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Robbers strike in old Panchkula, injure 6
Panchkula, May 4
A gang of masked and armed robbers last night struck at Kharag Mangoli, a slum colony, in Old Panchkula, and injured six persons of two families, four of them seriously.

Four members of two families, who were injured by a gang of armed robbers in Kharag Mangoli in Old Panchkula, under treatment at General Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula, on Thursday. — Tribune photo by Parvesh Chauhan

Exemption of land from forest Act: Kang writes to ministry
Chandigarh, May 4
Punjab has made a fresh request to the Union Ministry of Environment to seek exemption of 669 hectares in Nada, Kansal and Karoran villages from being classified as forest areas. These villages, located on the north-western boundary of Chandigarh, are urban habitations having an estimated population of 40,000.

For media, it was a lean day at Chautala’s house

Chandigarh, May 4 The house in Sector 9 here, allegedly belonging to the INLD leader and former Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has intimidating fortification. The high wall surrounding the house is topped with pointed iron rods bending outwards. CBI sleuths outside the residence allegedly belonging to former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala at Sector 9, Chandigarh, on Thursday. — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan

Illegal paid parking at dist courts

Chandigarh, May 4 Hundreds of visitors to the district courts are being fleeced by a private contractor who is “illegally” manning the parking outside the court premises in Sector 17 here. The daily collection from the parking is about Rs 1,000, if one goes by the past record of the municipal corporation. A visitor to the district courts pays the parking fee to an employee of the contractor on Thursday.— A Tribune photograph

Mohali civic poll within three months, govt tells HC
Chandigarh, May 4
The Punjab Government today informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that elections to the Municipal Council (MC), Mohali, would be completed within three months.

Currency exchange agents set up shop outside RBI

Chandigarh, May 4 Even as most of the public sector and private banks have ignored guidelines issued by Reserve Bank of India, for simplifying procedure for exchange of mutilated currency, agents for exchanging currency are flourishing right under the nose of RBI. Agents outside the RBI regional office try to strike a deal with customers for exchanging soiled notes. — Tribune photo by Pradeep Tewari

Capt Sumit’s father too dies Chandigarh, May 4 A day after Capt Sumit Kohli of 18 Rashtriya Rifles was cremated, his father, Mr Satish Kohli, succumbed to his illness at the Command Hospital, Chandimandir today. As the family struggled to come to grips with the tragic turn of events, immediate relatives reiterated their demand for a high-level probe to ascertain the circumstances leading to Captain Kohli's death. According to the Army, Sumit had committed suicide at his unit, though this claim has been strongly refuted by the family.

Satish Kohli's wife, Veena, is consoled by her daughter Namrata at his funeral in Chandigarh on Thursday. — Tribune photo by Pradeep Tewari

COMMUNITY

Use of black films: police in no mood to relent
Unnecessary, say skin specialists 
Chandigarh, May 4
Come summer the police and dermatologists are “under fire” from the high and mighty, the influential and not so influential, for permission to use a black film on their vehicles.

Strike at MC over phone call

Chandigarh, May 4 High drama took place at the municipal corporation MC when employees of the MC went on strike this morning, alleging misbehaviour by an official towards a peon. The incident occurred when Sushma, a peon, confronted Mr B.M. Malik, Assistant Controller, Tax, for not having informed her of a telephone call made by her son yesterday. MCC employees protest in front of the MCC office, Sector 17, Chandigarh, on Thursday. — A Tribune photograph

Mayor seeks scheme for city oustees
Chandigarh, May 4
Mr Surinder Singh, Mayor, Municipal Corporation, has written to the UT Administration demanding a fresh comprehensive scheme for the oustees of Chandigarh whose land was acquired for the development of the City Beautiful by providing them residential plots and commercial sites to earn their livelihood and to some extent compensate them for the loss they have suffered during these years.

Panel questions Food Secy on wheat import
Chandigarh, May 4
The Standing Committee on Agriculture of Parliament has questioned the Union Food Secretary on the import of wheat and denial of bonus to farmers who sold wheat to private traders.

Protest by Haryana Roadways staff

Chandigarh, May 4 Members of the Haryana Roadways Workers Union today protested against the “anti-worker policies of the Haryana Government, including the introduction of the Volvo bus service from Chandigarh to Hisar. Members of the Haryana Roadways Workers’ Union protest against the “anti-worker” policies of the Haryana Government in Chandigarh on Thursday. — A Tribune photograph

Industrial area marriage palaces lack fire-fighting equipment
Mohali, May 4 
The Fire Brigade has found serious shortcomings in the fire fighting arrangements at industrial units converted into marriage palaces, sales outlets for clothing material and a club here. The Fire Brigade, after a survey of at least 10 establishments over the past one week, has discovered that not a single unit is fully equipped to tackle a major blaze, endangering the lives of hundreds of people who regularly avail the facilities there.

No funds crunch for spinal centre: minister
Mohali, May 4
The Spinal Injury Centre (SIC) will never face shortage of funds and will be fully equipped to provide every type of treatment to patients suffering from spinal injuries.

Marriage venue filth: MC still to wake up
Chandigarh, May 4
Even though the failure of the municipal corporation to get marriage venues cleaned up after the conclusion of ceremonies was brought to the fore in these columns, the problem continues in most parts of the city.

Chivalry lands man in trouble
Chandigarh, May 4
Drunken chivalry landed a man in trouble. The incident took place outside a liquor shop in Sector 20 on Wednesday night, when a drunkard was thrashed by the husband and a friend of a women constable of the Chandigarh police for poking his nose in their “personel affair”.

FEMA ‘should govern’ NGOs getting foreign aid 
Chandigarh, May 4
There is no need to have a separate legislation to bring NGOs receiving contribution in foreign exchange under the ambit of the Foreign Contribution (Management and Control) Bill 2005.

