IT Chandigarh

Chandigarh: India might have ended the Twenty20 World Cup at Johanesburg on a winning note on Monday, but the cricket fever in Chandigarh is going to stay a bit longer.

With the preparations in full swing for hosting the cricket match between India and Australia at Sector 16 Stadium on October 8, the local administration here has plans to extend facilities of guided tours along with special discounts to the tourists coming in the city.

As per the senior officials, an estimated 300 to 400 foreigners along with nearly 50 media persons from all over the globe are expected to descend in the city on the eve of the international match, which is taking place after 14 years in the city beautiful.

“While the hotel association in the city is planning to extend a 10 to 15 per cent discount to the foreigners who have the ticket of match with them. The CITCO, too, would extend the similar discounts. In addition, an absolutely free tour of Chandigarh on hop-on hop off bus for the foreign tourists has been planned to boost the city’s tourism and architecture,” a senior official told Newsline.
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Chandigarh: This is one portion size that’s getting bigger by the day. And why not? A country that’s complaining of shooting cholesterol levels, high blood sugar, increasing heart attacks - that too at a very young age, will surely grab a mouthful of it. No wonder India is hungry when it comes to gorging information on health issues. Take a look around, the market is flooded with health magazines like never before. What’s more, a peak at the September issue of all leading magazines showed that each of then had dedicated space for a health related article.

One of the most popular health magazine, Health & Nutrition addresses a wide array of health issues. The current issue features ‘Lunch on the Run’ - healthy fast food choices for working people. Men’s Health, a must for all gyms in the city, gives tips on muscle building, losing and gaining weight, food fads for men and diseases to watch out for. “The magazine is not only about health. It combines health with a sprinkling of interesting snippets on technology, mobiles, music and travelling,” said Sayeed Javed, member at Platinum Gym, Panchkula.

Talk of building muscles, there are at least three more magazines that tell you how. For all those starry-eyed young men sweating it out in the gym, Men’s Health International is your guide to six packs like Brad Pitt, chest like Tom Cruise and biceps like Will Smith.
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Chandigarh, September 25 The Adviser to the UT Administrator, Lalit Sharma, laid the foundation stone of an additional building for UT offices in Sector 9 here today.

Officials said the Chandigarh Administration offices were situated in various sectors of the city which was causing inconvenience to the general public.

The total area of the building of Tower Block is about 1.56 lakh square feet, including the basement and the machine room.

“The construction of this new additional building will help in coping up with the shortage of accommodation for government offices and bringing the various departments of the Administration under one roof for proper liaisoning and smooth functioning,” they added.

As per the plans, the construction of the building has been divided into two phases with the seven-storeyed Tower Block building coming up in the first phase.
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Chandigarh: A Few days before the visit of the Prime Minister (PM), Dr Manmohan Singh, the Chandigarh Sanjha Morcha, a group of farmers, reiterated its stand to take up the issue of the land acquisition by the UT Administration with the PM.

Addressing media persons today, president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union Sardar Ajmer Singh Lakhowal briefed about his earlier meeting with the PM this month in New Delhi. He said he had informed the PM about the problems faced by the farmers in Chandigarh by the decision of acquiring farmers’ land by administration.

He said, “The PM had assured that no acquisition will take place in the city without the consent of the local landowners. Despite this, the Administration seems to be bent on going ahead with the proceedings in the RGCTP Phase III and is preparing to announce the price of Rs 30 lakh per acre. Considering the Pride Asia project, where final profits have gone up to 40-60 crore per acre, there has been a blatant miscalculation of the market value of the land.”

Source: Express Newse

Chandigarh: While PGI’s neonatal unit is already burdened with patients, the few baby-care experts in Chandigarh are catering to neighbouring cities like Patiala, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Ropar and to some extent even Shimla.

“The number of births in both government and privates hospitals in the city is approximately 6,000 each,” said Dr Mahesh Hirnandani, neonatal expert, Mamta Health Care Center. “Therefore, the requirement for qualified paediatricians and neonatologists is being felt in both sectors,” he said.

The first five minutes after a baby’s birth are the most important, he said. “This decides whether oxygen and glucose have reached the baby’s brain. Any problem in this period can result in mental retardation later in life,” said Dr Hirnandani.

While 95 per cent babies are born normal, five per cent of them will need special care. One out of 100 will have to be admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

“Babies born premature or underweight need to be shifted to the ICU and put on ventilators,” said Dr Neeraj Kumar, pediatrician, Chaitanya Hospital. “But normal babies may also require treatment if they cannot breathe, have jaundice or are born with congenital defect,” Dr Kumar said.
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Chandigarh: Brilliant all round performance by Shashi Passi (97 runs, 4 for 10 runs) enabled Yamunanagar defeat Chandigarh women by huge margin of 130 runs in the opening match of the Haryana Inter District Women Cricket Tournament being organised by the Haryana Cricket Association at Government Senior Secondary School Sector 19 here today.

