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TOP STORIES

THERE GOES SECULARISM
Parties play communal card
Chandigarh, March 15
Despite swearing by secularism, political parties have started wooing electorate on caste and community lines. Taking a lead, the Congress today specially called Mohsina Kidwai, AICC general secretary and in charge of Punjab and Chandigarh, and Imraan Kidwai, chairman of the AlCC minority cell, to woo Muslim voters in the run-up to the May 13 Lok Sabha elections.

Students ‘rally’ day before exam

Chandigarh, March 15 Studies took a back seat for these students, who despite having their annual examination tomorrow, were told to be part of the Bharitya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) rally at Sector 15 here today.

Students being ferried to the BJP’s Yuva Morcha rally at Sector 15, Chandigarh, on Sunday. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tiwari

Dera Bassi toll can’t close just yet
Dera Bassi, March 15
Top functionaries of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Punjab Government while inaugurating the toll plaza at Lalru on December 10, 2008, seem to have “mislead” the public by announcing that the toll plaza at the Dera Bassi flyover on the Zirakpur-Ambala national highway would close on March 14, 2009.

‘Killer’ stepfather commits suicide
Morinda, March 15
Sanjay (32), a resident of Sialba Majri village in the Kurali area, committed suicide last night by jumping in front of a train. On the day of Holi, he had allegedly killed his one-and-a-half-year-old stepdaughter, Tanu, in a fit of rage.

Ailing 3-yr-old dies, negligence alleged
Chandigarh, March 15
The alleged negligence of a “quack” claimed the life of a three-year-old girl here today. Nancy, a resident of Ram Darbar Phase-II, was taken to Prakash, a medical practitioner in the vicinity, with a complaint of persistent fever. He gave her some powder, the consumption of which allegedly led to her death.

Is confrontation the only way out?
I am not much into ‘shero-shayri’ but the ongoing slugfest between UT Administrator and Punjab Governor, Gen (Retd.) S F Rodrigues, and Adviser Pradip Mehra reminds me of a couplet by Bashir Badr: “Dushmani jam kar karo lekin itni gunjayeesh rahe, ki jab kabhi hum dost ban jayen to sharminda na hon. (Be enemies but always leave some room so that when we become friends again we are not embarrassed).”

COMMUNITY

Consumers’ Day
‘Consumers must know their rights’
Chandigarh, March 15
The Consumers Association, Chandigarh, along with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) organised a seminar on the ‘Role of TRAI in protecting consumer’s interests’ in Arts Gallery Auditorium here today.

VALLEY OF FLOWERS: Marigold in full bloom at Matka Chowk, Sector 17, Chandigarh. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan

Declining student interest in medicine worries MP
Chandigarh, March 15
Growing indiscipline in medical colleges as demonstrated in the recent act of ragging that claimed the life of a budding doctor and declining standard of medical education are not only concerns of north Indian colleges. Lok Sabha MP and chairman of the Standing Committee on Defence Balasaheb Vikhe Patil has taken up this matter accompanied by the concern for decline in admission in medical education in the recent past.

‘Govt can’t grant benefits retrospectively’
Chandigarh, March 15
The Ministry of Railways is not empowered to give benefits to the chairman and members of the Railways Rates Tribunal (RRT) retrospectively without first bringing in an amendment in the Railways Act.

Residents protest kerosene quota cut
Chandigarh, March 15
The residents of various colonies criticised the Chandigarh Administration and the Congress rule for anti-poor policies here yesterday. They agitated over the drastic cut in the kerosene quota.

Residents protest against cut in kerosene quota at Colony No. 5 in Chandigarh. A Tribune photograph

BJYM welcomes fresh voters
Chandigarh March 15
The Chandigarh State Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), youth wing of the BJP, today felicitated fresh voters at a rally in Sector 15 here today. BJP’s national secretary Shyam Jaju, who was the chief guest on the occasion, called upon the youth to cast their vote to bring about change in view of the challenges faced by the country.

Satya Pal Jain (left) has a word with Shyam Jaju, national secretary of the BJP, during a BJYM rally at Sector 15, Chandigarh, on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

Senior citizens honour 5 women
Chandigarh, March 15
Celebrating the International Women’s Day, the Chandigarh Senior Citizens’ Association honoured five city women from different fields at Tagore Theatre, Sector 18, yesterday.

Mayor-MC Official Spat
Congress leaders advise Kamlesh
Chandigarh, March 15
The ongoing row between Mayor Kamlesh and MC officials has had ripples effect in the Congress with senior party leaders reportedly having spoken to her on the issue.

Seminar on global meltdown
Mohali, March 15
A seminar on global meltdown and its impact on India and China was held by Friends of China Association at Paragon Senior Secondary School here. Captain Kanwaljit Singh, cooperation minister, was the chief guest.

