Ludhiana, May 28
The Punjab State Information Commission has imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 on Harinder Singh, a public information officer of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust, for "denying information and causing mental and physical harassment" to Sham Kumar Kohli, a senior citizen and resident of Kichlu Nagar in the city.

P.P.S. Gill, state information commissioner, in his order on May 19, has said, "A copy of the order should be sent to the principal secretary, Local Government of Punjab.”

“The officer should recover the amount of the penalty from the pay of Harinder Singh within 15 working days of issueing the order and send a compliance report to the commission".

Besides this, the commission has also awarded a compensation of Rs 3,000 to the complainant to be paid by the Improvement Trust at the rate of Rs 500 for each attendance he made at the forum without getting any satisfactory answer. The compensation is supposed to be paid within the next seven days.

The information officer has once again been asked to file the affidavit to the complainant within 15 working days with a copy to the commission. "The respondent will, however, be at liberty to apply for reopening of the complaint in case the needful is not done by the the information officer", the order added.

On the eight hearing of the case on May 19, which began on December 3, 2007, the information commissioner noted that the public information officer had not submitted an affidavit in reply to three points raised by Kohli till May 9, which was the last date fixed by the commission. The file records showed that out of eight hearings, the information officer was present only twice.

A show-cause notice under Section 20 of the Right to Information Act was issued to the information officer on February 18 wherein he was also asked to file an affidavit and explain the delay in supply of information to the complainant on his application.

The commission noted that, "It appears that respondent officer, without any reasonable cause, has not furnished information within the specified time under the Act.

He has also knowingly given incorrect, incomplete and misleading information to the complainant, who received the same in driblet".

The commission also noted that, "It is evident from the papers on file and from the proceedings held between December 3 and May 19 that the information officer has wilfully disobeyed the orders of the commission and has invited action under Section 20 of the Right to Information Act.

“The failure on his part to supply information, in terms of the Act, calls for imposition of exemplary penalty,” the commission said.

Ludhiana, May 28
MC notices to 22 park management committees (PMCs) for improper maintenance of parks has sparked off a fresh controversy.

The PMCs allege that the notices were issued as a ploy to cut their grants. The notices were also aimed to embarrass those, who were spearheading Green Ludhiana campaign against the MC for years now.

It is quite an irony that one of the persons, served with a notice for badly maintained park, was S. S. Chana, president, Environment Development Committee, Block-I Sarabha Nagar.

He was the president of the Federation of PMCs that was heading the campaign.

An authority of horticulture, he had also helped the MC in designing the Leisure Valley about a decade ago.

Yet, a team of the MC horticulture wing reported the park maintained by Himwas was ill-maintained. In a strongly-worded reply to the notices, the PMC of the park openly accused the MC authorities of targeting Chana for personal reasons.

"The report is aimed at harassing the PMCs and settle score with the president, S S Chana, who exposed the failure of the MC in maintaining the parks," the reply mentioned.

The PMCs also suspected that the MC had an additional ploy to hold back their grants. "The residents have looked after the parks for six years, even when the MC had not given any grant."

MC officials are yet to react on the reply.

Chana said the notices were based on flimsy charges. He said the officials of the horticulture wing had wrongly reported that there was no gardener or the flower beds were not cleaned.

He reasoned the flower beds were purposely covered with leaves to conserve the moisture. Moreover, the park has fully grown eucalyptus trees whose dry leaves can’t be cleaned.

Ludhiana, May 28
Panchayat elections to five villages, which were postponed on Monday, were conducted peacefully today. Polling booths witnessed attendance of at least 80 per cent voters who cast their ballot.

Polling was conducted for the panchayats of Ballowal and Dolon Kalan villages, Dasmesh Colony, Bajda Colony and Harkishan Vihar. Darshan Singh, the district public relation officer, said: "The poll process was peaceful. No incident of violence was reported". The counting was still continuing till the filing of the report.

Ludhiana, May 28
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has ordered ICICI Lombard Insurance Company to make a payment of Rs 1,87,717 to a consumer for the loss suffered by him on account of damage to his car in an accident.

The orders were pronounced by the president of the forum J S Chawla and its member D S Bakshi while deciding the complaint filed by Dharmvir Singh of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, Ludhiana.

The forum termed denying of claim to the consumer on the pretext that four adults along with four children were travelling in the car to be unjustified.

