C H A N D I G A R H

Top stories | Community | Business | Education

Courts | Culture | Health | Sports | Administration

TOP STORIES

Court employee’s apathy lands guarantor in soup

Chandigarh, January 14 Carelessness on the part of an employee of the local district courts has cost an employee of the Punjab Public Health dear. The victim, Mr Madan Lal, who is posted in the meter mechanic wing of the Mohali office of the Public Health, is running from pillar to post.
Mr Madan Lal, a guarantor, shows documents in support of his claims. — A Tribune photograph

20 buffaloes burnt alive

Nine battle for life; loss worth Rs 5 lakh Raipur Rani (Panchkula), January 14 Twenty head of buffalo were burnt alive and nine others injured in a fire that broke out at Garhi Kotaha village, near Raipur Rani, on Lohri evening yesterday. Family members of Yousuf Khan sit near their dead buffaloes at Garhi Kotaha village, near Raipur Rani, Panchkula district, on Saturday. — Tribune photo by Parvesh Chauhan

100 million children of poor widows may be deprived of education
Chandigarh, January 14
Almost 100 million children of poor widows in India face the risk of being deprived of education. Though the law of the land provides for compulsory education to all children, lack of supervision coupled with poverty and local customs are an overriding factor depriving them of education.

Stars honoured at Parvasi Divas

Chandigarh, January 14 Eminent personalities from the entertainment world as well as NRIs were honoured at a cultural evening organised as part of the Parvasi Punjabi Divas-2006 here today. Those felicitated included film personalities Dharmendra, B.R. Chopra, Yash Chopra, Raj Babbar and Mangal Dhillon and singers Gurdas Maan and Hans Raj Hans. Dharmendra being honoured by the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, at Parvasi Punjabi Divas-2006 in Chandigarh on Saturday. — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan

PEOPLE'S DAY OUT: The bright sunshine brought the old as well as the young out in the open. While some fiddled with their mobiles, others rested and a few found it fit to have a stroll at the Rose Garden in Chandigarh. — Tribune photo by Parvesh Chauhan

Realtors eye Baddi belt
Chandigarh, January 14
After nearly developing all available space in the Zirakpur- Dera Bassi belt, realtors are now eyeing the greens in the vicinity of the Baddi- Barotiwala-Nalagarh belt. With many a top real estate developers in the country planning to start housing projects in this industrial belt, land prices have skyrocketed to anything between Rs 70 and Rs 80 lakh per bigha in Baddi.

• Passing Thru
  Chandan Tripathi, Head Designer, Hi Fashion Clothing Company, Gurgaon
  

COMMUNITY

Chandigarh, December 14 “If we have to succeed in the global market, high standards of profession have to be maintained so that the profession enjoys respect everywhere. India can emerge as an economic power only if we follow the right principles and ethics.” This was stated by the Governor of Haryana, Dr A R Kidwai, addressing members of the Chandigarh Management Association here today.
Mr B.M. Gulati, president of the Chandigarh Management Association, welcomes the chief guest, Dr A.R. Kidwai, at the foundation day function of the association in Chandigarh on Saturday. — A Tribune photograph

Beauty queen’s message to youth
Mohali, January 14
Don’t give up if you are not able to achieve your aim in the first go. Keep trying till you attain your objective. This was the message given to youth by Ms Ramneek Gitte Hanspal, who participated in the Miss Universe pageant as Miss Denmark, while talking to mediapersons here today.

Ramneek Gitte Hanspal from Denmark during a press conference in Mohali on Saturday. — A Tribune photograph

District status sought for Mohali
Mohali, January 14
Various social organisations, sarpanches, block samiti members, zila parishad members and workers of Kharar Vidhan Sabha constituency led by Ms Lakhvinder Kaur Garcha, OSD to Chief Minister, Punjab, yesterday met Capt Amarinder Singh at his official residence and submitted a charter of demands. The main demands were district status to Mohali, waiving of enhanced rates of sewerage and drinking water and release of grants of Rs 2 lakh each to all those panchayats who were elected unanimously.

Haryana Roadways employees block a road during a protest in Panchkula on Saturday. — A Tribune photograph

Housekeeping course for Colony No. 5 women
Chandigarh, January 14
In a new initiative to bring women from rural areas and disadvantaged sections into core areas of tourism and hotel industry, Mrs, Jean Rodrigues, wife of Punjab Governor and Administrator of the Union Territory or Chandigarh, inaugurated a house keeping course for women of Colony No 5 here on Thursday.