Importance of safety at workplace emphasised
Chandigarh, March 15
The engineering wing of the Chandigarh Administration yesterday organised a day-long workshop on emergency response, engineering safety and disaster preparedness.

Fiza seeks copy of police report
Mohali, March 15
A day after the former Haryana Deputy Chief Minister, Chander Mohan, alias Chand Mohammed, divorced Fiza on telephone, she maintained stoic silence today.

Workshop on valuation of properties
Chandigarh, March 15
The Chandigarh branch of the Institution of Valuers organised a workshop on valuation of properties in Sector 7 on Sunday.

e wild wild web
Beware bloggers, the law is watching you
IT was perhaps the first case in the country in which a blogger was refused protection of the Supreme Court of India. Though the blogging activities are in their infancy in this country, this decision of the apex court could change the basic rules of blogging, an upcoming transparent medium. Bloggers may no longer express themselves uninhibitedly as the sword of law will hang over their heads. They may face libel and even prosecution for the blog content.

Workshop on forest science
Chandigarh, March 15
Panjab University’s department of botany, in association with the International Union for Forestry Research Organisation (IUFRO) and the Dayanand National Academy of Environmental Scientists (DNAES), organised a two-day conference on working effectively at the interface of the forest science and forest policy yesterday.

Letters

EDUCATION

Students awarded degrees
Chandigarh, March 15
Annual Convocation of GC-11 was organised in the College Auditorium yesterday. Ram Niwas, home-cum-education secretary, the UT Administration, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Hospitality school with ‘Opera system’ opens
Chandigarh, March 15
Adding another feather to the cap of the city hospitality education, School of Hospitality and Resort Management (SHRM), Singapore, opened in the tricity on Sunday.

20 students given gold certificates
Chandigarh, March 15
The Dev Samaj College for Women, Sector 46, held 24th annual convocation here today. In all, 300 degrees comprising four streams BCA, BCom, PGDCA and BA were awarded to the students and 20 meritorious students were awarded special gold certificates by the college. Dr Meera Modi, principal, congratulated the students and encouraged them to strive for multifaceted excellence.

Students of Dev Samaj College for Women in a jubilant mood after receiving degrees in Chandigarh on Sunday. Tribune photo: Parvesh Chauhan

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Glaucoma major threat to vision
Patiala, March 15
A free eye check-up camp was organised at the Patiala Eye Hospital here yesterday. Dr Sukhdip S Boparai, chief consultant of the Patiala Eye Hospital and Lasik Laser Centre, said glaucoma caused progressive damage to the optic nerve at the point where it left the eye to carry visual information to the brain and could gradually worsen visual damage and led to blindness.

Development projects hang fire
Kalka, March 15
Due to the negligent attitude of officials of the district administration, various development projects worth crores have been hanging fire since one year.

Significance of wireless comm discussed
Kharar, March 15
A two-day seminar on Emerging trends in Wireless Communication-Vision 2020, started at Doaba Group of Colleges here yesterday. Dr RP Bajpai, Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University and chairman North Western region-AICTE, inaugurated the seminar.

Poetry book released
Ambala, March 15
DIG (CID) Rajbir Deswal released a poetry book written by Faquir Chand Gupta here today. The book has a collection of around 100 poems on various social issues.

Experts discuss Sikhs as martial race
Patiala, March 15
Martial tradition is quintessential to the Sikh ethos and practice. The original seeds of this great tradition lie in the Sikh philosophy starting with Guru Nanak and crystallising into a concrete form with Guru Gobind Singh and it got strengthened with sacrifices of Guru Arjun and Guru Tegh Bahadur, the fifth and the ninth Sikh masters, respectively.

Girls perform giddha during an annual function of Surya Education College at Bhanokheri in Ambala on Sunday. Tribune photo: Kamal Sachar

1,867 packets of pesticides recovered
Kalka, March 15
A team of the agriculture department of Haryana today raided a shop of Madhanwala village of Pinjore block and seized packets of illegal pesticides.

125 examined at eye camp
Ropar, March 15
About 125 patients were examined at an eye check-up camp held at Perchh village here. The camp was ninth among the series of free eye check-up camps being held by SAS Free Poly Clinic with Grewal Eye Institute.

Residents seek height gauge in Railway Colony
Kalka, March 15
Residents of Narrow Gauge (NG) Railway Colony, and Bharat Nagar here have demanded the railway authorities to install a height gauge at the Kalka-Bharat Nagar link road that connects the city to Kalka- Charnia road at Bharat Nagar T-point.

Bhagwadagita week ends
Bassi Pathana, March 15
A weeklong “Bhagwadagita Saptah” being organised by the local Bahawajpur Biradari at historical Dera Baba Narain Puri Ji temple concluded here yesterday.

