21082025-CT-01.qxd 8/21/2025 12:29 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune UT COP AWARDED SEVEN-YEAR JAIL TERM IN BRIBERY CASE CONGRESS PAYS TRIBUTES TO RAJIV GANDHI ON BIRTH ANNIV POPULAR CHEF COMES TO TRICITY TO OFFER CHAI MAGIC The CBI court awards 7-year RI to a head constable in a corruption case registered eight years ago. P3 City unit of the Congress holds an event to mark birth anniversary of India’s youngest Prime Minister. P3 Sanjeev Kapoor made a quick dash to tricity bringing the latest offering — automatic tea maker Chai Magic. P4 » » WHAT’S ON CHANDIGARH ~76K-cr outlay under Semicon India, minister replies to MP Tewari’s query in LS Tribune News Service Music & dance: Sangeet Utsav by Pracheen Kala Kendra at Mini Auditorium, Tagore Theatre, Sector 18, on August 22, 6 pm onwards APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 34, 56 and Ram Darbar Panchkula: Sector 5 Mohali: Sec 88 and Phase 8 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com INBRIEF WOMAN HELD WITH HEROIN Chandigarh: The police arrested a 30-year-old woman from Maloya after she was found in possession of 11.10 grams of heroin. A team led by Inspector Jasbir Singh, SHO, Maloya police station, apprehended the accused, identified as Kajal, a resident of Sector 56, on Tuesday. According to the police, she failed to produce any licence or permit for keeping the substance, following which a case under Section 21 of the Narcotic Drugs and Pyschotropic Substances Act was registered against her at the Maloya police station. The accused was produced in a court, which sent her to twoday police remand. TNS Chandigarh, August 20 The Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) in Mohali will be augmented, modernised and upgraded for playing a larger role in the development of the semiconductor ecosystem in the country, the Centre has said. It will be done under the Semicon India Programme, for which the government has approved a total outlay of Rs 76,000. Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada informed this while responding to a query raised by Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. He said recognising the importance of the semiconductor industry, the government had approved the programme following an inter-ministerial consultation, including the Department of Space, for modernisation and upgradation of the SCL in Mohali. Accordingly, the lab has been brought under the administrative control of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) vide a notification SERVING SPACE, STRATEGIC SECTORS The Semi-Conductor Laboratory at the Industrial Area, Phase 8, in Mohali. TRIBUNE PHOTO: VICKY LAB FACING MYRIAD CHALLENGES: MP The SCL is critical to the success of India’s semiconductor chip-making ambitions. It is facing myriad challenges, including low morale among the scientific community over salary and pension issues. ❝ ❞ COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY: MINISTER ❝ India’s semiconductor strategy is comprehensive. It aims to develop a complete ecosystem, ranging from design, fabrication, assembly, testing, packing and manufacturing. India’s strategy is inspired by the PM’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, Make in India and Make for the World. — Manish Tewari, CHANDIGARH MP issued on February 7, 2022. Reacting to the response, Tewari said, “It is unfortunate that a comprehensive question on the SCL — perhaps The SCL in Mohali undertakes activities related to the design development, fabrication, assembly and packaging, testing and quality assurance of silicon CMOS and MEMS devices for various applications, including strategic sectors. It manufactures a variety of integrated circuits (ICs), including linear voltage regulators, voltage references and switches, data converters, amplifiers, drivers and application-specific integrated circuits. These ICs have applications in various sectors, including space. the first-of-its-kind — has met with a motherhood and apple pie response from the government.” He said if the problems, ❞ — Jitin Prasada, UNION MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY issues and challenges of the SCL were not surmounted, it would be a serious setback to India’s semiconductor ambitions. Bomb hoax at HC, 2nd in 3 mths FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE MP opposes hike in property conversion fee, seeks rollback Tewari raises the issue in Lok Sabha Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 20 City MP and former Union minister Manish Tewari has strongly opposed the steep hike in the conversion charges in the union territory and demanded its immediate rollback. He raised the issue in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing monsoon session on Wednesday. “I moved a special mention under Rule 377 in the Lok Sabha today opposing the steep hike in the charges for converting properties from leasehold to freehold basis, imposing immense hardship and pecuniary burden on the ordinary people in Chandigarh,” he said. Tewari said the recent decision of the Chandigarh Administration to impose a steep hike in the conversion charges, effective from June 30, caused deep distress among thousands of residents, many of whom were retired individuals, salaried middle-class families and members of the cooperative housing societies, who waited patiently for years for the regularisation of their homes. “The conversion charges had remained unchanged since 2017. This arbitrary and sudden increase, introduced without meaningful public consultation or transparent justification, has not only blindsided citizens but also betrayed their legitimate expectations,” he said. The senior Congress leader said it reflected a disturbing lack of sensitivity to the economic hardships faced by the ordinary people. “The move contradicts the broader goal of regularising tenure and empowering urban residents with secure property titles,” he commented. Tewari said it indicated a troubling pattern of policy decisions that prioritise revenue generation over the rights and welfare of citizens. “I urge the Union government to immediately review this hike, explain the rationale behind it, and direct the Chandigarh Administration to rollback the increase,” the local parliamentarian demanded. Fee based on collector rates Property conversion charges in Chandigarh are based on the collector rates, which were also increased 2 to 4 times with effect from April 1 this year. While there are no Continued on page 2 Two nabbed in ~77L ‘digital arrest’ fraud the following day. On being alerted, the police mounted a large-scale security operation on Wednesday morning. The SHO of the Sector 3 police station, SSP (Security) Sumer Partap Singh, along with other senior officers, reached the court complex. Sniffer dogs, bomb disposal experts, a team of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory and Operations Cell officials scoured the