E-Paper
Tricity Buzz: HT Reporters’s tracker on all those making, or faking, news
CTU’s blessing in disguise, alcohol no ‘nasha’ for Chandigarh cops, speeding to meet curfew deadline in Chandigarh, change of heart of change of times and more...
MeT not far off the mark
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has acquired new equipment for weather forecasts and its accuracy has improved to a large extent. The IMD forecast rain due to a western disturbance from Thursday to Sunday. However, most parts of Haryana and Punjab, including Chandigarh, remained hot and humid. The saving grace for the tricity was the storm followed by light rain on Saturday afternoon.
Shoestring budget has Mohali MC officials on the backfoot
Apart from tackling coronavirus, municipal corporation officers of Mohali face the challenge of carrying out developmental works on a tighter budget. Last week, the local bodies department of the state government cut Rs 141 crore from the MC budget, leaving officials in a fix. They are wondering how to meet expectations of residents when the finances, which are already in the red, have been cut. Tough times, indeed.
CTU’s blessing in disguise
The slowdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic has hit Chandigarh Transport Undertaking, too. Already struggling with financial issues, the lockdown has further hit its ability to generate revenues. But the cancellation of long route buses two days after they were started is a blessing in disguise. “We can carry only 50% of the seating capacity because of social distancing norms. The passenger turnout was hardly 10% but we were incurring full running costs. With the long-route service suspended, at least we can save on running costs,” an employee said.
For Chandigarh cops, alcohol is no “nasha”
For the police in Mohali and Chandigarh, alcohol is no “nasha (addiction)”. Chandigarh Police recently arrested a man for stealing copper transformers from the traffic light of Sectors 21-22 in Chandigarh. Asked if the accused does drugs, a Chandigarh Police personnel replied, “Na, koi nasha nahi karta tha bus sharab peeta tha (No, he doesn’t have any addiction, he only takes liquor).”
Speeding to meet curfew deadline in Chandigarh
As the clock strikes 9pm, people on the roads of Chandigarh speed past police checkposts or nakas even if it means jumping red lights to reach their destination and meet the curfew deadline. Police checkpoints have been set up in different parts of the city to note down details of defaulters. Many commuters, who would otherwise have stopped at traffic signals, scramble the moment they hear the siren. It seems the fear of the siren in the distance is more than police standing metres away.
PU exams in corona times: Students respond with memes
Memes trolling Panjab University’s plan to conduct semester exams are doing the rounds on social media, especially on Instagram pages operated by students. One such page named PU-Chandigarh-updates with over 34,000 followers asked, “Where are you? Don’t know but here exams are happening in Covid-19 times. Welcome to Panjab University.” Another video being shared on social media shows PU authorities carrying a coffin named students.
No pat for GMCH-32 after NIRF ranking
Even though Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh, managed to get the 25th position in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings among medical colleges across the country, the hospital authorities chose to stay mum on the achievement. Requests to them on their assessment of the ranking and key takeaways went unanswered. The UT administration also expressed satisfaction regarding Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research retaining the second rank in the country among medical institutions and congratulated Punjab Engineering College for improving its rank by 10 points.
Change of heart or change of times?
District education officer Alka Mehta, who was replaced by Harbir Singh on Thursday and promoted to the post of deputy director-3, was known to avoid press reporters for she had even blocked some of them on social media. Now that she has left the post, she has unblocked the reporters within a day. Change of heart or change of times? Time will tell.
(Inputs by Hillary Victor, Munieshwer A Sagar, Shailee Dogra, Tanbir Dhaliwal, Rajanbir Singh, Ovais Dar, Amanjeet Singh and Srishti Jaswal)