The complainant had submitted before the forum that he had purchased the insurance policy for his Hyundai Accent car on Feburary 22, 2006. On June 6, 2006, his car met with an accident near Mannawala Khurd, Amritsar, with a tractor. The accident was caused due to the negligence of tractor driver.

A criminal case was registered against the driver of tractor at Sultan Wind police station, Amritsar. Then he lodged a claim with the insurance company. The surveyor of company checked the damaged car. But no claim was paid to him, he added.

On the other hand, the insurance company pleaded that the number of travellers in the car at the time of accident exceeded its sitting capacity. This was a violation of the terms and conditions of the insurance policy.

But after appreciating the evidence on record, the forum observed that it was not fundamental breach of the terms and conditions of the insurance policy. Moreover, the repudiation letter, written statement and the report of surveyor were silent on the point as to how many persons were sitting in the car.

Though according to the FIR, four adults and four children were stated to be sitting in the car. It could not be established that the car was overloaded than its capacity. Moreover, this was not the cause of accident. Children usually sit with their parents, further observed the forum. The company was ordered to pay the amount assessed by its own surveyor.

Ludhiana, May 28
BSNL employees held a day-long dharna demanding merger of 50 per cent IDA into basic pay from January 2007. The call for the dharna was given by the joint forum of BSNL unions in which members of BSNL Employees Union, Sanchar Nigam Executive Association and All-India BSNL Executive Association participated.

Addressing a rally during lunch hours, Balbir Singh, circle secretary, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Executive Union (BSNLEU), said the decision of merger of IDA was taken by the cabinet committee on January 30 this year. "The Department of Telecommunications approved it also but the management did not take any decision in spite of agitation call notice given by the joint forum. Yesterday a meeting of the management and the joint forum took place but the management put certain conditions for the merger of IDA. The management said the unions should not demand any promotions, wage negotiation, bonus, etc and also pressed the leaders to accept the proposal of IPO in BSNL. They also said they should not oppose the VRS in BSNL," he said.

lnderjit Singh, senior vice-president, Sanchar Nigam Executive Association of India, blamed the management for the decline in revenues and profits.

Ashok Kurnar Khanna, circle secretary, All-India BSNL Employees Association, said workers of the BSNL were working hard to improve the financial position of the BSNL.

Jasbir Singh, district secretary, SNEA, Balwinder Singh, district secretary, BSNLEU, MS Dhaliwal, district secretary, AIBSNLEA, also addressed the protesting employees.

Ludhiana, May 28
ICICI Bank, in association with CyberMedia, today conducted its 'knowledge series' programme for small and medium enterprises here.

The event started with the ‘finance clinic’ where the entrepreneurs were offered customised expert advice on how to raise capital for business, depending on the stage of business and the optimal level of capital mix their business needs through a discussion on a wide array of topics like debt financing, private equity, IPOs, mergers and acquisition, forex advice and other risk-management products. This was followed by a one-on-one mentoring session with the experts.

Vijay Chandok, senior general manager - Head of SME Business, ICICI Bank, said, "Ludhiana contributes a large portion to the country's entire woollen knitwear business and we want to contribute to empowering this large portion of the population of SMEs. With the help of the SME CEO knowledge series, we intend to provide yet another initiative towards our desire to create a vibrant ecosystem for the SMEs. This will enable us to cater to the entrepreneurs with specific knowledge and guidance, thereby strengthening the industry as a whole."

Pradeep Gupta, chairman and managing director, Cyber Media Group, said, "The event would prepare these entrepreneurs for a growth momentum that will propel them into the next stage of growth. In present day and time, a ‘knowledge economy’ demands knowledge-intensive enterprises, which alone can survive in the ongoing process of globalisation and international competition. We hope the series facilitates this process."

Punjabi short story emerged as a vehicle of modern sensibilities in late thirties and early forties of the last century under the influence of Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky and Guy de Maupassant. In this field, Sant Singh Sekhon, Kartar Singh Duggal, Sujan Singh and Kulwant Singh Virk held the stage for a long time. With the passage of time, Punjabi short story vied with the best short stories written in Urdu and Hindi.

The storytellers of these three languages had been nurtured in the politico-economic philosophy of Karl Marx and the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud. Later, of course, new concepts of human situation and character delineation crept into this genre. Even today, Punjabi short story holds its banner high in Indian literature.

‘Making it new’ in literature is the order of the day. Inderjeet Pal Kaur has done it so well in her collection of short stories entitled ‘Kashni Sharare Waali Kurhi’ (The girl with a violet-coloured baggy trousers). These short stories are like a whiff of fresh air in a close atmosphere. In subject matter, new aspects of human behaviour have been focused upon, while in narration, new modes have been employed.

