Dera Bassi, October 27
Three persons, including an ITBP jawan, were killed while four others were injured, two of them seriously, when the TATA Magic they were travelling in rammed into a stationary multi-axle vehicle on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway near Lalru early this morning.

The incident occurred at about 5.15 am in Dehar village when the TATA Magic, bearing a temporary registration number (CH 4S 4693) and carrying seven passengers to the Ambala railway station from the Dera Bassi bus stop, rammed into the multi-axle vehicle, leaving three persons, Deepak Kumar (24), an ITBP jawan, Khush Kumar, a resident of Valmiki Basti in Dera Bassi, and Sant Lal of Preet Nagar Colony, Dera Bassi, dead.

Those injured are Mool Salim (40), his two daughters, Joya (11) and Anju (13), residents of Prem Nagar Colony in Dera Bassi, and Harjit Singh of Rauni Mohalla, Dera Bassi.

Mool Salim, Jaya and Anju were taken to the Civil Hospital, Dera Bassi, from where doctors referred them to Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, Chandigarh, said Dr SK Mittal, Senor Medical Officer (SMO), Dera Bassi.

Harjit Singh, group inspector with the ITI, Patiala, who escaped with minor injuries, was discharged after being given first aid.

While the bodies of Khush Kumar and Sant Lal were handed over to their family members, officers of the ITBP, Ramgarh, airlifted the body of Deepak Kumar to his native place in the South, after a postmortem examination at the Civil Hospital, Dera Bassi. Posted at the ITBP camp, Ramgarh, Deepak was on his way to Ambala Cantonment, to board a train to his his home state in the South. Sant Lal was going to his native village in Uttar Pradesh, said his son Vivek.

According to Harjit Singh, the TATA Magic got stuck under the multi-axle vehicle after the crash and the three victims sitting on the left side of the vehicle were crushed to death.

Hearing a loud thud, passersby assembled at the spot and the police was informed. ASI Rajinder Singh from the Lalru police station and his team extricated the bodies from the mangled remains of the TATA Magic. The ASI said they had to uses a tractor to pull out the TATA Magic that was stuck under the multi-axle vehicle.

The drivers of both vehicles fled from the spot, he said.

A case of rash and negligent driving has been registered against the drivers of both vehicles on a complaint of Harjit Singh, one of the injured.

Mohali, October 27
Two persons were crushed to death under a passenger train on the Mohali-Chandigarh railway track this evening. The victims, identified as Shamsher Singh (44), a resident of Kambali village, and Arvind Kumar (32), a resident of Chhajumajra, were reportedly taking liquor while sitting on the railway track near Jagatpura village when the incident took place at around 4.30 pm today.

According to an official of the GRP, both victims died on the spot after being hit by the passenger train, which was on its way from Ambala to Una.

The official said the victims were identified from their Aadhaar cards, which were recovered from their pockets. The bodies of the victims have been sent to the Civil Hospital at Phase VI, Mohali, where the postmortem will take place tomorrow. The police have initiated inquest proceedings in the case. 

Chandigarh, October 27
The UT State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed Shalimar Estates to pay Rs 1 lakh compensation for deficiency in services and to refund the amount taken towards the allotment of a showroom.

The complainants, Geetanjali and Archana, residents of Rajpura, stated in the complaint that they had moved an application for the allotment of a commercial showroom in an upcoming shopping mall to be constructed by Shalimar Estates in the Industrial Area, Mohali. It was stated that the complainants intended to use the showroom for running their business to earn a livelihood by way of self-employment. The total price of the showroom was Rs 36,00,000. The complainants deposited a sum of Rs 3,60,000 along with the application. The complainants were, thus, allotted a showroom of Category ‘C’ with a super area of 400 sq ft, at Rs 250 per sq ft, which was to be paid as per the installment plan.

The possession was to be given within a period of two years from February 28, 2006.

It was further stated that neither was the possession given to the complainants in two years nor was the amount refunded.

