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TOP STORIES

PANCHKULA WOMAN’S MURDER
Family suspects role of ‘others’
Panchkula, May 3
The murder of Mrs Suresh Bala by her servant in Sector 15 here on April 30 and subsequent dramatic suicide by their servant has taken a new turn, with her family now claiming the presence of some other persons in the house at the time of crime.

Cloud of dust irritates residents

Chandigarh, May 3 For the second consecutive day today, the city and its surrounding areas were engulfed by a cloud of dust. This forced people to remain indoors with all doors and windows shut tightly.

Chandigarh was engulfed by dust for the second consecutive day on Saturday, forcing the residents to remain indoors and drive carefully. — Tribune photo Manoj Mahajan

TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE
PGI sending patients to private labs for AIDS test
Chandigarh, May 3
In violation of the WHO guidelines and HIV-testing policy, patients coming to the PGI Emergency are being asked to undergo a mandatory AIDS test at private laboratories, as the test is done only twice a week at the institute.

Conman running  ‘consultancy’ held
Chandigarh, May 3
A number of unsuspecting persons eager to find a job in the Gulf countries were about to lose their hard-earned money when a con man, running an illegal immigration consultancy service in Sector 42 here, was arrested by the Chandigarh Police.

Haryana justifies land acquisition
Chandigarh, May 3
Describing old shrine area at Mansa Devi Temple complex as “over-crowded” and “congested”, Haryana today claimed that the move to acquire adjoining 57 acres, two kanals and 11 marlas was “necessary and imperative in public interest”.

COMMUNITY

IN FOCUS
Township losing land to ‘outsiders’
Kharar, May 3
Even as the revenue authorities are identifying collective village land for transferring it back to individuals, large tracts of agricultural land adjoining this township is reportedly being grabbed by “influential” persons by resorting to underhand means.

NGO’s plea on traffic chaos
Zirakpur, May 3
The traffic lights at the tri-section of Zirakpur-Patiala, Zirakpur-Chandigarh and Zirakpur-Panchkula roads are hardly ever functional, which has led to traffic congestion.

New fire station building inaugurated
Chandigarh, May 3
The local MP, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, today inaugurated the new fire station building located at Pocket No II and III of Manimajra. The new building is spread over an area of 1.31 acres of land. In the first phase, 3863 square feet area has been covered on the ground floor to accommodate office room, store room, control room, duty room, laboratory block, parking lot and parking facility for fire vehicles.

Cannon rally — Bhatti style
Chandigarh, May 3
Jaspal Bhatti’s Nonsense Club was in form yet again this afternoon. With models of cannons in their hands, members of the club together launched a tirade against the politicians, who have been using religion as an excuse to air communal tension in the country. They declared that it was time to bid farewell to trishools and lathis and use sophisticated weapons like cannons to do away with peace and secularism in the country.

British Library to organise contests
Chandigarh, May 3
Story reading and writing competitions, besides painting and flower-arrangement contests, will be organised as part of British Library’s week-long celebrations in connection with its third anniversary falling on May 16. The celebrations will commence from May 9.

Regiment celebrates Raising Day
Chandigarh, May 3
The 119 Assault Engineers Regiment, an elite unit of the Bombay Sappers, celebrated its seventh Raising Day in the Western Sector today. The celebrations commenced with officials paying obeisance at the temple, mosque and gurdwara of the unit.

Tearing of sweepers’ list flayed
Chandigarh, May 3
A former president of the Chandigarh Sweepers Union, Mr Raj Kumar, has condemned the action of the present union president, Mr Shyam Lal Ghavri, of allegedly tearing a selection list of 300 sweepers recently recruited on daily wages.

Jacob thanked for amending building bylaws
Chandigarh, May 3
The local unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party today thanked the UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), for permitting a major change in use of commercial buildings by allowing total coverage of the first and second floors of shops.

• SAVE SUKHNA
  Set up fund to save lake

• Fire in rice sheller

• VLCC holds make-up show

CRIME

Notorious purse snatcher held
Panchkula, May 3
A 28-year-old purse snatcher, Sandeep Singh, was arrested in a dramatic chase this evening. The police claims to have solved at least 20 cases of purse snatching in Panchkula and Chandigarh with his arrest.

Youth missing
Chandigarh, May 3
A 20-year-old youth, Varun Bhardwaj, has been missing since yesterday evening from near his Sector 30 house. According to information, Varun, who had recently passed his Class XII examinations from Delhi, had shifted to Chandigarh along with his father, Mr Brij Lal Bhardwaj, an Assistant Manager in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Fake degrees: challan filed

‘LIC shifting focus to lifetime security'
Chandigarh, May 3
After a cut in interest rates, the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has withdrawn most of the assured-return schemes. It is, now, focusing on schemes offering lifetime security to policy holders and reasonable returns on maturing of the policy, says Ms Debashree Verma, Senior Divisional Manager, of the LIC Chandigarh division.

‘Need for new designs in woven products’
SAS Nagar, May 3
There is need for introducing new colours and designs in the sphere of handlooms in Punjab, so that, products are more acceptable to consumers at the national level as well as abroad.

