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TOP STORIES

Mohali to have mini Police Lines
Police strength to be increased threefold
Mohali, January 10
Following the opening of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau office in Mohali, the township will also have a mini Police Lines soon. According to sources, the police strength here is slated to be increased three times, besides the creation of requisite infrastructure to accommodate these men.

Girls attend road safety rally without helmets
Chandigarh, January 10
What message can a rally taken out to urge women to wear helmets give, when a large number of women participants did not bother to wear it themselves? A larger number of participants left it to the organisers to arrange for the helmets.

The UT traffic police sends out contradictory signals, as it accommodates girls without helmets in a scooter rally especially designed to stress on road safety in Chandigarh on Saturday. — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan.

Cops seek teachers’ aid on road safety awareness

Anti-poverty scheme funds unutilised
Chandigarh, January 10
Funds meant for eradication of urban poverty under a Central Government scheme are not being utilised properly by the local authorities. Of the Central Government grant of Rs 4.76 crore under the “Swaran Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojna” received by the UT Administration since 1997, the administration has showed an expenditure of only Rs 68.78 lakh till 2003.

Testing time for kids, parents
Chandigarh, January 10
It is an experience every parent will like to forget in a hurry. With admissions in progress in a number of city schools, it is testing time for tiny tots and their parents. Leaving nothing to chance, parents are making sure that their little ones secure a seat in one of the prestigious schools at the start of the academic year.

COMMUNITY

Fans forget Tintin’s 75th birthday
Chandigarh, January 10
It was on this day 75 years ago that Tintin walked out of the imagination of his Belgian creator Herge into the hearts of his admirers. He was first featured in Le XXme Siecle newspaper in Belgium in January, 1929, and ever since his first outing, the fearless journalist has sold over 200 million stories worldwide.

UT Botanical Garden coming up at fast pace
Chandigarh, January 10
With the UT Forest Department meeting plantation targets on time, the prestigious Botanical Garden and Conservatory project of the Chandigarh Administration is progressing at a fast pace.

Chandigarh Club to pay Rs 1.08 lakh as rent
Chandigarh, January 10
The Chandigarh Club will soon have to pay Rs 1.08 lakh as monthly rent to the Chandigarh Administration which owns the building of the club. The new rent is part of the rationalisation of lease or rent for the club.

Honoured for acts of bravery
When Mohali-based couple, Mr Balwant Singh and Mrs Jaswant Kaur, pledged to donate their body parts after their death to the PGI, Chandigarh, for teaching and research purpose, they did not know their noble act will fetch them a silver medal at the 12th Red and White Bravery Awards.

DSOI elections to be held today
Chandigarh, January 10
Elections for the posts of vice-chairman of the management committee and members of the appointments and steering sub-committee of the Defence Services Offices Institute (DSOI) Sector 36, are scheduled to be held tomorrow. The institute’s annual general body meeting will also be held tomorrow.

MC office-bearers felicitated
Chandigarh, January 10
The Manimajra Block Committee of the Congress organised a function to felicitate the new office-bearers of the local Municipal Corporation here today. Ms Kamlesh, Mayor, Mr Pradeep Chabbra, Senior Deputy Mayor, and Ms Geeta Rani, Deputy Mayor, were honoured on the occasion.

Air Defence Artillery Day observed
Chandigarh, January 10
A wreath-laying ceremony at the Western Command war memorial, Veer Smriti, marked Air Defence Artillery Day at Headquarters, Western Command, in Chandimandir today.

Science day organised
Panchkula, January 10
The local Krishi Vigyan Kendra yesterday organised ‘Scicnce day’ in Tabar and Badhona Kalan villages with a view to providing information on progressive farming of the sun flower crop.

• Baby found abandoned

• Safai kendras to be set up

• Osho meditation camp today

Readers Write
Identify the real trespassers
You must have seen my photograph with my cousins in various city newspapers. We are the talk of the City Beautiful these days. Yes, we are the stray cattle; we sit in the middle of a road and pose danger to the passing vehicles. So, we are the trespassers in your city.

• Appeal to ‘Spokesman’s’ editor

• Adulteration - cause of concern

• Admn’s ‘indifference’ to Punjabi

CRIME

NRI booked in another case
Panchkula, January 10
The local police has booked NRI Balbir Chaudhary, accused of cheating several persons on the pretext of sending them abroad, in another case. The NRI was booked on the complaint of a Haryana Government employee and a resident of Ambala, Mr Harbhajan Singh, who alleged that Chaudhary took Rs 7.5 lakh to send his son Jaspal to the USA. The complainant was reportedly threatened when he demanded his money back.

Two burglars arrested
Chandigarh, January 10
With the arrest of two persons, the police today claimed to have solved two cases of burglary, which had taken place in two booths in Sector 35 on the night of January 8.

