Chandigarh, Sep 24 : With an aim to earn public goodwill ahead of state elections, Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal has resolved to give free bicycles to high school students.

Talking to reporters here, Badal said: "All students of higher secondary schools will be given (bicycle for free) because they have to travel, often four to five miles, to reach their schools. How can they can go on foot? Generally poor people study in village schools."

Chandigarh, Sep 21 - Their mobile phones are ringing thanks to "Kaun Banega Crorepati" (KBC), but the calls have nothing to do with millions of rupees. A prank by Bollywood superstar and show host Amitabh Bachchan has ushered in a nightmarish time for the users of 10 mobile phone numbers in Punjab.

In a recent episode, Bachchan had randomly given out a mobile number when a participant at the show pestered him for his contact.

A raid by the Income Tax Department of Chandigarh, gained them Rs 2.90 crore of cash and ornaments amounted to 20 lakh rupees, from the house of two businessmen in the city.

The department has blocked around 10 bank lockers held by the businesspersons and were due to be opened for further investigation on Monday. The department will reveal about the bank details after the complete inquiry commenced on the two parties.

Sector 25 would now boast a new Sewa Sadan which would be especially catering to Himachal Pradesh natives.

The announcement came from Public Works Minister Thakur Gulab Singh.

Conversely, Himachal Pradesh CM Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal asserted that the Sadan would soon be opened for Himachal natives.

Speaking at a press conference, the Public Works Minister further accounted that from past many months, residents were continuously demanding a rest house in City Beautiful.

Chandigarh, Sep 2 (IANS) The ruling Akali Dal Friday sought a probe as to why a senior lawyer misled the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the voting rights of Sehajdhari Sikhs in the SGPC elections of Sep 18.

The Akali Dal demand came just after Home Minister P. Chidambaram told parliament that no changes had been made in the norms of the SGPC election and that the exercise would be held according to schedule.

Chandigarh, Aug 24 : Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Prakash Singh Badal has backtracked on his earlier stand of including the Prime Minister and the higher judiciary in the Lokpal Bill.

"Judiciary should be in its ambit. The Prime Minister should also be in its ambit, so that an effective Lokpal bill is made so that everyone should be scared to indulge in such acts (of corruption)," said Badal.

Chandigarh, Aug 23 : Pro-Anna Hazare agitators Tuesday held a protest outside the private residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the upscale Sector 11 here.

The protesters openly defied prohibitory orders enforced Monday by the additional district magistrate outside the house.

Nearly 25-30 protesters, including women, carried the national flag and posters and banners and staged a sit-in outside the house.

Chandigarh, May 28 - Undisclosed income worth Rs. 55 crore (Rs. 550 million) was found during income tax raids at the premises of the Ind-Swift group, a leading pharmaceutical company in northern India, officials said Saturday.

The raids were conducted late Friday at over 15 premises of Ind-Swift group here, income tax officials here said.

Gul Panag will tie the nuptial knot with her former classmate and boy friend Rishi Attari on Sunday.

Rishi Attari is a pilot by profession.

Gul and Rishi will have a secret Punjabi wedding in Chandigarh, to be attended by their close relatives.

The reports said that ace fashion designers Anita Dongre and JJ Vallaya have designed their marriage outfits.

Recently, the 'Turning 30' actress threw a gala bachelorette party in the national capital for her friends.

The mehendi and sangeet ceremonials will rake place in Chandigarh.

Chandigarh-based Rs 1,144-crore Surya Pharmaceuticals has acquired US-based over-the-counter (OTC) analgesic drug brand ActivOn including its global marketing rights by paying $22 million.

Surya Pharmaceuticals, having net revenue of Rs 1,144 crore in financial year 2009-10, has already got assurance from Exim Bank that will finance the acquisition, according to firm's filing before the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Chandigarh, Aug 14 - Bollwood film producer Mahesh Bhatt, noted journalist-writer Kuldeep Nayar and many social activists will light peace candles at the Attari-Wagah border and exchange sweets with people from the Pakistani side Saturday night. The Border Security Force (BSF) has made elaborate security arrangements at the border post, an official said.

The BSF said it will beef up security at the Attari-Wagah joint land border checkpost between India and Pakistan to ensure smooth Independence Day celebrations there Saturday midnight.

Chandigarh, July 11 : Moderate to heavy rainfall greeted Chandigarh and its surrounding areas Sunday morning, making the weather somewhat cool and pleasant.

However, it was soon followed by bright sunshine.

Weathermen have predicted more rainfall in various parts of Punjab and Haryana.

"We are expecting light to moderate showers in various parts of this region till Sunday night. We also expect heavy rainfall accompanied with thunderstorms at many places in Punjab on Monday. It could bring a marginal dip in the mercury during the day," a Met official said.

According to reports, the Chandigarh government has decided to spend around Rs 48 crore during the existing financial year to promote facilities and infrastructure in subsisting schools.

Moreover, the report also said that the administration will also set up new schools in the union territory.

Chandigarh, May 3  : The bail plea of former Haryana Police chief SPS Rathore, will come up before sessions court in Chandigarh on Monday.

Rathore was sentenced to six months in jail for molesting 16-year-old Ruchika Girhotra.

He had moved the plea against the sentence and his conviction.

Sixty-eight -year-old Rathore, a 1965 batch IPS officer, who retired in 2002, was awarded the sentence by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on December 22, 2009, for molesting Ruchika, a budding tennis player, in 1990.

The Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh better known as country's first smoke-free city is all geared up to authorize tobacco vendors  with licenses in order to promote the  so that the provisions of the Control of Tobacco Products Act (COTPA).

As the UT Home-cum-health Secretary Ram Niwas states, 'This proposal has already been approved in the meeting of Chandigarh Tobacco Control Cell (CTCC) and very soon, we will start working in the direction of implementing it'.

It was reported as breaking news on Friday, flames split open in Chandigarh Public Hospital, no causalities reported.

Patients managed to escape from the hospital, the trauma centre and next-door operation theatre in sector-16 experienced damage due to fire.

Doctors state that 12 patients were in the trauma centre when this accident occurred but every patient was safely pushed out of the centre before flames harm lives.

Fire was controlled by 4 fire tenders and all the patients are rescued safely.

Ace veteran superstar and former MP Dharmendra has been admitted to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education (PGIMER) in Chandigarh after he complained of chest pain.

Physicians at the PGIMER stated that the actor's physical condition was being examined and he was being kept under observation.

The actor had complained of tiredness and pain in the chest.

A PGIMER representative said that Dharmendra was being examined by expert medical doctors at the institute and he would be discharged soon.

A step towards advancement undertaken by the UT education department has led to a proposal for introducing smart classrooms, i. e. classrooms equipped with audio-visual aids.

Some of the Kings XI Punjab players, including all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and pacer V. R. V. Singh, apparently broke the security by going out without informing the police in Chandigarh, the city of their Indian Premier League, where they are supposed to play against Delhi Daredevils.

A stern action for not informing has been taken by the Chandigarh police, which feel that some star players including Yuvraj, ignored security directions and went to "unknown destinations" without informing the police on Friday.

Chandigarh police officials have forwarded a written complaint to Indian Premier League (IPL) functionaries and the board of the Kings XI Punjab team Yuvraj Singh and another local player V. R. V. Singh elapsing from the Mountview hotel where the players are staying.