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Tricity buzz: HT Chandigarh reporters’ tracker on all those making, or faking, news
Rain eludes tricity despite Met forecast, Covid-19 puts brakes on political activity, Parida’s tweet ruffles feathers at PGI, and more...
On wrong foot, ex-mayor makes cop join Teej celebrations
Inspector Paramjeet Kaur was out ensuring social distancing norms the other day when she learnt about Teej celebrations at Ram Darbar. To enforce social distancing norms, the station house officer (SHO) at Sector 31 reached the spot to find former mayor Kamlesh along with five women at the “symbolic celebration”. Kamlesh promptly convinced the inspector to not only join in but also take a few swings, terming Teej to be an auspicious festival for women.
Rain eludes tricity despite Met forecast
The meteorological department forecast heavy rain last week but all Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali got was drizzle. While other cities in Punjab and Haryana were caught in the downpour, residents of the tricity could be seen carrying their umbrellas along and looking longingly at the sky. Will it rain relief from the humidity this week? We hope so.
Caught without a mask? Pay the price at any cost
If you don’t have Rs 500 in your pocket and are caught without a mask in public in Mohali, be prepared to beg, borrow or steal but pay the penalty you must. Defaulters learnt this the hard way as the police and district administration held a drive to penalise people without a mask at the Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT) in Phase 6. Among those caught were two passengers who didn’t have Rs 500 on them. They were made to wait till they arranged the cash and paid up.
Covid-19 puts brakes on political activity
The Chandigarh unit of the BJP is prolific in issuing press notes. Even during the three months of the Covid-19 lockdown, press notes and pictures of BJP leaders distributing food, sanitisers and masks among people were a daily occurrence. After restrictions were relaxed, press conferences became the norm. Not to be left behind, the Congress too issued multiple press notes daily. But last week, both parties went largely quiet, limiting themselves to a few announcements on WhatsApp. “With rising Covid-19 cases, political parties have finally learned to scale down public dealings. The BJP has even shut down Kamalam, its headquarters in Sector 33, Chandigarh,” a party insider said.
Parida’s tweet ruffles feathers at PGI
Doctors at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, were quick to object to UT adviser Manoj Parida’s call on Twitter the other day to NGOs and companies to put up stalls at Sukhna Lake for distributing face masks among walkers. Dr Aman Sharma, a professor of internal medicine, wrote that there’s a need to educate people to wear masks properly than arranging for free provisions. Almost everyone has a mask but few wear it properly. “Need MasKampaign with catchlines like Naak bachain mask lagain”. Taking a swipe, Dr Mahesh Devnani said the obsession with Sukhna is beyond comprehension. What about parks? If walkers at Sukhna are the only concern, then may consider weekend curfew at the lake only instead of the whole city.
It’s Covid and not Kovid!
Who hasn’t heard of Covid? The word is all over, be it newspapers, the electronic media, social media or hoardings. Yet, there are few who continue to spell it wrongly. In one of the press notes by the Panchkula public relations department recently, Covid-19 was written as Kovid and that too not once but several times.
When hot wheels cooled heels
After a Lamborghini Huracan worth over Rs 3 crore was impounded by the Chandigarh Traffic Police for speeding, personnel of the Sector 3 police station impounded a Ducati mobike, worth Rs 20 lakh, as the rider rode it without a number plate and helmet. The rider wasn’t even in possession of the driving licence or registration certificate when it was impounded from a check-point near Kaimbwala!
Members not available, PU puts off syndicate meeting
A meeting of the Panjab University syndicate was scheduled for July 30 but it was postponed on Friday for administrative reasons. A syndicate member said that the meeting was put off because many members were not available on July 30. Moreover, only seven items were listed on the agenda.
Inputs by Hillary Victor, Munieshwer A Sagar, Shailee Dogra, Tanbir Dhaliwal, Amanjeet Singh, Rajanbir Singh, and Dar Ovais
