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UT-Jaipur Garib Rath brings little cheer

Chandigarh, February 26 It will take a few more years before the Indian Railways develops the Chandigarh railway station as a junction for long-distance trains.  Reason, the vital rail link between Chandigarh and Ludhiana is behind schedule.

Coolies at the Chandigarh railway station in a jubilant mood on Tuesday. —Tribune photo by Parvesh Chauhan

• Sops okay but safety must: Students
• For some porters, there’s no reason to cheer

Chandigarh Ungoverned
Want parking? Look for kerbs
Chandigarh, February 26
In a planned city like Chandigarh, Surinder Singh, a visitor to the Punjab mini secretariat in Sector 9 on Monday, was seen struggling to find a place to park his Wagon R. 

Traffic chaos outside the Punjab Police headquarters in Sector 9

Cell Rip-off
Smart packages only fleece
Chandigarh, February 26
Lured by the seemingly attractive tariff packages announced by various cellphone operators? Think again before you opt for these packages, which allegedly have a lot of hidden costs.

MC House Meet
Councillors set to get more financial muscle
Chandigarh, February 26
Residents can expect more development in their areas with the councillors set to get more financial muscle. The MC proposes a 50 per cent hike in the development fund for elected councilors under the Councillors Ward Development Fund. The mayor will, however, get much more as his fund readies to double.

COMMUNITY

Army medical college to begin courses this year
Chandigarh, February 26
A new medical college, Army College of Medical Sciences (ACMS) at New Delhi Cantonment is scheduled to commence its first MBBS course from the next academic session later this year.

GMADA to allot next lot of plots in Sectors 76 to 80 
Mohali, February 26
There is more good news for those who have been waiting for allotment of plots in Sectors 76 to 80 by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).

MC to hand over parking lots to private parties 
Mohali, February 26
The Mohali Municipal Council proposes to hand over the work of maintenance and traffic control of the parking lots in the commercial areas of the town to private parties.

Car war takes new turn
Housefed asks district magistrate to pay Rs 56,000 it spent on petrol, repair
Chandigarh, February 26
The tug of war between the district magistrate’s office and the Chandigarh State Federation of Coop House Building Societies Limited (Chandigarh Housefed) over the requisition of latter’s official car took a new turn today.

Rear windowpane of car smashed
Chandigarh, February 26
The law and order situation in the city came under cloud, with incidents of windowpanes of cars parked outside residences being reported continuously from various parts of the city. Just a few days after windowpanes of vehicles parked in Burail were smashed, a Sector 46 resident reported similar incident today.

Devinder Katoch shows the smashed windowpane of his car outside his Sector 46 residence, Chandigarh, on Tuesday. —A Tribune photograph

Fauji Beat
Command Hospital’s emergency restructured
Nothing is worse than a patient losing his or her life due to delay or deficiency in medicare at a hospital. The Command Hospital, Chandimandir, being located close to a highway, gets quite a few accident cases, which need immediate attention and treatment to save their lives. Though civilians are not entitled to treatment in military hospitals but in case of accidents, they are treated the same way as the militarymen.

A heart attack patient being treated at the Command Hospital, Chandimandir.

Cong alleges inclusion of bogus votes
Panchkula, February 26
The District Congress Committee today alleged inclusion of bogus votes in voters lists in several wards of the municipal corporation, including Ward No 24 comprising Sectors 2, 4, Devi Nagar, Majri Chowk and Matu Ram Colony.

Pvt cos’ help sought to beautify Panchkula 
Panchkula, February 26
To enhance and preserve the scenic beauty of Panchkula district, the Haryana government has involved private companies and is also taking many steps for the developmental works.

Combating exam fear with counsellor’s help
Chandigarh, February 26
With barely three days to go for Class XII board exams, the students are already having sleepless nights and experiencing anxious moments.

Koser awards ceremony on Feb 29
Chandigarh, February 26
The Pracheen Kala Kendra will present the fourth annual Koser awards at Randhawa Auditorium of Punjab Kala Bhawan, Sector 16, on February 29. 

