND-UP
PU decisions draw flak
Chandigarh
Panjab University has accepted the demand of the Student Organisation of Panjab University to promote to M Sc class students who have failed in the B Sc examination. It has proved an embarrassment for the university because only a few days ago, it had taken a decision and announced it at a press conference, that students who did not pass the examination but had at least 92 credits would be given a special chance in September.

St. Johns wins music competition
Chandigarh, August 18
Ten teams from different schools participated in an inter-school music competition organised at Ajit Karam Singh International Public School, Sector 41, here today. The competition was organised to commemorate the birth anniversary of the founder of the association Ms A Karam Singh.

Govt teachers flay Admn
Chandigarh, August 18
The Government Teachers Union (UT), Chandigarh, today accused the Administration of major violations in transferring teachers. A press note issued by the union alleged that the Administration had violated principles of stay of seven years at one place. Teachers, who were to retire within one year, had been shuffled.

Stress on quality control in concrete structures
Chandigarh, August 18
The Institution of Engineers (India), Punjab and Chandigarh State Centre and Grasim Industries Limited organised a one-day seminar on “Concrete for the millennium” on the occasion of the Fifth Sekhon Memorial Lecture. Before the function, tributes were paid to R.S. Gill, former chairman, PSEB, who passed away last week.

COURTS

Slow pace of computerisation in courts
Chandigarh, August 18
Dispensation of quick justice foreseen through computerisation of court records still seems to be a distant dream, with the District Court having been able to install only six computers against a target of 40, thanks to the Chandigarh Administration dragging its feet on the matter.

• Bail plea dismissed

Blending women’s power and poignancy
Chandigarh, August 18
Before Atmajit’s production Main taan ik sarangi haan went on the boards today at Tagore Theatre, there were many questions shrouding its concept. The apprehensions stemmed from the fact that the issue sought to be addressed by the director was sensitive to the hilt in that it related to complex human relationships — not only man-woman ties but also woman-woman relationships.

You find spiritualism in her art

	Chandigarh, August 18 At the first instance, what strikes the viewer most about Archana Handa’s exhibition which opened at Government Museum and Art Gallery here today, is its vastness.
	Archana Handa with some of her works at an exhibition at Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10, in Chandigarh on Saturday. — A Tribune photograph

Honour for poet
Chandigarh, August 18
Artist Harbans Albela has won a nomination for the ‘2001 World Champion Amateur Poet’ and has been invited by the International Society of Poets to recite his poems at the ‘2001 International Society of Poets Summer Convention and Symposium’, being held in Washington DC, United States.

‘Kudiyan’ released
Chandigarh, August 18
‘Kudiyan’, a new album of Shankar Sahney, was released yesterday by Tips Industries Ltd. The album contains 10 songs out which three are sad songs and the remaining are dance numbers. Music is given by Anand Raj Anand and Jawahar Wattal and the songs have been penned by Sahney himself, Babu Singh Mann,Dev Kohli and Dev Rishi.

WESTERN FILM REVIEW
Recreating history at high cost
Chandigarh
Modesty has never been Michael Bay’s strong point. He is an expensive director in an expensive mode. He makes them big and often brazen. “The bigger stuff, that’s where I shine. In the chaos, I am able to shoot quickly and keep a level head”, says the creator of “Pearl Harbor” (Piccadilly). How true!

HEALTH

Plan to eradicate blindness
Panchkula, August 18
The district health authorities have prepared a micro-plan to eradicate blindness from the district. According to the Deputy Commissioner and Chairman of the District Blindness Control Society, Ms Jyoti Arora, different eye check-up camps would be organised in the second week of September and in January 2002. The camps would be organised at Community Health Care, Kalka, and CHC, Raipur Rani in the first week of October, and third week of November.

400 to attend PGI conference
Chandigarh, August 18
The 11th annual conference on paediatrics gastroenterology will be held from August 31 to September 2 at the PGI. According to the organising secretary of the conference, Dr B.R. Thapa, about 400 delegates from all over the country are expected to participate in the conference.

The UK roller hockey team which played a match against an Indian team at the KB DAV Centenary School in Sector 7, Chandigarh.

SPORTS ROUND-UP
A shot in the arm for roller skating
Chandigarh
Roller skating got a boost when a roller hockey team from the UK came to the city for a series of matches with Indian roller hockey teams. Thanks to the president of the Roller Skating Federation of India, Mr Pradeep Ganeriwal, a tie-up with England, the reigning world roller hockey Group B champions, became possible. The most happy person at this development was Ms Madhu Bahl, Principal of the KB DAV Centenary School, Sector 7.

Rahul outplays Sumit in carrom meet
Chandigarh, August 18
Rahul Nanda scored an upset victory in the junior boys event in the first round, when he outplayed Sumit Chakarvorty, fourth seed, on the first day of the 4th St Stephen’s Ranking Carrom Tournament played here today at St Stephen’s School, Sector 45. The two-day meet is being organised by St Stephen’s School under the aegis of the Chandigarh Carrom Association. The finals will be played here tomorrow.

• Soccer meet

• Tennis ball cricket tourney

• Football championship

• Elected

• Bridge tourney