Ludhiana, October 19
The Doppler Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Range (DVOR) device installed at the Sahnewal airport has started functioning. That is why the Air India officials expect there won’t be any more flight cancellations and that is why the winter schedule has been kept same as the summer schedule.

The winter schedule will be the same as the lone Ludhiana (Sahnewal)-Delhi flight would operate thrice a week, i.e. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This schedule would formally come into force from October 27.

The DVOR device, which helps in landing during poor visibility conditions, was installed at the Sahnewal airport a few months back. In the absence of this device, a visibility of 5,000 metres was required while landing an aircraft and that is why several flights used to get cancelled.

While speaking to Ludhiana Tribune, Amrik Singh, manager, Air India, said the flight (number AI 9803) would depart from Delhi at 2:20 pm and land at Sahnewal at 3:35 pm. The same flight (number AI 9804) would depart from Sahnewal at 3:55 pm and land in Delhi at 5:15 pm.

“As the DVOR device is fully functional now, the visibility requirement has now come down to 2,400 metres. We expect there won’t be any flight cancellations now,” claimed Amrik Singh.

Having remained grounded for several years, the Ludhiana-Delhi flight resumed on May 13, 2010. But, owing to frequent cancellations in the absence of proper infrastructure, a few people use the service.

Ludhiana, October 19
Local MP and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari has once again lashed out at the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation and termed it a "total failure". He says it is because of the failures of the MC as a whole that the city residents are demanding funds for water tubewells from the local MP.

Reacting to this, Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria has "advised" the local MP to visit Ludhiana first to find out the truth instead of issuing press notes from Delhi.

While speaking to The Tribune on the phone, Manish Tewari said he didn't go around the city "gifting" tubewells. "It was after some city residents brought to his notice that they don't even have access to potable water, that I sanctioned funds for the installation of tubewells in the city. Had the MC provided basic civic amenities to the city residents itself, such a situation would have never arisen and the same funds would have been used for some other purposes. It's a sad commentary on the functioning of the MC," he said.

Manish Tewari said he was not pointing finger at either the Mayor or the MC Commissioner, "because the whole Ludhiana Municipal Corporation is a total failure and has miserably failed to provide even the basic civic amenities to the residents. So it was out of a sense of anguish that I had written to the MC Commissioner," he said.

Manish Tewari's staff claim that the MPLAD funds for the installation of 10 tubewells were provided on July 27 while for the remaining five were sanctioned in September.

"After the MC received the MPLAD funds, they had to just float tenders. These funds don't even need any approval from the finance and contract committee," claimed Pawan Dewan, president, District Congress Committee (Urban).

Meanwhile, Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria said he did not want to get into a controversy with Manish Tewari. "I feel that some person is misguiding him by doing a false propaganda against the civic body. I will urge Tewari to visit the MC office and see the file for himself to make sure whether we delayed the projects or not. It's easy to issue a press release from Delhi and Manish Tewari should find out the truth before making any such false claims," said the Mayor.

Gohalwaria also stated that the MC was already supplying ample potable water to the city residents. "We don't face a shortage of tubewells or funds," said Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria.

Ludhiana, October 19
As many as 42 dengue patients were tested positive today at the DMCH, CMCH, Gurdev Hospital, SPS Apollo Hospital and Mohan Dai Oswal Hospital here. Of these, 22 patients are from Ludhiana, 17 from the city and five from the peripheral areas. Seventeen patients are from Fatehgarh Sahib, four from Hoshiarpur, two each from Sangrur, Jalandhar and Kapurthala and one each from Mukatsar and Bathinda. Three patients from J&K also tested positive.

The total cases diagnosed in Ludhiana hospitals include 360 from Ludhiana district, 222 from other districts and 92 from other states.