Consumer awareness camp
Mohali, January 14
The National Youth Day was celebrated by the Consumer Protection and Grievances Redressal Forum by organising a consumer awareness camp at the ITI here.

Students celebrate Lohri at Bharatiya Vidaya Bhavan in Sector 27, Chandigarh. — A Tribune photograph

Lohri celebrated
Chandigarh, January 14
Members of the Welfare Society, Sector 45-B, celebrated Lohri with traditional fervour yesterday. The city Mayor, Mr Surinder Singh, was the chief guest on the occasion. A former Mayor, Mrs Lalit Joshi, and the former Head of Orthopaedics Department, GMCH, Sector 32, Dr Raj Bahadur, were also present.

• Senior citizens celebrate Lohri
• Enthusiasm marks Lohri celebrations

BUSINESS

Tax evasion continues despite VAT implementation
Ludhiana, January 14
Even after nine months of its implementation, the value added tax (VAT) has not proved useful in curbing tax evasion. The most glaring example of it is the non-issuance of bills by retailers to the customers.

‘Ab Tak’ launched
Panchkula, January 14
“At times news channels sensationalise crime, especially murder and rape, by repeating it and failing to see its derogatory effects”, said actor Jaspal Bhatti while environmentalist Mike Pandey lamented the lack of value-based programmes aired by them. They expressed these views at the launch of local television channel “Ab Tak” by the Panchkula-based Oscar Institute of Art and Research here today.

Beopar Mandal’s plea to DC
Chandigarh, January 14
The Chandigarh Beopar Mandal has urged the Chandigarh Administration to extend the 30-day period to enable traders to file details of the tax-paid stocks.

EDUCATION

Talk on writing in English
Chandigarh, January 14
A talk-cum-question-answer session on “Writing in English in globalised world” was organised today at DAV College, Sector 10, in association with the American Embassy, New Delhi. Present on the occasion was Xu Xi who described the contemporary diasporic writing in English and various issues that arise when a non-native writer attempts to write in English.

Workshop to hone writing skills
Chandigarh, January 14
To help students of the city and the surrounding areas evolve as good writers, the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi today organised a workshop on creative writing. The workshop was inaugurated by Naresh Kaushal, Editor, Dainik Tribune, who called upon teachers to identify the talent of students and nurture it further.

Make peace happen, says US scholar
Chandigarh, January 14
A special lecture on the ‘Testimony and Spirituality of Peacemaking’ was organised by the ICSSR North-Western Regional Centre at the ICSSR Complex, Panjab University, here yesterday.

Efforts of NSS volunteers lauded
Chandigarh, January 14
Mr Dalip Chand, sarpanch, Fatehpurgarhi village, yesterday lauded students of Chitkara College of Education for Women (CCEW) for the help and education they gave to villagers of Fatehpurgarhi as well as those of the other villages in the area during the 10-day NSS camp, which concluded recently.

Winter carnival at Mount Carmel Chandigarh, January 14 The ongoing winter carnival at Mount Carmel School, Sector 47, concluded here today. A large number of students, parents and grandparents of students thronged the various stalls manned by the students. The annual fest being organised by Mount Carmel in Sector 47, Chandigarh, on Saturday. — A Tribune photograph

Workshop on VLSI design
Chandigarh, January 14
A one-day workshop on “VLSI Design and Technology” was organized today at the University Centre of Instrumentation and Microelectronics (UCIM), by the Indian Microelectronics Society (IMS).

Spelling contest
Chandigarh, January 14
Aimed at providing an interactive platform for school children to put their mental ability to test in a unique and interesting way by testing their ability to play with letters within a time span, the National Spelling Bee Contest 2006 is being organised by Annapurna Iodized salt in Chandigarh on January 16 in addition to six other key cities in India.

Online study material
Chandigarh, January 14
Reading material on five new topics added to the syllabus of environment education course beginning 2005-2006 is available on the website of Panjab University.

