Top Headlines of the day
1. Kalka-Shimla train restarts from Oct 20
The Northern Railways will be restarting the seven-coach Himalayan Queen toy train on the Shimla-Kalka heritage railway track from October 20, more than seven months after rail services were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Station superintendent at Shimla Railway Station, Prince Sethi, said the train will depart from Kalka at 12:10 am and reach Shimla at 5:20 pm. It will leave Shimla at 10:25 am and reach Kalka at 4:00 pm. “Arrangements are being made to sanitize the station and four people will be deployed on the train to clean and sanitize the coaches,” Sethi said.
2. At 93%, Pkl’s Covid recovery rate best in Tricity
Panchkula has taken an unbeatable lead with a 93.36% recovery rate of Covid-19 patients followed by the city at 91.27% and Mohali at 90.87%. The Haryana town also has the lowest number of active patients of 344 in the Tricity. In Panchkula, 6,323 patients have defeated novel coronavirus out of 6,772 infected. As many as 60 new cases were reported on Friday. Five cases were from Amaravati Enclave, Bhainsa Tibba, sectors 6 and 16, four cases each from Surajpur, Pinjore and Sector 15, three cases each from Kalka, sectors 11, 12-A and 17 and one to two cases from Bakshiwala, Barwala, Indira Colony, Mahadev Colony, MDC-5 and sectors 2, 4, 10, 21 and 27.
3. Eye on heritage preservation, Chandigarh admin to give private buildings at Sector-17 Plaza a uniform look
To conserve Sector-17 Plaza’s architectural glory in tune with the city’s heritage, the UT administration will be undertaking the restoration of privately owned buildings here.
The project includes facade restoration and uniform flooring in all public corridors to make the buildings in Sector 17C and 17D look alike. Besides, all individual advertisement boards in front of the retail shops will also be removed.
“Most shop owners have also laid down their flooring using different materials and designs. These will be replaced with a uniform red stone as per the original heritage plan,” the official added.
“The administration briefed the market associations about the project in September. Though we welcomed the move, we have requested that the work be carried out block-wise instead of all at the same time,” said Neeraj Bajaj, president of the Chandigarh Business Council.
4. College students’ must apply for the national scholarship by Oct 31
Online application for “Central Sector Scheme for Scholarship for College and University Students” for 2020, first Renewal for 2019, second renewal 2018, third Renewal for 2017, and fourth Renewal for 2016 is available on the national scholarship portal (http://scholarships.gov.in).
The last date for submission of the online application form for renewal and fresh scholarship 2020 is October 31.
5. Day one of cinema halls reopening in Chandigarh: Alone viewer who recently recovered from Covid
At City Centre Mall, the Chandigarh resident, who sat alone in the hall with a capacity of 210, said that he had tested positive for Covid-19 on September 24 and recovered after getting proper treatment. Being a die-hard fan of cinema, he said, “I could not resist and came to watch a movie on the first day.”
“ I had not expected that I will be the only one to watch a movie here, but I loved it. My family members are also big fans of the cinema. But I told them, let me go first and watch a movie to check out the arrangements. I will bring them as well. The view of the big screen is something that you cannot enjoy on small screens or even online for that sake,” Shourie said.
6. Enacting the epic amid a pandemic
The crowd to witness Ramlila is growing day by day. At present, it is being staged in the city by six committees only. In the coming days, the number is set to increase, although it is certain that it will be considerably lower than last year.
Around 150 spectators gathered at the Sector 7 ground today to watch the epic tale.
7. New DC office in Chandigarh to be as high as secretariat
The new building of the deputy commissioner’s (DC) office in Sector 17 will have the ground floor dedicated to public dealings and will be as high as the Secretariat in Sector 9
As per the latest plan prepared by the UT urban planning department, the building, which will come upon the vacant 2-acre land near the Shivalikview hotel, will have six floors, excluding the ground floor, and parking for around 600 cars in the basement.
The old DC office, which was designed by Swiss architect Pierre Jeanneret, will be converted into the National Gallery of Modern Art, said the official.
8. 10 Chandigarh heritage items designed by Jeanneret & Corbusier sold for Rs 2.11 cr
Ten heritage items designed by architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret were auctioned in the UK and sold for € 2,21,260 (Rs 2.11 crore) against the reserved price of Rs 1.50 crore. A wooden committee table designed for the Assembly and Administrative building, Chandigarh, was auctioned at the highest price, € 75,062 (Rs 71.57 lakh). A pair of low chairs were auctioned at € 35,062 (Rs 33.34 lakh). The low chairs were designed for the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and Panjab University (PU). A wooden folding screen fetched Rs 4.58 lakh.