Citing a research done by late Dr DS Antarkar of Poddha Ayurvedic College, Mumbai, in 1970-80, Dr Sharma said: "The findings of his research also proved that 'vasaka' increases platelet count." For some dengue patients, these ayurveda juices have proved to be a miracle. Sanjeev Verma, a school student, said: "I had contracted dengue. My mother kept giving me the juice of papaya leaves for a few days along with the medicine prescribed by the doctor. My platelet count shot up from 35,000 to more than 3 lakh within two days. I am perfectly alright now." A few people even prefer to take kiwi fruit as it is rich in Vitamin C and thus helps in increasing body immunity. Dr Monica Malhotra, Government Ayurvedic Medical Officer, said: “To increase body immunity, 'tulsi' leaves are also good."

Ludhiana, October 19
In a new twist to the alleged molestation case, in which Meetpal Singh Dugri, national vice-president, YAD, and two others have been booked, the wife of the main accused in the case, Harwinder Singh Bagga, consumed some substance in front of the Dugri police station. She was rushed to the CMC hospital where her condition is stated to be stable.

Earlier, the complainant in the molestation case had attempted to commit suicide outside the same police station last Saturday.

Meanwhile, supporters of Meetpal Singh Dugri, today staged a protest outside the police station and then blocked traffic on the Dugri Bridge. During the protest, the wife of Harwinder Singh Bagga, consumed some substance.

Paramjit Singh Gill, Commissioner of Police, suspended Jatinderjeet Singh, SHO, Dugri Police Station.

On October 11, a woman resident of the Dugri area attempted suicide outside the police station and after that the police had registered a case against Harwinder Singh bagga on charges of molestation. On Thursday, the police also included the nakes of some persons in the case, including Meetpal Singh Dugri.

Dugri alleged that they had already lodged a complaint against the woman that she had been sending derogatory SMSes to blackmail Harvinder Singh Bagga. "We have provided all the details and evidences to the police but the police did not take any action on our complaint. When the police summoned that woman, she consumed some poisonous substance at the police station to pressurise the police. The police registered a case of molestation under pressure," said Bagga.

Meanwhile, the daughter and son of the alleged molestation victim issued a statement in the evening. In this statement, they have demanded from Bikram Singh Majithia dismissal of such activists from the party. They alleged that the accused was pressurising the police with their political influence.

Mukhtiar Singh, ACP, said: "The police has been investigation the matter from all the angles. No one can pressurise the police with any action".

Ludhiana, October 19
Everyone gets attracted to colourful sweets and loves to satisfy his taste buds by partaking of them. Very few people know that many sweet makers decorate sweets with "aluminium foil" and use synthetic colours to make them more attractive. All this plays havoc with people's health, as these adulteration material are carcinogenic (cause cancer) and some major problems in the vital organs.

Experts from different departments suggest to remain extra cautious while buying sweets, specially in the ongoing festival season. While talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Food Safety Officer Manoj Khosla said: "One should avoid sweets having dark green, pink and brown colours. Such sweets usually have synthetic colours. Sweets with natural colours should be taken. The edible pink colour is very mild like baby pink".

He said one could test sweets decorated with "aluminium foil" by just scratching it. After scratching, it will take the shape of a small silver tablet.

District Health Officer Abnash Kumar said: "One should prefer sweets with natural colours, like off white sweets."

Giving tips to check whether the "khoya" used in a particular sweet is original or adulterated, Kusum Lata, a national award recipient and Headmistress of Government High School, Mundiyan, said: "Usually, adulterated khoya is prepared by mixing maida, milk powder, refined oil and sodium bicarbonate. Take a small quantity of khoya and put a few drops of citric acid on it. If there is effervescence, it means it is adulterated, as sodium bicarbonate always produces effervescence. Similarly, the sweets in which starch is added can also be tested with a simple test. Add some iodine solution on sweets, these will turn bluish black. "

She said some sweet makers use argemone seed oil (prepared with weeds), which is much cheaper than the refined oil. Sweets prepared with argemone seed oil don't smell pleasant. It makes sweets rencid, that means food gets oxidised and emanates foul smell. Eating such sweets can lead to dropsy, abdominal pain and retention of water in abdomen.

She said mitanil yellow colour and synthetic colours, which are usually added for giving colours to sweets, are carcinogenic. These colours may cause cancer. 

