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Taliban had it coming...
Chandigarh, October 7
“It was long overdue,” was the most common comment in Chandigarh tonight on the US aerial attack on Afghanistan. Most of the residents of Chandigarh had retired for the day when the news broke about the American attack on Kabul, Kandahar and other major cities of Afghanistan. Initially, there was a certain amount of disbelief among them because they had begun to believe that the USA would not carry out its threat of attacking Afghanistan so soon.

Man drugs wife, gets her raped, two arrested
Chandigarh, October 7
Nineteen year old Sheela, alias Geeta, was admitted to a hospital last night in a serious condition. She was reportedly being drugged and sexually exploited by her husband’s employer and her husband’s friend, with the connivance of her husband. Sheela was married three months back. The police has arrested her husband, Arun Kumar Pandey and his employer, Prakash. The other accused, Shekhar, is still at large.

LADY, DID YOU LEAVE ANYTHING FOR OTHERS: Anu Thukral, best graduate of the Sector 32 Government Medical College and Hospital, with her bagful of medals and winner-take-all smile, on the convocation of the 1995-2000 batch in Chandigarh on Sunday. — Photo Pradeep Tewari

‘Moral erosion killing winds of change’
Chandigarh, October 7
“The objective of our education should be full and integrated development of a student’s personality, encompassing its physical, practical, ethical, moral and intellectual aspects,” said Prof J.S. Gujral, Vice-Chancellor of Faridkot’s Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, in his address on the convocation of the Sector 32 Medical College and Hospital in Bhargava Auditorium of the PGI here today.

Two arrested in forgery case
Panchkula, October 7
Two Chandigarh residents — Vanit Kaura and Toni alias Sonu — were arrested in a case of forgery by the Panchkula police on Saturday. According to Mr Vikas Arora, ASP, the accused were arrested while trying to transfer a sum of Rs 49,000 from the account of Mr Ved Mittar Mahajan, a resident of Chandigarh, from Sector 11 HDFC bank.

Firm dupes finance companies
Baddi, October 7
The manner in which a local bulb-manufacturing firm has duped finance companies to the tune of crores and vanished with entire equipment has left behind a number of unanswered questions. The fraud came to light on the morning of September 25 when a lock was seen outside the factory premises here.

PU panels to study exam-related issues
Chandigarh, October 7
Leaving aside a quantitative improvement in quick declaration of results, Panjab University has moved a step forward towards a qualitative improvement in terms of ensuring a fair system of evaluation and better check on unfair means cases.

AIR FORCE DAY SPECIAL
‘India must take war to doorstep of enemy’
Chandigarh, October 7
“When the USA lost nearly 7,000 people in one of the worst-ever terrorist attacks on September 11, the whole world started talking about a global war against terrorism. What about India which has lost as many as 53,000 people in terrorist violence in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir during the past 20 years?

• 12-yr boy crushed to death

CHANDIGARH CALLING SEPTEMBER has come and gone as one of the drab months of the calendar. The gardens were without colour, the trees did look washed after the rains but the open spaces were replete with foliage, most of it unwanted.The Engineering Department has been making half-hearted efforts to clear the road berms of the monsoon growth. Even if the sun moved across the equinox on September 23, as it does every year, it appeared as if the seasons had forgotten the normal cycle of change. The sun was hot, the fans continued to whirr and in affluent homes the ACs kept up their monotonous hum. Another change Conspicuous by absence Acting hassles Message of love Forgotten Kairon Gandhiji and Jews Strike goes on

COMMUNITY

Labelling non-veg food products made compulsory
Chandigarh, October 7
In order to protect veggies, the Government of India has made it compulsory for manufacturers to label non-vegetarian food products. Informed sources here say that it is a well-known fact that a large number of food items passed off as vegetarian contain some ingredients of non-vegetarian origin, which consumers do not know and purchase in unknowingly, which is not a fair trade practice.

INTERACTIVE
Lack of funds came in my way
Chandigarh, October 7
Mr Om Prakash Goel, representing ward number 12 comprising Sectors 18, 19 and 21, was Deputy Advocate-General of Haryana. His frank opinion on certain issues has caused embarrassment to the BJP.

