Timely heart surgery saves Jeet Ram
Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, November 24
Jeet Ram (18), resident of Haibowal Kalan locality, was brought to the Christian Medical College and Hospital here after his desperate attempts to get proper treatment did not yield any results.

The youth, son of a tailor, was suffering from chronic rheumatic heart disease. He was repeatedly going into episodes of breathlessness and the poor health forced him to drop out of school. He had sought consultation at various hospitals where he was advised to have his heart valve replaced. The total cost of the surgery was way beyond his family could afford.

However, at CMCH, Mr S.N. Maini, Chairman Advisory Committee of the institution, came to his rescue. Mr Maini, a philanthropist, donated the expensive valve and Dr Rajiv Gupta, cardiothoracic surgeon, successfully performed the surgery. Jeet Ram was perfectly fine after the surgery and according to doctors, was likely to be discharged in a day or so.

This is not for the first time that Mr Maini has lent a helping hand to those in distress. He has shown similar kindness for poor critically ill patients several times. He had been so involved in rendering assistance to sick people from economically weaker sections that his efforts led to the establishment of a heart valve bank at CMCH.

Everest school cagers outperform elite rivals
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, November 24
The Baba Lodhiana Basketball Academy, Ludhiana team, comprising students of the local Everest Public School, Moti Nagar, emerged champions in the inaugural edition of the National Basketball League for Schools held in Bangalore from November 14 to 19.

The academy players were honoured at a function organised by the Ludhiana District Basketball Association at Guru Nanak Stadium here today. Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, honorary general secretary, Punjab Basketball Association, who accompanied the team as official informed that the boys gave an excellent performance to win the league.

Mr Dhaliwal said eight leading school teams from across the country namely Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, New Delhi, St Empherem School of Kottayam, Mallaya Aditi International School of Bangalore, Hyderabad Public School of Hyderabad, Don Bosco School of Mumbai, Don Bosco School of Kolkata, St Paul's School of Salem (Tamilnadu) and Everest Public School, Moti Nagar of Ludhiana competed in this league and the local academy stamped their superiority over others to emerge champions.

The Baba Lodhiana Academy lads topped their group to qualify for the super league where they outclassed Mallaya Aditi International School 80-56; defeated St. Empherm School 76-61 and pipped Delhi Public School 73-64 to clinch the title. The academy team received a cash prize of Rs 61,000 besides a glittering trophy.

Dilawar Singh, student of Everest Public School who scored 212 points in six matches in this league, was adjudged the best player. He pocketed a cash prize of Rs 10,000 for his outstanding contribution.

Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, Mr Balkar Singh Brar, organising secretary, Punjab Basketball Association, Mr Rajinder Sharma, Principal of Everest Public School, Dr S Subramanian, senior basketball coach, Mr Vijay Chopra, vice-president, Ludhiana District Basketball Association, besides coach and manager of the winning team were present at the function. 

BVM school (Kitchlu Nagar) emerges best in athletics
Our Sports reporter

Ludhiana, November 24
The Kitchlu Nagar branch of the Bhartiya Vidya Mandir School bagged the overall trophy in the annual inter-branch athletics meet which concluded yesterday.

Students from all the four branches of the BVM School competed in the various regular events besides fun games.

Gagandeep and Palak Sood were declared the best athletes in the boys and girls (u-9 years) while Karan Arora and Divya Sood won this honour in the u-11 years category.

In the u-14 years category, Manish and Sahil shared the best athlete award in the boy's section while in the girl's section, Deepika Pathak was adjudged the best athlete. Amandeep Singh in the boy's u-19 years while Manisha Verma in the girl's section were named the best athletes.

Mr Gianinder Singh Sandhu, District Sports Officer, Ludhiana gave away prizes to the winners. Ms Santosh Mehra, Principal of the BVM School, Kitchlu Nagar thanked the chief guest while Mr Baljit Singh Gill, Director, Sports, BVM Schools, read out the report on the sports activities of the school. The members of the managing committee and parents of the students were also present on this occasion.

Results: Boys (u- 9): 200 m- Gagandeep 1, Lakshay Kohli 2 and Bittu Bhardwaj 3; shot put- Rahul 1, Shivam 2 and Rahul 3; long jump- Robinson 1, Bittu 2 and Satnam 3.

Boys (u-11): 200 m- Karan Arora 1, nitish Sharma 2 and Deepanshu 3; long jump- Himanshu 1, Saransh 2 and Anurag Joshi 3.

Boys (u-14): 200 m- Rahul 1, Raghav Puri 2 and Prince 3; 4x100 m realy- Kitchlu Nagar 1, Udham Singh Nagar 2 and Dugri 3.

Boys (u-19): Javelin throw- Harkamal Singh 1, Pankaj Sharma 2 and Varun Kalia 3; 3000 m- Hitesh Girotra 1, Narinder Soni 2 and Kanwaljot Singh 3; tripple jump- Arvinder Singh 1, Bharat 2 and Harkamal Singh 3.

Girls (u-11): 4x100 m relay- Kithlu Nagar 1, Dugri 2 and Udham Singh Nagar 3; u-14- 4x100 m relay- Udham Singh Nagar 1, Kitchlu Nagar 2 and Dugri 3; u-19: javelin throw- Jaspreet 1, Akshi 2 and Saloni 3; needle race- Pallavi 1, Manmeet 2, Manisha and Himanshi 3; 1500 m- Divya 1, Nitika Seth 2 and Divya Kapoor 3.