Chandigarh, October 27
Waking up from deep slumber, the UT Administration has now finally started the process to recover Rs 5 crore from landowners who had accepted compensation for the land acquisition for Phase III of IT Park.

The UT Administration had also deposited Rs 75 crore with the court to pay the remaining landowners. The UT has also started the process to release Rs 75 crore from the court and has written to the District Courts in this regard, a senior UT official said.

In October 2012, the Supreme Court had quashed the land acquisition for Phase III of IT Park. There were over 200 landowners whose land was to be acquired for Phase III of IT Park.

Thirty-five landowners had accepted the compensation amount of Rs 18.75 lakh per acre announced by the Administration. The remaining landowners had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Supreme Court against the land acquisition process.

UT Land Acquisition Officer Tilak Raj said they had now issued a public notice and had given one month's time to the landowners to return the compensation amount to the UT Administration.

Earlier, the landowners had approached the Administration saying that they were not in a position to refund the money.

Chandigarh, October 27
A PGI doctor has devised a new technique to remove glass pieces that accidentally enter the eye. Considering that the removal of glass (intraocular foreign bodies) with intraocular forceps (that cost Rs 20,000) is one of the most challenging vitreo-retinal surgeries with a high rate of complication, the doctor used a soft tip needle with active aspiration on 14 patients and successfully restored their vision.

The technique called 23-gauge vitrectomy (TSV) developed by Dr Ramandeep Singh, Associate Professor, Advanced Eye Centre, PGI, and his team, makes use of a needle that does not cost more than Rs 1,000 and has lesser chances of complication. In his research, titled “23-gauge vitrectomy with intraocular foreign body removal via the limbus: An alternative approach for select cases", published in the Indian Journal of Opthalmology recently, Dr Ramandeep used the technique on 14 patients successfully.

“We found that the surgery was friendly, both for patients as well as surgeons. Apart from saving on the cost, the technique brings down trauma (pain) among patients and reduces the duration and complications of surgery,” he said.

Chandigarh, October 27
Seepage in walls, leaking roofs, rooms sans whitewash and choked bathrooms aptly describe Snehalaya, a rehabilitation centre for juveniles, according to the report of the Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The report, prepared after a visit to Snehalaya by commission chairperson Devi Sirohi, states that the infrastructure at the Home for juveniles is in dire need of renovation.

The report points out that a majority of the rooms where inmates stay have not been whitewashed for a long time. Some rooms have a problem of seepage while bathrooms used by inmates are choked.

The report points out that the room for the sick, which has been set up for the 350 inmates in the Home, needs major repairs. Besides, basic medicines are not available for the inmates.

Lakhs of rupees have been spent on installing computers in the home to upgrade the skills of the inmates by the UT Social Welfare Department, but for the past one month, no teacher is available to guide the students.

The commission has asked why no recruitment was made after the post of computer teacher fell vacant as it is the priority of the department to rehabilitate these children after imparting them skills. The only course being run at present by Senhalaya is of “beauty culture”, which is for girls.

Chandigarh, October 27
A local court today sentenced a youth to two year-imprisonment for hitting a traffic policeman on duty. The court sentenced Lovpreet to two years while two others, Vineet and Bhaskar, were acquitted of all charges. The case was registered on June 28, 2013, when a traffic constable was injured after being hit by a car at the light point in Sector 28.

According to the prosecution case, the driver of Ritz (PB 10 DT 9642) hit traffic constable Sanjay when he signalled the vehicle to stop at a traffic barricade. The constable suffered a fracture in the leg. Later, the police arrested the three youngsters. Lovpreet was driving the car while the other two were sitting on the passenger seat.

Chandigarh, October 27
The Dham Special with Dakshin Darshan was flagged off from the Chandigarh railway station by Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal
at 7:30 am today. The Indian Railway Tourism Catering Corporation is running this special train, Supporters of SAD turned up in large numbers on the occasion.

The special train will travel to religious places, including Ayodhaya, Varanasi, Puri, Tirupati, Rameshwaram, Madurai, Kanyakumari, Aurangabad, Dwarka and Ujjain. It will be back to the Chandigarh station on November 13, 2014.