Ludhiana, October 19
In the absence of any clear policy on providing government land to religious organisations, the state government has recently decided to provide land on nine-years’ (minimum) lease to such social bodies in villages and city limits, for which necessary instructions have also been issued to all nagar councils, corporations, Municipal Corporations and Deputy Commissioners.

As per information, the letter regarding the same has been issued by the Department of Local Bodies, Punjab, through its Special Secretary.

As per instructions, if the municipality concerned finds an appropriate land, which could be given on lease to religious organisations, its 'Rakba' must be identified properly. Through open publicity, objections and claims must be invited first so that nobody could object later. For providing particular land on lease, applications must be invited, the Special Secretary stated.

Besidcs, a four-member committee comprising Regional Deputy Director (local bodies), a representative of the Deputy Commissioner, president of the municipality concerned and executive officer of the municipality will be formed, that will choose the religious organisation, to whom the land will be given on lease for nine years. And in case of the corporation, Mayors will be the members of the particular committees.

An official from the Local Bodies Department, Chandigarh, said the minimum amount of lease for a year would be five per cent of the collector rate. And which would be revised five per cent at the New Collector Rate every year.

“It has to be ensured by the government that the organisation to whom land has been given follow the building bylaws properly. The minimum time of the lease will be at least nine years and it will only be extended if all lease amount be timely paid by the organisation. And in case, the bodies will not follow the rules, the land will be taken back by the government,” said the official, adding that it was a “wise” step taken by the department to generate revenue as land in chunks in villages were lying vacant for several decades, which afterwards, were occupied illegally by occupants.

Ludhiana, October 19
The completion of the Lakkar Bridge project doesn’t seem to be in sight anytime soon. All hopes of erecting girders on a 35-metre portion of the Lakkar Bridge project were dashed out as the railways failed to get rail traffic closure.

The contractor rued that due to this “goof up” by the railways, he has suffered loss of lakhs of rupees as he had hired additional equipment and manpower for this work.

The sloppy handling of the Lakkar Bridge project by staff of the municipal corporation, the state Public Works Department and the Northern Railway has resulted in a four-fold increase in cost compared to what was originally envisaged.

When the project was initiated, its cost was estimated at Rs 13 crore, a figure that has now increased to about Rs 58 crore.

Though the upward ramps of the 933.162- metre-long bridge from the direction of the Civil Lines and the Reikhy cinema side have been constructed, the portion on top of the railway tracks is yet to be completed.

The contractor of Lakkar Bridge project rued that he had hired three big cranes for lifting and erecting six steel girders. “The girders and cranes had reached the site on Thursday and the trial was completed yesterday. But it was last evening that we came to know that the railway authorities have failed to grant us rail traffic closure, due to which this work was postponed. We have suffered a loss of around Rs 10 lakh due to this lapse on part of the railways. If they were not sure about getting the closure, they should not have asked us to make all arrangements,” rued the contractor.

A senior railways department official said they already had sanction for the train traffic closure, “but whenever such construction activity was to be carried out, we also require a clearance from the Commissioner (railway safety), New Delhi, which didn’t arrive yet.”

“We are hopeful of getting this clearance by next week and once it arrives, the girders would be erected,” said the official, requesting anonymity as he is not entitled to speak to media.

The plan to build a rail overbridge in place of the 105-year-old bridge was floated in 1997. At that time the municipal corporation had claimed the overbridge would provide easier access from the city’s older areas with newly developed ones and claimed the project would be completed within two years. The MC was to bear half the construction cost with the Ludhiana Improvement Trust picking up the tab for the rest.

Ravi Gupta, Deputy Chief Engineer, Railways, when contacted, said he was busy and could not talk.

Samrala/Machiwara Oct 19
Resenting the non-purchase of paddy, hundreds of farmers led by BKU president Balvir Singh Rajewal blocked the vehicular traffic at the main Samrala chowk on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh road for two hours.

Commuters faced difficulties in reaching their destinations due to the protest.

Rajewal threatened that the BKU would launch an agitation across the state if the Union and the state governments failed to make arrangements for purchase of paddy all over the state by Monday.

He said they would block all roads of the state from Monday and continue their struggle till the purchase of paddy, including discoloured paddy, gets started. Rajewal appealed the Chief Minister to take up the matter with the Centre at the earliest.

