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Now, burglars’ night out
Strike at 11 shops; over Rs 8 lakh lost
Chandigarh, April 21
After a spate of daylight robberies at gunpoint for two consecutive days, burglars struck at 11 shops in different parts of the city and decamped with over Rs 3.31 lakh in cash, along with goods worth about Rs 5 lakh, including cosmetics worth Rs 2 lakh, a laptop, a computer, three DVDs, several electrical appliances and silver coins.

Admn to clean N-choe before June 30
Chandigarh, April 21
Less than a month after The Tribune raised a storm over sanitation concerns going down the drain, the Chandigarh Administration today undertook to clean the “N-choe” before June 30. Approximately Rs 11.92 lakh is being spent on the project.In an affidavit submitted before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Administration asserted: “Complete stretch of the N-choe in the region of the UT boundary will be fully de-weeded and cleaned before June 30, i.e. before the onset of the monsoons in the region.”

A scene of traffic jam due to the ongoing work of road carpeting at the roundabout of Sectors 29, 30, 31 and 32 in Chandigarh on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Nitin Mittal

PGI orders internal probe
Chandigarh, April 21
Faced with allegations of “harassment and stress” by parents of the junior resident, Dr Naginder Reddy, who died under mysterious circumstances on Sunday, the Director of the PGI today ordered an “internal inquiry” into the circumstances relating to the death of the young medico from Bangalore.

MBBS: ‘Bachelor of malt, bachelor of spirits’
41.5% of medicos suffer from problem drinking
Chandigarh, April 21
The image that instantly comes to mind of an MBBS (bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery) student is that of a studious and hardworking, perhaps bespectacled, young person who spends most of his or her time buried in thick books and slogging hard to become a doctor. They are perceived to be a notch above others as they are considered to be the healers of tomorrow and certainly unlike many happy-go-lucky yuppie college kids who might be drowning their evenings in the bottle.

COMMUNITY

Drizzle brings relief
City records maximum temperature of 38.5° C and a minimum of 25.6° C
Chandigarh, April 21
Light rain early this morning brought relief to city residents and to people of neighbouring states Punjab and Haryana.According to meteorological department, the city received 0.6 mm of rain. The maximum temperature recorded was 38.5° C and minimum temperature was 25.6° C.

Girls enjoy boating on a cloudy Wednesday at Sukhna Lake.Tribune photo: Nitin Mittal

Panchkula-Barwala road high on mishaps
Panchkula, April 21
The Panchkula-Barwala road continues to be a killer stretch as more than six persons lost their lives and 10 were critically wounded in three different accidents that occurred during the past two weeks on the National Highway (Number 73).

DWARFING OTHERS

While sunflower crop has been damaged widely in many parts of Punjab due to paucity of water, a farmer in his fields on the Landaran-Chunni road in Mohali enjoys the privilege of a bumper crop. Tribune photo: Vicky Gharu

point-counterpoint
Is grading better than scoring system?
Too much importance is being given to marks in our country. Marks have been used as a measure of a student's academic achievement. Education reforms are long overdue. Thankfully, the Centre has initiated this process now. The criticism to these reforms is quite natural and more out of apprehension.

Blood donation camp by Abhinav Bindra Foundation
Chandigarh, April 21
In a bid to help the needy, Abhinav Bindra has come forward with starting his foundation.The Abhinav Bindra Foundation will not only groom the talent in sports arena, but also focus on healthcare and education sectors to provide facilities to have-nots.

Private players not keen on storage facilities
Chandigarh, April 21
Inspite of the urgent need for creating huge storage spaces for foodgrains in Punjab and Haryana, private parties have failed to evince much interest in participating and creating additional storages.

Typists, lawyers encroach on estate office turf
Chandigarh, April 21
The UT administration department entrusted with the primary responsibility of removing unauthorized structures in the city is the estate office. However, over the years its enforcement wing has - ironically - not been able to clear the encroachments by hundreds of typists sitting around the estate and district magistrate’s offices in Sector 17.

Typists, lawyers and stamp vendors sit in the backyard of the UT estate office in Sector 17, Chandigarh. Tribune photo: Nitin Mittal 

Patil apprised of Education City
Chandigarh, April 21
Officials of the Chandigarh administration today made a presentation on the Education City before UT Administrator Shivraj Patil.The presentation is seen as part of the process by Patil to know about the mega projects in the city. While the presentation on the Amusement Park had already been done, the one on the Film City would be held tomorrow.

KIDS GLOVES: Players of junior and sub-junior group practise for the boxing championship at SD School, Sector 32, Chandigarh, on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph

Jerath nominated jury chairman
Chandigarh, April 21
City-based boxing official Dr CK Jerath has been nominated jury chairman for the forthcoming Federation Cup Senior Men’s Boxing Championship, scheduled to be held at Warangal (AP) from April 25 to April 29. Dr Jerath is vice-president of the Indian Boxing Federation and secretary of the Chandigarh Amateur Boxing Association.

