29072025-CT-01.qxd 7/29/2025 12:20 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune MC MAY ASK PVT FIRMS TO LOOK AFTER PARK FOUNTAINS PANCHKULA’S ARYAN TO PLAY FOR INDIA IN WORLD GAMES YOUNGER GENERATION’S NEEDS ARE DIFFERENT: RITU KUMAR The MC is considering handing over the maintenance of fountains in the parks to private companies. P3 25-yr-old Aryan Pal Singh Ghuman came second in the 20th Asian Roller Sports Championship in Korea. P3 The veteran fashion designer says that fashion changes due to younger generation’s ever-changing needs. P4 » » CLOUDY, RAIN MAX 30°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 32.3°C | MIN 26.9°C SUNSET TUESDAY 7.18 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 5:40 AM » TUESDAY | 29 JULY 2025 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST /THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE CHB plans 1,000-flat project on 32 acres in Sector 54 WHAT’S ON APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 29 and 56, and Dhanas Panchkula: Sector 15 Mohali: Sectors 68 and 71 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com Three held with 141-gm heroin Tribune News Service Panchkula, July 28 The police have arrested three persons and recovered 141 grams of heroin from them. The anti-narcotics cell received a tip-off on July 25 that Paramjeet Singh, alias Pamma; and Yadvinder Singh, both residents of Amritsar, were planning to sell heroin near the green belt area on the Shimla-Zirakpur highway in Sector 12-A here. A team arrested both accused at the spot and recovered 89 grams of heroin from Paramjeet and 52 grams from Yadvinder. Both were produced before the court and remanded in police custody for three days. During interrogation, the accused revealed they got the heroin from Kuldeep, also a resident of Amritsar. He was arrested from Amritsar on Sunday. Heavy rain likely in city today Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 28 A day 0after 33-mm rainfall, Chandigarh received 2-mm showers on Monday, which kept the weather pleasant for a second consecutive day. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) today re-issued yellow alert for another spell of heavy rain coupled with thunderstorms at isolated places in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana on Tuesday. TRICITY MERCURY CITY MAX MIN Chandigarh 32.3°C 26.9°C Mohali 32.2°C 28.1°C Panchkula 32.5°C 26.4°C On Monday, the city received light rain between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm, which brought the maximum and minimum temperatures slightly down by 0.7 and 1.6 degrees, respectively, as compared to yesterday. The day temperature in the city on Monday remained 32.3 degree Celsius, which was 0.7 degree less than yesterday and 1.5 degree below normal. Similarly, the night temperature dipped to 26.9 degree Celsius, which was 1.6 degree below from previous night and 0.2 degree departure from normal. Mohali recorded 32.2 degree Celsius maximum and 28.1 degree Celsius minimum temperature, which was 0.4 and 0.9 degree below from yesterday’s reading, respectively, to remain the least hot city in the tricity region. To launch much-delayed Sector 53 scheme before Diwali Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 28 Yet to launch its self-financing general housing scheme in Sector 53, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) has planned another project in Sector 54. The UT Estate Office has reclaimed nearly 10-12 acres of government land, which was under illegal occupation of shopkeepers at the nearly 40-year-old furniture market in Sectors 53-54. The demolition drive was conducted on July 21. According to officials, the new housing project was likely to come up over 32 acres in Sector 54. More than 1,000 flats are likely to be constructed under the scheme. During a recent meeting, the UT Administrator asked the CHB officials to prepare a plan for the scheme, said the officials, while adding that the board is in the process of hiring an architect to prepare a design and it will take nearly six months to finalise the scheme. Meanwhile, the CHB is planning to launch its Chandigarh Housing Board office in Sector 9, Chandigarh. FILE PLAN TO BE FINALISED IN 6 MONTHS ■ According to officials, the new ■ The UT Administrator had asked housing project is likely to come up on 32 acres in Sector 54. ■ More than 1,000 flats are likely to be constructed under the housing scheme. CHB officials to prepare a plan. ■ The board is in the process of hiring an architect ■ It will take nearly six months to finalise the scheme. much-delayed housing scheme in Sector 53 before Diwali this year. The officials said brochures would be prepared soon after getting approval from the Board of Directors. Before launching the scheme, the environmental clearance would also be obtained, following which an application will be submitted to the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) for approval. Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria had given approval to the housing scheme with revised rates. It had been hanging fire for the past several years. As per the tentative cost worked out by the CHB, a three-bedroom flat (HIG) will cost Rs 2.3 crore, which will be 39.39% higher than the earlier proposed price of Rs 1.65 crore. A two-bedroom flat (MIG) is priced at Rs 1.97 crore, up 40.71% from the earlier rate of Rs 1.4 crore. Similarly, a two-room flat (EWS) will cost about Rs 74 lakh, costlier by 34.34% than the tentative cost of Rs 55 lakh fixed earlier. The CHB has revised the prices after the implementation of the new collector rates in the city on April 1 this year. The proposed Sector 53 scheme has 192 HIG units, 100 MIG houses and 80 EWS flats. The flats would be constructed on nearly 9 acres. In August 2023, then UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit had put the scheme on hold, deeming it unnecessary. This led to the cancellation of Rs 200 crore tenders issued on August 2, 2023, for the construction of 372 flats on nine acres. The last CHB scheme was floated in 2016 for 200 two-bedroom flats in Sector 51. Non-functional street lights on the Sector 31-29 stretch of Dakshin Marg. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PRADEEP TEWARI Dark side of City Beautiful Palsora colony without streetlights for past six months Ramkrishan Upadhyay Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 28 Non-functional streetlights in several parts of the city are posing a threat to local residents and commuters. While people feel unsafe to venture out in the evening given the rising incidents of snatching, road users, especially two-wheeler riders, face a higher risk of accidents on potholed roads. The Palsora rehabilitation colony in Sector 56, with a population of over 5,000, has been without streetlights for the past seven months. The Municipal Corporation has failed to repair the under- ground cable, which got damaged during the laying of a stormwater line in December last year. The residents rued the sorry state of affairs, while claiming that there was no coordination among the MC departments. Tara Devi, a resident of the colony, said theft cases had increased in the area. Raj Karan said residents refrained from venturing out in the evening as incidents of snatching had increased in the locality. Mannaur area councillor said he had been raising the issue with the officers for a long time. The officers con- cerned cited the fund crunch for the delay in cable repair. He met Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla and the Chief Engineer today. The Mayor assured him that the tender to repair the cable would be issued soon. The city has nearly 50,000 streetlights, which are managed by the MC. Residents of almost all sectors complain of non-functional streetlights in their respective areas. Akhil Bansal, a resident of Dhanas, said it was unsafe to step out after dark. It is difficult to spot potholes filled with rainwater in the evening, he added. MC proposes norms for free community centre booking Power shocker: Sec 44 Civic body House to decide on extending benefit to ‘Priority, AAY Household’ cardholders Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 28 Amid the controversy over misuse of the facility, the Municipal Corporation has proposed to fix clear criteria for determination of people eligible to book community centres free of cost for weddings. Under the present policy, the free bookings are being provided to “poor people” for weddings. Only a recommendation of the councillor is required for the booking. The policy had been in place for many years, but the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) recently alleged that the civic body has been duped of crores due to fake bookings made in the name of poor people. PRESENT POLICY AAP recently alleged that the civic body had been duped of crores due to fake bookings. FILE PHOTO The AAP had alleged that misappropriation was done using forged documents, fake stamps of councillors, falsified signatures and manipulation by middlemen posing as municipal staff. Looking to resolve the issue, the MC formed a committee under chairmanship of the Joint Commissioner to review and finalise the policy guidelines regarding community centers/janj ghars. Under the prevailing policy, the Mayor, Commissioner and councillors can recommend free booking for weddings of girls from BPL families. Area councillors can recommend bookings in their own wards and where the applicant resides. The Mayor and the Commissioner, meanwhile, can recommend booking of any community centre provided that the applicant resides in that area. UT Food and Supplies Inspector Sumit Jindal, a special invitee to the committee, said the UT Administration had on May 13, 2016, notified the eligible criteria for enrolment as Priority Households and Antyodaya Anna Yojana Households (AAY) under the National Food Security Act, 2013. Households having gross annual income up to Rs.1.5 lakh from all sources fell under the Priority Households and those under Rs 60,000 under the AAY Households. As per record provided by the Inspector, there were 83,133 Priority Households and 284 AAY Households as of July 2025. After consultation, the committee proposed extending the benefit to those falling under both Priority and AAY Households. However, the committee reiterated that at least 50 per cent user changes must be levied in such cases. resident gets ~5.69L bill Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 28 A resident of Sector 44-A