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Study tour or family sojourn!
Chandigarh, August 10 Now, this leaves one wondering whether it is a study tour or an outing. The proposal states that the councillors and officials will bear the air travel expenses of their family members and as far as their food and stay are concerned, the expenses will be borne by the Municipal Corporation. This year, the MC had planned to spend Rs 15 lakh on the study tour of 20 councillors and five officials accompanying them to various cities in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the last week of August. The MC had proposed that the councillors would get to know about the functioning of the civic bodies in the South. The MC has not been able to identify the problems plaguing the city to date. An official of the MC said they had booked hotels for councillors and their families. Not only the councillors, but their kin will also relish food. The tour which is meant for the councillors and on which public money is spent, will entertain other people as well. In the past, the MC had faced criticism owing to futility and waste of public funds on annual tours of the MC officials to far-off places. RTI Activist RK Garg said it was not a study tour but an outing for the councillors and officials. In the past as well, the councillors never did not execute any project in the city. He said he would file an RTI application seeking details about councillors who have already gone on such study tours and the reports they had presented before the MC house.
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Chennai Express in full steam ahead
Chandigarh, August 10 With this the movie breaks Salman Khan starrer Ek Tha Tiger's record of 80 shows in cinema halls. Rohit Shetty's directorial venture also broke the highest opening day collection's record in the tricity as the movie minted Rs 37 lakh on the opening day yesterday, surpassed Ek Tha Tiger's collection of Rs. 22 lakh. Even today, the movie ran houseful across theatres and earned whopping Rs 38 lakh. Local distributors said all shows were booked till 8 pm tomorrow. Raj Juneja, local representative, UTV Motion Pictures, the main distributor of the film, said no other good movie was released this week. "The opening of Elante Mall also increased the number of shows in the tricity and Chennai Express managed to get the maximum mileage out of this," he said Before noon, ticket rates are increased by Rs 15. Gold and platinum tickets are being sold for Rs 125 and Rs 115 per ticket. After 12 pm, the rate increases by Rs 30 and a gold ticket is being sold for Rs 190, while a platinum ticket is being sold for
Rs 140, an increase of Rs 10. Elante Mall in Industrial Area, Chandigarh, has the highest 25 shows, followed by 17 shows in Big Cinema at Paras Downtown Mall in Zirakpur. Among other malls, Fun Cinema in Fun Republic, Mani Majra, has 16 shows and 15 shows each in Wave Cinema and PVR Cinema, both in Industrial Area, Chandigarh. Twelve shows each are running in DT Mall, IT Park, Piccadilly Cinema in Sector 34 and Fame Cinema in Shalimar Mall in
Panchkula. Pooja, a schoolteacher, said it was fun watching the movie. Shah Rukh Khan was the main attraction. The songs are also catchy, she said. Another cine buff, Gurmeet Singh, said it was a one-time watch as SRK's star attraction was missing.
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A diamond in the sky
Chandigarh, August 10 Six teams from across the globe have been selected for the programme. The winning team will get one million dollars. Saurabh Bathla, a 2008 batch pass out, worked as an electrical engineer for four
years and later enrolled himself in the Asian Institute of Management, Philippines. "While getting well-versed with the nuances of management education, I realised the importance of social entrepreneurs who play a vital role in uplifting the poor. To strengthen, perpetuate and extend this interest, I along with three others formed a team, Poshnam, and decided to take part in Hult Prize," Saurabh said. The team comprises Saurabh Bathla, Shivesh Gaurav, Raj Bordia and Ravindra Rapeti. Poshnam is derived from Sanskrit word which means healthy nurturing. Poshnam's vision is to resolve food security in urban slums across the globe by rooting out inefficiency in the existing supply chain structure in Asian and Sub-Saharan region. Saurabh said to make it to Hult Prize, they participated at the regional level and emerged Asia-Pacific Regional Winners. "First Hult Prize invited more than 2,000 teams from across the globe to pitch in one-page idea to address global food security. As many as 250 ideas were shortlisted worldwide for the regional-level presentation. At that level, Hult Prize gave us a case study with focus on food security of urban slums. Our idea was competing with the best 32 ideas from the Asia-Pacific region, after one round of presentation, the panel of global leaders chose four ideas in the final round. The four ideas were again presented in front of more than 20 global leaders and the audience of 400," he said. Saurabh stated that the final round of the competition would be held on September 23 in New York. The six teams are in Boston for seven-eight weeks attending an accelerator programme to refine and reiterate their ideas and develop prototypes to take their idea to the next level. Their team is also attending the annual meeting of Clinton Global Initiative where US President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will be the speakers. Hult Prize is a start-up accelerator for social good dedicated to launching the next wave of social entrepreneurs through identifying, funding, mentoring, advising and launching new social businesses. Responding to a challenge made by Bill Clinton, Hult Prize is committed to launching a new wave of student social entrepreneurs. Presentation for the final round of competition will be made in front of people like Bill Clinton, former president of America, Kathy Calvin, President and CEO, United Nations Foundation, Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director, World Food Programme, Peter Sands, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank, Premal Shah, Co-founder and President, Kiva, and Muhammad Yunus, Founder Grameen Bank.