Committee formed to check spread of diseases
Panchkula, April 21
In order to check the contaminated water supply and to contain the spread of water-borne diseases, the district administration has constituted a joint action committee.Stating this in a press release here today, the spokesperson of the administration said the committee would have the sub-divisional official (civil) as its chairman and civil surgeon. Officials from the water supply department, executive engineer, HUDA, No I, II III, and executive official, municipal corporation would be the members of the committee.

Goods worth lakhs gutted
Panchkula, April 21
Goods worth lakhs were gutted as a plywood factory-cum-godown at Phase II, Industrial Area, caught fire in the wee hours here today.The owner of RK Industries, Anand Gupta, said he came to know about the incident around 6:15 am.

Chandigarh Municipal Corporation employees take away items seized during an enforcement drive at the Sector 19-D market on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan

PUTA hails VC’s efforts
Chandigarh, April 21
In the latest bulletin released by the Panjab University Teachers’ Association (PUTA), the union that has been at loggerheads with the university authorities since a year, has for the first time hailed the efforts of Vice-Chancellor and results of the task force’s visit to the university.

Promoting folk music across border
Chandigarh, April 21
Despite the belated commissioning of Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi, the activities for revival and promotion of Punjabi folk musical heritage are in top gear.

First phase of Census on May 1
Mohali, April 21 Encroachments would not be tolerated on government land, said Prabhjot Singh Mand, Deputy Commissioner, Mohali, at a meeting of senior officials here today. Mand directed officials to provide details of the land that belonged to the revenue department. He said first phase of Census would begin on May 1.— TNS

Tribune employee dead
Chandigarh, April 21
Puran Chand Sharma, sectional head with the accounts department of The Tribune, died at a private hospital in Sector 34 here yesterday after a brief illness. He was 52.

A view of the haphazardly parked vehicles at different places in Sector 17, Chandigarh. Parking lot attendants have a tough time manoeuvring vehicles, as all parking lots in Sector 17 are normally packed to capacity. Tribune photos: Manoj Mahajan

EDUCATION

School of Physics back in PU after 12 yrs
Chandigarh, April 21
Forty PhD students from across the country are participating in the ongoing “25th School of Physics” at the Panjab University’s physics department. After 12 years, the advance course on “Theoretical High Energy Physics” which began on April 2 would conclude on Thursday.

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Shops closed following a bandh call by various Hindu organisations in Patiala on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph

Project awaits Centre’s nod
Kharar, April 21
The narrow bridge over Jayanti Ki Rao, a seasonal rivulet, and a 12-km stretch between Khanpur T-point and Morinda Chowk in Kurali would be four-laned at a cost of Rs 50 crore.

Baboon gets his mate
Chhat (Banur), April 21
The male baboon at the Mahendra Choudhary Zoological Park here now has a mate. The female baboon arrived from the mini-zoo at Pipli in Haryana yesterday afternoon.

Farmers up in arms to save their land
Dera Bassi, April 21
Farmers of Bhankerpur village have decided to fight against the alleged land-grab efforts of the state government.

Residents protest acquisition at Panjokhra
Ambala, April 21
Residents and farmers of Panjokhra village staged protest against the alleged forcible acquisition of more than 1,700 acres on the Ambala-Naraingarh road by the Haryana government for the Modern Industrial Township (MIT) scheme.

17-day-old tiger cub dead
Chhat (Banur), April 21
The tiger cub Chitra, born on April 3, died at the Mahendra Choudhary Zoological Park in the wee hours today.The zoo authorities claimed that the cub, born to Chorni and Lucky, was healthy and was being taken care of well by zoo keepers here.A senior zoo official said the cub was not feeling well and the possibility of negligence on the part of the zoo authorities could not be ruled out.Chief wildlife warden Jitendra Sharma claimed that there was no possibility of negligence, adding that the cub was found dead at 2:10 am.

Post-challan, an ordeal for many
Bassi Pathana, April 21
Residents of the area have complained of inconvenience in settling traffic violation challans by the traffic police.

An anti-encroachment drive under way at Mohali on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph

Dept sans building at Kalka hospital
Kalka, April 21
Resentment prevails among residents of Kalka and nearby areas over the attitude of the state health department towards the upgrading of the Civil Hospital here.

Hoax caller arrested
Ropar, April 21
The police today arrested a hoax caller who threatened to bomb the mini-secretariat. The call made the cops swing into action and conduct a thorough check using a dog squad.

COURTS

Punjab Commissioner gets notice of motion
Chandigarh, April 21
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice of motion to Punjab Commissioner, department of irrigation and drainage,and other officials on a petition filed by a Baltana resident.

CRIME

Two held for smuggling liquor
Panchkula, April 21
The police has arrested two persons for smuggling 178 cases (2136 bottles) of liquor from Chandigarh to other states.

SPORTS

City’s oldest ‘akhara’ keeps tradition alive
Chandigarh, April 21
Tucked amidst several trees between the Sukhna lake and the Chandigarh Golf course, a group of 35 young wrestlers grapple in a mud pit every evening.Not many, perhaps not even officials of the UT Sports department, are aware of this “akhara” (wrestling arena), which has gone on to produce both state-level and even some national-level champions.


Wrestlers in action at the ‘akhara’ in Chandigarh. Tribune photo: Nitin Mittal