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Practice that robbed PSEB of Rs 18 lakh
Robbers knew the money would come unguarded as usual
SAS Nagar, April 23
Three armed turbaned youths robbed two women employees of the Punjab State Electricity Board of more than Rs 10 lakh in cash and bank drafts and cheques for about Rs 8 lakh, in front of the Phase VII branch of Punjab National Bank here today, in broad daylight.

Employees of the Punjab State Electricity Board, who were robbed at gunpoint outside a branch of Punjab National Bank, in Phase VII, SAS Nagar, on Tuesday; and (right) the driver of the board Jeep shows the tail door of the vehicle that the robbers had forced open. — Photos Parvesh Chauhan

• Theory on robbers

Fitting square pegs in round holes
Failures in science get succour in arts
Chandigarh, April 23
Failing in science in class XI, no problem. You can still get a ‘pass’ certificate from the school on condition of shifting to another institute or to the arts stream. Surprising, but true. Some schools in the city are reportedly handing over ‘pass’ certificates to failed candidates, some allegedly for money in a “very few” cases.

Canadian visa office in UT ‘not a priority’
Chandigarh, April 23
“Upgrading of the Chandigarh business office into a consulate is not on the immediate priority list of the Canadian Government,” says Mr Gurmant Grewal, Canadian MP and Foreign Affairs Critic for Asia Pacific and Co-Chair of the Standing Joint Committee of the Canadian House of Commons and Senate for Scrutiny of Regulations.

SAS NAGAR ENCROACHMENT CASE
HC orders PUDA officials’ presence
Chandigarh, April 23
In SAS Nagar encroachment case, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today ordered that a senior town planner and other officers of Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority, besides those from the horticulture wing, should be present in the court on the next date of hearing.

Tallest building looks down at Admn laws

Chandigarh, April 23 Using loopholes in the UT building bylaws, a local builder is constructing a high-rise building which will be one of the tallest building in UT. Maybe just second to the mammoth Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat. CIRCUMVENTING THE LAW: This building in Sarangpur village beyond the PGI will soon be the tallest in the UT and not governed by bylaws, as it is not within the city limits. — Photo Manoj Mahajan

SISI Director in CBI net
Rs 18 lakh recovered, raids conducted
Chandigarh April 23
Sleuths of the Central Bureau of Investigation have recovered deposits totalling Rs 10 lakh and fixed deposit receipts amounting to Rs 8 lakh from the possession of Joginder Singh Kullar, Director of the Small Industries Service Institute in Ludhiana.

Special PU concessions for Kashmiri students
Chandigarh, April 23
Panjab University has decided to extend special concessions to wards of Kashmiris displaced from their homes in the wake of the ongoing long phase of terrorist activity. The special concessions include giving weightage in merit and creation of extra seats in addition to the existing concessions.

Only two colleges get NAAC accreditation
Chandigarh, April 23
Only two colleges out of the entire lot of those affiliated to three universities in Punjab have been accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council till date.

Zail Singh’s widow gets relief
Chandigarh, April 23
After a lapse of more than six years, 82-year-old Ms Pardhan Kaur, wife of a former late President of India, Giani Zail Singh, was today granted a compensation of Rs 12 lakh by a local court in an accident claim case of her late husband.

COMMUNITY

Haryana to set up ‘sadhna kendras’
Panchkula, April 23

The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, said “yog sadhna kendras” would be set up in all districts. A museum was being set up to preserve artefacts related to Jain culture and a chair named after Bhagwan Mahavira had been instituted in Kurukshetra University. A policeman explains traffic rules to kids at the Children’s Traffic Park inaugurated by the Haryana Chief Minister in Sector 12, Panchkula, on Tuesday. — A Tribune photograph

Scientific information in Indian languages soon
Chandigarh, April 23
Though India is ahead of China in scientific achievements, yet it is way behind China in providing technology to the end user because of language barrier between the technology developer and the user.

Loan facility for safai karamcharis’ wards
Chandigarh, April 23
The Chandigarh Scheduled Castes Backward Classes and Minorities Financial Development Corporation has made an appeal to the ‘safai karamcharis’ working in various departments of UT, Punjab, Haryana and Central Government offices situated at Chandigarh to come forward for availing of the loan facility for their dependents.

Shakti inspiration behind many creations: experts
Panchkula, April 23
The two-day colloquium on ‘Worshipping Goddess — Mythology, Form and Ritual’ concluded at Mata Mansa Devi Temple , with the dual object of highlighting various academic aspects of the Goddess worship and tradition; and of setting up a theme museum and library in temple complex.

Home for mentally ill
Chandigarh, April 23

The Punjab Governor and Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Lieut Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), inaugurated a Half Way Home, a day-care centre for critically mentally ill patients — the first of its kind in North India in Sector 47 here today. Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd) plays carrom with chronically mentally ill persons after the inauguration of Half Way Home in Sector 47, Chandigarh, on Tuesday. — Photo Pankaj Sharma

READERS WRITE
What is justification in imposing house tax?
THIS is in connection with the haphazard and shoddy manner in which the authorities in Panchkula are going about imposing house tax. It seems the politicians here are in tearing hurry to form at municipal corporation for Panchkula and to impose this ill-considered tax. 

Cop rewarded for nabbing thief
Chandigarh, April 23
A police constable, Naresh Kumar, has been commended for exhibiting a high sense of alertness and courage in apprehending a purse snatcher while he was on duty near the Modern Housing Complex, Mani Majra, last night.