The end-result is a scintillating creative work, having lasting value. It appears that the storywriter has thought long as well as deeply about the patterns of human behaviour. She is not in a hurry to reveal all in the manner of an omniscient writer.

She maintains aesthetic distance from her characters and leaves much to the imagination of the reader in regard to the assessment of a situation. She never deviates from her purpose of revealing the innermost feelings of her characters. The incidents are never superimposed. Rather, these emerge effortlessly and form a sequence that is artistic and captivating.

In ‘Kashni Sharare Waali Kurhi’, the short story that has given the collection its title, an atmosphere of suspense has been created without undue trappings. A teenager in her new violet-coloured fashionable apparel walks into a Muslim household on a day in Ramadan, the month of fasts and feasts. This beautiful newcomer, by her sheer presence, creates identical images in the minds of a good number of persons. Many guests have come to that household to participate in the celebration of the first roza (fast) of a 13- year-old boy Afzal.

The ‘Sharare-waali’ girl flits about like a butterfly that settles down nowhere. An old couple imagines her as their prospective daughter-in-law. A bachelor considers her a lovely bride, an exact replica of the fairy of his imagination.

In some other minds she is the answer to their prayers for granting them the boon of a pretty damsel. But the house of cards falls down instantly when in the end it is revealed that a Sikh girl Kamaljit had come there in search of her Muslim friend Shah Bano.

Inderjeet Pal Kaur is no feminist but her stories depict her concerns for the causes of the women of today. In ‘Turna matak de naal’, she has been depicted as a house maker who is suffering from cancer. She is meticulous in serving tea to her guests even when she is passing through a traumatic period of her life. She died laughing, so to say, as she had adhered to her cheerful disposition all through her life.

The story ‘Catalytic agent’, however, narrates the plight of a woman who has lost the charm of life after marriage. Her husband curbed her yearnings for creative work and artistic pursuits. Her chance meeting, after a pretty long time, with her college professor rekindles in her the flame of love for life. Her role model acts as a catalyst to change sordidness into ebullience.

In the remarkable short story, ‘Zombie’, the writer has told a gory tale as to how the pre-teen girls are treated as sex toys by the men with depraved minds. Poverty drives the victims to semi-dark caves where innocence is butchered and the cry is lost in wilderness.

The last story in this volume, ‘Billi ki peendi hai’, delineates the erratic behaviour of students of a nursery class. It is indeed a study in child psychology but it is also a commentary on the social demeanour of parents as reflected on the screen of innocent minds. Such a story could not come into existence except through the pen of the principal of a school for tiny tots.

N.S. Tasneem

Ludhiana, May 28
A new entertainment channel, Just TV Punjabi, will shortly hit the small screen. It will offer viewers reality shows, soap operas and music and comedy shows.

Chief operating officer Priya S. Paul, addressing the media today, said the channel, in the first phase of its launch,would begin auditions for reality shows in Ludhiana beginning tomorrow.

Auditions for "Nach Lai Punjabi" and "Just the Best" would be organised at the Lodhi Club and Growing Roots Academy, Gurdev Nagar.

“We cannot ignore the modern face of Punjabi folk dances,” explained Priya.

"Just the Best" is for kids between 5-15 years (divided further into three groups i.e. 5-9, 9-12 and 12-15).

Ludhiana, May 28
Military veterans of the Indian Ex-Services League took oath at the War Memorial here against the composition and recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, which, they allege, has betrayed the defence personnel.

Ex-servicemen, in a statement issued today, stated that they had taken the oath to fight against the “misdoings” that harm the interests of defence personnel and would not rest till their rights were fully protected. Col Bagh Singh, president of the league, added that ex-servicemen had got a raw deal even after making numerous sacrifices for the nation.

We always wanted to have separate pay commission as no one knows our rank structure as well as the harsh service conditions, both in war and peace. Whenever the civil administration fails to handle internal security and natural calamities, it is always the Army that comes to their rescue, Colnel Singh added. The league members pointed out it was a great set back to our national defence that officers had started applying for premature retirement after the release of the pay commission report.

Ludhiana, May 28
Ayurvedic drug manufacturers of the region sought support and cooperation of the respective state governments and the Centre to attain quality control and a conducive administrative set up in which they could tap the vast potential of the AYUSH (ayurveda, unani, sidha and homeopathy) sector.