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Man held for raping daughter
Panchkula, August 10 The victim alleged that when her father started exploiting her younger sister, she reported the matter to the police. The victim's statement was recorded under Section 164 CrPC before the Duty Magistrate
today.
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Two-day Teej festival kicks off at Mani Majra
Chandigarh, August 10 Punjabi, Haryanavi, Rajasthani, Himachali folk dances, songs, and "teeian de geet" (songs of Teej) were presented by famous artists of various states. Prerna Puri stressed on the necessity to perpetuate cultural values among the masses, especially in the younger generation. She also enlightened the gathering about the social, religious and historical significance of the festival. Subhash Chawla, Mayor, said the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, would make this mela as an annual feature like the Rose Festival and an agenda regarding this would be tabled in the next general house meeting of the MC. Tomorrow the mela will begin with folk dances from various states. A cultural evening will also be organised. During the cultural evening,
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Auto operators up in arms against Admn
Chandigarh, August 10 The union said the Administration had failed to stop the plying of diesel-run autos, bearing Haryana and Punjab registration number, in the city. The union alleged that there was a nexus between auto operators of the neighbouring towns and the police, which was resulting in loss of revenue to the State Transport Authority. Despite the interstate agreement on plying of autos, the UT had done little to check the plying of diesel-run autoscoming from Mohali and Panchkula. As per the agreement, only LPG or battery operated autos are to be countersigned by the UT authorities. While the UT is sticking to its stand of promoting LPG autos in the city, it was doing nothing to check the diesel-run autos coming from Mohali and Panchkula. Surinder Bhardwaj, founder chairman of the Tricity Auto Rickshaw Union, said the illegal autos were evading road tax and permit fee. It has been pointed out that in 2008, the UT had framed a policy to immediately ban the diesel-run autos to introduce eco-friendly LPG autos in the city. The union had demanded a tricity permit and auto-rickshaw stands near all markets and public places. The operators should be allowed to park their autos near bus shelters and alongside the roads in the city.
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Special train from city to Dibrugarh
Chandigarh, August 10 On every Friday, train number 05903 will depart from Dibrugarh to Chandigarh. The train will depart from Dibrugarh at 8.40 am on every Friday and will reach Chandigarh at 1.10 pm on Sunday. The train will have 17 coaches, including an AC 2-tier, AC 3 tier, nine sleeper class, four general class and two disabled-friendly second class luggage van coaches. The special summer express will halt at 36 stations.
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6 cases of vehicle theft cracked
Chandigarh, August 10 During the course of interrogation, Raju disclosed the name of his accomplice, Satnam Singh, a resident of Behlana village in Chandigarh, who was already lodged in Model Jail, Chandigarh in another case registered against him at the Sector 31 police station. “The accused, Satnam Singh, was also brought on production warrant from the model jail on August 6. During interrogation, it was revealed that accused used to steal motorcycles by breaking the handle locks of two-wheelers,” the police said. The accused, Raju, had been arrested in two cases of vehicle theft in the city. While Raju has been sent to judicial custody, Satnam Singh has been remanded in police custody till August 11.
Music system stolen
Thieves took away the music system from a car on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday in Sector 56, Chandigarh. In his complaint to the police, Kulbir Kalsi, a resident of Sector 56, said the thieves took away the music system, registration certificate and cash from his car which was parked outside his house. The police also took the help of forensic experts and the dog squad. A case has been registered.
