Top Headlines of the Day 

1. Chandigarh reports 61 more covid-19 cases; tally reaches 14,476

Chandigarh on Sunday reported 61 more coronavirus cases, taking the infection count to 14,476, according to a health bulletin.

There are 618 active cases as of now and the death toll stands at 226, it said.

Eighty-one patients were discharged after they recovered from the infection, taking the number of cured persons to 13,632, as per the bulletin.

2. 26 test positive in Panchkula

The district today reported 26 fresh cases of Covid and the tally rose to 7,150.

  Four new cases were from Sector 7, three each from Kalka, Sector 26 and Sector 6, two each from Pinjore, Sector 11, Sector 15, Sector 20 and Sector 8 and one each from the MDC, Sector 4, the MDC, Sector 5, and Sector 9.

3. Boating at such lake finally resumes

Boating at the Sukhna Lake finally resumed on Sunday, eight months after it was closed due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Residents gave a good response, with officials confirming that Rs 1.64 lakh was earned on the first day itself.

Deputy general manager of Chef Lakeview Hotel, Vineet Chopra, said, “Even though we were functioning at half capacity, there was a good amount of rush on the first day. Boating is a major attraction at Sukhna Lake and we expect more takers in the coming days.”

4. Government schools in Chandigarh reopen for classes 9 to 12

After remaining open for academic consultations for over a month, Chandigarh’s 93 government schools will begin regular classroom teaching for Classes 9 to 12 from Monday.

Schools have remained closed since March this year due to the Covid pandemic, though online classes have been going on.

To prevent congestion, classes will be organized in two batches, the first from 9 am to 11:30 am for Classes 10 and 12, and the second from 12 pm to 2:30 pm for Classes 9 and 11.

Students will need to submit the consent of their parents, and attendance won’t be compulsory. Online classes will continue to remain the preferred medium of teaching.

5. OPDs to resume at PGI, GMCH, Sector 32, today

Two tertiary care hospitals of the city — the PGI, Sector 12, and the GMCH, Sector 32, — are all set to open OPDs from Monday. Patients will be given an appointment in both hospitals through teleconsultation only. However, the PGI has planned to screen patients for Covid-19 before sending them to OPDs directly.

The timings for the registration for teleconsultation at the PGI will be from 8 am to 9.30 am. The general surgery, internal medicine, pediatric medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and ophthalmology departments will start daily OPDs at the PGI.

Dr. Pandey said: “Patients will be called in hourly slots as mentioned in their appointment cards. One patient will be allowed with one attendant only. They will be seated in the waiting area and will be sent to their respective OPDs in batches of 10. There are only one entrance and one exit for patients. There will be a separate entry for staff.”

5. The center all set to bring Panjab university of Chandigarh under its direct control

aking another step against Punjab and the Punjabi culture, the BJP-led central government of India is all set to bring the Punjab University, Chandigarh under its direct control by replacing the university’s elected government body with a centrally nominated board of governors.

Presently, control of the university is shared between the Punjab government and the Central government. With the proposed move, it will go under full control of the latter and it will lose its autonomy. 

The present senate of the university is expiring on October 31. Neither its term has been extended, nor have its elections been conducted. This situation has paved the way for its reigns going to the hands of the Central government that has recently scrapped Punjabi as the official language in Jammu and Kashmir.

Well-wishers of Punjab, Punjabi language, and Punjabi culture are quite worried over this move as it will be a great setback for Punjab. “This is another attack by the Modi government on Punjabis. As per speculations, the central government would issue an ordinance to abolish the senate and its executive body syndicate as was threatened by BJP MP from Chandigarh Kiran Kher”, said Pali Bhupinder Singh, a Punjabi activist.

6. Student union opposes move to ‘change’ PU status

In a press statement released today, the PSU members said it had been learned that the UGC had sent a letter to the university stating that as per the new education policy, the Senate and Syndicate would not be formed, and instead a Board of Governors would be formed, whose members wouldn’t be elected but rather be nominated by the Central Government.

The term of the Senate, the apex body of the university, ended on October 31.

7. Citing winter, Chandigarh mc puts off-road recarpeting work again

Work to begin after March next year; earlier, the civic body had postponed it due to Covid-induced lockdown and monsoon

After Covid-19 lockdown and monsoon, the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) has hit another hurdle in starting road repair and recarpeting works in the city—the onset of winters.

MC officials say they will now be able to start road repairs for the current financial year (2020-2021) only by the end of February or March when the winter season ends. The civic body has not even finished last year’s pending works, worth Rs 23 crore, the deadline for which has now been revised to November-end.

8. In-house weekly prize money tourneys gear up local golfers for the pro circuit

After almost seven-and-half months, the country’s professional golfing circuit will resume on November 4 from Chandigarh and Panchkula simultaneously. But apart from playing on their home turf, the local golfers will have the advantage of competing in the in-house weekly prize money events for the last four months.

With lockdown forcing the professional golfers to stay away from the competition since mid-March, the Chandigarh Golf Club started its own in-house weekly prize money tournament to give the professional golfers a feel of the competitive circuit. An entry fee and small prize money for the top-five finishers added more thrill to the event.

“It (referring to an in-house weekly tournament) was like playing a round of the proper competition. We faced the same amount of pressure we felt while playing in any pro event. No one can afford to take a shot lightly or for granted. Everyone played his best and winning has always been a pride,” says India’s one of the most successful professional golfers, Jeev Milkha Singh.

9. Planning to travel during festivals? Check the new train timetable

The Railways has changed the timetable of several trains starting today. These include about 30 Rajdhani trains. Soon, the schedule of remaining passenger trains and goods trains will also be changed.

Notably, every year the railway changes the timetable of trains from July 1 but this year, due to the corona pandemic, rail services in the country were stopped barring a few special trains. Therefore, the change in the schedule of trains is being implemented in November. Check Here

10. 2-day school pm from today

The state School Education Department has directed the conduct of PTM in all schools on November 2 and 3 to evaluate and improve the education standard of students of classes I to XII.