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Chaos runs supreme at marathon
Chandigarh, April 14
Mismanagement and ill-preparedness on the part of the UT Administration marred its much-hyped Chandigarh marathon, which was flagged off from the Rock Garden today. The marathon was organised without any route map, checkpoints to record the time and marshals to guide the participants.

Athletes take part in the Chandigarh Marathon on Sunday. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari

five km fun-run
Athletes find fault with organisers
Chandigarh, April 14
For some, the Chandigarh Marathon remained a high affair of official’s hazards. But for the participants of 5km fun-run, it was a reason to cheer near the Sukhna Lake, here this morning.

City sees surge in crime against women
Chandigarh, April 14
Blame it on the unsafe city or increased awareness regarding their rights among women, cases of crimes against women have witnessed a steady rise with the UT police registering 100 cases of rape, sexual harassment and molestation during the first three months of this year.

On a new high Liquor set to cost more in city Chandigarh, April 14 Come May and the City Beautiful will lose its tag of being a "boozers' haven", especially for the connoisseurs of expensive liquor. Bringing the prices of the Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and beer more or less on a par with those in Punjab, the UT, in its new excise policy for 2013-14, has substantially increased the excise duty by 20 per cent per proof litre (PL) to 400 per cent per PL and the assessment fee by 33 per cent.

Investors in tricity panic as gold loses glitter
Chandigarh, April 14
With the prices of gold falling by Rs 1,250 in a day, anxiety has gripped gold investors in the tricity. The investors have not indulged in panic sales yet, but are keeping a close watch on the prices. Driven by anxiety, several of them made hundreds of calls to gold dealers during the past two days to keep themselves abreast of the latest trend in the gold prices.

open house response Education Dept should cap book prices Getting education for one's child has really become a Herculean task for parents. To provide the best quality education, the parents run from pillar to post to seek admission in the reputed schools. The schools take advantage of the condition of parents and charge hefty fees from them in the absence of a stringent cap.
Students and their parents buy books for the new session from a bookstore at Sector 19 in Chandigarh. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari

COMMUNITY

fire safety week Eight firefighters honoured Chandigarh, April 14 City Mayor Subhash Chawla said to encourage people to adopt fire safety measures and to minimise the increased losses due to fire out-breaks in the high rise buildings of the urban areas and industries, a special programme would be initiated. Officials of the Fire Department pay tributes at Sector 17, Chandigarh, on Sunday. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari

Water wastage to invite penal action from today
Chandigarh, April 14
The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation is all set to act strictly against those found wasting water by watering their lawns or washing their car from April 15 onwards. The municipal corporation (MC) has set a heavy amount of Rs 2,000 as fine, this time. The MC had increased the fine amount from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000 this time for the same.

Light showers, gentle breeze bring residents outdoors
Chandigarh, April 14
The city experienced light showers this evening, and residents were seen enjoying the gentle breeze outdoors. The weather in April has not yet played a spoilsport. As per the local weather department, the day temperature in April is already two to three degree less than last year’s and is expected to remain normal even in the days to come.

Residents enjoy the pleasant weather after light showers at the Sector 17 Plaza in Chandigarh on Sunday evening. Tribune photo: S Chandan

A woman and her daughter caught unawares by the rain at Sector 42, Chandigarh, on Sunday. Tribune photo: Parvesh Chauhan

Food Processing
New policy to aim at attracting more investments: Minister
Mohali, April 14
The new Punjab Directorate of Food Processing was inaugurated yesterday by Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon, minister in charge of the department. Kairon said the new department, which was created on March 16 last year, would administer Central schemes and be instrumental in evaluating the competitive advantage/disadvantage in various sub-sectors of the food processing activity.