In his welcome address to the delegates of a national-level workshop on ‘Good Manufacturing Practices” (GMP) here today, Dr Rajesh Thapar, state president of the Ayurvedic Drug Manufacturers Association (ADMA) pointed out that even though the ayurvedic drug manufacturers in Punjab had made a mark in the domestic and global markets, there was no separate licensing authority for Ayurvedic drugs. A drug advisory committee was yet to be set up and no mechanism was in place for speedy approval of formulations, he added.

The workshop was organised by ADMA with the support of the department of AYUSH of the government of India, and hosted by the Northern region chapter of the association. Besides reputed Ayurvedic drug manufacturers from all over the country, delegates from different parts of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh attended the workshop.

They paid floral tributes to Lord Dhanwantri, the founder of Ayurveda. The main focus of technical session of the workshop was on quality management in Ayurvedic, sidha and unani drugs, as also the status and potential of AYUSH cluster scheme. 

I hardly need to run my electric motor for about 40 minutes each day for filling the overhead water tank. Whereas two of my neighbours are running their motors for 10 hours daily. I wonder how much water they consume in a day.

Though they are well-educated, yet they like others seem to be unaware of the harm they are doing by wasting the precious water. The municipal corporation should enact some laws to keep a check on such people and take strict action against defaulters. In the long run, water shortage is going to cause serious problem. Therefore, we must help authorities in solving this problem. I request newspapers to highlight this problem and impress upon the authorities and public to stop its wastage.

R.S. Gill, Ludhiana

Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at news@tribuneindia.com or, write in, at: Letters, Chandigarh Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh – 160 030

Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 28
The Dehlon police has booked at least 12 activists of the Congress for allegedly attempting to murder five members of the SAD and injuring them with bullets and sharp-edged weapons at Chhappar village last night.

Political rivalry was reported to be reason behind the violence that left at least 10 persons injured.

The Congress leaders, accusing authorities of acting at the behest of SAD leaders, however, alleged that the complainants had attacked the house of a Congress panch without any provocation and injured five persons sitting inside besides damaging the building by pelting it with stones.

Sukhmeet Singh Shanti, Sohan Singh, Dev Singh, Binder Singh, Inder Jit Singh, Amandeep Singh, Ravinder Singh, Gulbahar Singh, Mallhi, Raju and Basant Singh were booked under various sections of the IPC for allegedly attempting to murder Jarnail Singh and his associates when they were sitting in a shop in the village last night.

According to complainant Sukhdev Singh, the victims were sitting in a shop on the outskirts of the village when the suspects attacked them late last night. The suspects were armed with firearms, axes and canes.

Jarnail Singh and Avtar Singh received bullet injuries and Satinder Singh, Mela Singh and Amandeep Singh were hurt during brick batting. The injured were shifted to a multi-speciality hospital at Ludhiana.

A police team led by SP (D) Jagraon and DSP Dehlon visited the spot this morning. The house, belonging to Shanti, and a portion of the Ahmedgarh-Raekot road were littered with bricks, stones and broken window panes. The police was trying to ascertain the sequence of events leading to stone-pelting and firing.

Nirmal Kaur, a Congress activist, alleged that SAD activists had attacked her house without any provocation. Basant Singh, Sucha Singh, Amanpreet Kaur and Rachhpal Singh were injured besides her, she alleged. She further alleged that the authorities at Pakhowal hospital had refused to admit the injured.

The SP (D) directed the SHO, Dehlon, to depute extra force at the village to avoid recurrence of violence.

Tension had prevailed since the polling day when Shanti, a Congress activist, had allegedly attacked supporters of a SAD candidate during the polling. Bant Singh was injured in the incident.

Ravinder Singh Romi, one of the accused, apprehending tension, had earlier approached the State Election Commissioner for getting extra forces deployed during polling at Chhapar village. The commissioner had directed the DC Ludhiana to do the needful. Hardly had the administration withdrawn forces yesterday when violence erupted. 

Ludhiana, May 28
An inter-school poster-making competition on the theme of increasing pollution was held at Ryan International School here today. As many 100 students participated in the competition and gave impression of their thoughts with the help of colours.

The winner were given plants. The initiative was taken by the Punjab Pollution Control Board to generate awareness about the hazards of pollution among students.

