CN & Heard: Big deal

The members of the Finance and Contract Committee expressed objections that the officials of the Municipal Corporation were not incorporating their suggestions for the policy to be made on the Night Food Street. One of the grouses was that the menu still contained non-vegetarian items when it had been decided that only vegetarian food would be served. The officials have now been asked to revise the menu.

Old is gold

At the recently held Independence day function,the outgoing Deputy Commissioner Brijendra Singh fainted due to the humid weather and his bandhgala suit,within an hour of the function’s onset. Just then a senior administration official was heard remarking,“When it comes to stamina,a 75-year-old can easily beat these 40-something officers”.

Big event

With the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) having become strict about the participation of all top state cricketers in the inter-district cricket tournament for the Katoch Shield,players like Mandeep Singh and Rahul Sharma have decided to take part in the tournament ahead of the New Zealand tour,making it a star-studded affair. They have been selected in the India A team for the Kiwi series,but they must participate because the PCA has made it mandatory for all available cricketers to compete in the Katoch Shield tournament for their respective districts. If other Punjab cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh did not have their comebacks in the Indian team for the T-20 WC in Sri Lanka ,they would have also played in the inter-district tournament.

Inspiring

The few women boxers at the Sector 42 boxing centre and SD Public School,Sector 32 in Chandigarh are excited about boxer Mary Kom’s feat after she won the bronze medal in the London Olympics recently. The young trainees have adopted their own nicknames for Mary Kom. Some call her ‘Magnificent Mary’ and for some others,she is ‘Super Mom Mary’. With news that there is a strong possibility that the AIBA will push for all ten weight categories in the next Olympics,the youngster are upbeat. “We are happy that a woman boxer has won a medal. Many of us have Mary Kom’s posters in our room and we wish that she visits Chandigarh some day,” said a trainee.

Baking excuses?

Even after the issuance of notices by the administration to bakery and allied food products manufacturers threatening closure,the owners don’t have a satisfactory answer to the hygiene concerns raised by the authorities. Recently,none of the owners present had installed electric fly catchers in their shops saying that ‘it is,after all,a machine and not hundred per cent reliable’. On the question of maintaining cleanliness in and around the shop,an owner said,“If we wash,clean or sweep too much,the landlord starts thinking that we are planning to capture their property,” he said.

Thank God!

At Panjab University (PU),the Dean,University Instructions (DUI),Bhupinder Brar,is about to retire by the end of this month. He will be succeeded at the post by Professor R K Kohli from the Botany department. Brar said that he is relieved and happy to retire from the post,especially at this time,when student parties are staging protests at the drop of a hat. He said that the students have fallen into the habit of having authorities conceding to all their demands,even irrelevant ones,and it is upto the new Vice Chancellor now to set better standards. He said that most students at PU do not get involved with such petty issues but a handful students hold the University to ransom.

God Online

A television channel has picked a spot online and unveiled what it calls an innovative,first-of-its kind ‘virtual’ temple on the Facebook page of its new mythological show,‘Ramayan’. The Facebook page promises ‘a few moments of daily spiritual solace’ and to make it more real,the temple has been re-created on the lines of the Ram Durbar showcasing Lord Rama,Lakshman and Sita with Lord Hanuman.

Not only this,there will be features galore provided on the channel’s website that allow virtual devotees to ring the bell,light a diya,play a choice of aartis,shower flowers and smear haldi kumkum on the deities,break a coconut and even rotate the aarti ki thali! Coming soon: a mobile application that will make the virtual temple available to smartphone users and let them interact with ‘Ramayan’ through aartis and chaupaayis.

Conscious words

At a recent food festival at a CITCO hotel,the menu was all about high-calorie desserts and burgers and fried foods. Not looking to pile on the extra pounds,the reporter diligently cut half her dessert and placed it aside on an extra plate. The manager noticing this,was quick to remark: “You are a connoisseur.” Perhaps,the word he was looking for was ‘conscious’.

Honoured

Archana Chaudhary has been chosen as one of the 25 architects in India to be featured in a forthcoming book on “Women in Architecture in India”,authored by renowned woman architect Madhavi Desai of Ahmedabad. The book analyzes the characters,personal growth and role models as well as the impact of the feminist movement.

Archana is the only one in the region to have been chosen for this. Archana Chaudhary,Architect-Planner,Housing Board Haryana has vast experience in the area of architecture,planning and architectural education. She has received awards in the field and her projects have been exhibited at several occasions like ArchiFest 2011 organised by Singapore Institute of Architects,Singapore and Young Architects Festival,2011.

The Vishy Effect

It seems that meeting top players not only helps one realise a life-long dream but also takes the game to another level. It certainly was in Tarini Goyal’s case. After meeting Viswanathan Anand,the five time world champion,in Chandigarh,Tarini learned several tricks from the chess wizard. In the recently concluded Under-11 nationals at Jamshedpur,Tarini was a completely new player and her consistent performance helped her win a bronze medal. Call it the Vishy effect.