The BKU president appealed the Centre to take steps to lower the ratio of discoloured paddy and to lower the ratio of moisture specifications in the same.

He said with storm and unseasonal rains in the state, the quantity of paddy had decreased and had discoloured to some extent. The BKU had written a demand letter regarding the same to the Chief Minister on October 7 and appealed him to take this matter with the Centre.

The farmers raised slogans against the Centre and the state government and demanded relaxation for smooth purchase of paddy. The farmers submitted a memorandum to the Tehsildar, Samrala, in this regard and opened traffic only after about two hours. The traffic was diverted through other routes due to the protest.

Hundreds of farmers, labourers and commission agents blocked traffic for about five hours on the Machiwara-Samrala road under the leadership of the BKU president and demanded acceptance of their demands. Yesterday farmers had blocked the traffic at Khanna also on the Khanna-Samrala road for over one hour. Several leaders of different political parties, including the SAD and the Congress, participated in the protest.

Doraha, October 19
The local Arhtiya Association has gone on strike for an indefinite period.

The slow procurement of paddy by government agencies was said to be the main reason behind the strike.

SP Verma, president, Arhtiya Association, Doraha, said due to stringent conditions fixed by the Central Government regarding the procurement of paddy by agencies, the latter was not ready to procure it at any cost.

“Farmers are suffering and the arhtiyas are facing the heat due to the same,” he added.

Former Chairman of Market Committee Doraha, Gurjit Singh said discolouring and more than 17 per cent moisture was not acceptable to procurement agencies but was the farmer or the arhtiya to be blamed for the same. “The government should support them in the hour of need.

Former Vice-chairman of the committee Sarabjit Singh said it was the height of callousness on the part of the Central Government who was least bothered about early procurement and the situation from which the farmers and the arhtiyas are going through at present.

“Till the time the Centre relaxes the conditions for procurement, the process cannot begin at a considerable pace. The arhtiyas, if the authorities fail to listen to them, will be forced to block national highway,” he said.

Jagraon, October 19
All four members of a family, victim of a tragic incident in which a woman, Parminder Kaur, allegedly poisoned her husband and two minor children to death before committing suicide on late Wednesday night, were cremated here today amid tight police security.

Parminder’s NRI brother lit the pyre of Parminder Kaur and her children, Jisanveer Singh and Ishpreet Kaur, while the last rites of her husband, Gurpreet Singh, were performed by his father, Pritpal Singh. The police had made elaborate security arrangements during the cremation to avoid any untoward incident due to the tension prevailing among the families of Parminder Kaur and her husband, Gurpreet Singh.

Though there was no clash between the two families, the tension was visible on the faces of the members of both the families during the cremation. The members of both the families did not speak to each other at the cremation ground and left for their respective houses after performing the last rites.

Following the tragedy, the police had registered a case of murder against the deceased, Parminder Kaur, and a case of abetting her to suicide against five persons, including her father-in-law, Pritpal Singh, mother-in-law, Dilbag Kaur, sisters-in-law, Preeti and Jyoti, and her husband’s maternal uncle, Jatinderjit Singh Chaddha, on the basis of a suicide note written by Parminder before committing suicide.

In the suicide note, Parminder reportedly held the illicit relations of her husband, Gurpreet Singh, with other women. Ashish Chaudhry, SSP, Jagraon, said the case had been in the preliminary phase of investigation, and the police would arrest the accused only after obtaining substantial evidences against them.

“It was a huge tragedy and an unfeasible loss for the family. It will not be just to arrest the family members accused of abetting the woman to suicide at this juncture because the family has been going through a very tough time due to the tragic incident. Moreover, we cannot arrest anyone merely on the basis of a suicide note. The police has been trying to gather evidences and verify the authenticity of the content of the suicide note. The accused will be arrested once the police obtains the evidences it requires to arrest the accused,” he said.

Ludhiana, October 19
Hosts Guru Nanak Public School (GNPS), Sarabha Nagar, recorded victories in their matches in football and handball on the opening day of the CBSE North Zone Tournaments, which commenced at GNPS here today.