Doraha, May 28
Even as the degree of MPhil is hence forth to be treated at par with National Eligibility Test (NET) for affixing eligibility for lectureship according to the recently issued UGC guidelines, the intellectuals and the educationists feel it otherwise. They believe that there can be simply no equation of the existing MPhil course, especially done through distant mode, with NET.

Although the guidelines of the UGC in this regard had arrived much earlier, most of the colleges were reluctant to follow them. The earlier advertisement of the PPSC too did not mention MPhil to be the eligibility condition for lecturers. It was only after the hue and cry raised by candidates that the PPSC corrected its mistake and issued a corrigendum stating that the candidates having MPhil degree in the concerned subject are exempt from NET for undergraduate-level teaching.

Hardeep, a lecturer in political science who cleared his NET after several trials, says, “Treating NET at par with MPhil seems to be entirely absurd. This is a very unwise step on the part of UGC,” he states.

Jagroop Singh, a lecturer in Commerce at Guru Nanak National College, Doraha, who got his regular job on the basis of NET, opines that it was in no way a rational decision to treat MPhil equivalent to NET.

The UGC should think twice before forcing such decisions. Most of the universities have started the course without engaging any expert minds in the designing and framing of the curriculum.

Principal Narinder Singh Sidhu said, “These MPhil degrees are poles apart from the Mphil course which were being conducted earlier. Neither are these universities serious in assigning proper course work to the students nor are the student’s interested in taking personal pains. In many cases, it has been noticed that the thesis is readymade and the evaluation process too is most casual.”

Fellow Panjab University and former principal Tarsem Bahia is of the view that the UGC should be extra conscious while passing such a decision.” 

Ludhiana, May 28
Punjab Agricultural University buzzed with activity a day after Punjab and Haryana High Court gave its decision in favour of PAU pensioners.

With teaching staff free from classroom duty in wake of ongoing summer break for student, the pensioners accompanied by teaching and non-teaching staff could be seen grouped up, discussing the plan of action on part of the university authorities.

PAU registrar Dr R.K. Mahey on being asked about the next step of university said it was too early to comment on the issue of pensioners. “PAU authorities would be able to give a statement only after looking at the court orders,” he added.

However, pensioners while expressing their apprehensions stated that the VC should meet the Chief Minister immediately after receiving the court orders.

A cross section of teaching and non-teaching staff at PAU expressed discontentment over the stand of PAUTA (Punjab Agricultural University Teachers Association) and PAU Employees Union on the issue of pensioners.

“Both organisations should have openly protested against the Punjab government which they did not,” a professor alleged.

On the other hand, PAU Employees Union’s president H.S. Mundi said the union supported the cause of pensioners, which PAU Pensioner’s Confederation has duly acknowledged.

Similarly, PAUTA president Dr M.S. Mahal appreciated the decision of Punjab and Haryana High Court terming it as the ‘one of the best decision that has restored public faith in judiciary’.

It is the responsibility of the state government to clear the pension amount and extend relief to distressed pensioners who have suffered for long. 

Ludhiana, May 28
To overcome the handicap of hearing loss, hearing aids had come into existence. These amplified the sound and transmitted it to the damaged ear. The sound, however, was sometimes incomprehensible. This limitation of hearing aids has now been overcome by the introduction of "cochlear implants" that not only provide sound but also render vastly improved speech understanding, says Dr Hemant Chopra, professor and head, department of ENT at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) here.

Giving more details, he said a cochlear implant is a small, complex electronic device that can provide a sensation of sound to a profoundly or severely deaf patient. It provides direct electrical stimulation to the auditory nerve in patients of sensorineural hearing loss. The implant consists of an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second portion (internal) which is surgically placed under the skin.

A cochlear implant, Dr Chopra added, is very different from a hearing aid. Hearing aids just amplify the sounds but cochlear implants bypass damaged portions of the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve, which are then sent to the brain. It helps people to recognise warning signals, understand other sounds in the environment, and enjoy a conversation in person or by telephone and they can even enjoy music.

Dr Kapil Dua, assistant professor in the ENT department of DMCH, informed that the patients of any age group, from children more than one year to adults who have severe to profound hearing loss and having no benefit from hearing aids, are suitable candidates for cochlear implants. The children receive maximum benefit from this device. Cochlear implant, along with intensive post- implantation speech therapy, can help young children to acquire speech, language, developmental and social skill.

After placement of the cochlear implant in the ear by a surgical procedure, an intensive post-operative speech therapy for six to 12 months is required to learn or revive the sense of hearing. Not everyone performs at the same level with this device.

