Chandigarh

After the partition of British India into the two nations of India and Pakistan in 1947, the region of Punjab was also split between India and Pakistan. The Indian state of Punjab required a new capital city to replace Lahore, which became part of Pakistan during the partition. After several plans to make additions to existing cities were found to be infeasible for various reasons, the decision to construct a new and planned city was undertaken. The city derives its name from Chandi Mandir, a temple of goddess Chandi, located in nearby Panchkula District of Haryana.

Of all the new town schemes in independent India, the Chandigarh project quickly assumed prime significance, because of the city's strategic location as well as Jawaharlal Nehru's (the first Prime Minister of independent India) personal interest in it.

On 1 November 1966, the newly-formed Indian state of Haryana was carved out of the eastern portion of the Punjab, in order to create Haryana as a majority Hindi speaking state, while the western portion of Punjab retained a mostly Punjabi-speaking majority and remained as the current day Punjab. However, the city of Chandigarh was on the border, and was thus created into a union territory to serve as capital of both these states. Chandigarh was due to be transferred to Punjab in 1986, in accordance with an agreement signed in August 1985 by Rajiv Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India at that time, with Sant Harchand Singh Longowal of the Akali Dal. This was to be accompanied by the creation of a new capital for Haryana, but the transfer has been delayed pending an agreement on which some villages in southern districts of Punjab, should be transferred to Haryana in exchange and Punjabi speaking parts of Haryana such as Jind, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Ambala etc. and Ganganagar of Rajasthan should be transferred to Punjab.

On 15 July 2007, Chandigarh became the first Indian city to go smoke-free[citation needed]. Smoking at public places has been strictly prohibited and considered as a punishable act by Chandigarh Administration.

Sukhna LakeChandigarh is located near the foothills of the Shivalik range of the Himalayas in Northwest India. It covers an area of approximately 114 km². and shares its borders with the states of Haryana in the south and Punjab in the north. The exact cartographic co-ordinates of Chandigarh are 30°44'N 76°47'E / ?30.74, 76.79.[3] It has an average elevation of 321 metres (1053 feet).

Chandigarh also houses many prominent institutes of higher learning, such as:

Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH)
Punjab Engineering College
PGIMER
Panjab University
GMCH Chandigarh
Government College of Fine Arts, Sector 10
Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology (CCET)
University Institute of Engineering and Technology (Panjab University)
University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS)
Chandigarh College of Architecture
Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology (Panjab University)
University Business School (UBS)
Centre for Defence and National Strategic Studies(CDNSS)(Panjab University)

Punjab University Fine Art MuseumSome other notable institutes include:

National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR)
Canadian Institute for International Studies
Indo Swiss Training Centre (CSIO), Sector 30