28072025-CT-01.qxd 7/28/2025 12:19 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune CONG MINDSET SAME EVEN 50 YEARS AFTER EMERGENCY: BJP 223 GO UNDER THE HAMMER AT GOLF LEAGUE AUCTION TARUN TAHILIANI MARKS 30 YEARS WITH BRIDAL ODE Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi hits out at party for questioning the SIR of Bihar’s electoral rolls. P3 Teams engage in competitive bidding to add the best players to their final squad of 18. P3 One of India’s most celebrated designers returns to the runway at Hyundai India Couture Week. P4 » » CLOUDY, RAIN MAX 35°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 28.5°C SUNSET MONDAY 7.19 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 5.40 AM » MONDAY | 28 JULY 2025 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST /THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE 33-mm downpour beats heat, but leaves roads waterlogged Two-day CET concludes amid large-scale transport, police arrangements Meteorological Dept issues yellow alert for heavy rain today, tomorrow Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 27 The city received 33-mm rainfall on Sunday, which not only brought much-needed respite from the hot and humid weather conditions but also left several areas inundated, causing public inconvenience and traffic chaos. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) today reissued yellow alert for another spell of heavy rain coupled with thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places in Chandigarh and Haryana on Monday and Tuesday. On Sunday, the city got moderate downpour between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm, which brought the maximum day temperature down by 3.9 degrees as compared to yesterday. Today’s 33-mm rainfall was the second highest in the region after 49-mm downpour recorded at Ferozepur in Punjab. The rainwater inundated the low-lying areas and major roads, especially the busy junctions and rotaries, leading to massive traffic snarls and bottlenecks. Students wade through a waterlogged road after the rain at Panjab University on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PRADEEP TEWARI The residents were once again held up in long traffic jams on main roads, especially those leading to Sukhna Lake, Rock Garden, Rose Garden, Leisure Valley, Sector 17, Elante Mall and other tourist spots, which witnessed heavy footfall after the weather turned pleasant on the week- end. The Tribune Chowk, which is one of the busiest junctions in the city, also witnessed serpentine queues of vehicles moving bumper-to-bumper on the waterlogged roads. However, Mohali and Panchkula witnessed light rainfall, ranging up to 1-mm. The day temperature in the city on Sunday remained 33° Celsius, which was 3.9 degrees less than yesterday’s figure and 0.8 degree below normal. However, the night temperature shot up to 28.5° Celsius, which was 0.7 degree up from previous night’s reading and 1.4 degrees above normal. Mohali recorded 32.6° Celsius maximum and 29° Celsius minimum temperature, which was 3.3 degrees below and 1.5 degrees up from yesterday’s reading, respectively. With 32.5° Celsius maximum and 27.4° Celsius minimum, Panchkula witnessed the least hot day and night in the tricity region. MC formulates policy to hire firms for gyms Agenda to be tabled in civic body House meeting scheduled for tomorrow THE TRIBUNE IMPACT Ramkrishan Upadhyay WHAT’S ON APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 43 & 45 Mohali: Sectors 70, 78 & Phase 5 Panchkula: MDC, Sector 5 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com INBRIEF YOUTH HELD WITH HEROIN IN SEC 29 Chandigarh: A 26-year-old man was arrested by the UT police with heroin. The accused, Naveen Kumar, alias Dhoom, a resident of Phase I, Ram Darbar, was nabbed near in Sector 29 on Saturday night with 11.60 grams of heroin. An FIR under Section 21 of the NDPS Act was registered at the Industrial Area police station. TNS MAN DUPED IN VISA FRAUD Chandigarh: Abhinav Dogra, a resident of Dhakoli, Mohali, has; been cheated out of Rs 5.50 lakh in a visa-related fraud. He accused Gushan Tyagi, a resident of Sector 61, Mohali, of taking the money with false promises of arranging visa. TNS IMMIGRATION AGENT BOOKED Chandigarh: Gaurav, a native of Kurukshetra district, has filed a complaint against a Sector 17based firm for allegedly duping him of Rs 1 lakh on the pretext of providing visa. A case under has been registered. TNS Tribune news service Chandigarh, July 27 The Municipal Corporation (MC) has prepared a policy to engage private firms to run gyms at the city’s community centres. The development comes after the Chandigarh Tribune, in a report published on July 17, 2025, highlighted the absence of any policy for gyms that have been lying defunct for years. Sources said the agenda of the policy will be placed before next General House meeting on July 29. The civic body purchased advanced equipment worth crores for the gyms but many of them remain out of use. Gyms at many community centres were forced to close soon after opening due to the policy vacuum. As per the request for proposal (RFP) prepared by the civic Chandigarh/P’kula, July 27 The Common Eligibility Test (CET-2025), conducted by the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC), concluded smoothly in Panchkula and Chandigarh today. With large-scale transport arrangements and dedicated services for differently-abled and vulnerable candidates, the two-day exam set a benchmark in logistical and administrative coordination. Thousands of candidates took the CET-2025 exam across 44 centres in Panchkula and 153 centres in Chandigarh, where stringent security measures and well-planned transport and logistical support contributed to a smooth conduct of the examination. In Chandigarh, around 37,000 candidates appeared for the test in each shift. In Panchkula, around 10,507 candidates were scheduled per shift, bringing the total number of examinees taking the test in two days to 42,028. On Sunday, 46 buses were pressed into service in Panchkula district to transport candidates to Yamunanagar. These buses originated from six locations: Kalka, Pinjore, Morni, Panchkula city, Barwala, and Raipur Rani. Meanwhile, 256 buses carrying candidates from Karnal and Kaithal districts reached Panchkula — 80 from Karnal and 45 from Kaithal for the first shift, followed by 81 from Karnal and 50 from Kaithal for the second. In Panchkula, 525 police personnel were stationed at 44 centres. In Chandigarh, Candidates come out of a CET centre in Sector 42. TRIBUNE PHOTO TRAFFIC SNARLS AFTER EXAM The time between 12 noon and 1 pm, following