As many as 36 teams from across the North India, representing different schools affiliated with the CBSE, are taking part in this three-day event.

Sanjeev Sharma, Director Sports, North Zone, Sports Authority of India (SAI), inaugurated the meet and unfurled the games flag.

Speaking on the occasion, Sharma said private schools were playing an important role in promoting the sports as such institutions provided their students the best available infrastructure to hone their skills that helped them in bringing fame to their schools as well as the state.

Mona Singh, principal of GNPS, welcomed the chief guest and thanked him for sparing sometime to grace the occasion. Kunwardeep Kaur, sports captain, GNPS, read out the annual report highlighting the achievements by the school students in various tournaments in the recent past.

Surinder Singh, general secretary, GNPS, honoured SAI coaches, SS Pannu (athletics), Harinder Sharma (handball) and Jaspal Singh (table tennis).

Prabhdeep Singh, a state-level handball player from Guru Nanak Public School, took an oath on behalf of the participants to play in the true spirit of sportsmanship.

In football, two matches were played today in the girls’ section in which Amity International School, Gurgaon, and Guru Nanak Public School, Ludhiana, scripted victories.

In the first encounter, Muskan of Amity International School scored all important goals to steer her team to romp home victorious against Vidya Devi Jindal School, Hisar.

Hosts GNPS overpowered Shree Guru Harkrishan International School, Amritsar, 2-0 to advance into the second round.

In handball (boys’), Guru Nanak Public School, Ludhiana, drubbed Shri Krishna Pranani School, Bhiwani, 6-0; Shiksha Bharti Vidya Niketan, Kalayat, warded off a stiff challenge from Shri Krishna Pranani Public School, Bhiwani, before coming out winners 19-11; YS Public School, Barnala, defeated Army School, Gurdaspur, 7-0; GNPS, Ludhiana, overwhelmed MDN Public School, Kalayat, 8-0; Shah Satnam School, Sirsa, trounced West Point, Kotkapura, 14-2 and St Sophia Senior Secondary School, Hisar, pipped GN Convent School, Moga, 20-18.

In the girls’ section, Arya Girls Public School, Panipat, defeated YS Public School, Barnala, 3-0.

Amloh, October 19
Chief Judicial Magistrate-cum-Secretary Legal Services Authority Gurpreet Singh addressed a meeting of Class XII students to spread awareness among households through the students, teachers and PTA members at Government Girls’ Senior Secondary School, Amloh, today.

He said: “The meeting is a part of the campaign launched by the state government to provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of society. Mostly people suffer for want of knowledge about the legal facilities provided by the government.”

“Such residents may call toll-free police helpline 181 and legal services helpline 1968 for help, the name of the complainant will not be made public,” the CJM added.

He suggested students to form legal literacy clubs.

District Attorney Tejinder Singh spoke on the modes of legal services. Director, Education (SCERT), Roshan Lal Sood, was among those others present.

Principal Anjali Puri thanked the guests. Later, talking to mediapersons, the CJM said: “We have started the campaign on September 9, 2013, and have covered as many as 16 schools. In the next phase, 27 more schools will be covered in the district.”

Ludhiana, October 19
A seminar, 'Rising Crime Rate - Causes and Solutions', was organised at the Punjabi Bhawan today.

Organised by the Social Thinkers Forum and the Lok Sahit Manch, the seminar saw a joint participation of thinkers and residents in discussing various issues confronting the state. They condemned the rising crime and alleged that the patronage of a section of politicians, police and bureaucrats was also responsible for the rising rate of crime.

Shashi Kant (IPS), former DGP (Prisons), Punjab, said the drug mafia was ruining the life of youth and it was one of the major causes for increase in the crime rate.

He said such criminals could not flourish in the state without political patronage. Entry of criminals in politics was leading to the use of muscle and money power.

New Delhi-based Vijay Simha, a sobriety campaigner and counsellor said the youth of Punjab were taking to drugs due to several reasons. To deal with the menace, drug-peddlers must be given harsh punishments. There should be a chapter on drug addiction in textbooks and students should be educated about the ill-effects of the menace.

