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TOP STORIES

Illegal structures
Panicky villagers turn to MLA
Chandigarh, March 14
For hundreds of Nayagaon residents, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has rendered the status of Notified Area Committee (NAC) accorded to the village meaningless. Those who had razed structures in the area today received demolition notices for violating the Forest Act.

On return, Sunil faces mob ire
*Plays the victim at hands of parents, wife
*Girls say they were tricked by teacher
Chandigarh, March 14
Chaos prevailed when an enraged mob, including relatives of the kidnapped girl students of Sector 22 Government Senior Secondary School, pounced on Sunil Kumar and gave him a beating the moment he disembarked from the police vehicle.
Angry relatives of kidnapped girls rough up Sunil Kumar (in circle) outside the crime branch in Sector 11, Chandigarh, on Wednesday. — Tribune photo by Vinay Malik

News Effect
Missed meal: Rights panel seeks report
Chandigarh, March 14
The Punjab State Human Rights Commission has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Ropar to submit a report on hundreds of government primary school students in Morinda and Kharar going without their mid-day meal on March 12 due to incessant rain.

Neelam’s turn to get malled
Chandigarh, March 14
Neelam Cinema in Sector 17 is all set to get a new look. Succumbing to the market forces, the theatre which has been synonymous with the good old affordable cinema is paving way for a mall. A multiplex-cum-mall is already coming up in place of Jagat Cinema in Sector 17.

Traders face conversion pangs
Chandigarh, March 14
A large number of industrialists are wary of the conversion policy. Those who have opted for the same want the administration to clarify the provisions under the new policy as also the expected results.

MC MONEY: Gone with the rain
Chandigarh, March 14
Rain and hail left a trail of damage behind. All major and minor roads across the city were severely damaged following the daylong downpour and hailstorm.

52-yr-old hangs himself to death
Chandigarh, March 14
A 52-year-old man allegedly hanged himself to death at his Sector 41 residence here today. The police is yet to ascertain the cause behind the extreme step. Quoting the family, they said the man was upset for some time.

Rare view of deer at Sukhna
Chandigarh, March 14
Visitors to the Sukhna Lake these days are treated with a rare view of deer population visiting the shores at the far end for their outing by the water side. A herd of more than 20 deer had a pleasant outing today much to the delight of the curious onlookers.

• Speaking Out

COMMUNITY

Hail crushes farmers’ hopes
Rajpura\Dera Bassi, March 14
The recent rain and hailstorm have brought misery to the farmers of Chandigarh’s periphery, particularly in Mohali and Patiala districts, with extensive damage to the standing wheat crop.


A farmer at Kheri Gurna village in Banur watches his waterlogged fields. — Photo by J.S. Virdi

• DC assesses damage

Homeless again: Houses of refugees brought down
Chandigarh, March 14
Kashmiri migrants living on the outskirts of Kajehri village allege that their dwelling units were demolished without taking a sympathetic view about their refugee status.

Displaced owners show the remains of their houses demolished by the enforcement staff. — A Tribune photograph

Train experience to get better
Chandigarh, March 14
The Indian Railways has big plans on promoting Chandigarh and its surrounding cities as a tourism destination. A “Palace on Wheels” train for promoting tourism in Punjab will include Chandigarh as an important destination, a special weekly tourism package will be designed for Chandigarh and the Chandigarh Railway Station will be overhauled to have upmarket dispensing kiosks serving tea, coffee and eatables.
Dr P.K. Goel (left) and R.S. Rajan, vice-president, Ion Exchange, inaugurate the water-vending machine at Chandigarh Railway Station on Wednesday. — Tribune photo by Malkiat Singh

Add a coach to Shatabdi: Bansal
Chandigarh, March 14
Local MP and minister of state for finance Pawan Kumar Bansal has asked the railway ministry to meet the urgent demand of the city by adding another executive coach to the Kalka-Chandigarh Delhi Shatabdi.

300 deluxe buses for roadways
Mohali, March 14
As many as 300 new deluxe buses will be added to the fleet of the Punjab Roadways in the coming three months.

Councillors visit sewerage treatment plant
Chandigarh, March 14
Councillors of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation visited one of its major technical projects, sewerage treatment plant at Raipur Kalan, commissioned in the recent past. The councillors led by mayor Harjinder Kaur and commissioner P.S. Aujla had an overview regarding the functioning of the plant.

Constable suspended for graft
Chandigarh, March 14 The Chandigarh police today suspended constable Jasbir Singh on the allegation of taking bribe from motorists at a checkpoint set up in Ram Darbar on Sunday.

Months gone, no FIR
Lawyers threaten stir
Chandigarh, March 14
MS Naryal, a lawyer at the local district courts, today questioned claims of the Chandigarh Police on prompt registeration of FIR.