The train will have a total of 13 coaches. There will be 2-Tier AC (01 coach), 3-Tier AC (02 coach), sleeper (07 Coaches), a pantry car (01 Coach) and a generator SLR’s (02 coaches).

While addressing the gathering, Badal said that Prime Minister Narender Modi had taken the initiative, following which the train had been introduced from the city. 

Chandigarh, October 27
The Fourth Delhi Finance Commission has rapped the UT Administration and the municipal corporation for not recovering full economic cost of providing municipal services to city residents and for lacking in transparency in distributing funds to panchayats.

The report reads, “We have found that the municipal corporation is not recovering full economic cost of providing municipal services. Given low collections of revenues from the available financial resources of the corporation on the one hand and the incremental need to upgrade the city municipal infrastructure we fail to appreciate justification for providing municipal services without recovering full economic cost from the end users”.

The report further reads, “The MC does not appear to be using technology in improving either the municipal services or the municipal administration since the traditional method of governance appears to be quite cost ineffective”.

The report also raised questions on the method adopted by the MC for calculation of property tax and also pointed out that its financial management was marred by red-tapism.

“Last year, property tax was levied for the first time by the corporation on the basis of unit-area method. The report stated that neither proper assessment was done by the department nor any record was being maintained to compare as to how many properties were left on which the tax had not been paid. At present, there is no way to know if the assessee has paid the correct property tax,” the report reads.

After analysing the financial statements and records, the report also maintained that under the current scenario, there was red-tapism in the MC, as a result, there were cost overruns and it took more time to complete the projects against the anticipated period.

Pulling up the UT Administration, the report stated that the Administration lacked transparency with regards to the distribution of funds to the MC and panchayats. Since there is no transparency regarding calculations on the basis of which the distribution of funds is made to the local bodies, there is no way to ascertain whether the Administration has released right amount of funds.

The report also pointed out that in the absence of any transparency with regards to the release of funds to the local bodies, it cannot be ascertained whether all recommendations of the Finance Commission had been followed.

Chandigarh, October 27
An unidentified body was found hanging from a tree in front of the Old District Courts gate at Sector 17 today.

The body is said to be of a 35-years old man and was found hanging from a tree near the parking area of the Old District Courts complex. The police said the incident came to light at 8 am when the body was noticed by a passerby in the parking area.

A police team was rushed and the victim was taken to Government Multi Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, where he was declared brought dead by doctors.

During primary investigation it has been noticed that the deceased had used his T-shirt to hang himself. He tore his T-shirt to to hang himself. The deceased is yet to be identified. Meanwhile, the police are suspecting it to be a case of suicide as no injury marks were found on the body. “No suicide note was found from the spot. However we are investigating the matter “said Jasbir Singh, SHO of the Sector 17 police station.

Chandigarh, October 27
The Finance & Contract Committee (F&CC) of the municipal corporation today approved the draft policy for the sale and purchase of second-hand cars in Sector 7, the biggest car bazaar of the region.

Now, the draft policy will be placed before the MC House for the final approval on October 31.

On the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the MC had drafted a new policy, which was placed before the committee on Friday.

In the draft policy, the civic body has decided to auction all 60 sites in front of all showrooms in the market. Only Chandigarh residents will be able to participate in the auction. The site will be auctioned for two years which can be further extended for one more year. The MC has fixed Rs 2 lakh as reserve price for each site. Earlier, the MC was issuing slip on every Sunday to car dealers for Rs 2,825 for every site.

The High Court’s decision to formulate a policy came after some dealers moved court as earlier only 43 dealers were functioning from all 60 sites in the market.

The Car Dealers’ Association has been engaged in the business of sale and purchase of second-hand cars on commission basis by way of car bazaar, which is organised every Sunday in Sector 7 at the side of Madhya Marg in front of showrooms in the parking place for the last 32 years.