The state government must take efforts to curb this menace and should tighten noose around drug dealers, he added.

Mitter Sain Meet, former District Attorney, Ludhiana, alleged several loopholes in the judicial system help such criminals go scot-free in the absence of evidence. Non-filing of leak-proof chargesheets in courts by the police, defective investigation, undue weightage to the principle of “benefit of doubt” by courts and VIP treatment to influential criminals in jails were making the judicial system ineffective.

It was recommended during the seminar that the police laws should be amended and efforts be made to make it people-friendly.

It was also discussed in the seminar that arms licenses should not be issued to civilians and active steps should be taken to bring about changes in the legal system to provide speedy justice to victims.

Ludhiana, October 19
The Punjab International Dance Festival, organised by the Sangita’s Studio of Performing Arts, is seeing participation by different artistes and performers from various parts of the country teaching different genres of dance to the participants.

Trainers, including Salsa experts Teiti and Cristel from Carribea and Holland, respectively, Yavit and Titil from Delhi, Santosh Acharya and Suman from Mumbai, Satosh Ram from Bangalore, John Anthony from Bangalore, Belly dancing expert Meher Malik from Banjara Dance School, Sanjay Mahajan from MP, who is teaching Rajashani folk dances and Kathak exponent Harish Ghangani were among the participants in the festival. Many of them came to Punjab for the first time. They said people here were warm and welcoming and there was immense talent in the city.

Cristel from Holland said she had been to India earlier and had visited Delhi and Mumbai a couple of times.

Many students from the city and other parts of the country have been participating in the festival, being organised at the Lodhi Club, to learn the dance forms.

Dance forms, including Salsa, Zook, Rajasthani folk dance, Bachata, belly dancing, contemporary, besides others were being taught at the festival.

Students can choose any class they want to attend by taking the help of the programme schedule.

The festival also turn out to be a learning experience for the artistes and teachers as well as they attend classes taken by others as well, said one of the trainers.

“Because all participants love dance essentially and learning other dance forms adds to one's repertoire and helps innovate or improvise one’s dance form more, so we just want to add more to the festivities, said another artiste.

Folk dance expert Sanjay Mahajan said he had learnt many folk dance forms while participating in dance festivals.

The artistes also had a dance party at a dance club after the workshops.

Ludhiana, October 19
A team led by State Drug Controller Ajay Kumar Singla today raided four shops in the Pindi street and seized injections of steroids and anti-rabies worth Rs 1.84 lakh.

Giving details, Drug Inspector Sukhbir Chand said: “We raided as many as four shops of Pindi street today. We have collected 23 samples of different medicines from Gauatm Medical Hall, Gumbar Medical Store, Capital Pharma and JMD Medical Hall.

From JMD Medical Hall, we seized 264 anti-rabies Injections. These injections should be kept at a temperature of 2-8°C, but these were found kept at the room temperature.” Chand said: “As many as 600 injections of steroids were seized from JMD Medical Hall.”

The team that raided these shops comprised drug officials Dinesh Kumar Gupta, Drug Inspector Lajwinder, Perneet Kaur, Roop Preet Kaur and Balram Luthra.

Ludhiana District Chemist Association general secretary GS Chawla alleged: “We will meet the Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, on Monday and urge him not to harass chemists. If the police continued these acts, then we will go on an indefinite strike and the authorities will be held responsible for the same.”

Tikka Dalip Singh, general secretary of the Punjab Chemists Association, said: “The association is always against those persons who are dealing with habit-forming drugs and stands with the drug authorities and the Police Department to control this social evil.” He alleged that “Patiala district (Rajpura) police unnecessarily harasses chemists mainly from Ludhiana district and book them under the NDPS Act without any seizure.

They had arrested our members from their houses during the wee hours, without informing the local police or neighbours, in the past under the NDPS Act and showed the recovery of drugs at any place of the Rajpura area in support of their arrest. We condemn such type of action.”

He alleged: “We would close our shops for indefinite time if such action will continue in the future.”

