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A cleansed Sukhna in 5 years
Chandigarh, July 9
The Chandigarh administration has announced that 45 lakh cubic metres of silt will be removed from the Sukhna Lake under a central project. This means the lake will lose 4 ft of silt uniformly within the coming five years.

Cops outnumber protesters

300 turn out for Khalsa march, squat for 2 hrs & disperse Mohali, July 9 The Mohali police far outnumbered ‘Khalsa march’ protesters outside the Gurdwara Amb Sahib here this afternoon. Police deployed outside Amb Sahib Gurdwara in Mohali on Monday. — Tribune Photo by Vicky Gharu

Dial 197 for nothing
Chandigarh, July 9
The "Connecting India" slogan of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), continues to ring hollow, even after 10 days of the devastating fire in Sector 17 telephone exchange.

11-month infant raped Chandigarh, July 9 A rickshaw-puller in his mid-thirties allegedly raped an 11-month-old infant at her residence in Adrash Colony in Sector 54 here this morning. The accused was said to be under the influence of some intoxicant.
Santosh Kumar, accused of raping an 11-month-old girl, in police custody.

COMMUNITY

Smoking ban: Hotels, colleges told to get ready
Chandigarh, July 9
The Chandigarh administration has asked all hotels, restaurants and educational institutions to make arrangements and provisions for providing a smoke-free environment.

Zirakpur Bottleneck
NHAI blames tardy Punjab
Chandigarh, July 9
Even as Punjab is insisting that the problem of traffic bottleneck at Zirakpur could have been solved simply by removing shops along the freeway instead of constructing flyovers, the NHAI today said the state was “required to take immediate steps for the removal of encroachments.”

Overzealous workout counter-productive
Patiala, July 9
Misinformed zeal can sometimes prove to be counter-productive to the human body and may even turn out to be an excruciating experience to many.

Councillors complain of inert admin
Chandigarh, July 9
Upset over the indifferent attitude of the UT administration, the MC today took up the issue with the adviser to the administrator, Lalit Sharma.

Conquering the world on a bicycle
Chandigarh, July 9
This young lad is on a unique mission. Twenty-four-old Somen Debnath is on a world cycle tour to create awareness about HIV/AIDS.

Control rooms on floods to work 24 hrs
Mohali, July 9
Deputy Commissioner, H.I.S. Garewal today ordered that control rooms set up for providing information on floods should remain open for 24 hours with their telephones in working order.

Browser locks horns with MC
Mohali, July 9
Book lovers of Mohali have been deprived of the facility of a library as the one under the control of the local Municipal Council is closed for the past nine days.





A view of The Browser Library, Mohali.
— A Tribune photograph

Caste Bias
SC panel members burn Selja’s effigy
Panchkula, July 9
Members of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Block-A joint action committee burnt the effigy of Member of Parliament from Ambala and union minister of state for urban development and poverty elevation Kumari Selja here today.

UT’s sanitary conditions alarm Kiran Bedi

Chandigarh, July 9 Magsaysay Awardee and director-general of the bureau of police research and development Kiran Bedi today pleaded for more jails and improvement of infrastructure. Arvind Mehan, Rotary club president, seeks the blessings of Rajendra K. Saboo, former Rotary International chief, as Dr Kiran Bedi looks on in Chandigarh on Monday evening. — A Tribune photograph

Rotary to work for poor students
Chandigarh, July 9
The Rotary Club (Himalayan ranges) has decided to provide moral education to underprivileged students. This was announced by Rajesh Bajaj, club president, at the installation ceremony of the club here last night. Creator-director of the Rock Garden, Nek Chand, was the chief guest.

Man killed in accident
Mohali, July 9
Gurmail Singh, a 52-year-old resident of village Sambhalki, was killed in an accident near the Maggu petrol pump, here this evening.

Youth can foster peace Send kids to Pak, says activist Chandigarh, July 9 It was at the age of 18 years that Pakistani activist and director of the Lahore-based Institute of Peace and Secular Studies, Saeeda Diep, was first exposed to communism. Pakistani activist Saeeda Diep (left) and Professor Manjit Singh (PUTA) at a lecture organised by PUTA and ICSSR North Western Regional Centre on campus in Chandigarh on Monday. — Tribune photo Vinay Malik

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CRIME

Criminal arrested
Chandigarh, July 9
The police today arrested a criminal with a stolen Indica car from near Khudda Ali Sher village. The police said the accused was moving in the car that had a fake registration number.

Lottery seller hangs himself
Chandigarh, July 9
Depressed over financial difficulties, a lottery vendor in his mid-30s hanged himself to death at his Sector 37 house here late last night. Though no suicide note was recovered, the police said it to be a case of suicide, quoting family members.

BUSINESS

Three more SBoP branches soon
Panchkula, July 9
The State Bank of Patiala, Haryana region, will open three more branches in the town.