Mohali, October 27
As the municipal corporation elections will be held soon, the protest staged by the newly-formed Joint Rural Action Committee (JRAC) against the notices, being sent by the Mohali MC authorities for passing of layout plans of houses, gained political colour.

During the two-hour long protest in front of Mohali MC Office, Sector 68, local leaders of every political outfit including Congress, SAD-BJP, AAP, Akali Dal (Mann), reached at the venue to extend their support.

Tension was seen brewing between leaders of different parties as they wanted to address the gathering of around 200 residents, belonging to six villages, which come under the jurisdiction of the Mohali MC.

The leaders, who reached at the venue included Congress MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu and the party’s local leader Lakhwinder Kaur Garcha, SAD’s local women wing in-charge Amanjot Kaur Ramoowalia, who is also chairperson of Mohali District Planning Committee, BJP’s local unit president Goldy, Aam Aadmi Party’s district convener Nirmal Singh, Akali Dal (Mann) district president Kuldip Bhagowal and others.

In a bid to win hearts of rural folk, every leader was criticising the move of Mohali MC under which the MC authorities have sent around 50 notices to residents of each village, directing them to get their residential/commercial layout plans passed.

“This is anti-public and impractical step by the MC. There is no need for any resident to adhere to the directions,” said MLA Sidhu adding that if the MC would not take back its notices, the party activists would come on roads along the residents to protest against it.

The leaders of other political parties too, expressed similar sentiments.

“Actually corporation elections are on the cards and leaders of every party (political) wanted to win hearts of the prospective voters by extending their support to them,” said an official of Mohali MC on the condition of anonymity.

According to an estimate, the number of voters in the six villages—Mataur, Kumbhra, Sohana, Madanpura, Shahi Majra and Mohali—is between 18,000 and 20,000. The total population of these six villages is nearly 80,000. Residents of the villages in question are criticising the MC’s move of passing layout plans of their houses/commercial premises, the fact is several multi-storied buildings have been coming up rapidly in these villages. A resident of Mohali village admitted that several people were constructing more floors on their old houses thus putting theirs and others lives in danger. “Four to five-storied buildings in these villages are a common sight. Paying guest accommodations, hotels, guesthouses and other commercial activities are being run in such buildings. This is really dangerous,” said the resident. 

Mohali, October 27
The Delimitation Board has cleared a proposal that each of the 50 wards to be formed for the Municipal Corporation elections here should have a population ranging between 3,100 and 4,200.

Uma Shankar Gupta, Commissioner, MC, said a proposal on the municipal wards was presented before the Delimitation Board, which had been cleared by it after making some changes. The changes in the delimitation of wards were done unanimously at a meeting held some days ago.

He said the proposal on the wards had now been sent to the office of the Director, Local Government, where the election wing would ensure that each ward had the specified number of voters. If required, some changes in the delimitation of wards could be done at the directorate level, depending on the population of each area.

There will be 50 corporation wards. Five of these will be reserved for the SC, two for the backward classes and 15 for women. — OC

Chandigarh, October 27
Continuing with its series of outreach initiatives, Headquarters Western Command held an interaction with retired junior commissioned officers (JCOs) and other ranks at the Chandimandir Military Station here today.

A large number of Veterans from the tricity and nearby places like Ropar, Fatehgarh and Anandpur Saheb attended the programme. They were addressed by Lt Gen KJ Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, who reiterated the commitment of the Command to look after the interests of the ex-servicemen and widows.

Various issues concerning welfare of veterans were discussed during the interaction.

The underlying aim of the event was to provide a concerted push for expeditious mitigation of myriad issues being faced by the veteran community after retirement from the force. Various policies and schemes launched by the Ministry of Defence and state governments for ex-servicemen were also highlighted.

A similar meet for retired officers was organised last week.

Mohali , October 27
Even as 29,000 owners of various properties within the municipal limits of Mohali have not paid property tax despite several exemptions provided by the government, the Municipal Corporation has now begun slapping notices on the defaulters, giving them a two-week deadline to pay up.

The notices are being issued under Section 138 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976. As many as 500 notices have been issued so far.