‘Benefits not reaching the disabled’

Mohali, April 14 Various benefits under different schemes meant for the physically challenged by the Punjab Government are not reaching them. This was said by Youth Akali Dal senior vice-president Harsukhinder Singh Bubbi Badal today. Members of the Physically Handicapped Association present a memorandum to Youth Akali Dal senior vice-president Harsukhinder Singh Bubbi Badal (third from left) during a meeting at Phase XI, Mohali, on Sunday. Tribune photo: Parvesh Chauhan

Israeli theatre group casts a spell Chandigarh, April 14 The local audience enjoyed a spectacular circus that rather had magical animals cheering them. It was a show called “Cubic Circus, presented today at Tagore Theatre by an Israeli theatre group “The train theatre”, as part of the ongoing Chandigarh International Puppetry Festival. Artistes from Israel stage “Cubic Circus” during the International Puppetry Festival at the Tagore Theatre, Chandigarh, on Sunday. Tribune photo: S. Chandan

CHANDIGARH SCAN
Office shifted
Defence Pension Disbursement Office, a sub-office of the CDA, Meerut Cantonment, under the Ministry of Defence, had shifted its premises from SCO-114, Sector 47, to Pr CDA (WC), Sector 9, near the Punjab Police Headquarters, said Sanjeev Malhotra, DPDO, Chandigarh.

EDUCATION

University Business School
Cut-off down, courtesy fewer applicants
Chandigarh, April 14
The lesser number of applications received by PU’s University Business School (UBS) for the session 2013-14 has also led to drop in the cut-off marks for admission to the department. A candidate with 81 percentile CAT score has also got an interview call as compared to 86 percentile last year.

SOPU holds cleanliness drive to woo students Chandigarh, April 14 If protests were not enough, the student parties at Panjab University are resorting to issues like cleanliness drive and star nights to grab the attention of students. The SOPU organised one such cleanliness drive at the Student Centre today. SOPU members clean the Student Centre area at Panjab University in Chandigarh on Sunday. Tribune photo: S. Chandan

Public property defaced

Posters of student leaders pasted on the layout plan of Sector 26 Posters at a CTU bus stop in Sector 26 Posters on the walls of St John’s School in Sector 26, Chandigarh. Tribune photos: Pradeep Tewari

40% eligible students not opting for mid-day meal scheme in city
Chandigarh, April 14
The dichotomy between the rich and the poor prevails prominently in the Centre-run mid-day meal scheme in government schools of the city. More than 40 per cent of the eligible students are not opting for the mid-day meal scheme as their parents think that they are “sound” enough to afford food for their children.

Delay in release of promotion list worries teachers
Chandigarh, April 14
The delay in the release of the new promotion list of 187 government teachers has made them anxious and worried. Over 100 teachers met here in Sector 20 to express their resentment against the delay. They also decided to meet the department officials on Monday to discuss the matter.

Over 300 students visit education fair
Chandigarh, April 14
Over 300 students visited an education fair at Hotel Taj here, which saw 21 Canadian institutes promoting education in Canada. Top officials from institutes like Capilano University, Seneca College, Conestoga College, North Island College and many more interacted with students desirous of going to Canada for higher education.

FROM SCHOOLS
Baisakhi celebrated with fervour
Tiny tots of Saupin’s School-32 celebrated Baisakhi with religious fervour. The children were told about the importance of the festival. A power point presentation was also shown to students. The children engaged themselves in paper-tearing activity and pasted it on a big cut-out of a 'dhol'.

NEIGHBOURHOOD

SGPC allots 100 acres to Fatehgarh Sahib varsity
Fatehgarh Sahib, April 14
Students and staff members of Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University, Fatehgarh Sahib, celebrated Khalsa Creation Day yesterday by organising various competitions. Dr Gurmohan Singh, Vice-Chancellor of the university, presided over the ceremony. The students from different departments and colleges participated in the events with great enthusiasm.

DHABI CHOE
Contaminated water leaves 10 sheep dead
Dera Bassi, April 14
Ten sheep died after drinking the polluted water of Dhabi Choe today morning. The incident occurred when a Dera Jagadhari, a resident Omparkash was grazing his sheep near Dhabi Choe. Some of the sheep became unconscious after drinking the contaminated water. Over five sheep died on the spot and others died later due to the polluted water.

Dept gets notice over water shortage
Kalka, April 14
Shiwalik Vikas Manch President VK Bansal and some of the former municipal councillors of the Kalka Municipal Committee have served a legal notice to the Secretary of the Public Health Engineering Department and the Engineer in Chief Public Health Engineering Departemnt, Haryana, over inadequate drinking water and sewerage system in Pinjore area.