Agitators disrupt traffic on highway
Zirakpur, October 7
Traffic of the Chandigarh- Ambala highway remained suspended for over half an hour following a dharna by members of the Gurmat Chetna Joint Action Committee, Zirakpur, this morning.

BJP calls workers’ conference
Chandigarh, October 7
The local unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to call a workers conference on October 28 in its office in an effort to galvanise them for the Municipal Corporation elections.

Ex-servicemen raise pension issue
Chandigarh, October 7
During a well-attended meeting of the Indian Ex-services League, Chandigarh, its president, Brig Sant Singh (retd), drew the attention of the house to some vital problems of the ex-servicemen and their widows.

49th day of agitation
Chandigarh, October 7
A dharna by officers of the agriculture and horticulture departments of Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh units of Punjab at Matka Chowk entered in the 49 day today. The farm technocrats are demanding parity in pay scales with their counterparts.

Tibetan youth festival
Chandigarh, October 7
The Regional Tibetan Youth Congress and the Tibetan Freedom Movement jointly organised the 32nd Tibetan Youth Day at Valmiki Bhavan, Sector 24, here today. About 150 Tibetan students from the various educational institutions of the city participated in the function.

Lions Clubs celebrate World Service Day
Chandigarh, October 7
Lions Clubs of Chandigarh organised various service programmes to celebrate completion of 84 years of the lionism movement here today. The clubs celebrated the day as World Service Day.

Sector 40 residents list problems
Chandigarh, October 7
The Mayor, Ms Harjinder Kaur, and the BJP Councillor, Mr Kanhaia Lal Sharma, were confronted with poor sanitary, street-light and traffic conditions of Sector 40 here today.

• Fire in godown

CRIME

Youths snatch woman’s chain
Panchkula, October 7
Two unidentified motorcycle-borne youths snatched a chain from Ms Sunita Jain, a resident of Sector 9 here, last evening. The incident happened when Ms Jain was going to market. The youths reportedly approached the victim on a pretext of asking her about directions to some place.

Woman alleges harassment by in-laws
Chandigarh, October 7
A married woman suffered a miscarriage after she was allegedly subjected to mental and physical harassment by her in-laws for bringing insufficient dowry. According to an FIR registered under Section 498-A of IPC here yesterday, Ms Ritu Malhotra (23) accused her husband Sanjay Khanna, father-in-law Prem Nath Khanna and mother-in-law Prem Lata Khanna of maltreating her leading to stress and subsequently her miscarriage.

BUSINESS

‘Govt policies behind slump in real estate’
Chandigarh, October 7
Recession and sluggish market conditions prevailing since last more than five years in the real estate sector in this area are not due to the demand-supply criterion but mainly due to the faulty and outdated government laws and policies governing the trade. So the reform process, in order to free the real estate and housing sector from the government retailing and suffocating clutches of the outdated laws for a proper growth, is the need of the hour.

EDUCATION

Irregularities in exam conduct
SAS Nagar, October 7
As the Punjab Nursing Registration Council is conducting the rescheduled September 29 paper of community health nursing of the first year of the general nursing and midwifery tomorrow, the fundamental nursing paper held on September 27 last is embroiled in controversy. The Punjab Health System Corporation was reportedly inquiring into the matter.

Students display skills at science fair
Chandigarh, October 7
Around 250 students from Punjab and the UT displayed their creations at the 10th state-level science fair and exhibition that concluded at Sharda Sarvhitkari Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 40, here today.

Institute honours its top students
Chandigarh, October 7
Twenty top rankers in Pre Medical Entrance test and Common Entrance Test by Himachal Pradesh University, who got their coaching from Chandigarh Coaching Centre, were honoured here today by the institute.

400 take part in song contest
Chandigarh, October 7
“National Group Song”, a patriotic songs competition, organised by the Bharat Vikas Parishad here today was a big draw as over 400 students took part in it. A total of 22 teams from different schools of the city participated in the competition held in the auditorium of the Government College for Boys, Sector 11.

Teachers discuss pending demands
Chandigarh, October 7
The general body meeting of the Government Teachers Union was held to discuss the pending demands, including the amended rules in the Recruitment Rules, 1991. The teachers demanded bonus for class III and class IV employees of the Education Department. Special increments after the service of 5, 9 and 14 years in place of 8, 16, 24 and 32 years were demanded.

