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No funds for the aged
Admin withholds grant-in-aid to home
Chandigarh, June 7
The UT administration has left the inmates and management of the old-age home, Sector 15, in the lurch. For six months, it has not released to the home its committed share of grant-in-aid, which is over Rs 2.25 lakh. Faced with fund shortage, the home management doesn’t quite know what to do.

Anxious inmates of the old-age home, Sector 15, Chandigarh, wait for justice. — Tribunephoto by Pradeep Tewari

Illegal construction by the rich
UT in a fix over land acquisition for IT park
Chandigarh, June 7
Palatial houses, swimming pools, stone crushers and other illegal constructions dot the city farmhouses in the vicinity of Mani Majra and Kishangarh village even as the Chandigarh police has initiated a drive against the “land mafia” violating the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952.

Job Quota 
Admin has no hard & fast rules
Chandigarh, June 7
The Chandigarh administration seems to be showing complete inconsistency in employing persons on contract in its various departments with regard to following the reservation policy. Various advertisements issued by the administration in the past few months for employment of persons on contract have a contradictory take on reserving posts for SCs and OBCs.

MPLAD Fund Issue
Cong, BJP draw swords
Chandigarh, June 7
The controversy over the construction of a protection wall at the Chamunda Devi temple in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh out of the MPLAD fund of minister of state for finance Pawan Bansal today set off another round of the war of words between the Congress and the BJP.

Drive against pest saves many trees

Chandigarh, June 7 For the first time in eight years, Chandigarh’s tree cover has given the deadly mealy bugs a slip. First noticed in 2001, the bugs had assumed epidemic proportions by 2003, sucking into saps and devitalising hundreds of trees.

A tree during pest attack; and now.— Tribune photos by Manoj Mahajan

India will be hotter by 6 degrees, warn experts
Chandigarh, June 7
Former prime minister of Sweden, Ola Olsten, chairman, Chicago Climate Exchange, Richard Sander, founder and chairman, INSEAD, France, Dr Giscard D Esataing, and Dr Jennifer Clapp from the University of Waterloo, Canada, will be in Palampur from tomorrow to participate in the first international convention on corporate response to climate changes.

Programme on strengthening fiscal domain of local bodies
Chandigarh, June 7
A two-day training programme on municipal resource mobilisation for strengthening the fiscal domain of urban local bodies (ULBs) began at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRIID) here today.

Sikh, Punjabi studies chair at US varsity
Chandigarh, June 7
California State University East Bay and the East Bay Sikh Community have pooled resources to set up a new centre for study and research on Sikh and Punjabi studies.

Youth commits suicide
Chandigarh, June 7
Varun Sharma, 23-year-old son of a superintendent with the law department at Panjab University, was found hanging from the ceiling fan hook at his residence in the university here this morning.

COMMUNITY

Capt Kanwaljit meets civic, board officials
Mohali, June 7
Plans should be chalked out to recharge underground water table, as subsidies are being provided on a big scale by the central government for such projects.

Give more staff to fire stations: Sangathan
Mohali, June 7
The Punjab Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangathan has demanded adequate staff for fire brigade stations in the state so that incidents of fire can be tackled with minimum loss.

Ban on Smoking

Authorities yet to clean up their Act Chandigarh, June 7 The ban on smoking at public places is going up in smoke in the city. Due to lack of enforcement, smokers have been flouting the Supreme Court ban on smoking with impunity. An underage smoker lights a cigarette at the ISBT, Sector 17, Chandigarh, as a woman covers her face. — Tribune photo by Vinay Malik

Woman creates scene at police HQ
Alleges police inaction over her matrimonial dispute
Chandigarh, June 7
A woman created a scene at the police headquarters in Sector 9, here, alleging police inaction over her matrimonial dispute.

Community centres to become clubs
Chandigarh, June 7
The Chandigarh municipal corporation has decided to convert community centres in Sectors 8, 35 and 47 into community clubs. The community centres of other sectors will be considered later.

Summer camp ends
Mohali, June 7
A summer camp at Shivalik Public School concluded here today. The camp had commenced on May 22 and drew good response from the participants.

Bhutan team visits election office
Panchkula, June 7
In view of the 2008 elections in Bhutan, a team of officials from the public election fund division and election commission of Bhutan today visited the election office of the district. They evinced keen interest in the election procedure in India.

Letters

CRIME

2 HR men held for graft
Panchkula, June 7
The Vigilance Bureau caught two personnel of Haryana Roadways while accepting bribe in Swastik Vihar here today.

CRACKDOWN

36 cylinders seized from eateries Panchkula, June 7 As many as 36 domestic cylinders were seized during a raid conducted on various eateries in the city by the district food and civil supplies department here today.

Encroachments removed Panchkula, June 7 The enforcement staff of the Estate Office, Haryana Urban Development Authority, today removed encroachments on pavement in the Sector 9 market while warning the shopkeepers to vacate the corridors.