ICICI Bank told to pay Rs 5,000
Chandigarh, February 26
ICICI Bank has been directed by the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum to pay a compensation of Rs 5,000 to a resident of Sector 21 for dishonouring the cheque of petitioner along with Rs 67 as costs of cheque bouncing.

Tribune ex-foreman dead
Chandigarh, February 26
Om Parkash Sharma, a former senior foreman of the The Tribune, died at Baltana (Zirakpur), today. He was 74. He is survived by his wife, three daughters and three sons. — TNS

Letters

EDUCATION

PU to start school system for better coordination
Departments under each school will have common rules 
Chandigarh, February 26
With the objective of achieving better coordination among different departments, Panjab University is soon going to introduce school system. Under this system, various departments under a particular school will have common rules and regulations. Besides, the system will optimise the utilisation of manpower and infrastructure and facilitate a coordinated purchase of equipment.

From Schools & Colleges
TECH ZEAL at GCG-11
Chandigarh, February 26
The department of computer applications of Government College for Girls, Sector 11, organised TECH ZEAL-2008, a kaleidoscope of inter-college competitions. The fest was inaugurated by Dr Anu Gupta, chairperson, department of computer science, Panjab University. Students from various city colleges took part. Paper presentation on '4G Mobiles' was highly informative as participants threw light on the future trends in the mobile technology.

Students of Government College get a warm send-off from their juniors in Chandigarh on Tuesday.  —A Tribune photograph

GCA alumni organise exhibition
Chandigarh, February 26
Panjab University vice chancellor Prof R.C. Sobti inaugurated an exhibition at the fine arts museum of the university today. The exhibition was organised by alumni of Government College of Arts (GCA). Paintings depicting social issues like female foeticide and drug addiction, advertisements, folk art and culture and portraits of famous personalities found display.

Reservation Private schools inspected
Chandigarh, February 26
A team from the education department inspected various private schools of the city to see whether the schools followed the prescribed 15 per cent reservation of seats for the economically weaker sections of society.

From Schools
Gurukul students’ date with stars
Panchkula, February 26
Students and the teachers of The Gurukul, Sector 20, and Tribune Mitra Vihar, Madanpura, had a wonderful time gazing at the stars in the mobile digital planetarium brought to the school by Leo Planetaria here today. The planetarium, which was set up in a dome-shaped structure with a cylindrical projector inside, was as intriguing as the astronomical facts disclosed by the instructor. He captivated the students by showing them constellations and explaining to them the logic behind the zodiac signs.

COURTS

10-year jail for robbery bid, trespass
Chandigarh, February 26
Ravinder Singh was today awarded 10-year imprisonment by additional district and sessions judge Raj Shekar Attri for robbery bid and house trespass. According to prosecution, Ravinder Singh, a Kurukshetra resident, was caught red-handed when he tried to commit robbery in the house of Major Gurnam Singh. The complainant, Major Gurnam Singh, resident of Sector 33, had gone SAS Nagar and in his absence the accused had trespassed into house with intention of committing robbery.

ADMINISTRATION

Trip to Berlin
UT to send new man
Chandigarh, February 26
It’s now official. None of the frequent foreign travellers - UT home secretary Krishan Mohan and director Tourism Vivek Atray - are going to represent Chandigarh at the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) in Berlin this year. These officers have on one occasion each in the past, attended ITB, Berlin on the behalf of Chandigarh administration.

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Probe into ‘manhandling’ of women demanded
Ambala, February 26
The local area MLA of Ambala Cantt, DK Bansal, has written to the Union Defence Minister and the Chief Minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, demanding a probe into the alleged manhandling of a few women residents of the town.

Eunuchs block road against land acquisition
Ambala, February 26
More than 40 eunuchs blocked the GT road near Ambala City for half an hour today to protest against the acquisition of their plots by the state government for the establishment of a new vegetable market. The other plot holders also accompanied them.

Complete development projects in time: DC
Bassi Pathana, February 26
Ashok Singla, deputy commissioner, has directed all officers to redress public grievances on priority and to take the public-oriented government-sponsored schemes to the grassroots level so that common citizen could derive benefit from these schemes. He also directed the officers to initiate development projects and complete these in the stipulated time.

