C H A N D I G A R H

Top stories | Community | Crime | Education

Courts | Culture | Lifestyle | Health | Sports | Administration

TOP STORIES

Study here, take exams elsewhere!
Kharar school asks students to appear in board exams through another school
Chandigarh, April 9
A school in Kharar enrolled students, taught them for a full academic year, but then asked them to take the CBSE examinations under another school! The reason for the “arrangement” was that the Kharar school was not affiliated to the board till last year. Since the school authorities did not want to lose students due to this, they hit upon this novel plan.

Drug abusers say yes to life
Zirakpur, April 9
Life has come full circle for Mr Surinder Amol Singh. He is back to normal and is helping others come out of the hell hole of drug addiction. After spending over 20 precious years of his life in the dark lanes of substance abuse, Mr Surinder Amol Singh realised the value of life when his parents started distancing themselves from him.

Mr Surinder Amol Singh holds a counselling session at his De-addiction Centre in Bartana village near Zirakpur on Friday. — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan

Walking in the rain: As first downpour of the summer took Chandigarh residents by surprise, they had no option but to enjoy the weather on Friday. — A Tribune photograph

Rain hampers harvesting
Chandigarh, April 9
Light to moderate showers in various parts of the region have hampered the harvesting of wheat and other rabi crops. Experts and farmers are worried that the wheat that has already been harvested may be damaged by moisture and therefore might fetch lower prices. Reports reaching here from Delhi, Himachal, Haryana and Punjab indicate that showers accompanied by strong winds not only brought down the temperatures but also affected the crops. At certain places the ripened wheat crop was flattened due to the inclement weather.

Decision on Bar poll to come into effect prospectively
Chandigarh, April 9 
The Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association today decided that a decision of the general House regarding the forthcoming elections of the association would come into effect prospectively.

COMMUNITY

POLL POT
Rift in Congress to hit poll drive
Chandigarh, April 9
A move by the sitting Congress MP, Mr Pawan Bansal, to broaden his support base for seeking re-election to the Lok Sabha next month by inducting various community and opinion leaders into his party is threatening to come unstuck following a determined opposition from the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee chief, Mr B. B. Bahl.

NCP jumps on poll bandwagon

32 polling stations hypersensitive
Panchkula, April 9
The district administration has declared 32 polling stations in the Kalka segment of the Ambala Lok Sabha seat as hypersensitive.

Dullo favours two party system
Mohali, April 9
There should be only two political parties if India has to move on the way of prosperity. Regional parties only create a hindrance in the way of development. This was stated by Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, Congress nominee for the Ropar Lok Sabha seat, while talking to mediapersons before addressing an election rally in Phase VI here today. 

Bonsai show today Chandigarh, April 9 Over 200 varieties of bonsai will be shown in the sixth annual Bonsai show, to begin in the city from tomorrow. Being organised by the Bonsai Club, the show will be structured by famous landscape artiste Anil Kaushik, with the support and guidance of Dr J.S. Sarkaria, honorary curator of the National Cactus and Succulent Botanical Garden and Research Centre, Panchkula. The word “Bonsai” is made of two Japanese words — Bon and Sai. Bon means a shallow pit and sai means a tree. An oriental art, Bonsai making is believed to have started centuries ago in China. An entry for the sixth bonsai show which will open in Sector 17, Chandigarh, on Saturday. — A Tribune photograph

Prayers mark  Good Friday Chandigarh, April 9 Prayers, chhabils and community kitchens were today organised at various places in the city on the solemn occasion of Good Friday. Heavy rush was witnessed outside the churches as the followers offered prayers. Family prayers were also held at homes. It was a day of prayer and fasting for Christians as they thronged the churches in Chandigarh and elsewhere in the region on Good Friday to observe the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This picture of the devout in prayer was taken by Manoj Mahajan at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Chandigarh on Friday.

Sanitation: residents for facilities before laws
Mohali, April 9
Residents welfare organisations have sought the provision of certain facilities by the Municipal Council before the implementation of sanitation bylaws.

Shed ‘mai baap’ culture, Verma tells IAS trainees
Chandigarh, April 9
The UT Administrator, Justice O.P. Verma, (retd) today advised civil servants to adopt “pro-active and pro-people approach”, giving priority to redressing grievances of people.

• Bapu Asa Ram birth anniversary celebrations

• Dance party held at Surya Funcity

CRIME

Head Constable Om Prakash, driver of a PCR vehicle Kulwant Singh and Home Guards volunteer Satnam Singh, who caught an auto lifter in Sector 15, Chandigarh, red-handed on Friday.  — A Tribune photograph.

Jobless youth commits suicide
Chandigarh, April 9
A jobless 21-year-old youth hanged himself to death in Dhanas Milk Colony here last night. Avi was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his house by his landlady today. In his suicide note he had stated that he was not “happy” with his life.

Motor cycle thief caught
red-handed
Chandigarh, April 9
An auto thief of Faridkot and two local mobile snatchers were arrested here during the past 24 hours. The auto thief, Narpinder Singh, was arrested red-handed while stealing a motor cycle in Sector 15.