Although if the team, comprising the cochlear implant surgeon, audiologist, counsellors, speech language pathologists and, most importantly, the family members or parents of the hearing-impaired person, works hard then the results are extremely good, said Dr Dua. 

Ludhiana, May 28
More than 350 patients were examined at a free medical camp organised by Hero DMC Heart Institute (HDHI) at Jalalabad yesterday. The camp was organised in association with New Sahara Welfare Society, a local NGO.

Basic diagnostic tests like ECG, Echo and blood sugar were conducted free of cost. Expert advice on diet to those suffering from cardiac ailments and diabetes was given by the dietician and medicines were distributed free of cost at the camp.

Dr G.S. Wander, chief cardiologist and coordinator, led the team of doctors and supporting staff at the camp, which also included Dr Rajinder Bansal, associate professor in the department of neurology at DMCH, and Dr Rohit Tandon, consultant physician. Dr Wander further said often these complications were associated with diabetes, which made it even more harmful. Regular monitoring followed by relevant modifications in lifestyle or medication were needed to keep the BP within acceptable standards.

Khanna, May 28
Even after spending crores, patients at the Khanna Civil Hospital are suffering due to lack of basic facilities. The male patients in the hospital are forced to use female toilet as the gent’s toilet is used as a storeroom for the past long time.

Accident patients are the worst sufferers with no trauma-centre and lack of doctors and attendants during odd hours.

Officials deployed at the hospital said, “Around 400 patients from various villages and nearby areas are visiting everyday in the OPD. There are minimum 8 to 10 accidental cases every day.”

There are three ambulances in the hospital and two of them are more then 10 years old, he added. A visit to the hospital revealed the sorry state of affairs. The ground floor of the hospital witnessed a huge rush of patients and most of them being cared by their relatives. “I was told to look after my elder brother suffering from severe stomach pain, until the doctor arrives,” said Surjan Singh of a nearby village.

Shingara Singh, a victim of street quarrel lying on bed at the top floor of the hospital, said his X-Ray was conducted after two days. Another Simreet Pal said the doctors disappear during night hours and people could be seen shouting at the attendants in the wee hours or late at night.

Senior medical officer Dr Balwinder Singh Kalsi said things would soon change with the construction of a trauma center and deployment of additional staff and expert doctors.

“The Centre government has already sanctioned a grant in this connection and a trauma center with expert doctors and attendants would start functioning by next month or so,” he said. 

Ludhiana, May 28
Forty-four member Ludhiana team was announced today after the trials which were conducted by the Ludhiana District Swimming Association (LDSA) at the municipal corporation swimming pool, Rakh Bagh, here yesterday to select the district boys and girls squads for the forthcoming 24th Sub-Junior Punjab State Swimming Championship.

The names of the selected swimmers are: Boy’s group III (11 to 12 years): Balteshwar Singh, Manavdeep Singh, Bharat Sood, Prabhdeepak Singh, Saksham Kapoor, Nawab Kang and Anmol Kang. Group IV (9 to 10 years): Sukhraj Singh, Sarfraj Singh, Rohan Chirag, Rytham and Kovid Kanda.

Girls group III (11 to 12 years): Shubhkaran Dhaliwal, Ishpreet Kaur, Japneet Kesar, Pukhraj Gill, Simran Brar and Guntaj Grewal.

Group IV (9 to 10 years): Mani Mehtab Dhaliwal, Purneet Grewal, Divya Jain, Kirti Monga and Gurmehar Kaur.

Meanwhile, this meet will be held at the municipal corporation swimming pool, Rakh Bagh, here on June 1, said Balraj Sharma, honorary secretary, Punjab Swimming Association.

Competition in all national events will be organised during this one-day meet. Entries will close with the secretary in Ludhiana on June 30.On the basis of their performance in this meet, the Punjab teams will be selected for the 25th Sub-Junior National Aquatic Championship slated to be held at Kolkata from June 26 to 29, Sharma said.

Ludhiana, May 28
A rare combination of sports excellence and academic brilliance, Abhijit Singh Pandher has made his school proud. Abhijit secured 94.7 per cent marks in the commerce stream in the Class XII CBSE exams. Making an early beginning in table tennis in Class V, Abhijit brought fame to his school in the inter-school, district and state-level tournaments.

He also represented the state in the open nationals for five consecutive years and made his present felt by finishing among position holders.

Abhijit gives credit to his teachers for being an all rounder. Besides, Abhijit is a good swimmer and also a good orator.