New US visa application system
Chandigarh, May 4
The US Embassy has announced a new system for immigration visa applicants. The system will allow applicants to submit the documents at three VFS locations in Jalandhar, Chandigarh and New Delhi prior to the date of visa interview.

ICRA to set up financial services centre in city
Chandigarh, May 4
The UT Department of Information Technology today appointed ICRA Management Consulting Services, New Delhi, as the consultant for setting up a financial services centre in the city with an aim of making it a major financial destination in the country.

ADGP’s car rams into parked vehicles
Chandigarh, May 4
The official vehicle of an Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Punjab, tonight rammed into five parked vehicles in the Sector 17 (opposite Empire Store) paid parking.

• 8 structures razed
• Mahajan’s death mourned

CRIME

No breakthrough in Mohali murder case
Mohali, May 4
Even though the police has rounded up several persons for questioning, it has failed to make a breakthrough in the case of the murder of an elderly couple in Phase IV here yesterday.

Man carrying opium arrested
Chandigarh, May 4
The Operational Cell of the Chandigarh police nabbed a Panchkula resident for carrying 225 grams of opium. Two unidentified youngsters stanched a purse from a woman from the busy Sector 22 and 23 traffic Lights point. Elsewhere, a motor cycle was stolen from the city.

EDUCATION

Seats reduction: no intimation to engg colleges
Chandigarh, May 4
Two days after the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) cracked whip against certain private engineering colleges in Punjab reducing the total number of seats, the colleges concerned are yet to receive any written intimation from either the council or Punjab Technical University (PTU), Jalandhar.

Class X exam results disappointing
Panchkula, May 4
The results of Class X examination, declared by the Haryana School Education Board, Bhiwani, have been disappointing for the Panchkula district. The pass percentage of various government schools in the district remained 42.98 against board’s pass percentage of 56.89 for the 2005-2006 academic session.

Colourful display at INIFD function

Chandigarh, May 4 Cheerful, cheesy and lively performances marked the function hosted by the International Institute of Fashion Design (INIFD) today at the Tagore Theatre to formally launch the new academic year at INIFD, to celebrate the third year of the strategic tie-up between the institute and Annamalai University and to felicitate the exceptional performances of various INIFD centres in different spheres.

Students of INIFD put up a colourful display at a function held at the Tagore Theatre in Chandigarh on Thursday. — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan

C-TOSS for govt schools in UT villages
Chandigarh, May 4
The Society for Promotion of Information Technology in Chandigarh (SPIC) under the aegis of the Department of Information Technology has decided to extend C-TOSS program to government schools of UT villages as well, an official press note said here today.

Deputationists seek 40 pc posts of principal
Chandigarh, May 4
A meeting of government college lecturers on deputation from Punjab and Haryana was held at the Student Centre, Panjab University, today. At the meeting it was unanimously resolved that 40 per cent posts of principals should be filled from Punjab and Haryana.

‘Students must be taught fine nuances of English’
Chandigarh, May 4
English language teachers in the country need to traverse from Hinglish (Hindustani English) to English, said Mr Krishna Mohan, Home Secretary, here today. He was speaking on the occasion of the inauguration of workshop on ‘Learning Styles: Implications for the English Classrooms’ at the Regional Institute of English.

Water Resources Day celebrated
Chandigarh, May 4
The Suwanjana Eco Club of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 46, celebrated water resources day yesterday. As many as 217 students with placards marched through Sector 46 to spread the message of water conservation and wise use of resources.

COURTS

HC Bar poll: All candidates appear optimistic
Chandigarh, May 4
With less than 24 hours left before a new team is elected by members of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, all the candidates for the main posts expressed confidence about their victory.

Judges transferred
Chandigarh , May 4
The Punjab and Haryana High has ordered the transfer of a few Additional Sessions Judges in the states of Punjab and Haryana. The transferred Judges include Mr S.C. Goyal, who was hearing various cases against former Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, at Ropar. He has been shifted to Sangrur.

SSP appears in court

CULTURE

Miss India World unveils her fitness mantra 
Chandigarh, May 4
Wearing her newly won crown and confidence with élan, Femina Miss India World 2006, Natasha Suri, on her second trip to the city (she had come once when she was very young) charmed the gathering with her spry vivacity, beatific smile and a disarmingly simple address to the gathering.

Exhibition of exquisite paintings at art gallery

AS many as 65 paintings on diverse themes in varied mediums have been put up in a group show, by the Panchkula-based Unique Society of Artists which opened at the exhibition hall of the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh on Tuesday. Most of the participants, 17 in all, including some doctors and engineers, are self-taught artists, while six of them are from Government College.

Artists from Panchkula with their paintings at the Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10, Chandigarh. — A Tribune photograph

SPORTS

3 local lads selected probables for Azlan Shah Cup
Chandigarh, May 4
Three local hockey players, Rajpal Singh, Deepak Thakur, both forwards, and Baljit Singh, goalkeeper, are among the probables for the forthcoming Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament to be held in Kuala Lumpur from June 18 to 25.

Chandigarh beat Kapurthala
Chandigarh, May 4
The Chandigarh team won their first match after defeating Kapurthala outrightly by an innings and 13 runs in the Punjab State Inter-District (under-17) Tournament for the M.L. Markan Trophy, 2006-07, at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, here today.

Inderjit, Lovneet win race
Chandigarh, May 4
Inderjit Singh of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Mani Majra Town, and Lovneet Saini of St. Anne's School, Sector 32, won the top honours in boys and girls sections (under-14 category), respectively, in the one-mile race at the Hockey Stadium, Sector 42, here today.