VIP farewell for Jain
Chandigarh, October 29
After spending more than 10 months in Model Jail Burail, former UT Home Secretary and senior Haryana Bureaucrat, N.K Jain, today got a “VIP farewell” when he was released from jail in the evening. 

Warm farewell for former UT Home Secretary courtesy model jail employees as they allowed three cars with Haryana numbers to pick him up from inside the jail. — Tribune photo Manoj Mahajan

Conduct probe in Mohali: councillors
SAS Nagar, October 29
Eight municipal councillors, who had been called to Ludhiana today by the Deputy Director, Urban Local Bodies, in connection with a probe against an octroi contractor refused to join in the investigations and demanded that the official concerned should come to SAS Nagar in this regard.

Victim fighting for ban on crackers
Chandigarh, October 29
It was in October 1995. After igniting a cracker class IX student Gagandeep Singh Bal retreated about 10 to 15 feet. A safe distance, he presumed. He was wrong. Within seconds a piece of the cracker ripped his eyelid before hitting the eyeball.

Seventeen eye patients still critical
Chandigarh, October 29
With no fresh case of Divali-related eye injury being reported at city hospitals, doctors at the PGI and Government Medical College and Hospital are closely monitoring the condition of those who are already under treatment.

Panchkula Diary
Ekta Shakti promises to remove discrimination
Panchkula, October 29
The Ekta Shakti, a newly formed political party, today launched itself in Panchkula. Claiming to represent the voice of the people in north Haryana, the party aims to “remove all discrimination between north and south Haryana.”

Readers Write
Sub judice case affecting studies at PU
The case of superannuated teachers of Panjab University, Chandigarh, regarding retaining or insisting on retaining 62 as the age of retirement has been sub judice in the Punjab and High Court for the past more than a year. The court is surprisingly finding it difficult to decide as to which way it should go.

13 jhuggis gutted
SAS Nagar, October 29
Over 13 jhuggis in Udham Singh colony here were gutted in a fire that started in the wee hours today. Four fire tenders controlled the fire which spread within minutes from one jhuggi to another.

Chennai-city train soon
Chandigarh, October 29
The train from Chennai to the City Beautiful will finally chug along on November 2. The maiden journey to link the two cities by rail will begin on October 31. The train will run from Chandigarh to Chennai every Monday , starting at 7. 10 am , reaching Saharanpur at 9. 20 am, and finally in Chennai at 4. 30 am on Wednesday. En route, it will stop at 12 stations, including New Delhi.

Police crackdown on tantrik
Panchkula, October 29
The police has begun tightening its noose around a tantrik in Sector 11, here, who has allegedly been duping innocent people of lakhs of rupees on the pretext of “solving their personal problems by use of tantra vidya.”

Revolver found from record room
Chandigarh, October 29
An imported revolver with two ‘seemingly misfired’ cartridges has been found from the record room of the criminal branch of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

BUSINESS

Customers for joint mandis by vendors, farmers, but with checks
Chandigarh, October 29
Political parties and farmer organisations are raising a hue and cry over the decision of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation to allow local vendors in apni mandis the weekly vegetable markets organised in different sectors, along with farmers.

A view of the weekly apni mandi held at Sector 15, Chandigarh, on Wednesday. —  Tribune photo by Parvesh Chauhan

Olive pomace oil for cooking launched
Chandigarh, October 29
Dalmia Continental, a company of the Dalmia group, launched olive pomace oil under Leonardo brand name here today. It will be sold as a new cooking oil. Till recently, the olive oil was sold as a beauty and hair oil, but now it will be promoted as a healthy cooking oil due to its inherent qualities to fight diabetes, obesity and heart problems, said Mr Naryanan Rajgopalan, President and COO, Olive Products Division of Dalmia Continental Pvt Ltd here today.

A school for producing leaders
Chandigarh, October 29
It is a school with a difference. A school that is designed to produce leaders. And it has the backing of some of the top names in the Indian industry — a virtual who is who — serving on the governing board of the school. Mr Anil Ambani, Mr Rahul Bajaj, Mr Manvinder Singh Bagga, Mr Keki Dadiseth, Mr Adi Godrej, Mr K.V. Kamath, Mr Anand Mahndra, Mr Sunil Kant Munjal, Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, Mr Deepak Parekh to name only a few.

Students exhibit ingenious projects
SAS Nagar, October 29
Putting up an impressive show of applied science, students from various schools in Ropar exhibited their projects at Paragon Senior Secondary School as part of a three-day district science exhibition that started here today.

Ministry's nod to change TTTI's name
Chandigarh, October 29
The Ministry of Human Resource Development has given its approval to change the name of Technical Teachers Training Institute to National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research and the revision of the Memorandum of Association.

FROM COLLEGES
Book on non-violence released
Chandigarh, October 29
For promoting Gandhian values and ideals in society, the Dev Samaj College of Education, in collaboration with social organisation Yuvsatta, inaugurated the first Gandhi Kendra of the college.

