Mohali, February 22
The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) is working at a frantic pace to provide the final touches to its stadium in phase IX, here. Officials of the PCA are hopeful of finishing the work in time.

Two blocks of the stadium will accommodate the Pakistani spectators. Apart from this, special police verification counters would be set up for the convenience of the Pakistani guests.

The Test match starts here on March 8. PCA officials said they would sell 7,500 tickets to the Pakistanis. Ticket is a prerequisite for obtaining a visa. The cost of each ticket would be Rs 1,500 and this includes transportation from the Wagah border to Chandigarh. However, this package does not include food and beverages.

Already the Punjab Government has requested the Indian Railways to run a special train from Wagah to Chandigarh. In 1999, when Mohali hosted a one dayer, a special train was run from Wagah to Chandigarh.

The pitch committee of the BCCI, headed by Mr Venkat Sundaram, has already visited the stadium and given directions on pitch preparation.

Chandigarh, February 22
With less than 15 days to go for the high-profile test series between India and Pakistan, Chandigarh is gearing up to welcome the visitors from across the border. Things like special prayer mats for offering namaaz and food festivals are being promised by hoteliers while shopkeepers are preparing to offer discounts.

The last time Pakistan played here was a one dayer in 1999. Now Mohali’s Cricket Stadium is hosting a test match starting from March 8. This means at least seven days’ stay for the Pakistani cricket fans. Last time about 3,000 persons had come on a special train. This time the number could be 7,500.

All hotels, restaurants and shopping malls are ready for what seems like a big event for traders, hoteliers and the hospitality industry. Mr Manmohan Singh Kohli, president of Tourism Promotion Society Of Chandigarh, said, “With the arrival of such a large number of people, this is good news for Chandigarh’s hotels and restaurants”.

In his own hotel Mr Kohli is offering free prayer mats as well as transportation to guests for ‘namaaz’ and special Punjabi food festival at a discounted rate .

Mr Ashok Bansal, general-secretary, Chandigarh Hotel Association, claimed that there would not be any accommodation problem as there were 34 hotels in the government and private hotel sector. These could handle about 3000 guests. Besides this 1500 rooms were available in hotels located in Mohali, Panchkula and Zirakpur.

For economy class tourists guest houses and various bhavans could accommodate almost 5000 persons, Mr Bansal added “To welcome Pakistani guests, banners would be put on entry points and in dining halls of hotels of the city. Special cuisine would be prepared according to their taste. We are just waiting for the day”, he said.

Mohali, February 22
A six-day inter-house athletic meet of Yadavindra Public School began today. Principal of the school Harish Dhillon, inaugurated the event. More than 1200 students participated in the meet which is divided into five houses — Aitchison House, Ranjit House, Nalagarh House, Patiala House and Tagore House. On the first day Patiala House was leading with 147 points. Followed by Ranjit House 100 points, Nalagarh House 94 points, Aitchison House 86 points Tagore House — 49 points.

The results: Boys (above-16) (High Jump) 1) Gurvinder Singh Mann of Patiala House 2) Bir Bikram of Ranjit House and 3) Arshdeep of Ranjit House.

(Shot-put) 1) Imaaninder of Patiala House 2) Harsimran of Aitichion House 3) Jigarjeet of Ranjit House. (1500 mts race.) 1) Abhay Deep of Tagore House 2) Gurvinder of Patiala House 3) Ramandeep of Tagore House. Under-14 (Javelin Throw) 1) Umesh of Ranjit House 2) Gurjinder of Nalagarh House 3) Rajbir Sidhu of Ranjit House. (800 meters race 1) Pearl of Patiala House 2) Arshdeep of Nalagarh House 3) Atish of Aitchison House. Under-12 800 meters race 1) Ankit of Nalagarh houser 2) Manmeet of Aitchison House 3) Rajwinder of Nalagarh House.

Under-10 Broad Jump 1) Aameen of Ranjit House 2) Sikandar of Aitchison House 3) Miljot of Patiala House.

Girls Above 15 (long jump) 1) Sanam Sekhon of Ranjit House 2) Divyam of Aitchison House. Under 15 (discus throw) 1) Pranika of Ranjit House Under-15 (800 mtrs race) 1) Aanchal of Nalagarh House 2) Vasundra of Patiala House 3) Jasmeen of Patiala House.

Under 13 (high jump) 1) Steffy of Nalagarh House 2) Harkiran of Tagore House 3) Neelam of Nalagarh. Under-11 (long-jump) 1) Gurleen of Patiala House 2) Harshneet of Ranjit House 3) Jaikiran of Aitchison House Overall House Position.

Chandigarh, February 22
The Parent-Teacher Association of the Government Girls Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 8-B, Chandigarh today honoured Sandeep Kaur a Class XII student who won a silver medal in the world Karate South Asian and Oceanic Karate Championship, held at Talkotora Indoor Stadium, New Delhi on 8-9 January, 2005.