Theft at house
Thieves decamp with ~4 lakh, gold and silver ornaments from a house in Ram Darbar, Phase II, on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. In his complaint to the police, Sohan Lal Jindal said the thieves took away Rs 4.25 lakh, seven gold rings, two gold chains, two gold kitty sets, three pairs of gold earrings, silver ornaments and a mobile phone from his house. The complainant was not in his house when the theft took place. He was shocked to see the locks of the house broken when he returned. The police has registered a case at the Sector 31 police station.
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Close shave for biker on Ambala-Chandigarh highway
Zirakpur, August 10 The victim said he was on his way to Chandigarh for some work on his Discover motorbike when the truck hit him from behind near McDonald outlet. “I don’t know what happened after that,” he said. Gurjeet Singh was rushed to the Dera Bassi Civil Hospital. The police has rounded up the truck driver.
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14 lakh students register online
Mohali, August 10 The job has been completed within the stipulated time, the board officials said.
Earlier, the board used to pay Rs 20 lakh to a private company to do the work. An additional amount of Rs 5 lakh was then spent on stationery and printing every year. “Being a complicated procedure, students used to make mistakes while filling the registration forms. It took four to five months to complete the procedure,” said Dr Dhaliwal. Now, the education board has tied up with another firm, Indiaresults, which is charging no money for the job. The company would earn by uploading advertisements on the website. In the new system, moreover, the scope of error is very less; so, the precious time and manpower would also be saved, said the chairperson. Director of the computer cell of the board Navnit Kaur Gill said as many as 8,683 schools, affiliated with the PSEB, had completed the online registration of children studying in Classes IX-XII. “Besides, 22,000 students of other boards also joined the PSEB-affiliated schools and registered themselves online,” said Gill. The new system will also help the board officials to keep a check on those students who used to migrate to schools notorious for turning a blind eye to students indulging in cheating during exams. “This year onwards, only those students will be allowed to sit for exams who get themselves registered online,” said Dr Dhaliwal.
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High drama at Sector 35
Chandigarh, August 10 Sources said the groups entered into a heated argument over some issue. Panic spread when one of the persons pulled out a pistol. The miscreants were later traced but they refused to undergo a medical examination. — TNS
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Caught red-handed by wife, man vents anger on ‘gifted’ car
Panchkula, August 10 The couple has been married for 14 years and has a seven-year-old daughter. According to sources, the man was roaming in the park with his girlfriend when all of sudden his wife reached there and created a commotion. She also called her father and other relatives, who started scolding the man. When his father-in-law sought an explanation from him, he got agitated and in a fit of rage started smashing his Zen car with his father-in-law’s helmet. “We had gifted him the car,” said his father-in-law. He said his daughter often complained about his relationships with other girls. Meanwhile, the girlfriend, who was thrashed by the wife, fled from the scene. On getting information about the incident, the police also reached the spot and rounded up both the parties. The police said no case was registered as both the parties reached
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Man dies in mishap
Panchkula, August 10 Santosh died on spot. Somwati and her daughter were rushed to Government Hospital in Sector 6, Panchkula. Their condition is reported to be serious.
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High-end cars to zoom through city roads today
Chandigarh, August 10 The rally will start from Sector 10 and will culminate at a mall in Industrial Area after going through the Panjab University campus. UT Senior Superintendent of Police Naunihal Singh said the rally was symbolic of road safety that will bring together owners of supercars, superbikes and motorsport enthusiasts of the region on a single platform. “The rally is an effort to flag significant issues associated with a safe city. It is vital for the motorists to obey traffic rules and respect women,” the SSP said. Govind RV, president of the Elite Supercars Club of Chandigarh, said it was believed that supercars and superbikes are driven rashly and if the owners of supercars and superbikes pledge to obey traffic rules, it would send the right message. The rally will begin from the parking area opposite Government Museum and Art Gallery in Sector 10 at 4 pm. The rally will move towards Panjab University via Matka Chowk where students and participants will take a pledge to obey traffic rules and ensure women’s safety. The rally will culminate at Elante Mall in Industrial Area, Phase I, where the visitors to the mall will take a pledge. A skit will be presented at the mall on the theme of women’s safety.
