Neerja Bhanot Award for two
CHANDIGARH, Sept 6 — The 1998-99 Neerja Bhanot Award, given in the memory of brave city girl Neerja Bhanot, the first and the only woman recipient of Ashok Chakra, who laid down her life to save hundreds on board the hijacked Pan Am aircraft at Karachi Airport in 1986, has been announced for Ms V. Gowramma and Ms Chandra G. Kanjilal. Neerja Bhanot's birth anniversary falls tomorrow.

Sahni takes over as DUI
CHANDIGARH, Sept 6 — Prof Ashok Sahni, Head of the Geology department, took over as Dean University Instruction of Panjab University here today. His appointment to this post was recently approved by the Syndicate for a period of one year.

Seminar on technical curriculum opens
CHANDIGARH, Sept 6 — A two-day national seminar on 'Curriculum Challenges in Technical Education' commenced at the Technical Teachers' Training Institute here today.

Dharna by Home Guard volunteers
Chandigarh, Sept 6 — Scores of Home Guard volunteers today staged a dharna in front of the Police Headquarters here,demanding employment for longer duration.

Prestigious award for CSIO
CHANDIGARH, Sept 6 — The Central Scientific Instruments Organisation has been chosen for the prestigious Gian Chand Jain Memorial Award for excellent scientific research for the year 1999 for its outstanding contributions in the design,development and indigenisation of micro-electronics,opto-electronics, optical, robotics and process control instruments in India.

Benefits for varsity teachers
CHANDIGARH, Sept 6 — The Ministry of Human Resources and Development has in a communication sent to the University Grants Commission clarified that teachers in the reader/lecturer selection grade whose scales were fixed at Rs 14,940 on January 1, 1996, or with service ranging from 5 to 12 years, will get the benefit of bunching.

Booth capturing alleged
ZIRAKPUR, Sept 6 — Polling at two booths (Nos 8 and 8-A) in the Banur segment of the Patiala parliamentary constituency was suspended following allegations of booth capturing by Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister levelled by Congress and the Sarav Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD) workers here yesterday.

UGC nomination for PU Reader
CHANDIGARH, Sept 6 — The University Grants Commission has nominated Dr Sanjay Chaturvedi, reader in Political Science Department and deputy coordinator of the Centre for the Study of Geo-Politics, to participate in an Indo-Finland exchange programme.

57.31 pc voting in Morinda segment
KHARAR, Sept 6 — A total of 57.31 per cent voters used their franchise in the polling held yesterday in Morinda segment of the Ropar Lok Sabha constituency, according to Mr Amarjit Singh Dhindsa SDM Kharar-Cum-Assistant Returning Officer.

Vegetable prices decline
PANCHKULA, Sept 6 — The prices of most vegetables have declined by Rs 5 to Rs 7 but vendors continue to sell these at last week's prices.

YPS qualify for squash tourney
Chandigarh, Sept 6 — The squash team of Yadavindra Public School, SAS Nagar, has qualified for the finals of the North Zone Inter-school Team Championship, the semi-finals of which were held at Mayo College, Ajmer, today.

Lowest and highest polling booths
CHANDIGARH, Sept 6 — Voting in the city, its rural areas and slums has been recorded at 48.41 per cent during yesterday's polling for the lone Lok Sabha seat. A total of 2,82,654 votes out of 5,83,936 were polled.

Grass grabs open spaces
PANCHKULA, Sept 6 — Congress grass and other weeds have swept through open spaces of the city and are slowly making progress towards narrow strips in front of residential areas. This is alarming, since asthma is already on the rise and congress grass tends to accelerate such cases, doctors say.