was in for a shock when he received a whopping electricity bill of Rs 5.69 lakh. Vijay Lakshmi Sharma (80), who resides in House No. 386/2, Sector 44-A, said she was shocked to receive a highly inflated power bill. She had paid her previous bills and there were no arrears pending, she said. A former principal of the Government College for Girls, Vijay Lakshmi Sharma stated that she always paid the bill on time through an online platform. Two days ago, she received a notification from the online site that a bill amounting to Rs 5,69,579 was due, she said, while adding that her previous bill dated May 2 was of Rs 10,811 and another of Rs 10, 262 with the due date for payment as March 31. Lakshmi said she submitted a complaint to the official concerned on July 25 to correct the error. When contacted, an official of the Chandigarh Power Distribution Limited (CPDL) stated that a technical error was found when the bill was checked. The error had been rectified and the consumer asked to pay only Rs 10,000, the official added. Panjab varsity startup comes up with rapid prostate cancer test kit Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 28 In a first-of-its-kind discovery, a startup at Panjab University (PU) has developed a rapid prostate cancer detection kit that enables noninvasive and highly accurate screening using a multiplex antigen lateral flow test with results available in minutes, and no need for hospital or laboratory visits. A major step towards men’s healthcare, the kit has been invented by the DACH Biotech, a startup company incubated at PU. The development assumes significance as prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among men globally, and early detection remains critical for survival. With traditional screening methods such as prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood tests or biopsies being painful, expensive and prone to false positives, the DACH Biotech’s innovation is designed to Discovery to provide early, accurate, at-home screening of the disease THINK BIG, AIM HIGHER: PU VC Panjab University is working to build a strong culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, as envisioned by the Government of India and UGC. We are consistently working to create an ecosystem that inspires students, provides the right guidance and offers startup-friendly facilities to help young minds turn their ideas into real solutions, especially in important areas like healthcare, sustainability and technology. — Prof Renu Vig, PU VICE-CHANCELLOR KEY FEATURES ❝ ■ Non-invasive and pain-free ■ Home-use compatible ■ Results in less than 15 minutes ■ No lab or hospital visit required ■ Designed for point-of-care, rural and low-resource settings FASTER EARLY DETECTION ❞ ■ Making early detection of prostate cancer faster, easier and more accessible than ever before, this test doesn’t just look for one marker; it scans for multiple red flags in a single test, giving doctors a much clearer signal. ❝ HIGH PREVALENCE ■ As per recent studies, 1 in 8 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime but most won’t know until it’s too late. address these limitations. “By integrating three prostate cancer-specific biomarkers into one test, we’ve drastically improved diagnostic accuracy,” Prof Manu Shar- Scientists work at Panjab University DACH Biotech startup laboratory in Chandigarh on Monday. ma, Honorary Director, Centre for Industry-Institute Partnership Programme (CIIPP), PU, told The Tribune. He said this reduces false alarms and helps avoid c m y b unnecessary biopsies. Unlike conventional kits that rely on a single marker, this test identifies multiple tumour-specific antigens that are over-expressed in prostate A BIG ACHIEVEMENT: CIIPP HEAD This startup is a shining example of what universities can achieve when research, innovation and social impact converge. The Vice-Chancellor’s unwavering support for translational research and entrepreneurship has transformed PU into a fertile ground for groundbreaking ideas to grow, thrive, and serve society. ❞ — Prof Manu Sharma, HONORARY DIRECTOR, CIIPP, & COORDINATOR DST-TEC, PU cancer tissue. “This approach significantly enhances specificity, especially in early-stage disease where diagnosis is often delayed,” he disclosed. The product is competi- tively priced, ensuring accessibility not just in private healthcare systems but also in government-run screening programmes, rural clinics and public health initiatives. DACH Biotech is currently in discussions with public health authorities, insurance providers and diagnostic networks to integrate the kit into regular men’s health checkups and national early screening strategies. “Early diagnosis saves lives. Our mission is to make advanced cancer screening as accessible as checking your blood pressure,” added Prof Sharma, who is also the Coordinator of Department of Science and Technology (DST) Technology Enabling Centre (TEC) at PU. ABOUT THE STARTUP DACH Biotech is a startup company incubated at PU, focusing on oncology diagnostics. It is one of five DeepTech startups launched by the university under the CIIPP-DST-TEC framework. It is specifically working on developing highly specific, non-invasive and user-friendly point-of-care tests for detecting cancer.