Couple, children hurt in accident 
Fatehgarh Sahib, March 15
A couple and their two children received injuries, when the car they were travelling in, collided with a truck on the Sirhind flyover yesterday night. Kulwinder Kumar, wife Santosh and children Kritika and Mohit were travelling in a Fiat car from Patiala towards Sirhind when it collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction.

2 held for selling stolen cars
Fatehgarh Sahib, March 15
The Fatehgarh Sahib police yesterday arrested two members of a gang, who were selling stolen cars after preparing fake documents. The accused have been identified as Joginder Singh and Om Parkash.

CRIME

Police mum on Saji’s interrogation
Chandigarh, March 15
The UT police seems to be leaving no stone unturned to keep the investigation proceedings of Saji Mohan, former zonal director of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), under the wraps. On the second day of investigation, the police officials refused to comment on whether or not they got any lead from the officer.

The locked gate of the police station-3 where NCB’s former zonal director is being interrogated in Chandigarh on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

Panchkula Heist
3 wanted criminals still at large
Panchkula, March 15
While two members of the gang, Amit Yadav and Samir Nain, involved in the robbery at PC Jewellers have been arrested by the Yamunanagar police, the three most wanted criminals of Haryana involved in the robbery were still at large and the recovery of a major part of the booty was unlikely to be recovered till their arrest.

Wire worth Rs 2 lakh stolen
Chandigarh, March 15
Thieves decamped with electric wire worth over Rs 2 lakh from Daria village on Friday. Munish Gupta of Panchkula alleged that some unidentified persons stole the wire from the godown of Sidhi Vinayak Enterprises.

Man‘s body found
Chandigarh, March 15
The body of an unidentified man was found near the transport area, Sector 26, here today. The police said the deceased seemed to be in his mid 50s and was a regular drunkard. Investigations were on to locate his address, the police said.

SPORTS

Boxing
Dilbagh clinches gold in welter final
Chandigarh, March 15
City pugilist Suresh Kumar lost to Dilbagh of RSPB 1-6 in a welter weight final of the 1st International AK Mishra Boxing Championship and had to satisfy himself with a silver medal here today at the Sector 10 Skating Rink.

Pugilists after winning medals during the 1st International AK Mishra Boxing Championship in Chandigarh on Sunday. Tribune photo: Vinay Malik 

Bhullar clinches PGTI title
Pockets cash prize of Rs 4,84,950
Panchkula, March 15
Gaganjeet Bhullar from Kapurthala made a clean sweep on the Panchkula Golf Club greens clinching the PGTI Players Championship Trophy by a big margin of seven strokes and pocketed the prize money of Rs 4,84, 950 here today.

Gaganjeet Bhullar kisses the trophy after winning the golf tournament in Panchkula on Sunday. Tribune photo: Parvesh Chauhan

Tennis Tourney
7 Indians qualify for main draw
Chandigarh, March 15
Seven Indians qualified for the main draw of the $ 15,000 ITF Men’s Futures Tournament being played at the CLTA Tennis Stadium here today.

DAV-8, WCC-30 wrestlers excel
Chandigarh, March 15
DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, and Wrestling Coaching Centre (WCC), Sector 30, claimed the overall sub-junior and junior wrestling championship, respectively, of the Chandigarh State Sub-Junior and Junior Wrestling Championship at the Wrestling Coaching Centre in Sector 30 on Sunday.

Under-17 cricket team announced
Chandigarh, March 15
The Cricket Federation of India announced the under-17 federation team for the forthcoming under-17 cricket series at Sri Lanka organised by Wennappuwa Sports Club, Sri Lanka, to be held at Colombo, Negombo, Kandy and Dambula from March 30 to April 5. 

Dharmani guides SBP to win
Panchkula, March 15
Punjab’s prolific scorer Pankaj Dharmani continued with his fine batting form to lead State Bank of Patiala by 60 runs against HDFC Bank in a league match of the Vth Bharat Kesho Gupta Memorial League Cricket Tournament being organised by the Chandigarh Sports Club, at Tau Devi Lal Cricket Stadium in Sector 3 here today.

Jeev fires 2 eagles to be tied 3rd
Chandigarh, March 15
Chandigarh golf icon Jeev Milkha Singh fired two eagles as he battled to card a four under par 68 to occupy the joint third slot on the penultimate day of the US $ 80 lakh prize money WGC-CA Championship on the par-72 greens of the Doral Golf Resort in Florida on Saturday.

Hockey
Haryana to face BSF in semis
Chandigarh, March 15
Defending champions Punjab Police will face Central Industrial Security Force while Haryana will lock horns with Border Security Force (BSF) in the semifinals of the 57th All-India Police Hockey Championship being conducted by the Chandigarh Police at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.