COURTS

News Analysis
Lady Judges: remove anomaly in Punjab and Haryana High Court
Chandigarh, January 14
On January 8, Union Law Minister Hans Raj Bhardwaj disclosed that under directions of the Prime Minister, the government has taken a decision to nominate two women judges in each High Court with immediate effect. This, he added, would go a long way in eliminating gender bias.

CULTURE

“Tere Nakhrey” launched
Chandigarh, January 14
The SAGA music company and the films division of the Ponty Chadha group of companies launched the debut album of Kanwer Pal on Thursday at an impressive ceremony here.

S. African troupe to perform today
Chandigarh, January 14
The Nateshwar Dance Company, a celebrated dance troupe from South Africa, will perform at the auditorium of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana in Law Bhavan, Sector 37, here tomorrow.

HEALTH

Drive for thalassaemic patients
Chandigarh, January 14
The Rotary and Blood Bank Society Resource Centre, Sector 37, has initiated a special programme to provide blood free of cost to thalassaemic patients in the region. Dr Mohinder P. Simbhi, an NRI from the US, has offered a donation to supply blood free of cost to 21 such children who would not be able to meet the normal cost of this treatment.

Free medical screening camp
Chandigarh, January 14
The Chandigarh Press Club in association with Chandigarh Clinical Laboratories Private Ltd is organising a free medical screening camp for women journalist and wives and daughters of the members of all categories on Sunday at 11.30 a.m. on the club premises.

SPORTS

Another promising cricketer on the block
Chandigarh, January 14
A city lad, Uday Kaul, has made it to the junior Indian cricket team for under-19 World Cup to be held in Sri Lanka next month.

Inter-media TT meet
Chandigarh, January 14
Rajiv Bajaj, Arvind Katyal, Vikas Ghai and Vinay Chaudhary moved into the last four of the men’s singles of the State Bank of India-Chandigarh Press Club Inter-Media Table Tennis Tournament which began today at the DAV Public School, Sector 8. The matches between Rajiv Bajaj and Sukhinder Sodhi and between Arvind Katyal and Rohit were thrilling and extended to three games.

Vasant Valley school dominates soccer meet
Chandigarh, January 14
Players from Vasant Valley Public School, Sangrur, dominated on the second day of the National Table Soccer Championship being played at the multimedia hall of the DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, here.

Kavita wins bronze in fencing
Panchkula, January 14
Kavita Rawat, a student of Class IX Saint Soldier Divine Public School, Sector 16, won the bronze medal at the VII National Sub-Junior Fencing Championship organised by the Kerela Fencing Association. This association is affiliated to the Federation International D’Esinue, the Commonwealth Fencing Federation and the Asian Fencing Confederation.

Rinku bags wrestling title
Chandigarh, January 14
Rinku of Ghaggar Sarain village won top honours in the open challenge (senior) bout of the Lakh Daata Lalan Wala Pir Wrestling Tournament at Kaimbwala village here today.

Ashna beats Sabrina in CLTA tourney
Chandigarh, January 14
Ashna Aggarwal registered a victory over her rival, Sabrina Gill, 7-5 in the finals of girls under-10 during the CLTA monthly tennis tournament held at the CLTA complex, Sector 10, here today.

Maninder champions Green Field win Mohali, January 14 An unbeaten knock of 62 by Maninder helped Green Field School beat Paragon School by two wickets in the finals of the Parle Cup Mohali-Inter School Cricket Tournament at the Mohali Cricket Association grounds here today. Chasing 176 runs, Green Field batsmen reached the target in 24 overs for the loss of eight wickets. Green Field batsman Yuvraj plays a shot during the finals of the Parle Cup at MCA grounds, Mohali, on Saturday. — Tribune photo by Vicky Gharu

Pulse Polio drive from today
Mohali, January 14
A three-day Pulse Polio mop-up operation will start from tomorrow and the authorities concerned have appealed to the public to bring all children below five years to the booths so that polio drops can be administered.

ADMINISTRATION

Officers designated as VAT officers
Chandigarh, January 14
Regarding the story on the Administration not re-designating officers in the Excise and Taxation Department after the implementation of VAT, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr R.K. Rao, today said the officers were already designated as VAT officers under the repealed Act.

Nursing home’s licence cancelled
Mohali, January 14
The licence of a nursing home running in Morinda was cancelled for violating norms laid down under the PNDT Act by the Ropar Civil Surgeon, Dr Yash Pal Singla.