Conference on electronic design
SAS Nagar, October 7
A two-day national conference-cum-exhibition on “electronic design and technology” is being organised at the Centre for Electronic Design and Technology of India here from October 12. The conference is being organised under the aegis of the Ministry of Information and Technology.

CULTURE

Shatroopa opens to tremendous applause

A scene from Shatroopa staged in Circus Ground, Sector 17, Chandigarh, on Sunday evening. — Photo Pankaj Sharma

Chandigarh, October 7 The sets of the Song and Drama Division's light and sound programme, Shatroopa, were as grand as the theme of portrayal itself. As the sensitive presentation opened to a promising audience at Circus Ground here today, the addiction went on heightening with every passing episode which the two-hour long programme featured. Finally the evening was all about a celebration of womanhood even in the seemingly depressing script which bares the rancour which society harbours against women.

Sagun panchhi — a celebration of existence
Chandigarh, October 7
All those who had gathered at Tagore Theatre today to witness a grand opening to the six-day theatre festival must have lived every moment of the production of North Central Zone Cultural Centre, Allahabad’s ‘Sagun panchhi’. They must also have realised that no matter how fast the modes of entertainment move, there will never be a parallel to the realism which theatre offers with each passing minute.

'Sansmritiyan' in Punjabi
Chandigarh, October 7
“Shaheedan de Angsang”, a Punjabi translation of “Sansmritiyan” was released at a meeting of Sahit Chintan at Punjab Kala Bhavan here today. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Sukhdev Singh Sirsa said, “This type of literature (the book) is the national wealth”. The book contains stories of over 150 brave people associated with the national freedom movement.

Hungarian group performs in city
Chandigarh, October 7
Haunting melodies of Vilagok Hangja (sound of words) group turned Indian hearts to respond spontaneously and admiringly to the universal sound of music by the Hungarian ensemble at English Auditorium, Panjab University, here this evening.

HEALTH

Seminar on liver diseases Chandigarh, October 7 Alcohol and smoking are the major factors in damaging liver. This was the consensus reached at a one-day conference organised by the Department of Hepatology, PGI here today.
Prof Y. Chawla addresses a seminar on ‘Current perspectives in liver disease’ in the PGI, Chandigarh, on Sunday. — A Tribune photograph

‘Combat TB systematically’
Chandigarh, October 7
Dr B.K. Sharma, former Director of the PGI, today underlined the need for a comprehensive plan to systematically combat tuberculosis. Inaugurating a scientific symposium on “Recent advances in management of tuberculosis”, organised jointly by Medicos Centre, Chandigarh, in collaboration with Becton Kickinson India, Dr Sharma noted that one-third of the population of the world was suffering from the TB. Tuberculosis was a common killer disease which had been worsened by the spread of AIDS.

Naturopath treats asthmatic patients
SAS Nagar, October 7
As many as 200 patients were given traditional medicine for asthma at a camp organised by a naturopath, Dr H.S. Chawla, at Singh Saheedan Gurdwara, Sohana, here today. Dr Chawla used a mixture of acupressure, magneto therapy and traditional Indian herbs to treat his patients.

SPORTS

Participating teams of the third Ishwar Shriman Basketball Tournament being introduced to the local MP, Mr Pawan Bansal, in IS Dev Samaj School, Sector 21, Chandigarh, on Sunday. — A Tribune photograph

Dev Samaj cagers win opener
Chandigarh, October 7
The third Ishwar Shriman Prize-money Invitation Basketball Tournament for Girls began in the Sector 21 IS Dev Samaj Girls Senior Secondary School here today after inauguration by the local MP, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal.

• Saroj in semis
• Special Olympics
• Athletics meet
• Cricket tourney
• LIC XI win

Arjun, Aarti declared best shooters
Chandigarh, October 7
Arjun Pratap and Aarti Mehta were declared best shooters among men and women sections, respectively, in the 26th Chandigarh State Shooting Championships which concluded here today at the Pataili Ki Rao Shooting Ranges, Sector 25. Mr M. Ramsekhar, Deputy Commissioner, UT, was the chief guest and gave away the prizes.

C.M. Munjal is honorary secretary
Chandigarh, October 7
Mr C.M. Munjal, member of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, was today appointed honorary secretary of the council. He succeeded Mr P. S. Hundal who submitted his resignation for personal reasons.