SPORTS

YPS Athletics Meet
Harkiran wins 1500m
Mohali, February 26
Harkiran of Tagore House won 1500m race in the under-15 girls category, while Ada Gupta and Rupinder Kaur finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively, on the second day of the 29th Annual Athletic Meet of YPS Public School here today.

Girls take part in a race during the athletics meet in YPS, Mohali, on Tuesday. — A Tribune photograph

Sonia, Gurpreet declared best athletes
Ludhiana, February 26
Sonia and Gurpreet Singh were declared best athletes among girls and boys respectively, in the 61st Annual Athletics Meet of Arya College that concluded here today.

Athletes take part in 800m race on the inaugural day of the 132nd Annual Sports Meet of Government Mohindra College in Patiala on Tuesday. — Tribune photo by Rajesh Sachar

Pooja to lead city football team
Chandigarh, February 26
Pooja of MCM DAV College, Sector 36, will lead the Chandigarh football team that will participate in the 16th Senior National Women Football Championship to be held at Haldia (West Bengal) from February 29 to March 17.

I want to be like Sania, says Vibuthi
Chandigarh, February 26
Following the footsteps of Sania Mirza, the young Vibuthi Khullar is preparing and practicing hard to win the under-14 title this year.

Punjab team for one-day tourney
Mohali, February 26
The following team has been selected to represent Punjab in the Inter-State One-Day Limited Overs League Tournament for Vijay Hazare Trophy, starting today in Delhi.

Badminton
Sai shuttlers move ahead
Chandigarh, February 26
Shree Satya Sai BEd College, Karaiwala, Muktsar, defeated SCD Government Evening College, Ludhiana, by 3-1 in the Panjab University Inter-College Badminton (evening and education colleges) Tournament being played at Panjab University here today.

Ashima bags bronze medal in karate
Chandigarh, February 26
Ashima Chauhan of Class VIII of Ajit Karam Singh International Public School, Sector 65, secured the bronze medal after defeating Nepal player in the 1st Seiko Kai Asia Cup Karate Championship that was held in New Delhi earlier this month. The event was organised by Shito-Ryu Seiko kai Karate. — TNS

200 slum kids get cricket kits
Chandigarh, February 26
Slum kids of Bapu Dham Colony, who earlier used to play and run in sleepers and bare foot, got the taste of professional sports with international-level cricket player Anjuman who trained them. Supported by the department of education, Chandigarh administration, and an NGO-YUVSATTA, as many as 200 girls and boys today got cricket kits, skipping ropes and volleyballs from Khuswinder Sharma, DEO.— TNS

CRIME

Man held with opium
Zirakpur, February 26
The local police has arrested a Panchkula resident for trading in opium. The accused Pravin Kumar was arrested from the Panchkula-Dhakoli road. Almost 2 kg of opium has been seized from him. The police said the accused used to bring opium from Jalalabad and sell it in Zirakpur. —TNS

CULTURE

Sufi maestro entrances audience
Chandigarh, February 26
The spiritual bliss and grandeur of mysticism propagated by the great Sufi saints and poets was brought alive by renowned singer Hans Raj Hans at a live concert organised by the Sufi Foundation of India at Bhargava Auditorium here today. The special Sufiana soiree was organised to commemorate the award of Padma Shri conferred on the Sufi and folk singer Hans, the ‘Rajgayak of Punjab’.

Hansraj Hans performs at Bhargava Auditorium, PGI, Chandigarh on Tuesday. — Tribune photo by Pradeep Tewari

Treat for music lovers
Chandigarh, February 26
The aura at the venue provided testimony that the power of eternal music surpasses all boundaries and languages. At Government Museum and Art Gallery -10, the music lovers were taken for a soulful retreat as the trio from Austrian cultural forum set perfect tone for western classical music here today. With Karin Leitner playing the silver flute, Gerhard Loffler on the guitar and Astrid as the lead singer, the combination generated by this Vienna trio was awesome for the listeners. Setting international flavour for limited audience in German language, the trio played different compositions of chamber music, a music that was once played for royalty.

Karin Leitner, Astrid and Gerhard Loffer, who gave a western classical music performance at Art Gallery, Sector 10, in Chandigarh on Tuesday. —Tribune Photo by Manoj Mahajan