Ludhiana, October 19
The city police arrested four members of a baby lifter gang and rescued a 2-year-old child, who was kidnapped on October 7 from the Jamalpur area, today.

The accused had been identified as Rani, a resident of Transport Nagar, Daljit Singh, husband of Rani, Kuldeep Kaur, resident of Mithu Basti, Jalandhar, and Jageer Singh, husband of Kuldeep Kaur. The rescued child has been identified as Sameer Pandey, who was kidnapped on October 7 from EWS Colony in Jamalpur.

A team of the Crime Investigation Agency has cracked the case.

According to police officials, the woman kidnapper was caught on CCTV camera installed in the nearby hospital building. The police scanned the CCTV footage and got clues about the accused Rani, who kidnapped the child.

The police raided Rani's house and arrested her, along with her husband. Rani confessed to her crime and told the police that she had handed over the child to another gang member, Kuldeep Kaur, a resident of Jalandhar.

Following the information, the police raided Kuldeep's house at Mithu Basti in Jalandhar and rescued Sameer. The police said Kuldeep was about to sell the child for Rs 1.5 lakh as the gang had done a deal with another party.

The police suspects the role of some more members in the gang. Rani revealed the information about Lakshmi, the kingpin of the gang, who was still absconding.

Paramjit Singh Pannu, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, said: “The gang, led by Lakshmi, a resident of Baldev Nagar, Jalandhar, was active in this business. They used to kidnap children and then sell them. We are investigating the matter.”

The police has registered a case against the accused at the Police Station Division Number 6 under Sections 363, 365, 372, 373, 317 and 120-B of the IPC.

Samrala, October 19
The police claimed to have arrested two persons and recovered 84 bottles of illegal wine and 100 gm of smack in two different incidents around Samrala.

Samrala SHO Surjit Singh said a police party during a naka signalled a motorcycle-borne youth to stop for checking near the ITI, Samrala. During the search, 100 gm of smack was recovered from his possession.

The accused has been identified as Gagandeep Singh (22), a resident of Ludhiana. He was presented in a court at Samrala from where he was sent to police custody for two days.

The SHO said the youth accepted that he had brought the smack from Haryana and was going to sell it in various areas of Samrala.

In another incident, a police party arrested a person and recovered 84 bottles of liquor from his custody. He was identified as Harjit Singh, a resident of Khattran village.

Ludhiana, October 19
Tug-of-war is known as a crowd-pulling sport in the School Games as this particular event entertains the rural masses. In the Punjab School Games at Government Model Senior Secondary School at PAU, tug-of-war attracted the maximum spectators.

Sports officials at the school games also considered it more of an entertainment event instead of sports event.

Most of the players from the district teams participated in the school games for the first time, and they all would be pass out from schools this year. In the absence of experienced players, the schools had to rely on new players.

The School Games Federation of India (SGFI) has not introduced the tug-of-war game for the junior classes. Only U-19 players can take part in the game. While selecting the team, sports in-charges at the school preferred to select students from class XII, keeping the victory in the minds so that the total weight of the team should not be less than other teams, which gave them an advantage in the game.

As per the rules, the total weight of the team should not be more than 560 kg for boys and 540 for girls.

“As compared to other games, tug-of-war is quite different as experienced players are not available in the secondary classes. We have to train fresh players every year,” said a coach of tug-of-war.

"The players of the U-16 and U-14 age groups cannot participate in this game as it needs extraordinary strength. In the growing age, this game can cause physical problems to players,” said Ramanjit Singh, a coach.

"It is a crowd-pulling game. People enjoy watching tug-of-war competitions,” said Jasdev Singh, a spectator. 

Ludhiana, October 19
Manjot Kaur Gill and Bhavleen Kaur, promising judokas, brought fame to the city and their coach. They gave a good account of themselves by securing a gold and a bronze medal, respectively, in the Open Junior Punjab State Judo Championship held in Jalandhar, recently.

Manjot Kaur Gill, a student of Ryan International School, Chandigarh road branch, and Bhavleen Kaur, a student of Bhartiya Viday Mandir Senior Secondary School, Dugri, competed in the U-17 category and finished among position holders.

