Airport footfall dwindles as Covid cases surge
The Chandigarh International Airport has recorded a 40 per cent drop in footfall in the past two weeks, due to the surge in Covid cases in the region. The airport was having a daily footfall of around 10,000 till January 10. This figure has fallen to 6,000 per day of late. Also, out of the total of 38 flights that used to operate from this airport, 10 have been non-operational. Some of the airlines have reduced their number of daily flights due to the current situation. It can be noted that last year, the Chandigarh International Airport had incurred a loss of nearly `40 crore due to the Covid pandemic and lockdown.
Waste processing plant to be repaired, no new one
The General House of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has approved the repair of a waste processing plant at Dadumajra. It will cost Rs 6.33 crore. Because setting up a new one and making it functional will take time, authorities have decided to repair and the existing plant. This agenda was brought in the House after Chandigarh Administrator Banwarilal Purohit visited the dumping ground and asked authorities to find out a solution within three months. It was decided that the existing one will be repaired instead of installing a new one right now. The existing plant at Dadumajra has not been functioning ever since the Municipal Corporation took over the responsibility of running it in 2020. Before that, a private firm was in charge of running the waste processing plant.
Taekwondo wonder makes Chandigarh proud
Tarushi Gaur,12, has been awarded the Pradhan Mantri Bal Shakti Award for excelling in taekwondo. A student of The British School, Sector 44, she has been training at Emerald Martial Arts in Panchkula since the age of three under Shiv Raj Gharti, who is a fifth Dan Black Belt from South Korea. Gaur got the award in the sports category from PM Narendra Modi during a virtual ceremony which was telecast live on Doordarshan on Monday. Gaur is the first to get this award for taekwondo. She is the youngest girl to win degree one and degree two black belt in taekwondo in India.
Lakhs spent on getting fancy VIP numbers
The craze for the VIP registration number continues with people ready to spend any amount to get fancy numbers. The CH-01-CH series fetched the highest bidding price of Rs 24.40 lakh against the reserve price of Rs 50,000 during an e-auction conducted by the Chandigarh Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA). This is the second highest bid for 0001 number ever in the history of the city. As in 2012, the 0001 registration number of the CH-01-AP series was auctioned for a whopping Rs 26.05 lakh that was the highest ever bid for this number. Meanwhile the registration number 0101 of the CH-01-CH series fetched the second highest amount of Rs 7.30 lakh.
Harpreet Bajwa
Our correspondent in Chandigarh hsbajwa73@gmail.com