Ranbaxy burns drugs; issued show cause
Chandigarh, April 23
Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee today issued a showcause notice to M/s Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, New Delhi and SAS Nagar, for disposing of, discarded, outdated and contaminated medicines by burning the pile of drugs in the open in the Industrial Area, Phase-II, on April 17.

• Rotary Club to open training centre

• Sanitation complaint centres

• Grievance registers for policemen

• No smoking at public places

CRIME

Youth beats up ASI at naka
Panchkula, April 23
A youth snatched a walkie-talkie from an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police, beat him up and fled away upon being asked to stop for a routine checking at a naka. According to information available, the driver of car (0066) was signalled to stop by a police party engaged in checking overspeeding vehicles near Sector 2.

BUSINESS

• BIZ CLIP

EDUCATION

Engineering students stage dharna
Dera Bassi, April 23

In protest against the authorities, students of Sukhmani Institute of Engineering and Technology staged a dharna in front of the institute and boycotted internal examinations for the second consecutive day here today. Students of the Sukhmani Institute of Engineering and Technology, Dera Bassi, protest against the authorities’ decision of demanding annual fees for the next academic session on Tuesday. — Photo Manoj Mahajan

• Amravati Public School valedictory function

HIGH COURT
AG told to look into polythene scam
Chandigarh, April 23
In an alleged multi-crore scam pertaining to the purchase of polythene sheets by Markfed to cover foodgrains, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today asked Punjab’s Advocate-General to “personally look into the matter so that those playing fraud with the state agency may not go scot free”.

HIGH COURT
Unlicensed vendors’ plea dismissed
Chandigarh, April 23
A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, comprising the Chief Justice Mr A.D Saharya and Mr Justice J.S. Kehar, dismissed the plea of unlicensed vendors namely Mansa Ram alias Balwant Singh and others, who had sought restraining the Chandigarh Administration from removing them from the Subji Mandi in Sector 26, Chandigarh, without allotting them alternate sites.

Cheema told to appear in court
Chandigarh, April 23
Just a month after Mr J.S Cheema, CIA Inspector with Chandigarh police, who was booked by the CBI in a corruption case, a local court today directed him to appear before the court on May 30.

EO summoned in dairy case
Chandigarh, April 23
Taking up a petition filed in public interest, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today asked Panchkula’s Estate Officer to be personally present in the court on the next date of hearing for considering the shifting of the dairies outside the Urban Estate of Panchkula.

CULTURE

Photo show opens today
Chandigarh, April 23
Pictures of some of the ace photo artists of the country will be displayed during the five-day photography exhibition to open in the city tomorrow. To be inaugurated at Punjab Kala Bhavan, Sector 16, by the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen JFR Jacob (retd), the exhibition will feature works of seven prominent photographers of the country.

HEALTH

Relief for kids with cut lips
Chandigarh
There is good news for parents who have a child born with a cleft lip or palate. The multi-speciality team of the Cleft Palate Clinic at the PGI has adopted internationally acclaimed management procedures and has achieved remarkable success in significantly reducing social and psychological trauma involved in the repair of a cleft palate as well as cranio-facial deformities with minimal surgery.

PGI alumnus’ work on prostate cancer in USA
Chandigarh, April 23
Dr Raj Dahiya, a PGI alumnus, has discovered a new way to treat prostate cancer in the USA. His findings were published in the Journal of National Cancer Institutes on March 5. The then NIH president released this research story to the media there.

Shortcomings in new hospital block
SAS Nagar, April 23
The Civil Hospital authorities here have refused to take possession of the new extension block of the hospital in the face of serious shortcomings in the building. It is learnt that about a fortnight ago a junior engineer of the Punjab Health Systems Corporation, Mr P.C. Goyal, had written to the hospital authorities to take possession of the new block.

SPORTS

Western Air Command win football title Chandigarh, April 23 Western Air Command clinched the coveted Air Force football title when they defeated Eastern Air Command 3-0 in the final played here today. The half-time score was 2-0. In a one-sided match, WAC were in total command of the game right from the beginning.
The final tie of the Air Force Football Championship between Western Air Command and Eastern Air Command in progress at 3 BRD grounds in Chandigarh on Tuesday. — A Tribune photograph

Poor turnout makes Admn call off auction
Chandigarh, April 23

The Chandigarh Administration had to withdraw the offer of 58 sites for keeping bulk material after only four bidders turned up at the auction here today. After more than an hour of wait, the Assistant Estate Officer, Mr Ashwani Kumar, withdrew the auction. Bidders argue with the Assistant Estate Officer, Mr Ashwani Kumar (extreme right), at the auction of bulk-market sites in Chandigarh on Tuesday. — A Tribune photograph

Fourteen SIs, five ASIs transferred in UT
Chandigarh, April 23
The UT SSP, Mr Parag Jain today issued orders effecting the transfer of 19 police officials. Those given new assignments include 14 SIs and 5 ASIs. SI Gurman Singh has been posted as the in charge of the Mauli Jagran police post, while SI Narinder Singh has been posted as the in charge, Maloya police post.

Raipur Khurd marble market to go: DC
Chandigarh, April 23
Acting on reports in ‘Chandigarh Tribune’ regarding an illegal marble market in Raipur Khurd village along the Chandigarh-Ambala highway, the UT Estate Officer and the Deputy Commissioner, Mr M. Ramsekhar, said here today that the market would be removed from there.