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“We would have to wait for the birds to be slaughtered. The customers at times demand that birds be slaughtered in front of their eyes so that they are assured of fresh meat. The orders of the Municipal Corporation are not acceptable to us,” said Kumar. According to the MC,the aim of getting birds slaughtered at the slaughterhouse is to assure residents that the meat is hygienic. However,the move does not seem to augur well with the meat sellers who did not supply meat anywhere in the city today.

Girl’s fall at St Xavier’s: NGOs raise queries

CHANDIGARH: Several NGOs have come forward and raised questions about the St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School incident. While All India Human Rights Watch,along with the student’s parents,held a press conference at Fortis hospital,the Citizen Council for Human Rights demanded the suspension of the school principal and other staff members. All India Human Rights Watch Chairman Anil Kaushik said that there was a delay in taking any action or investigations on the part of the police authorities and alleged that the Principal had tampered with the evidence. “If the police fail to take any action within 24 hours,we will file a writ petition in the High Court,’ warned Kaushik.

‘BCom 3rd year exam paper leaked’

CHANDIGARH: Rumours were spread across the city on Wednesday evening that one of the papers of the BCom 3rd year exam had been leaked. Paper V (Entrepreneurship & Small Business),with the subject code 0825,is scheduled from 2:15 pm to 5:15 pm on Thursday. When contacted,PU Controller of Examinations Prof A K Bhandari said,“These are only rumours and nothing of such an incident has come to my knowledge. But if confirmed,the university will postpone the paper.”

Riot,terror victims get 200 Aerocity plots

MOHALI: Completing the process of allotment for its first and much-hyped residential urban estate,Aerocity,the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) on Wednesday allotted 200 plots to riot- and terrorism-affected families under the reserved category through a draw of lots. In the presence of an official observer,senior IAS officer Anjali Bhawra,200 applicants were selected from a total of 3,526. Over 500 applicants witnessed the draw of lots that was held at PUDA Bhawan,Sector 62,here and was videographed. Letters of intent (LoIs) will be issued to the successful applicants in a fortnight,said a senior GMADA official,adding that the names of the successful applicants had been downloaded on the official GMADA website (www.gmada.gov.in). Already,3,800 plots were allotted through draw of lots from a record of almost 3.22 lakh applicants.

British Library marks World Book Day

CHANDIGARH: As part of the celebrations on World Book Day,British Library will organised a book exhibition from April 18 to 23. Nearly 300 new titles to match the reading habits of the members of the library will be on display. The collection has been developed on the basis of feedback received from the members of the library. As a part of this celebration,“A Book by Its Cover” event was organised on Tuesday,in which about 25 students from various schools participated.

‘Smiling future’ for special children

PATIALA: Taking a step towards encouraging specially-abled children,the Patiala wing of Youth United organised a fund raising event called ‘Smiling Future’. The event for physically and mentally challenged children was organised at the auditorium of Thapar University,Patiala. The children from three schools — BE Asha School,School for Deaf & Blind and Narang Speech School — participated in the event. The Chief Guest,Patiala ADC Anandita Mitra and several other guests like Mukherjee,wife of the Thapar University director,Parokshit,personal counselling head of Lakshya,Meena Joshi,Head of Bhartiya Vikas Parishad’s Patiala operations,and Shweta Goyal,faculty advisor of Youth United,were present on the occasion.