Notices are being first issued to those owning commercial and industrial property as the tax amounts to be recovered from these categories are higher.

Defaulters who own showrooms in Phases II, IIIB-2, V, VI, VII, XI and Sectors 70 and 71 have been issued notices. In the industrial sector, notices have been given to defaulters in Phases I, II, III, VI, VII, VIII and IX.

The violators have been told to pay the tax amount along with an equal amount of penalty within 14 days from the receipt of the notice, failing which they would have to pay tax calculated on the basis of the data collected during a door-to-door property survey.

The maximum number of defaulters (25,000) is from the residential area followed by the commercial category (3,524). The number of defaulters in the industrial category is 480.

The recovery of the property tax due would be done by the attachment and sale of the defaulter’s immovable property; by the attachment of the rent amount due in respect of the property in question; and by the sale of movable property.

Property tax had been proposed on various properties within the municipal limits with effect from April 1, 2013.

Chandigarh, October 27
Dignity and nostalgia marked Infantry Day celebrations at Headquarters Western Command, Chandimandir, here today. The day is commemorated every year to mark the first Indian soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the Sikh Regiment landing at Srinagar in 1947 to defend the Valley against Pakistani raiders.

A wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Veer Smriti war memorial where Lt Gen KJ Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, paid floral tributes to the soldiers who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

This was followed by a special ‘sainik sammelan’ where Maj Gen AK Singh, Major General-in-charge-Administration, Western Command, who is the senior-most Infantry officer posted here, addressed the Infantry troops at the station.

A social interaction was also organised at the Khetrapal Officers Institute, Chandimandir, in the evening where serving Infantry officers met Infantry veterans living in and around Chandigarh. A ‘barakhana’ was organised in all Infantry battalions based here.

Also known as the Queen of the Battle, the Infantry is the largest fighting arm of the Army and is required to operate in all kinds of terrain, from the scorching deserts to the icy heights of the Himalayas as well as in jungles.

Chandigarh, October 27
A select group of visually challenged individuals proficient in music and associated with the National Association for the Blind (NAB) today formally launched a musical group — Divine Eyes.

Following the launch ceremony, a special screening of an audio described (narration with dialogues) version of the Bollywood movie ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ was also organised for the visually-challenged children at Bal Bhawan, Sector 23.

Padma Shri Milkha Singh along with Tejinder Kaur, Chairperson, Punjab Infrastructure Regulatory Authority, were also present on the occasion.

Speaking to the visually challenged children, Milkha Singh, said, “I want each one of you to be inspired to do something worthwhile in your life. Everyone is gifted with a special skill by the almighty, we need to identify and leverage our talent.”

The audio described version makes the movie friendlier for the visually challenged children as an additional narration is inserted in the non-dialogue portions so that the visually-impaired individuals can also enjoy the presentation.

The movie ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ has been audio described by a Delhi based NGO- Saksham.

Amway Opportunity Foundation (AOF) has supported Divine Eyes with a complete range of professional musical instruments, including a harmonium scale changer, keyboard, octapad, guitars (electric and acoustic), flute set, pair of tabla, sitar and dholak, violin, percussion kit, two mikes and a sound system.

Speaking on the occasion, GS Cheema, regional manager - North, Amway India, said, “The music academy Divine Eyes will empower these individuals to sustain life by leveraging their talent.”

Vinod Chadha, President, National Association for the Blind – Chandigarh and Punjab State Branch, said it was a special day for them. 

Chandigarh, October 27
To offer help in the rehabilitation of thousands of people affected in the floods in Jammu and Kashmir, an amount of Rs 2.75 lakh was donated under the Jammu and Kashmir Relief Fund by Nirmal Singh Dhillon, Secretary, Dev Samaj Society here today.

The amount was donated for the reconstruction of the houses of the residents which had collapsed during the recent floods in Kashmir. The noble endeavour will help the affected people.

Meanwhile, Dhillon said the society had adopted two Muslim families for the social cause as this is a regular feature of the organisation.