• Bid to set car ablaze

HPCL, IFB launch campaign in 11 cities
Chandigarh, January 10
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, in association with IFB, today launched a promotional campaign, ‘‘HP-IFB Ka New Year Hungama’’, in 11 cities of the region, namely Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula, Patiala, Rajpura, Nabha, Ambala, Shimla, Parwanoo, Shogi and Solan.

Nigerian High Commissioner woos entrepreneurs Mohali, January 10 The Mohali Industries Association (MIA) here organised an interactive session with Mr M. Offor, Nigerian High Commissioner in India, on “Industrial Investment Opportunities in Nigeria” today as part of his visit to Chandigarh and Mohali. Nigerian High Commissioner to India M. Offor interacts with local industrialists in Mohali on Saturday. Mr Gurmeet Singh, president of the Mohali Industry Association, is also seen. — Tribune photo by Parvesh Chauhan

EDUCATION

Wizard contest for students
Chandigarh, January 10
More than 500 students from the region are expected to participate in the fifth annual Homi J. Bhabha Memorial Wizard Contest being organised by the Council for Promotion of Young Talent here on January 25.

NSS camp held
Chandigarh, January 10
The motto of NSS, its badge, symbol and objectives were discussed yesterday at an NSS camp being organised at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 18, here. The camp was inspected by Ms Madhu Bala, Youth Officer, in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

• Schools to have security cabins

• CM to lay stone for college

CULTURE

Two city artists bag Camlin art awards
Chandigarh, January 10
City-based artists Prabhinder Lall and Bhim Malhotra have secured pride of place at the national-level by bagging awards for their paintings in the Camlin Art Foundation’s Fourth Northern Region art exhibition which is being shown at Ravindra Bhavan in Delhi.

Film Review Fair attempt to break fresh ground “In films, we are ‘Umrao Jaan’ or ‘Chandramukhi’, but reality is quite different”, says the central character of “Chameli”, a sex worker. The film is a realistic peep into the life of a woman of the night but it fails to delve deep into the profession. Neither does it provoke you or outrage you — which is the basic purpose of any art form. On a stormy night, Chameli is waiting for her customer at arches of the Flora Fountain. Aman (Rahul Bose), an investment consultant, let down by his car, is forced to share the shelter with her. Kareena Kapoor in ‘Chameli’

LIFESTYLE

Mehndi popular in rural  belts of Haryana
Ancient traditions are rooted so deeply in our lifestyle that sindoor, choori and mehndi still have an enormous value in an Indian woman's life, irrespective of the fact whether she is educated or illiterate.

Western cuisines hardly tickle Punjabi taste buds
IS the city evolving as a gourmet’s delight? Or is it still stuck to the dal makhni, paneer and kukkar syndrome? In spite of numerous international food chains eyeing the City Beautiful to launch its operations, the city seems to have progressed little in its culinary journey.

How to keep cold at bay
THE morning sun may have fooled you into driving down the road on a scooter without donning a leather jacket and a muffler around your neck. But in the evening, running nose, heavy head and puffy eyes must have made you realise your mistake.

Winter care tips for glowing complexion
Cool winter breeze can play havoc with your complexion as you drive down the bumpy road to college on your scooter even with visage hidden under a muffler. No doubt about it.

Indians ‘lack awareness’ on fitness
One does not need machines to maintain fitness or to have a good physique. Body building is all about lifestyle, culture and the kind of physical activities one does. This was stated by a body builder who was crowned Mr Monterey California , USA, in 2002 and stood 4th in the US nationals qualifiers the same year.

HEALTH

Citrus food, amla slow down ageing process
Chandigarh, January 10
Citrus fruit, Vitamin E and amla hold key to young looks and can slow down the ageing process considerably though, so far, no research has established that the aging process can be completely done away with.

SPORTS

Junior volleyball championship begins
Chandigarh, January 10
Hosts Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, defeated Government Model High School, Sector 26, in three straight sets, 25-14, 25-09, 25-08, in the Chandigarh state junior volleyball championship, which began here today on the Shivalik Public School grounds. Earlier, the meet was inaugurated by Mr D.S. Bedi, Director Principal of the Sector 41 school.

Digvijay, Mandeep win in tennis meet
Chandigarh, January 10
Digvijay Singh and Mandeep Yadav emerged winners in the under-10 and under-16 boys sections respectively, on the penultimate day of the ongoing total tennis meet here today at the YMCA, Sector 11.

ADMINISTRATION

Survey to identify slums begins
Chandigarh, January 10
The Chandigarh Administration today began a survey to identify the actual number of slums in the city to facilitate the formulation of a policy. So far the exact number of jhuggi and number of people living in themis based on estimates.