08072026-CT-01.qxd 7/8/2026 12:31 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune TWO AWARDED FIVE-YEAR JAIL IN SNATCHING CASE CHD FOOTBALL ACADEMY SKIPS PRE-SUBROTO CUP MATCH OHH MY DOG ALL SET TO HIT THEATRES ON JULY 31 Court also imposes ~25K fine each on convicts Rahul Saini and Robin Kumar of Daria village. P3 Team represents Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 37, in U-17 Pre-Subroto Football Cup. P3 Director Amit Rai, who last directed Oh My God 2, is all set to return with his next film Ohh My Dog.P4 » » AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH 61 PANCHKULA 40 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD Climbs to ‘Uttam-3’ grade in Performance Grading Index Tribune News Service SOLE STATE/UT WHAT’S ON APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 15, 40, 46 Please send information about events in Tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com POWER SHUTDOWN CHANDIGARH 10 am to 2 pm:Parts of Sectors 7-A and C, 26, 39-A and B, IMT residential houses and Khuda Ali Sher village Yellow alert brings little rain to city Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 7 A day after scattered heavy rain in parts of the city, Chandigarh remained largely dry on Tuesday despite a yellow alert for heavy rain, thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds. Barring brief spells of drizzle at isolated places in the afternoon, no significant rainfall was recorded in the city till the filing of this report. The maximum temperature rose to 36.6°C, an increase of 1.6 degrees from Monday and 2.2 degrees above normal. The minimum temperature, however, fell by 2.2 degrees to 25.6°C, which was 1 degree below normal. Relative humidity varied between 54 per cent and 81 per cent during the day. The city recorded 9.8 mm rainfall during the 24-hour period ending 8.30 am on Tuesday, while only 0.4 mm rainfall was measured between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm. Chandigarh’s cumulative seasonal rainfall stood at 62.8 mm, remaining 68.2 per cent below normal. The weather office has retained the yellow alert till Sunday, except Friday, for thunderstorms, lightning, heavy rain and winds gusting to 40-50 kmph at isolated places. An IMD spokesperson said rainfall during the monsoon season would continue to occur in spells. Chandigarh, July 7 The city has retained its position as the top performer in school education among all states and Union Territories in the country for the fourth consecutive year, according to the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 report for 2025-26 released by the Union Ministry of Education in New Delhi on Tuesday. Chandigarh is the only state or UT in the country placed in the “Uttam-3” category (61-70 per cent score) this year, the highest grade attained by any state or UT, with none reaching “Utkarsh”, “Uttam 1” or “Uttam 2”. Punjab, Kerala, Delhi and the UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu shared the second spot. The grade marks an upward shift from last year, when Chandigarh had scored 703 points to find a place in the “Prachesta-1” band (51-60 per cent). The climb into “Uttam3” this year puts Chandigarh a full grade ahead of every other state and UT. The feat comes on the back of the city’s three consecutive PGI top fin- TO REACH 61-70% BAND A GRADE HIGHER ONLY ONE IN ‘UTTAM-3’ Climbs from ‘Prachesta-1’ (51-60%) in 2023-24 to ‘Uttam-3’ this year Chandigarh is the sole state/UT to reach the 61-70% grade band in 2025-26; none reached higher grades Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Dadra & Nagar Haveli-Daman & Diu all placed one grade below ishes in 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24, taking Chandigarh’s run at the top to four straight years in an index that benchmarks states and UTs on 70 indicators across learning outcomes, access, infrastructure, equity, governance and teacher training. AHEAD OF THE PACK “Four years running at the top, and this year climbing a full grade higher than every other state and UT, is not a coincidence, it is the result of sustained and systemic work across every department that touches a child’s school life,” Education Secretary Prerna Three dead as SUV rams into truck near Bajheri toll plaza Gaurav Kanthwal Tribune News Service Mohali, July 7 Three occupants of an SUV, including a newlywed couple, were killed after their vehicle rammed into the rear of a container truck near the Bajheri toll plaza on the IT City-Kurali national highway on Tuesday morning. The truck driver claimed he had applied the brakes suddenly to avoid running over a snake on the road. Moments later, the speeding SUV travel, ling from the Airport Road towards Kurali, crashed into the truck from behind. The front portion of the SUV was crushed underneath the truck, trapping the occupants inside. The newly opened stretch of the national highway has a maximum speed limit of 100 kmph and currently witnesses relatively light traffic. The deceased have been identified as Pratyush Jain, a businessman from Mehatpur; his wife, Harshita, who Newlywed couple among victims The mangled remains of the car being removed from the IT City-Kurali expressway near Bajheri village in Kharar. was seated in the front passenger seat; and Suresh Kumar, a lawyer from Dehlan village in Una district, who was travelling in the rear seat. Passersby used iron rods to pry open the mangled vehicle and help rescue teams extricate the victims. Personnel of the Sadak Surakhya Force (SSF) rushed them to the Civil Hospital, Kharar, where doctors declared them brought dead. The bodies have been kept in the hospital mortuary for postmortem. Ashwani Jain, uncle of Pratyush Jain, said Pratyush, Harshita and family continued on page 3 UT heritage to go under hammer in US, Spain Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 7 Weeks after the Ministry of External Affairs’ intervention led to the withdrawal of Chandigarh’s heritage furniture from an auction in Paris, fresh listings of similar pieces have surfaced at upcoming auctions in the United States and Spain, according to reports reaching the UT Administration. The development comes even as the process to bring two heritage chairs, identified in the stalled Paris auction, back to India is underway. Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, taking note of a report published in The Tribune’s website on the fresh listings, assured that steps Will take steps to stall upcoming auctions: Kataria Heritage items listed for Spain and US auctions. would be taken to stall the upcoming auctions as well. Speaking to The Tribune, Kataria said he would direct UT officials to take up the matter with the Ministry of External Affairs, on the lines of the process followed in the Paris case, where the auction house withdrew the listed lots following the ministry’s intervention. He said the process to bring back the two heritage chairs scheduled for the Paris auction is underway, and Chandigarh’s property, tak- en out of the city without authorisation, is likely to be brought back shortly. The furniture, designed by Pierre Jeanneret for Chandigarh’s public buildings and educational institutions in the 1950s and 1960s as part of the city’s modernist architectural project, has in recent years become a sought-after item in the international market. Pieces from the city’s original inventory keep surfacing periodically at overseas auction houses. The Tribune had earlier highlighted the listings in Brussels and Paris featuring pieces attributed to Chandigarh’s inventory. Following the news report, an FIR was registered on the complaint that the furniture had been continued on page 3 c m y b Puri told The Tribune. “This result tells us our investments in classroom transaction, teacher training and digital learning are translating into measurable gains. Our next task is to close the gap on learning outcomes and equity,” she added. Punjab Governor-cumUT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria said the achievement was a matter of pride for the city. “For Chandigarh to stand alone at the top for the fourth year running, and to be the only one in the country to reach this grade, reflects the collective commitment of our teachers, officials and parents. It shows that when infrastructure, governance and classroom practice move together, results follow. My message to the department is simple — do not settle; keep raising the bar.” At the district level, Chandigarh also features among the 19 top-performing districts nationally to reach the “Uttam-2” grade in 2025-26, up from 16 districts last year. The list is led by seven districts from Punjab, four from Delhi, three from Kerala and two from Maharashtra, with continued on page 3 MAX 36°C | MIN 26°C YESTERDAY MAX 36.6°C | MIN 25.6°C SUNRISE THURSDAY 5:28 AM /THETRIBUNECHD City tops school education rankings for 4th straight yr PARTLY CLOUDY SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.27 PM » WEDNESDAY | 8 JULY 2026 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE CHB plans to withdrawSector53 housing scheme for third time Dushyant Singh Pundir Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 7 Scrapped twice earlier, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) again plans to withdraw the general housing scheme in Sector 53 despite conducting two demand surveys. However, a final decision will be taken on the discontinuation of the scheme in a meeting of the Board of Directors of the CHB scheduled for Wednesday. After nearly a decade, the CHB had planned to relaunch the general housing scheme in Sector 53 after Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria approved the project. In August 2023, then Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit had scrapped the scheme, calling it unnecessary. Consequently, the CHB had cancelled the Rs 200-crore tenders floated on August 2, 2023, for the construction of 372 flats on nine acres. However, his successor Gulab Chand Kataria revived it in November 2024. In July 2025, the CHB started the process to launch the scheme and proposed 192 HIG units, 100 MIG flats and 80 EWS flats on nearly 9 acres. In a meet- Final decision to be taken at a meeting of Board of Directors today EARLIER REJECTIONS ■ First proposed in 2018: The scheme received just 178 applications for 492 flats, primarily due to high prices, forcing the CHB to withdraw it. ■ August 2023: Then Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit scrapped the scheme, calling it unnecessary. ing held on September 11, 2025, the Administrator issued directions to the Chief Architect to explore ways to divide 8.975 acres of land into two pockets as per the existing norms, which could be sold by the CHB as group housing sites. The Administrator directed the Chief Architect to further explore the possibility of enhancing the floor area ratio (FAR), building height, density etc, to make the scheme financially viable for the EWS category. The Chief Architect was to apprise the authorities about the feasible options other than group housing available under the Master Plan to sell the land. In view of the meeting held on September 11, 2025, under the Chairmanship of the Administrator, the matter will be placed before the Board of Directors for approval for discontinuation of the scheme tomorrow. The CHB had received an overwhelming response to the demand survey completed in March last year for the proposed scheme. The CHB received 7,468 applications for only 372 flats — nearly 20 applicants per unit — indicating a strong demand for CHB housing. The housing scheme in Sector 53 has been derailed several times for nearly a decade. First proposed in 2018, the scheme received just 178 applications for 492 flats, primarily due to high prices — Rs 1.8 crore for a three-bedroom, Rs 1.5 crore for a two-bedroom and Rs 95 lakh for a one-bedroom unit — forcing the CHB to withdraw the scheme. The last CHB scheme was floated in 2016 for 200 twobedroom flats in Sector 51. The issue of waiving the lock-in-period condition from 10 years to five years for 200 two-bedroom flats under Self Financing Housing Scheme 2016 in Sector 51-A will also come up for discussion.