Yamunanagar skipper Shashi Passi won the toss and elected to bat first. Shashi and Suman opened the innings for Yamunanagar and gave them a steady start before Suman was caught and bowled by Rajni in the 12th over. Chandigarh team fielded poorly, dropped catches and missed out on run outs. Anajana Dogra bowled well for the hosts scalping 2 wickets for 28 runs. Yamunanagar were all out at 220.

In reply, Chandigarh were bundled out at 90 runs in 34.4 runs.

Brief scores:

Yamunagar all out for 220 runs in 50 overs (Shashi Passi 97, Prem Sharma 34, Shalini Gupta 2 for 25, Anjana Dogra 2 for 28)

Chandigarh all out for 90 runs in 34.4 overs (Shalini Gupta 16 not out, Harshita 11, Shashi 4 for 10, Meena 2 for 11).

Source: Express News Service

SAS Nagar: The management of Gurdwara Singh Shaheedan, Sohana, and Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) have locked horns over the issue of land adjoining the gurdwara. The latter is claiming that the gurdwara management has encroached upon their prime land.

The gurdwara management has said they will not part with even an inch of ‘their’ land. They said they are willing to pay GMADA “if some of the land belongs to them”.

Gurmeet Singh, president of the gurdwara management committee, said since the last 15 years they have been giving representations to the Punjab government and that in 2000 MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa had forwarded their letter to the then Housing Minister Upinderjit Kaur. The minister further recommended the letter to the then PUDA chief. However, he said till date GMADA has not demarcated its own land.

“Our congregation is increasing and we need space for parking and constructing washrooms for the devotees. We have constructed the boundary wall on our land which we have purchased,” Gurmeet Singh said. He also warned GMADA authorities that if they interfere in the kar seva, the devotees would register their protest.
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Chandigarh: As if the prolonged tussle over mobile sets wasn’t enough, the Municipal Councillors have now another agenda to pursue in the House meeting.

This time the debate is whether the Mayor should be provided with a gold or diamond necklace to be known as the ‘Necklace of Authority’.

Interestingly, the agenda states that the necklace, preferably of gold or gold plated, be made of 35 beads/diamonds representing all the 35 councillors with the Municipal Corporation logo studded in it.

This proposal has been included in the agenda at the request of nominated councillors Brigadier Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri (retd), Dr A P Sanwaria, M P S Chawla, Resham Chand Jakhu, besides BJP councillors Surinder Kumar Jagota and Rajesh Kumar Gupta.

The agenda states that the Mayor should wear the necklace on national days, ceremonial occasions, sports events, during House proceedings, besides social and cultural functions. While the fate of the proposal is yet to be decided, the councillors have already planned how the ‘necklace of authority’ would be passed to the Mayor’s successor.
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Chandigarh: Late evening showers caught the commuters unaware as moderate rain swept across the city today. The metrological department recorded an 8 mm rainfall that began in most areas of the city around 6 pm and lasted for over two hours.

The officials said the showers were a normal phenomenon in this month and occurred due to the receding monsoons.

“We can expect light showers till October 1, after which the monsoon season would be considered over and no more rains should be expected,” said an official.

Overcast conditions, with a chance of one or two spells of rains, is also expected in the next couple of days.

Source: Express News Service

Chandigarh, September 25 In what could be enough to establish a prima facie case of wildlife poaching under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, against world trap shooting champion and Khel Ratna awardee for 2006 Manavjit Singh Sandhu, the preliminary report submitted to the UT Forest Secretary by inquiry officer (UT Wildlife Warden) has found Manavjit and his father Gurbir Singh Sandhu, a former international trap shooter, guilty of killing schedule I and schedule III wildlife animals.

It was during a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raid at the Sector 39 flat of the then Sangrur MLA and arms dealer Arvind Khanna in Chandigarh (the flat had been let out by Khanna to Gurbir Sandhu) in October 2006 that the CBI had stumbled upon evidence of poached wildlife articles and nearly 151 photographs which, it is reliably learnt, are a disturbing testimony to the father-son duo’s cruelty towards animals. Most of these photographs show Manav and his father posing with arms and the kill.

In the presence of the CBI, a team of forest officials had seized and sealed a pair of sambhar horns, 33 wild boar tusks, four video cassettes, 151 photographs and 12 rolls of negatives and these were handed over to the Chandigarh Wildlife Department for investigation.

The photographs show poaching in different parts of the country, mainly in South India, of schedule I wildlife animals such as leopard, black buck and bison, etc., besides schedule III wildlife animals such as wild boars, it is learnt.
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