Roadways staff protest
Chandigarh, March 14
Members of the Haryana Roadways Employees Joint Action Committee gheraoed transport secretary Ramneder Jakhoo at the Mini Secretariat (Haryana) in Sector 17, here today.

Drive to curb bee menace
Chandigarh, March 14
The team of pest control staff of the Municipal Corporation continued to treat the beehives to control the bee menace in the city.

Check on bogus voting
Chandigarh, March 14
Impersonation for casting vote will soon be a thing of the past in the Union Territory as the election department is publishing draft photo electoral rolls. Booth-level officers will visit every house to check the photo electoral rolls from tomorrow.

Seminar on drug discovery
Mohali, March 14 Drug discovery is a complex, costly, risky, a long-term process and requires substantial human and financial resources, said Dr Girish Sahni, director, IMTECH, Chandigarh, while inaugurating a three-day workshop on “Pharmacoinformatics: Tools for Drug Target Identification” at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), here today.

BUSINESS

Mongia inaugurates consultancy
Chandigarh, March 14
Local cricketer Dinesh Mongia inaugurated Seven Seas Education Services at Sector 38 D here today. The company will provide free education consultancy to students who wish to study in UK. Advice on immigration will also be provided.

Cricketer Dinesh Mongia at the inauguration of a consultancy in Sector 38 in Chandigarh on Wednesday.

• Biz Clips

EDUCATION

Cyber security centre at PEC
Chandigarh, March 14
The first of its kind regional cyber security resource centre is coming up in the city. The centre is being set up by the UT administration with the assistance of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) and Punjab Engineering College (PEC) in the department of computer sciences and electronics on PEC campus.

Play by YPS students tomorrow
Mohali, March 14
After the success of the English play “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” in 2006, the students of Yadavindra Public School here are ready to enthrall the audiences once again.

Research students’ posters best
Chandigarh, March 14
Manu Sharma and Sandeep Vyas of Panchkula, doing PhD at the University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Panjab University, on a fellowship of the Indian Council of Medical Research, jointly won best poster presentation award (pharmaceutical sciences section) in the Ist Chandigarh Science Congress held in the university.

Sinm Concludes
Gaurav adjudged best actor
Chandigarh, March 14
The final day of Sinm 2007 saw students participating in theatre events like one-act plays, mono acting, skit, mime and mimicry. Unfortunately, in mime and mimicry competitions, all teams were disqualified owing to the wrong choice of the theme that was against the rules.

• Craft exhibition
• Students apologise

Badal to honour PU toppers
Chandigarh, March 14
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will honour top academic achievers of Panjab University on March 30. He will be the chief guest at the prize-distribution ceremony of the university.

CULTURE

Globalising Punjabi music
Chandigarh, March 14
Living up to his true celebrated Punjabi spirit, renowned singer Malkit Singh returned right back to the city on an invitation by the Punjab university campus students’ council to perform on the finale of the ongoing three-day youth festival, Sinm 2007.

                                                                             Malkit Singh

HEALTH

Studies show HIV infection in breast milk

Chandigarh, March 14 People facing psychological problems are at greater risk of HIV infection. Proving this in her recent research, Dr Anne Mijch, head of Victorian HIV/AIDS Service at Alfred Hospital, Australia, has also shown that people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHAs) and with psychological conditions improve psychological health by regularly using antiretroviral therapy (ART). (Left to right): Australian doctors Dr Anne Mijch and Dr Margaret Hellard were in Chandigarh to train doctors in HIV management. — Tribune photo by Vinay Malik

Workshop on parasitic diseases today
Chandigarh, March 14
Every fourth person in the world is infected by a parasite and various studies conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) showed that the burden of parasitic diseases on developing countries was enormous.

SPORTS

Mani, Jaipreet lead by dozen
Chandigarh, March 14
Seventeen-year-old Mani Chander tightened her grip on the Silver Salver Trophy as bright sunshine gave the ladies some respite from the stormy conditions of the first day in the 15th Chandigarh Ladies Amateur Golf Championship here today.

Mani Chander drives on the greens of the Chandigarh Golf Club after taking a big lead in the 15th Chandigarh Ladies Amateur Golf Championship on Wednesday. — A Tribune photograph

Cricket trials on March 20
Chandigarh, March 14
The trials to select the under-13 Chandigarh district cricket team will be held on March 20 at 3 pm at Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, here.

City boy does well in Brunei tourney
Chandigarh, March 14
Parul Verma, a trainee at the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA) made it to the semifinal of the singles and doubles category in the ITF (Grade 4) tournament held at Brunei recently.

                                                                               Parul Verma

ADMINISTRATION

SSP gets extension
Chandigarh, March 14
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has given a six-month extension to UT senior superintendent of police Gaurav Yadav. The extension till June 2007 has been given following clearance from the appointment committee of cabinet (ACC).