One held for robbing man of mobile phone 
Chandigarh, June 7
A Mani Majra resident was nabbed soon after he along with his accomplice allegedly robbed a man of his mobile phone near the Housing Board chowk this morning.

BUSINESS

Technical snag hits working at SBI branches
Chandigarh, June 7
A technical snag in the main server of the State Bank of India (SBI) led to inconvenience to a number of persons who had to deposit service tax. Though there was no problem in other transactions of the bank, the computers were not accepting service tax.

EDUCATION

US delegation meets PEC faculty 
Chandigarh, June 7

Although the number of colleges offering engineering degrees in India runs in thousands, there are not enough well-qualified professors in the country. In the US, the problem is just the reverse. This was one of many issues discussed today by a US delegation of educators from the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE). Members of a five-member US delegation with the faculty and chairman of PEC in Chandigarh on Thursday. — Tribune photo by Vinay Malik

Career counselling session at college
Chandigarh, June 7
The department of psychology of GGDSD College, Sector 32, will hold a career guidance and counselling session for students of Class XII on June 9 and 10 at the college premises.

PU declares results
Chandigarh, June 7
Panjab University has declared the results of the following examinations held in April/May this year: B.Sc (hons school) I, II and III in anthropology, chemistry, computer science and applications, bio-physics, botany, geology, microbiology, zoology; B.Sc (hons school) II in physics, bio-chemistry; B.Sc (hons school) III in bio-technology and bio-chemistry; M.Sc (hons school) I and II in geology, mathematics, computer science and applications, anthropology; M.Sc (hons school) I in microbiology, bio-physics; M.Sc (hons school) II in bio-technology; BA (hons school) in economics I semester and II semester; M.Sc (hons school) II and IV semesters in zoology and botany.

Teachers union submits demands
Chandigarh, June 7
Newly elected office-bearers of the PCCTU called upon the special secretary, higher education, and DPI (colleges), Punjab, on June 6 and 7 and submitted their demands to them. The main demands of the union include pension and gratuity, full 95 per cent grant-in-aid, enhancement of retirement age to 62 years and deduction of 10 per cent PF on total salary.

Experts discuss seismic issues
Chandigarh, June 7
Prof R.C. Sobti, vice-chancellor, Panjab University, inaugurated a two-day colloquium on “Neotectonic and its seismic implications in frontal Himalaya and adjoining plains” in the geology department of the university here today.

HEALTH

Sixth time lucky
Woman finally tastes motherhood
Panchkula, June 7
He’s her bundle of joy and more so because he came after Sunita lost five of her babies in consecutive pregnancies. This time, too, hope of having her own baby ran out in the sixth month. After being referred to the PGI, 27-year-old Sunita came to Dhawan Hospital, Sector 5, with pain in the abdomen and heavy bleeding.

300 to take part in dental convention
Chandigarh, June 7
Over 300 students and faculty from various parts of the country will participate in a three-day annual postgraduate students’ convention of the Indian Society of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry at the CII tomorrow.

Infant’s Death 
GMCH denies negligence
Chandigarh, June 7
Denying the death of a baby at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, on February 20, as a result of negligence on the part of staff, the hospital authorities has said the baby succumbed to the ailment for which he was admitted.

Workshop on  radiology ends
Chandigarh, June 7
A four-day workshop on quality assurance of x-ray equipment, its maintenance and repairs, conducted by the Department of Radiodiagnosis & Imaging, PGIMER, in association with the International Society of Radiographers and Radiological Technologists (ISRRT) and the Indian Association of Radiological Technologists (IART), concluded here today.

Camp on malaria
Chandigarh, June 7
The directorate of NVBDCP, Chandigarh, will organise a camp on prevention and control of malaria, dengue, chikunguniya and other vector-borne diseases tomorrow at 9 am at Primary School, Labour colony No. 5, Chandigarh.

SPORTS

AITA Series
Rohit, Saurabh in finals
Chandigarh, June 7
The boys’ under-16 singles finals of the AITA Super Series Tennis Tournament will be an all-Delhi affair as top seed Rohit Bisht and Saurabh Singh defeated their opponents in the semifinals to set up a title clash at CLTA courts, Sector 10, here, today.

Cricket

New Gymkhana beat DCF Patiala, June 7 New Gymkhana XI, Patiala, defeated Dronacharya Cricket Foundation (DCF), Delhi, by 87 runs in the 9th Hot Weather (Under-13) Cricket Tournament, played at Black Elephant ground, here, today. After winning the toss and elected to bat first Gymkhana XI scored 197 runs for 7 in 40 overs.

Nivea Cricket Club outplay DAVSSS-8 Chandigarh, June 7 An unbeaten half century by Rakesh Kumar of DAV Senior Secondary School team B, Sector 8, went in vain as the team lost to the Nivea Cricket Club (NCC) by 22 runs in the Hot Weather Cricket Tournament at the Sector 16 cricket stadium, here, today.