Hospital inaugurated
Dera Bassi, April 14
A heart and multi-specialty hospital was inaugurated by NK Sharma, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Punjab Government. Briefing about the facilities available in the hospital, Ajay Grover, managing director of the hospital, said: “All the facilities which are available in the multi-specialty hospitals at Chandigarh will be available in this hospital, especially for all heart, ortho and gynecological problems.

Special child wins top honours
Patiala, April 14
Parul Gupta, a hearing and speech impaired child, who brought laurels by bagging the top honours during the national tennis tourney for deaf children, was honoured by Patiala Mayor Amrinder Singh Bajaj.

CRIME

UT police arrests vehicle thief
Chandigarh, April 14
The UT police arrested a vehicle thief and recovered six stolen vehicles and two mobiles from his possession. The police arrested 25-year-old Sushil Kumar, a resident of Burail, after putting up a barrier on the road dividing Sectors 23 and 24. He was riding on an LML Vespa scooter, which was also found to be stolen. The accused was then arrested.

Couple, son booked for fraud
Chandigarh, April 14
A Delhi-based couple and their son have been booked for a fraud amounting to Rs 22 crore. The police received a complaint from Rattan Mittal, General Manager, Satish Kumar, Manager, and Sukhwinder Kaur, Assistant General Manager of Punjab Agro Food Grain Corporation, Sector 28, who alleged that Dr SK. Jain, his wife and son Nischal Jain, all residents of Greater Kailash-11, New Delhi, and Reliance Polycrete Limited.

Battery cells stolen from Mani Majra telephone exchange
Chandigarh, April 14
A theft of scrapped battery cells worth Rs 1.2 lakh was reported at the BSNL Telephone Exchange, Mani Majra, last night. A case has been registered at the Mani Majra police station.

Drunk youth creates ruckus at discotheque
Chandigarh, April 14
High drama was witnessed at a discotheque in Sector 26, last night, when a youth from Ludhiana created ruckus in an inebriated state. Rahul Grewal was asked to leave the discotheque by the bouncers when he called the police saying that he had been beaten up.

Army man booked on rape charge
Mohali, April 14
The local police has arrested an Army man on a charge of raping a student of a law institute at Kala Amb on the pretext of marrying her. According to the police, the accused, Lance Naik Munish Saini, surrendered at the Phase I police station here today.

Man booked for outraging modesty of woman
Mohali, April 14
The police has booked a person on a charge of outraging the modesty of a woman. According to the police, the woman, who lived in Phase IV, Mohali, and hailed from Himachal Pradesh, had complained that Firoz Ahmed Shaffy used to allegedly send her obscene messages on phone.

SPORTS

Shivam outplays Dhairvir in tennis meet Panchkula, April 14 In the ongoing Manav Mangal Ideal Tennis Tournament, Shivam Vij defeated Dhairvir at 7-3 while Daksh Chabra routed Divyansh Garg by 7-5, during the second round matches of boy’s category, here today. In other matches of the same category, Bhalinder Singh Oberoi defeated Parveen Kumar at 7-3 while Navkaran routed Siddhant Chugg by 7-4. A player returns a shot during a lawn tennis match organised at Manav Mangal School, Sector 11, Panchkula, on Sunday. Tribune photo: Nitin Mittal

golf tourney
Aadil makes it to World Junior Masters
Chandigarh, April 14
Twelve-year-old golfer Aadil Bedi, a class VII student of Vivek High School, booked his berth in the World Junior Masters-2013 to be held in Las Vegas (USA). Bringing more laurels to the City Beautiful, the golfer also topped the IGU’s merit list after winning in Ambala.

delhi horse show
City riders win 20 medals
Chandigarh, April 14
The local horse-riders brought laurels to the City Beautiful after bagging a total of 20 medals during Delhi Horse Show (DHS) held in the capital from March 25 to April 7. A total of around 5,000 horse riders had participated in the event.

CBSE lift trophy
Chandigarh, April 14
The annual sports meet of Chandigarh Group of Colleges, Jhanjeri, was organised, here today. Students of all academic-classes participated in various disciplines including cricket, badminton, volleyball, basketball, table-tennis, kho-kho, weightlifting and best-physique.