700 students participate in painting contest
Chandigarh, October 29
About 700 students from 30 schools participated in the national painting competition, organised by the Indian Council for Child Welfare, Chandigarh. The students were given topics on the spot.

A student explains his science project to other students at the inaugural day of the third day district science exhibition that started in SAS Nagar on Wednesday. — A Tribune photograph

Kaul woos audience with a suspense thriller
Chandigarh, October 29
His father was Surendra Kaul, a well-known writer-director who wrote films like “Namak Halal”. His grand-uncle was Mahesh Kaul who introduced Hema Malini in “Sapno Ka Saudagar”. The noted art film maker Mani Kaul is his first cousin. Actor Raaj Kumar (“Jaani”) was his maternal uncle. Another maternal uncle, Hiren Khera, made “Jab Jab Phool Khile”.

‘Sssshhh...’ set to make waves
Chandigarh, October 29
Barring the picturisation of just one melodious romantic number, sung by the reigning singing duo Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik, the entire filming of Cinevistaas’s ‘‘Sssshhh...’’ is now complete. Penned by Pravin Bhardhwaj the song ‘Tera mera dil...’, composed by Anu Malik, is a number is likely to be hummed and remembered for years to come.

Portraying struggle for existence
Chandigarh, October 29
The theatre festival organised at Tagore Theatre by the Chandigarh School of Drama and Pracheen Kala Kendra wound up this evening with a Punjabi adaptation of the classic work of the American Nobel laureate John Steinbeck. 

A scene from the play “Aprajit” staged at Tagore Theatre, Sector 18, Chandigarh, on Wednesday. 
— Tribune photo by Parvesh Chauhan

Carnival village to comes alive
Chandigarh, October 29
Keeping in view the golden jubilee of the city, the theme of this year’s two-day carnival will be “Chandigarh — 50: young and vibrant”. The two-day carnival will be organised on November 29 and 30 at Leisure Valley, Sector 10.

HEALTH

Move on night CT scan to help patients
Chandigarh, October 29
The usual month-long wait for getting an MRI or CT scan done at the PGI can be shortened as the Radiodiagnosis Department is considering the introducing the night shift for indoor patients, so that more scans can be done with the limited staff and machinery.

300 radiologists to attend conference
Chandigarh, October 29
Over 300 radiologists from India and abroad will be attending a four-day conference being organised by the Department of Radiodiagnosis at the PGI from October, 31 to discuss the latest advances in the field of Neuroradiology and Interventional Radiology.

PGI complaint against institute
Chandigarh, October 29
The PGI has filed a police complaint against a private nursing institute for pasting its pamphlets and advertisements in the hospital, in violation of the West Bengal (Prevention) of Defacement Act, 1995.

New Medical Supdt of GMCH
Chandigarh, October 29
Dr J.K. Das from the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, Delhi, has been appointed as the new Medical Superintendent of Government Medical College and Hospital.

Toilets’ privatisation ends up in locks
Chandigarh, October 29
Handing over the running and maintenance of the newly refurbished toilets at PGI’s Nehru Hospital to Sulabh International has snowballed into a major controversy amid stiff opposition from employees, forcing the authorities to lock the toilets once again.

Badminton tournament qualifying round ends
Chandigarh, October 29
The qualifying rounds of the ninth Tarachand Memorial Badminton Tournament concluded at the Devi Lal Sports Complex, Sector 3, Panchkula today.

Ravi of Haryana (under-13) in action during the All-India Tarachand Memorial Badminton Tournament in Panchkula on Wednesday. — A Tribune photograph

Disney, Nadia clinch TT singles titles
Chandigarh, October 29
Disney of Panjab University beat Dheeraj Arora of RBI to clinch the men’s singles final in the 16th Chandigarh State Table Tennis Championship here today. Nadia Saini of DAV Public School, Sector 8, who had claimed two titles yesterday, today went on to claim the women’s singles title, beating Shikha Sharma of AG Audit Haryana in the final, as also the women’s double title.

Roller skating tourney from October 31
Chandigarh, October 29
Promising to be a gala event, the fourth CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) National Roller Skating Championship — 2003 is all set to take off on October 31 at KB DAV Centenary Public School, Sector 7.

DAVC win gymnastics title
Chandigarh, October 29
DAV College, Chandigarh, today won the team championship in the Panjab University Inter-College Gymnastic Championship for men.

Punjab sports fest ends

ADMINISTRATION

Admn extends term of tourism panel
Chandigarh, October 29
The Chandigarh Administration has renewed the term of the Chandigarh Tourism Advisory Committee for a further period of one year to promote tourism in the region. 

Land for social bodies on free-hold basis
Chandigarh, October 29
In an important decision, the Chandigarh Administration today decided that in future, all allotments of land to religious, social, cultural bodies, trusts, societies, government departments, boards, corporations and public sector undertakings would be made on a free-hold basis.