On the basis of her outstanding performance in Jalandhar, Manjot Kaur has been selected to represent Punjab in the upcoming National Judo Championship scheduled to be held from November 10 to November 14 at Ranchi.

Trainees of SAI judo coach, Amandeep, Manjot and Bhavleen have been practising hard these days with special training stints under the watchful eyes of senior SAI coach Rakesh Singh.

“Both judokas are an excellent stuff and have all the ingredients of hogging the limelight at the national and international-level tournaments," said Rakesh Singh.

Jagraon, October 19
Adding yet another feather in the cap of Shere Punjab Sports Academy, Chakar, near Jagraon, two budding women trainees of the academy clinched a gold medal each in the North India Boxing Championship concluded recently at Srinagar.

While representing Punjab in the championship, Shavinder Kaur secured a gold medal by defeating Saroj Rani of Haryana in the final of the 48-kg weight category. The second gold medal for Punjab came in the 51-kg weight category in which Parminder Kaur defeated her opponent Renu Bala of Haryana.

As per information given by Prof Balwant Singh Sandhu, chief administrator of the Shere Punjab Sports Academy, the pugilists from Punjab won total three gold medals during the championship. “It is a matter of great pride that two of the total three gold medals clinched by Punjab were won by the pugilists of the Shere Punjab Sports Academy. It is actually a great achievement for us,” said Sandhu.

Both pugilists were given a rousing welcome by the villagers when they returned after taking part in the championship. Later, a brief function was organised at the academy during which the office-bearers of the academy and the village panchayat felicitated both the winning pugilists.

While congratulating the pugilists, Ajmer Singh Sidhu, chairman of the academy, expressed satisfaction over the performance of the trainees of the Shere Punjab Sports Academy during the recent past.

“It seems as we have achieved the aim with which we had started this academy. We hope that the trainees of the academy will manage to keep the momentum of giving good performances at the state and national-level tournaments in the future too,” said Ajmer Singh Sidhu.

Ludhiana, October 19
Students of Government Primary School, Bhambian Khurd, near here, who finished among the first three position holders in the block-level (Mangat-3) Government Primary Schools Games held at Bhambian Khurd, were given prizes today.

A function was organised on the school premises during which chairman of the school management committee Sukhraj Singh gave away prizes to the students. He applauded the students, head master Sukhram and school staff for this outstanding achievement.

On this occasion, the head master listed the achievements by the school students.

“The kabaddi team (girls) and football squad (boys) from the school won titles, besides boys’ relay team finished ahead of others to win gold medal in these games. The girls’ relay team of the school secured second position,” he said.

The students who won medals in the individual disciplines include Jashandeep Singh and Jasmine Kaur (long jump), Jashandeep Singh and Simran Kaur (100m sprint), Simran Kaur (400m race) and Vishal Singh.

Inderjeet Kaur, Rupinder Kaur, Anita Devi, Puja Verma, Vikas Verma, Jagdev Singh, all members of the school management committee, school staff namely Kulwant Kaur, Jyoti and Peeti Arora also attended the function. 

Ludhiana, October 19
Khalsa College for Women (KCW), Civil Lines, Ludhiana, wrapped up all their super league fixtures to top the points table and emerge as champions in the Panjab University Inter-College Volleyball Championship held in Chandigarh, recently.

KCW players, after winning their one knockout match, secured their berth in the super league phase where they also proved their class to make their opponents biting the dust.

In the super league, KCW played their first match against Government College for Girls, Sector 11, Chandigarh, whom they beat in three straight sets and in the second match, KCW eves got the better of Government College, Hoshiarpur, 3-0.

However, in the third match, KCW players were made to fight for each point by GN College for Girls, Muktsar, but eventually the former came out triumphant by three sets to two.

In the last encounter, KCW, Ludhiana, faced a little resistance from GGS, Sector 26, Chandigarh, before coming out victors 3-1, which also fetched them the winners' trophy.

Dr Varinder Kaur Thind, principal, KCW, Ludhiana, congratulated and appreciated the students, Amarjit Kaur, Head of Department, physical education, for this excellent performance.