EDUCATION

Com students scramble for colleges as seats increased
Chandigarh, July 9
The decision taken by the PU Syndicate to give five additional seats to all affiliated colleges of the university for the BBA, BCA and B. Com courses is getting a mixed response from both students as well as the teaching fraternity. The Syndicate has taken the decision of increasing the seats in each unit following a huge rush for these three courses.

PU relaxes criteria for defence studies
Chandigarh, July 9
Panjab University has opened its door to the military might. Following a nod from the university’s senate, the department of defence and strategic studies will allow admissions to candidates from the armed forces.

PU students want insurance scheme
Chandigarh, July 9
Members of the Indian National Students Organisation (INSO) recently submitted a memorandum to Panjab University vice-chancellor asking for implementation of the group insurance scheme for PU students. State INSO president Vikas Rathee, PU campus president Deepak Hooda and vice-president Sunny Bhardwaj were part of the delegation.

Protest by BPEd students Chandigarh, July 9 Students of BPEd (IV) at Government College, Sector 11, today took to the streets against the “apathetic” attitude of the college authorities towards the course. BPEd students protest raise slogans against the college authorities in Chandigarh on Monday. — A Tribune photograph

Class XI Admissions
1,073 students enrolled
Chandigarh, July 9
As many as 1,073 students were enrolled in Class XI on the fifth day of counselling at GMSSS-23, here today.

Notice to school principal on admission mess
Chandigarh, July 9
The UT education department has issued a show-cause notice to Rajesh Minhas, principal of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 18, Chandigarh.

Geared up to tickle young taste buds
Chandigarh, July 9
The excitement is already in the air for students who have just got admissions to various city colleges; not just for the sheer freedom that colleges offer but also for the lip-smacking delicacies that the college canteens now offer. Gone are the days when college canteens had only one or two items on menu cards. Today, the canteens are more than what they used to be.

• PU Notes

COURTS

e-courts set in motion
Chandigarh, July 9
A function to mark the launching of the first phase of e-courts project in Punjab and Haryana was held at Haryana Niwas here today. The Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Vijender Jain, presided.

PIL on liquor cash memos
Chandigarh, July 9
In a public interest litigation on the functioning of liquor vends in Chandigarh filed before the high court, a resident today claimed that dealers were not issuing cash memos to purchasers.

CULTURE

City sways to folk dances

Chandigarh, July 9 The Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), in collaboration with the department of tourism and public relations, presented a programme of dances by the Rasika Dance Academy of Mauritius at the Tagore theatre, here today. Artistes from Mauritius perform folk dances at the Tagore Theatre in Sector 18, Chandigarh, on Monday. — A Tribune photograph

‘Bharatnatyam blooming in Mauritius’ Chandigarh, July 9 “Several Indian dances like Bharatnatyam to Bihu are blossoming in Mauritius and that too in their pristine forms. These dances have been brought to the beautiful country by the Indian immigrants settled here,” said Raveeta Salick Peetumber, a leading Bharatnatyam exponent from Mauritius. Members of the Rasika Dance Academy in Chandigarh on Monday. — A Tribune photograph

Archaeological sites on display Chandigarh, July 9 The poster exhibition that was kicked off today at Alliance Française, Sector 36, takes one on a breathtaking journey to the world’s most famous archaeological and heritage sites. A visitor at the exhibition of historical monuments that opened at Alliance Française, Chandigarh, on Monday. — A Tribune photograph

HEALTH

PGI serais in state of disrepair
Chandigarh, July 9
Serais meant for patients and their attendants at the PGI are in a bad shape.

SPORTS

UT inter-school sports calendar
Chandigarh, July 9
The Chandigarh administration has finalised the list of inter-school state sports activities to be held during 2007-08. Students studying up to classes VIII, X and XII (below 14, 17, 19 years), as on December 31 of the current year, will be eligible to participate in these competitions.

Ready to shine on international hockey turf Chandigarh, July 9 After international Rajpal Singh, Inderjit Chadha, Deepak Thakur, Dharamvir Singh and Navdeep Singh, another product of Chandigarh Hockey Academy (CHA) Ranjodh Singh is ready to make a mark on the international turf. Five years back, this rural boy of Maraar village of District Gurdaspur came to the city to join the academy, hoping to imitate the feat of his fellow villager, top-class hockey player Col Harcharan Singh. Ranjodh Singh

Table Tennis tourney from July 13
Chandigarh, July 9
Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 27, has announced the age categories for their 13th Bhavan Hawk Chandigarh State 1st Ranking Table Tennis Tournament, here today.

Jaspal is CGA president
Chandigarh, July 9
Jaspal Singh Khandari and Inderjit Singh have been elected president and general secretary, respectively, of the Chandigarh Gymnastics Association (CGA) at the annual general body meeting here last night. Both have been elected for a term of four years.