the conclusion of the first shift of the exam, witnessed traffic snarls at multiple locations due to a combination of examination-related shuttle buses and sudden rainfall. Roads near Kisan Bhawan, Housing Board and several key traffic signals saw heavy traffic. CET centres witnessed equally well-managed arrangements. The examination authorities coordinated with Panchkula officials, particularly to accommodate 53 differently-abled candidates from Panchkula whose exam centres were in Chandigarh. Special government vehicles picked them up from their homes and ensured a safe return. Beneficiaries, including candidates from Sector 20, Sector 23, and Abdulpur Colony in Pinjore, expressed gratitude for the inclusive efforts. Mother of Akash Prashar, a differently-abled candidate, shared, “I reside in Sector 20 Panchkula and my son had been assigned the GMSS-Sarangpur centre near Botanical Garden for CET. The Panchkula administration provided him pick and drop facility.” Panchkula SDM Chandrakant Kataria drove an injured female candidate and a pregnant woman to their centres in his official vehicle, and ensured their safe return after the exam. However, the time between 12 noon and 1 pm, following the conclusion of the first shift, witnessed traffic snarls at multiple locations due to a combination of examinationrelated shuttle buses and sudden rainfall. Roads near Kisan Bhawan, Housing Board and several key traffic signals saw heavy traffic. Waterlogging was also reported near the Khuda Lahora–PGI Road stretch. Additionally, candidates who arrived in private vehicles faced difficulties accessing examination centres during the rain, as a 300-metre radius around each centre was designated a no-vehicle zone. Deputy Commissioner Monika Gupta confirmed that no untoward incidents or unfair practices were reported. UT resident duped of ~6.5 lakh Tribune News Service A closed gym of community centre of Sector 37, Chandigarh. FILE PHOTO body, there are a total of 29 community centers with gym facilities. Private firms will be responsible for operating and maintaining them and will pay a fixed monthly licence fee to the MC on a quarterly basis. Thecontractperiodwillbethree years, which will be further extendable by one year subject to performance and mutual consent of both parties. A 5 per cent increase in the annual fee has also been proposed. The existing gym will be handed over to the company on an “as is where is” basis. Sources said MC officials have prepared the model to generate revenue for cash strapped civic body. Aam Aadmi Party councillor Yogesh Dhingra supported the policy, saying, “Due to the lack of policy, the equipment worth crores has become useless and is collecting rust.” Chandigarh, July 27 A 46-year-old resident of Sector 45-D here has been duped of Rs 6.58 lakh in a crypto currency scam via Telegram. An FIR was lodged at the cybercrime police station on Saturday, following a complaint by Bhajan Singh, a local Uber driver. The victim came into contact with a person who was using the Telegram handle @Ayushthakur_Hentor1 in December last year. The Fraudsters used Telegram handle accused convinced him to invest in crypto currency through a platform called UCoin. Bhajan Singh was assigned various tasks and further directed to two other Telegram handles – @UCOIN_Account_Team and @Akshara_Finance – where he was provided UPI and bank details for transferring money. Initially, the fraudsters sent him small returns to gain his trust. Soon, they claimed his money was on hold and pressurised him to invest larger sums to unlock it. The victim was made to transfer a total of Rs 6,58,417. Eventually, all contact ceased and no returns were transferred to the victim. The FIR has been registered under multiple Sections 319(2), 318(4), 336(3), 338, 340(2), and 61(2) of the BNS. The police is investigating the matter. A first: WhatsApp channel to connect teachers with top brass Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 27 In a first-of-its-type initiative, the Chandigarh Education Department has launched its official WhatsApp channel to connect with the teachers. This will allow over 4,500 teachers working in 111 government schools across the Union Territory to interact directly with the senior officials of the department, including the Secretary and the Director. The development assumes significance as this will end the present practice of running around the offices to meet and interact with the officials, which consumed a lot of time and energy of the teachers. The Education Secretary, Prerna Puri, told The Tribune Over 4,500 tutors in 111 schools can directly interact with senior officials WILL SAVE TIME, CREATE TRUST ❝ Digital transformation in education is not just about systems but also empowering schools to make smarter decisions, saving valuable teaching time and creating an ecosystem of trust, efficiency and data-backed planning. — Prerna Puri, ❞ EDUCATION SECRETARY, CHANDIGARH. that this channel has been created to streamline communication, share official 70 teachers who were recruited by the Education Department in Chandigarh recently. updates and foster collaborative implementation of educational reforms and digital c m y b initiatives in the schools here. “It will be used for dissemination of verified circulars, updates and training resources besides sharing regular updates on the imple- mentation of the School Management Information System (SMIS),” she disclosed. Calling it a medium to facilitate transparent two-way communication with the heads of schools, teachers and cluster coordinators, Director, School Education, Harsuhinder Pal Singh Brar said this initiative will encourage the use of technology and data for evidencebased school management. “We will celebrate milestones, recognise efforts and share success stories from schools through this channel, while connecting all teachers and the administrators at the click of a button — which will result in quicker and transparent decisions,” Brar revealed. He said the Department of School Education is prioritising technology-first approach in school administration, teacher empowerment through digital capacity building, inclusive access to data for students and parents, real-time analytics for better planning and governance under Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK). The VSK is a datadriven initiative aimed at enhancing education quality through real-time monitoring and analysis usage. “The proactive participation of the teachers will help build a robust, transparent, and efficient education system in Chandigarh. Let’s move from paperwork to purposeful digital progress together,” Brar added.