entire premises, including courtrooms and judges’ chambers, “The SCL was set up in Mohali in 1976. There was a mysterious fire on February 7, 1989, which many believe Continued on page 2 MAX 34°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 33.4°C | MIN 25.2°C SUNRISE FRIDAY 5.54 AM /THETRIBUNECHD Mohali semiconductor lab to be modernised, upgraded: Centre PARTLY CLOUDY SUNSET THURSDAY 6.57 PM » THURSDAY | 21 AUGUST 2025 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST Chandigarh, August 20 The cybercrime cell of the UT police has arrested two persons for duping a city resident of over Rs 77 lakh in a “digital arrest” scam. The accused were identified as Sajid Ahmed Patel, 30, from Maharashtra, and Shayeed Rafiq Mullah, 37. The complainant in the case had reported that on July 10, she had received a call from a person posing as a crime branch officer. She was Continued on page 2 Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 20 The UT police were pressed into action on Wednesday after the Punjab and Haryana High Court received a threatening email, warning of an imminent explosion. The message, which arrived on the official account of the court registrar late Tuesday night, claimed that multiple blasts would occur on the HC premises around 1.35 pm for nearly two hours. No suspicious object was found. This is the second such threat in three months. Earlier, on May 22, a similar email had warned that a bomb had been planted near Gate No. 1 of the High Court, prompting the registration of an FIR at the Sector 3 police station. The police have now begun tracing the latest email’s origin and sender, treating it as a deliberate attempt to spread panic. A JCB machine in action during an anti-encroachment drive carried out at the Sector 26 mandi in Chandigarh on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: VICKY Mohali ASIin VBnet over ~1.55-lakh graft Illegal structures razed during Tribune News Service Traffic goes haywire after showers in Zirakpur on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR Brace for very heavy rain tomorrow MeT Dept issues yellow, orange alerts for five days Chandigarh, August 20 The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday issued yellow and orange alerts for heavy and very heavy rain coupled with thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana for five days beginning Friday. The weathermen has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall on Saturday while heavy rain is predicted on Friday and Sunday to Tuesday. After a sudden and heavy spell of rain in the northern sectors of Chandigarh on Tuesday evening, the tricity region comprising Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula on Wednesday experienced scattered and light showers during the afternoon and evening hours. The weathermen recorded 1 mm rainfall in Mohali, 0.5 mm in Panchkula and 0.4 mm in Chandigarh. The IMD has predicted that the tricity region is likely to witness partly cloudy conditions on Thursday followed by rain and thunderstorms for the next five days with the mercury oscillating between 31°C and 23°C. Yesterday, the northern sectors of Chandigarh were flooded after 35-mm rainfall inundated most parts of Sector 1 to 26 under knee-deep water. The downpour, which began after 5:30 pm, continued for almost an hour, throwing the normal life out of gear. — TNS Mohali, August 20 The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) arrested an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) for accepting a bribe of Rs 1.55 lakh. The accused, Om Prakash, is posted at the Kharar police station. Earlier, he was posted at the Sohana police station. Officials said the cop was arrested following an online complaint by Gurjit Singh on the Chief Minister Anti-Corruption Action Line. As per the complaint, a case was registered against him and his wife at the Sohana police station. The accused ASI, who was associated with the said case, had demanded a bribe of Rs 2.50 lakh for cancellation of the case. The cop was caught accepting Rs 1.55 lakh as a bribe from the complainant on Tuesday evening. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered at the VB Police Station in Mohali. drive at Sector 26 grain market Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 20 A joint team of the UT Administration, the Municipal Corporation and the Market Committee removed several illegal structures, including shanties, during an antiencroachment drive carried out at the Sector 26 mandi here on Wednesday morning. The drive was carried out on the orders of Deputy Commissioner. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had taken cognisance of the sanitation and encroachment issues at the Grain, Fruit & Vegetable Market, following a news report titled “Muddy roads, heaps of rotten vegetables raise a stink at Sector 26 mandi” published in Chandigarh Tribune on July 24. However, traders at the grain market expressed displeasure over the drive. In a statement issued here today, Mohit Sood, president of the Grain Market Welfare Association, Sector 26, and Rahul Goyal, general secretary, said it was shocking to note that no action was taken at the fruit and vegetable market, which was the most congested and had a large number of encroachments. They said at the same time, long-pending issues such as broken roads, poor sanitation, non-functional street lights, damaged parking Continued on page 2 Speeding car kills 65-yr-old man crossing road at Mullanpur Two girls, two youths travelling in the vehicle students of Sarangpur management college Tribune News Service Mohali, August 20 A 65-year-old man died after being hit by a speeding car near the Mullanpur Air Force station on Wednesday afternoon. The deceased was identified as Jog Singh, a resident of Hoshiarpur village in c m y b New Chandigarh. Sources said the car bearing a Chandigarh registration number was being driven by a teenaged girl. Another girl and two youths were also travelling in the car. All four teenagers are students of a management college in Sarangpur, the sources said. After the accident, cops hurriedly whisked away the teenagers in a police vehicle while the victim was rushed to the Kharar Sub-Divisional Hospital where doctors declared him dead. The body will be handed over to the kin after a post-mortem examination on Thursday. Such was the impact of the vehicle that the head and a limb of the pedestrian crossing the road was ripped apart and flung to some distance. Local gathered at the spot alleged that beer bottles were seen in the vehicle. The police have not confirmed the allegation. One of the co-passengers is a resident of Sector 33 while another is the daughter of a businessman. Area residents said the victim was survived by three sons and daughters each. The family’s financial condition is not very good. “They do not wish to take any action,” a cop said. The police are investigating the incident.