EDUCATION

Engg students with painted faces Chandigarh, April 9 The annual function of the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) was held at Law Auditorium on the Panjab University campus here today. Prof B.S. Sohi, Director of the UIET, talked about various activities and courses offered at the institute. A participant during the “paint your face” competition at the annual function of the University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Panjab University, Chandigarh on Friday. — Tribune photo by Pankaj Sharma

Chaos at PU exam branch
Chandigarh, April 9
For the second consecutive day, chaos prevailed at the examination branch of Panjab University, here. Students appearing in the postgraduate examinations, beginning from April 12, were seen running around to get duplicate roll numbers. A number of students were from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.

Tips on networking
Mohali, April 9
Specially designed training programmes for international participants on “Advanced course on networking management” and “CADD” concluded at the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing here yesterday.

COURTS

Stay on seat reduction in PEC 
Chandigarh, April 9
A Division Bench of Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed the operation of the notification issued by the UT Administration on February 10, 2004, through which the number of seats reserved for the students of Chandigarh in Punjab Engineering College (PEC) were reduced from 85 to 50.

CULTURE

Now reel life Indo-Pak ties
Chandigarh, April 9
Pakistani film producer Rashid Khwaja is dreaming big. He plans nothing less than a major cinematic collaboration with his Indian counterparts who he hopes will help him with all the technical knowhow they have gathered over the years. Having worked with the best Indian hands in his earlier film productions in Pakistan, Rashid is aiming at an Indo-Pak film for which he is already networking in India.

Dreaming of Bollywood
Chandigarh, April 9
Music for Daljit Gharuan, a Punjabi singer, is an outlet to pour out his emotions. It was the freak accident which turned Daljit’s destiny from becoming an ace athlete of Punjab to a singer, but there is no room for despair in Daljit’s life.

LIFESTYLE

A show of master crafts

Master craftspersons got together to share their creative experiences with people yesterday. Moving out of Lajpat Rai Bhavan, which is the venue for the Akhil Bharatiya Dastkar Samiti handicraft exhibition, seven artisans gave a demonstration of their crafts. The handicrafts corner was in control of women. Where Jamna Bai from Ahmedabad, Gujarat spilled magic with her patchwork skills, Swaran Bai from Tamil Nadu breathed life into dead fabric by setting it into beautiful “smoking patterns”. Master craftspersons show their craft during the Akhil Bharatiya Dastkar Samiti exhibition going on at Lajpat Rai Bhavan, Sector 15, Chandigarh. — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan

Panchkula hotel industry comes of age

IT is boom time for the hotels in Panchkula. After years of being treated as the poor country cousins of the chic and swanky hotels in Chandigarh, the hotel industry in downtown Panchkula is finally looking up. The two four- star hotels in this satellite township to Chandigarh are boasting of 100 per cent occupancy, while the remaining two claim that occupancy is over 80 per cent. Hotels in Panchkula are the new destination for corporates and tourists in transit. — Tribune photo by Pawan Sharma

Final fragrance matters Mercury is rising again, despite showers on Friday. That is why you have picked up some nice cotton shirts, along with canvas trousers, to beat the heat. You have also purchased a bottle of perfume. But somehow you are not very satisfied with the product. The reason is not hard to see. The scent was different when you first sniffed it. Well, a scent right out of the bottle will always smell differently after it dries.

Coolex-2004 opens
Heavy discounts, attractive freebies and a wide range of latest products in refrigeration and air-conditioning is what Coolex-2004, a four-day exposition organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), is all about. It was inaugurated by Mr S.C. Chaudhary, Commissioner and Secretary, Industries, Haryana, here today.

Boom time for contact lens industry
Changing lifestyles and increasing emphasis on beauty has ensured that the contact lens industry is coming of age in urban India. In fact, the invention of contact lenses is considered one of the 100 most important inventions of the last century.

New optical store in city
Himalaya Opticals today joined with Kodak lenses for a Kodak Lens Vision Centre, a state-of-the-art optical store in the city. The store, featuring the latest eye diagnostic and testing equipment, will dispense the entire range of Kodak lenses for eye problems.

HEALTH

GMCH to start new spine disc surgery
Chandigarh, April 9
Around 200 delegates from Punjab, Haryana and other neighbouring states will attend the 10th annual conference of the Indian Orthopaedic Association (Punjab Chapter), at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) tomorrow.

SPORTS

Sports complex to come up on PUDA land

Mohali, April 9 In a desperate bid to revive a 10-year-old project, the Punjab Sports Department has decided to commercially develop a part of the land allotted to it by Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) for the construction of a sports complex in Mohali. The site for a sports complex opposite the PCA Stadium in Mohali. — A Tribune photograph

Five city women selected for roller hockey camp
Chandigarh, April 9
Five city women and one man have been included in the list of probables for a National Roller Hockey camp for the 10th Asian Roller Hockey championship to be held at Akita, Japan, from June 7 to 18. Disclosing this, Ms Madhu Bahl, Chairperson, Roller Hockey, Roller Skating Federation of India, said the camp would be held from 6 am to 8 am and from 5 pm to 8 pm.

Vijayant pips top seed to enter tennis final

Section 144 imposed
Panchkula, April 9
On account of the ongoing final examinations of the National Open School, Haryana, the district administration today imposed Section 144 of the Cr PC, prohibiting gathering of people outside the examination centres, till June 2. The centres are located in Sector 7 and Sector 15.