Panchkula, October 27
The trash and solid waste littered in and around the venue, where the newly elected Haryana MLAs including Chief Minister ML Khattar took oath on Sunday, was cleaned up after the swearing-in ceremony of the Haryana CM, illegal hoardings still dot the city.

Huge hoardings of PM, Amit Shah, ML Khattar and others were installed on the roads leading to the venue continue to exist in the city in violation of the norms.

Officials said the BJP workers have been asked to remove hoardings and if they don’t adhere to orders, action will be taken. — TNS

Chandigarh, October 27
The workers of Government of India Text Books Press, Chandigarh, staged a dharna in protest against the move of the Central Government to wind up all Government of India presses and attached offices across the all country.

The president of the local unit of Government of India Text Books Press Workers’ Association, Bhawani Prasad, said they would continue their protest in the Industrial Area, Phase I, till the government does not consider their demand.

Zirakpur, October 27
Fissures in the SAD and the BJP came to the fore with the workers of both the parties raising slogans in favour of their leaders during the flagging off ceremony of the ‘Dham Special’, a train, by Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Minister for Food Processing, at the Chandigarh Railway station, this morning.

Shouting slogans in favour of their leader, Narinder Kumar Sharma, MLA, Dera Bassi, over 100 SAD workers, including some former municipal councillors of the Zirakpur municipality reached the railway station and registered their presence. Led by Sukhwinder Singh, alias Goldy, president of the Mohali district unit of the BJP, Mukesh Gandhi, vice-president and Narinder Goyal, Zirakpur mandal president, scores of party workers countered them by raising slogans in favour of Anil Joshi, belonging to the BJP, who is the Local Bodies Minister of Punjab.

It was virtually a show of strength by the SAD and the BJP leaders at the Railway station. Sources said that the SAD leadership reached the venue without informing their BJP counterparts. With the BJP registering victory in Maharashtra and Haryana, the party is flexing its muscles in Punjab and aiming to contest the ensuing municipal elections. It is learnt that the BJP leadership in Punjab has hinted the party workers to strengthen the party at the grassroots level by creasing its own vote bank. Since the formation of the BJP government in Haryana, the Punjab unit of the BJP has held meetings and asked the party workforce to be ready for the MC poll.

Chandigarh, October 27
Acting on a complaint received by the Secretary of the Animal Husbandry Department, a team of UT Administration officials today conducted a surprise check at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) clinic in Sector 38 and found numerous inadequacies in infrastructure.

The team visited the clinic at around 4.45pm. It was found that there was no power supply at the clinic. There was littering, seepage on walls and inadequate food for animals.

“We will submit the final report on Tuesday. There was lack of cleanliness, staff shortage and improper upkeep of animals,” said one of the officers.

The inspecting team included Additional Secretary Health, SK Setia and Assistant Secretary, State Transport Authority (STA), Rajiv Tewari.

The officials also directed the president, SPCA, to submit copies of balance sheets of the past few years to check the utilisation of funds.

The complaint was received by the Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department, Bhavna Garg, today. 

Chandigarh, October 27
The Vigilance Awareness Week is being observed at the Chandigarh Airport here. The programme, which began today and will conclude on November 1, is being held under the theme ‘promote a culture of honesty’. All office-bearers of the Chandigarh domestic airport took a pledge to follow their respective duties honestly. “All the employees of Chandigarh airport have taken a pledge to continue working under an honest environment,” said newly appointed airport director JS Balhara.

Meanwhile, AS Cheema, DIG, UT police, along with other officials of the police, also observed the Vigilance Awareness Week with the theme “Combating corruption-technology as an enabler’. SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill attended the event.

Chandigarh, October 27
A two-day senior management seminar on organisational leadership began at the force’s Hallomajra campus here today.

RK Pachnanda, Additional Director General, CRPF, inaugurated the seminar, which is being attended by 14 officers of the rank of the Inspector General in CRPF, and is aimed at bringing about qualitative improvement in the higher command functions and to make the force more people-friendly.