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‘Honeymoon’ leaves audience in splits
Chandigarh, August 10 One of the play’s protagonists, Sameer, who works in SFI company as PRO, marries his love Meenakshi by taking leave from the company on the pretext that he was going to Delhi to attend the last rites of his grandmother. But, he reaches the company's guest house in Nainital for his honeymoon . Knowing that company’s MD was also coming to stay in the guest house, Sameer gets frightened and asks Meenakshi to get ready immediately. But, when they were about to leave, the company’s MD arrives and Sameer slips away from there, leaving his newly-wed wife Meenakshi behind. The company MD was astonished to see a newly wed lonely girl in the company's guest house. Meanwhile, Vijay, Sameer's friend, visits the guest house and poses as if he was Meenakshi’s husband. The play created humour when Meenakshi refuses to recognise him at first place, but later nods that he was her husband. The MD, however, understands the whole gimmick that forces Vijay to flee from there. Sameer and Vijay plan to send Vijay's girlfriend Neena to rescue Meenakshi from the guest house but this plan fails too. When the MD was away from the guest house to play chess with his friend, Sameer, Vijay and Neena come to take Meenakshi away. In the meantime, the MD returns. In the end, MD accepted their marriage. The caste of the play included Samar Manhotra (Sameer), Alka Arora (Meenakshi) and Shyam Juneja (MD).
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Oral awareness drive from tomorrow
Chandigarh, August 10 The event will commence on August 12 with an educative lecture "Aiming at Spreading Awareness About Oral Healthcare and Ill-Effects of Tobacco and Alcohol". The health talk will be followed by a balloon rally by the students, interns and faculty of the Institute. The march will be followed by an informative street play on the importance of oral hygiene, demerits of tobacco and related products. The day two of the event will begin with an audiovisual presentation for schoolchildren and their teachers.
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tricity scan The Joint Action Committee that includes representatives of Chandigarh Industrial Association, Chandigarh Industrial Converted Plot Owners’ Association, Chandigarh Beopar Mandal, Chandigarh Business Council, Business Promotion Council (Sector 17), Chandigarh Property Consultants’ Association, Chandigarh Hotel Association, FOSWAC and Chandigarh Citizen Council today met local Member of Parliament Pawan Kumar Bansal to discuss various issues. The committee members demanded the rollback of collector rates and withdrawal of misuse charges of Rs 500 per square feet besides the transfer of leasehold rights to freehold. Bansal assured the gathering that their demands will be discussed during the next monthly meeting with the officers of the Chandigarh Administration. Non-functional streetlights
Some of the streetlights installed in the parks of Sector 40-C have not been functioning. The parks are maintained by the Municipal Corporation. Residents have registered a number of complaints and have also met the officials concerned. All their complainants, however, have fallen on deaf ears, said SK Khosla, general secretary of the residents’ welfare association.
Talk on homoeopathy
First Friday Forum organised a talk on homoeopathy. Speaking on the subject, Dr Sonia Singh explained to the gathering how homoeopathy differed from the allopathic system in its approach, diagnosis, and treatment. Homoeopathy was invented by Dr Hahnemann, an allopathic physician, who found through painstaking experiments and extended observations that strong medicines produced incurable diseases by progressively reducing the patient’s immunological strength. His system, now known throughout the world, is a safe and cost-effective way of treatment, said Dr Sonia.
Safe injection techniques
The Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP), a premier association of paediatricians in the country, launched the Safe Injection Environment (SIE) program in Chandigarh. The programme was launched in association with Becton, Dickinson and Co. The programme aims at training paediatricians and healthcare professionals in the safe injection practices. This would help in protecting patients from infections. Dr Atul Sachdeva, Director and Principal, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, was the chief guest. Under the programme, similar workshops are being conducted across 11 other cities in India.