New HMT group GM
Chandigarh, May 3
Mr S.K. Sharma has been appointed group General Manager of HMT’s Tractor Business Group. Prior to this, he was General Manager, HMT Machine Tool Unit, Pinjore.

• Inscol to help nurses go abroad

EDUCATION

College teachers not to guide research
Chandigarh, May 3
Teachers of colleges affiliated to Panjab University from the arts stream will not be allowed to guide doctoral research anymore. They are required to have a university teacher on the advisory panel as a co-guide. This is interesting in the context that majority of the universities in the country do not ban any such research guidance by college teachers.

TGTs unite to fight back
Seek their due promotion as lecturers
Chandigarh, May 3
A large number of trained graduate teachers (TGTs) in the UT Education Department, who are waiting endlessly for their due promotion, have formed an association, the Government Teachers Union, to fight for their rights. The union has already sent a memorandum to the Adviser, Chandigarh Administration.

YPS students get starry treat
SAS Nagar, May 3
Its a week-long starry treat for students of Yadvindra Public School here. Constellation Mobile Education and Learning Technologies (CMeLT), a Dehra Dun-based company, has installed a portable planetarium in the school for the students.

Software for testing of solar cookers
Chandigarh, May 3
Software for online testing of solar cookers was the main attraction at an exhibition to mark the “Sun Day” celebrations at Panjab University here today. This will make the testing more rigorous. The exhibition was jointly organised by the PU Energy Research Centre and the Development Organisation for Sustainable Transformation.

Panchkula St Xavier’s wins debate contest
Chandigarh, May 3
St Xavier’s School , Panchkula, came out in flying colours clinching the team and individual titles in the ICSE Schools Chandigarh Region Inter-School Debate held at the St Xavier’s School in Sector 44, Chandigarh, today.

Kids enjoy pool party SAS Nagar, May 3 A pool party was organised for students of Sanjay Public School, Sector 70, here today. Children came dressed in their favourite swimming costumes and splashed the heat away in the school’s pool. Children of Sanjay Public School, Sector 70, SAS Nagar, take cool dips to beat the heat, in the school swimming pool on Saturday. — A Tribune photograph

Schoolchildren win prizes
SAS Nagar, May 3
Five students of Gian Jyoti Public School, Phase II, won prizes in various science-related competitions organised by Banda Bahadur Engineering College, Fatehgarh Sahib.

COURTS

26 cases disposed of at lok adalat
Chandigarh, May 3
A sum of Rs 13 lakh was awarded to the Union Bank of India (UBI) and 26 cases were settled at pre-litigative stage at a special lok adalat organised by the State Legal Service Authority (SLSA) to settle the outstanding dues of the UBI against the defaulters here today.

CULTURE

Pain of Vrindavan’s widows revisited
Novelist Kusum Ansal unveils reality
Chandigarh, May 3
For over two decades now, Kusum Ansal has been wielding the pen to tell tales of countless women in India. Decorated extensively for a style that speaks volumes for her literary prowess, Kusum is now well on her way to documenting “reality” that bites.

‘Sur sparsh’ touches city audience
Chandigarh, May 3
Keeping its promise with the city, Sur Sadhna, a group dedicated to the promotion of classical music in the region, presented a legend live in concert. After a long time, internationally acclaimed instrumentalist and vocalist Ustad Sultan Khan performed for the audience of the city at Kalagram.

HEALTH

PGI clears SARS suspect
Chandigarh, May 3
The PGI authorities today ruled out SARS infection in case of a patient from Hoshiarpur, while diagnosing him to be suffering from pneumonia. While the patient, Mr Kuldeep Singh, has been shifted from the isolation room in the Communicable Diseases Ward to the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit (RICU), his family members have been discharged.

Health camp for slum children
Chandigarh, May 3
The Lotus Foundation, a local NGO engaged in welfare activities of slum children, organised a health and hygiene awareness camp in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Colony. About 70 children and their parents who attended the camp were educated about infectious diseases and their preventive measures.

Colony declared cholera-free
SAS Nagar, May 3
A special team of doctors deputed by the SMO, Gharuan, here to file a report on the death of two infants in Udham Singh Colony, Industrial Area, Phase VII, has declared the colony cholera-free.

SPORTS

GOODBYE AND ALL THE BEST YOUNG FOLKS! The sport-loving Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), conveys his heartiest wishes to football and hockey players of academies at Sector 42, Chandigarh, on Saturday. — Tribune photo Manoj Mahajan

AP, Karnataka girls to clash in final
Chandigarh, May 3
Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka will clash tomorrow in the final of the Junior National Women’s Cricket Tournament at Panchkula.

St Stephen’s defeat Shishu Niketan
Chandigarh, May 3
St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, and Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 22, made it to the last four of the Shivalik Trophy for Atoms (Under 12 years) played here today.

ADMINISTRATION

Watering of lawns in SAS Nagar banned
SAS Nagar, May 3
The Public Health wing of the Municipal Council (MC) here has issued orders banning the watering of lawns and washing of vehicles during the morning hours. The order states that residents are not allowed to water their lawns or wash their vehicles from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. The MC will supply water to the houses in the township three times daily. Water will be supplied from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., from 12.30 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.