Pachnanda also inaugurated the new administrative block of the CRPF’s 5th Signal Battalion. Shailendra Kumar, Inspector General, Communications and Works, and SB Kajal, Inspector General, North West Sector, were present. — TNS 

Chandigarh, October 27
The 56th Panjab University Inter-Zonal Youth and Heritage Festival will be held at DAV College, Chandigarh, from October 28-31.

The Director Youth Welfare PU Nirmal Jaura, Principal Dr BC Josan and Dean Cultural Activities Ravinder Chaudhry released the souvenir-cum-programme schedule at the college today.

While addressing mediapersons, Jaura stated that there were 192 colleges under Panjab University and these were divided into 12 zones. “As many as 140 participants will come from each zone and in all, there will be 2,000 participants coming to the college during the four-day festival. Nearly 47 performances will be included in the festival,” he added.

He said this time, 80 per cent participants were girls in various activities, particularly heritage events and dance.

Jaura further said for the first time, the PU Vice-Chancellor Arun Kumar Grover had given the theme of a drug-free society to the festival. He said a signature campaign against drugs would be started from October 29 during the festival.

Chandigarh, October 27
DAV College, which is organising the event, faces the biggest challenge to manage the traffic chaos outside the premises. Traffic congestion has become a routine affair due to lack of parking space in and around the college.

Long queues of cars on both sides of the road are usually witnessed outside the college. Even though the DAV management claims that for the event, they had doubled the number of parking areas on the campus by making temporary arrangements, things will be clear after the commencement of the event. As per the college management, they have deployed extra security to clear congestion on the road.

Chandigarh, October 27
The Department of Sanskrit, MCM DAV College for Women in Sector 36, in collaboration with the Sanskrit Academy, Chandigarh, organised a book fair-cum-exhibition to promote the understanding of cultural and literal heritage of India amongst the youth.

The exhibition, part of a 14-day campaign by the Sanskrit Academy, has various books highlighting the significance of our ancestral language. Books such as science in Sanskrit, Sanskrit to English dictionary and Pride of India provided a glimpse into the rich scientific and cultural heritage of our nation.

Principal of MCM College Dr Puneet Bedi lauded the endeavour which familiarised the students with Sanskrit in a novel and interesting manner. 

Chandigarh, October 27
Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh, will host a two-day national conference on recent trends in plant sciences with special reference to phycology and mycology from October 28-29.

The prestigious national conference is being organised by the Botany Department, PU. Various issues related to plant diversity will be discussed during the conference.

The Director General, CSIR, New Delhi, Dr PS Ahuja would inaugurate the conference and PU DUI, Prof AK Bhandari would preside over the function.

Eminent botanists of the country, including INSA senior scientist, emeritus professor, Department of Botany, Osmania University, Hyderabad Prof C Manoharachary, Director, IMTECH, Dr Girish Sahni, FNA, BHU Varanasi, Prof LC Rai, Director, Birbal Savitri Sahni Foundation Museum, Lucknow Prof SC Srivastava would deliberate in the Conference along with the young faculty, scholars and PG students.

Former chairperson of the Department Prof IS Dua would deliver a popular lecture entitled ‘Homage to the two genes waiting for others to revolutionise our farms’.

PU Vice-Chancellor Prof AK Grover would chair the evening lecture on October 28.

Chandigarh, October 27
Surinder Talwar, the mother of Panjab University (PU) Fellow and Syndicate member Dr Dinesh Talwar passed away after a brief illness today. She was 77 years of age.

The mortal remains of Surinder Talwar were consigned to the flames at the cremation ground in Sector 25.

Meanwhile, a large number of people from different walks of life, including a number of PU Fellows, teachers and staff members, attended the funeral ceremony.

Mohali, October 27
Ryan International School concept of 4R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle and replace was introduced to the students of the primary wing.

The students were taught the process of recycling paper. With this technique, the students were able to make handmade paper. After drying, the same can be used for making beautiful cards and folders.

Meanwhile, the students were made aware of the fact that recycling can help reduce green house gas emissions.