Chandigarh Diary

Express News Service

President Kovind likely to inaugurate aviaryPresident Ram Nath Kovind is likely to inaugurate the four-acre aviary at Nagar Van (City Forest) near Sukhna Lake on November 16. Kovind will be in the city for the centenary celebrations of Punjab Engineering College on November 16. The Chandigarh Administration is trying to include the inauguration of the aviary in his schedule. The Chandigarh Forest and Wildlife Department has set up this aviary. There are roughly 1,470 birds of 46 species. It has separate enclosures for aquatic and terrestrial birds. It has been developed on the lines of Jurong Bird Park in Singapore. The aviary will later be opened for public.

Singh to take over as Deputy CommissionerVinay Pratap Singh will be the new Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh city. A Haryana-cadre Indian Administrative Service officer of 2011 batch, Singh is presently posted as Deputy Commissioner of Panchkula in Haryana, the neighboring district of Chandigarh. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet and Department of Personnel and Training in Union Government have approved the proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs for an inter-cadre deputation of Singh for a period of three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier. The Haryana government had sent the names of Vinay Pratap Singh, Prabhjot Singh and Mukul Kumar to the Chandigarh Administration for the post of the DC, which is reserved for a Haryana-cadre IAS officer. 

Licence fee exemption on cards for vendorsThe Chandigarh Municipal Corporation is mulling  to exempt registered street vendors from paying vending licence fee for the period when Covid-19 restrictions were imposed in the city. The corporation in its November 12 meeting will bring up this point for approval. It is proposed that the exemption should be given for May when the Chandigarh Administration had imposed restrictions. But councillors might demand to increase the period of exemption. The vendors pay between Rs 300 and Rs 2,000 per month depending upon their category and area of vending. 

Rs 1.43 cr from fancy car numbers auctionVIP registration numbers auctioned by the Chandigarh Registration and Licensing Authority has fetched Rs 1.43 crore. The registration number 0001 in the new series CH-01-CG fetched the highest bid of Rs 11.20 lakh at an e-auction conducted by RLA. While CH01-CG-0005 commanded the second-highest price of Rs 5.03 lakh, the  third highest was 0009, which was sold for Rs 5.02 lakh. The number 0007 went for Rs 4.63 lakh, 0003 for Rs 4.41 lakh, 0002 for Rs 2.80 lakh, 9999 for Rs 2.66 lakh, 0006 for Rs 2.36 lakh, 7777 for Rs 2.30 lakh and 0004 for Rs 2.27 lakh, 0008 sold for Rs 2.01 lakh.

Harpreet Bajwa Our correspondent in Chandigarh [email protected]