Orientation programme
Dr HS Batth, president, Doaba Group of Colleges, while addressing the gathering at an orientation programme for the newly admitted students, motivated them to achieve their aims with dedication. He said if they remained dedicated, no obstacle could stop them from being successful in life. The programme started with a path of Sri Sukhmani Sahib, followed by shabad kirtan and ardas. Manjit Singh, executive vice-chairman, welcomed the students to the campus. — TNS
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Education Dept eases norms
Chandigarh, August 10 After issuing tender notice four times, a Mumbai-based supplier, Alok Industries, agreed to deliver uniforms in May this year. However, it has not supplied the order in most of the schools. To avoid such a problem, the department has decided that government schools can change the technical specification during the winter school uniform purchase. Moreover, the department has also approved an increase of Rs 50 per student in the upper price ceiling. During the purchase of summer school uniforms the upper price ceiling was Rs 300 for every set of uniforms for the Classes I to V and Rs 375 per set for Classes VI to VIII. For the purchase of winter uniforms, the upper price ceiling will be Rs 350 per set for Classes I to V and Rs 425 per set for Classes VI to VIII. The winter school uniform will comprise full-sleeve shirt and pant for boys and shirt and tunic for girls. A senior official of the department said the changes were made after government schools complained about the dismal response from the local suppliers for the purchase of summer uniforms. “While the upper price ceiling have been increased this time, the schools can modify the technical specification fixed by the department without affecting the quality of uniforms," he said. According to him, the system of buying uniforms through school management committees (SMCs) will remain unchanged. As far as the delivery of summer school uniform is concerned, officials of the department said the government schools had been directed to issue the penalty notice to Alok Industries after the delivery.
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Over 500 take part in job fair
Chandigarh, August 10 Twelve companies including Secugenius, Rikken Instrumentation, Volkswagen Chandigarh, Pras Group, Tech Naitra, Red Phase Engineers, Info Wiz Software Solution were present for the recruitment. Dr Gurpreet Singh, chairman, Universal Group of institutions, Lalru, Mohali, said the students of various colleges got benefited of the mega Education fair. Such opportunities will be created on regular basis so that the maximum number of students students could be placed in various prestigious companies, he said. He told about various scholarships being awarded by the group.
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Cultural programme
Students of Nirmal House of Carmel Convent School, Sector 9, showcased their talent in a cultural event in the school. The theme of the programme was "The Linguistic Voyage", aiming at different languages and cultures of India. The three languages that were showcased in the programme were English, Hindi and Punjabi. The students beautifully portrayed the language of English with the play "Magic of Music", which is an adaptation of movie "Sound of Music". The wit and humour of Akbar and Birbal tales were perfectly depicted through a Hindi play. Dummy company for commerce students
Students DAV Senior Public School, Surajpur, Panchkula, launched a dummy company for its commerce students. Anuja Sharma, principal of the school congratulated the students on the successful launching of the company. Applauding their efforts, she motivated them to carve a niche for themselves in the field of business and entrepreneurship. Eid celebrated
Students of Blue Bird High School celebrated the Eid-ul-Fitr with great fervour. A special assembly was organised by the junior section of the school. The students gave speeches on the importance of the festival . A qawali by the tiny tots of KG stole the hearts of all. Principal Vandna wished Eid Mubarak to all the students and staff members. Golden Bells Public School
Golden Bells Public School, Sector 77, Mohali, celebrated Teej and Eid-Ul-Fitr in the school today . The girls applied henna on their hands. Anjali Chaudhry, principal of the school, spoke on the importance of the each day and asked the students to respect to all festivals. St Soldier School
Class I-B of St Soldier School, Mohali, held a special assembly to celebrate Eid. The little ones apprised the audience of the month of Ramzan and Rozaa. They demonstrated how children hug each other and wished Eid mubarak. Health and Hygiene Week
Sky School, Panchkula, observed the Health and Hygiene Week. A large number of activities like classroom interaction, group activities, collage making, quiz were held during the week. The initiative was taken to create awareness on healthy eating and healthy food habits among the children and their parents. World Hepatitis Day
Anee’s School, Mohali, observed the World Hepatitis Day. Teachers explained about hepatitis A, B, C, D and E. Symptoms, preventions, vaccination of the disease were also explained. Principal Harpreet Kaur Grewal spoke on the importance of good health and good eating habits. Vivek High School win
Vivek High School, Mohali won the Inter-School Basketball Tournament. The tournament was held at Manav Mangal Smart School, Mohali. Vivek High School defeated Doon International School, Mohali, in final.
—TNS
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