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Civic body takes U-turn
Ludhiana, September 1 When Area Town Planner Harpreet Ghai was asked the reason for the civic body to immediately revert its action, he said, "I was asked by Municipal Commissioner G.S. Ghuman to open the seals. Rest you can ask from him, as I had to just comply with the orders." These shops, owned by Darshan Singh, were sealed on August 27 and 28 by ATP Ramesh Chabbra and ATP S.S. Bindra, respectively, at Bhagwan Chowk near Sangeet Cinema. According to information, the shops were sealed by the town planning wing of the civic body on the pretext of violation of building bylaws. Interestingly, investigations by The Tribune revealed that the records pertaining to these shops were not available with the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation and the owner claimed that the shops were more than a decade old. The sources revealed that the action of sealing had come following directions of a Punjab minister's PA whose daughter stays in the area. Talking to The Tribune, senior officials said, "The political interference in such matters has always brought a bad name to us, as if we don't have any prestige. One day we go and seal shops, and after three days, we go and open those seals shows our dumbness." Things in Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, especially the building branch, have been going from bad to worse and seniors are not taking things seriously. They alleged that a weak leadership was hampering tasks of the civic body. Despite repeated attempts, municipal commissioner G.S. Ghuman didn't pick up his mobile.
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Anti-encroachment Drive
Ludhiana, September 1 The drive, which was being taken on the Punjab and Haryana High Court orders, was conducted without giving any notices to the residents, telling them that the constructions outside their homes were violations and needed to be cleared. The work was undertaken by ATP Ramesh Chabbra, who has been transferred to Bathinda and is not being relieved by municipal commissioner due to reasons best known to the duo. Talking to The Tribune, one of the victims Reetu said, "There were three MC officials, including DSP Amandeep Kaur. They immediately started breaking everything outside the house wall in the whole lane, stating it to be encroachment." When my mother tried to oppose them, they used abusive language against her and the situation was so bad that DSP literally told my mother that she would be slapping her, alleged Reetu, stating that the act of the corporation had left everyone surprised. The anti-encroachment drive, which was conducted at around 3.30 pm, left residents irked, who protested and said if the portion constructed by them behind the streetlight is illegal and needs to be re-carpeted, even streetlights and transformers need to be rectified. The protesting residents, who were mainly women, said, "Most of us don't know how to drive cars and the MC officials not even cared about the costly vehicles parked outside and kept on running their JCB machines blindly, without giving us any warning to correct ourselves." When Area Town Planner Ramesh Chabbra was asked about it, he denied all allegations, stating that he was just doing his work. |
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Fancy Lights
Ludhiana, September 1 The wires being used in the lights were not being laid at the specified depth and the contractors have been told to correct this irregularity also. According to information, Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura has taken a strict note of the irregularity and asked the contractors to rectify the things. In a show-cause notice issued by the Mayor today, the four contractors who had undertaken the work of installation of these lights have been directed to paint the fancy lights which have been rusted and lay the wires at the prescribed depth which is around 2 to 3 feet. This much-boasted project of the Municipal Commissioner and Mayor has become a subject of severe criticism for the duo, as the quality of material used has failed quality tests on several times. Moreover, another fact that has come to the fore after the rusting of fancy lights is that the curved structures need to be painted again and again. This has raised questions about the maintenance cost of the project. With most fancy lights structures erected on roads like Ferozepore Road, GT Road etc losing their sheen, one fails to understand who would save public money in such projects. Senior Deputy Mayor Praveen Bansal, who has been one of the biggest critics of the project, said, "From day one, I was against the project because I had the vision of its sustainability. After several enquiries and consulting experts, I had come up with the opinion that project should be not undertaken." He said the aftermath of these fancy lights would be witnessed later on too and the project would be remembered as one of the major drawbacks in the history of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation. Notably, The Tribune had first highlighted the issue of rusting fancy lights on July 17, after which Municipal Commissioner G.S. Ghuman had claimed that he had issued a show-cause notice to the contractors to again paint the lights. |
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Teachers go on mass leave, seek revised pay scales
Ludhiana, September 1 After taking out the rally on the PAU campus, the agitating teachers came out of gate No. 1 of the university and staged a dharna on Ferozepur road. Addressing the rally, Dr SS Dhillon blamed the Punjab government for the stir as it had failed to implement the deccision of the Punjab Cabinet taken on June 18, 2009. Speaking at the rally, Dr Jagwant Singh, general secretary, PFUCTO, said teachers had always got a step-motherly treatment at the hands of the state government. He said if the state government wanted that the students did not suffer, it should had notified the revision of pay scales by now. He said prior to this rally, regional rallies at Amritsar on August 19 and Jalandhar on August 21, and Chandigarh on August 25 had been held and if they were not heard, they would hold a similar rally at Patiala on September 3 to be followed by a state-level rally at Chandigarh on the Teachers Day. The Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, notified the revised UGC pay scales on December 31, 2008, and promised to bear 80 per cent of the financial laibility up to March 31. |
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GLADA Offer
Ludhiana, September 1 Defying all logic and uproar over global slowdown and recession in real estate sector, the offer for allotment of 158 freehold residential plots in Sector 39-A on Chandigarh Road, which closed yesterday, has attracted more than 13,000 applicants, each of them having paid earnest money of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh for a plot measuring 200 and 250 square yards, respectively. Officials of the State Bank of India, which was the nodal agency for sale of brochure-cum-application form and also for receipt of applications, said while the exact number of applications for these plots was being worked out as information from some of the branches outside Punjab was still to come, the tentative number of applicants was around 12,500 for 146 plots measuring 200 square yards each, while some 500 persons had applied for 12 plots of 250 square yards each. According to bank officials, the GLADA offer for plots turned out to be a huge business proposition for the bank as well, since nearly 9,000 of the applicants availed the housing loan offer made by the bank under which the earnest money deposit was financed for a period of six months. In other words, the housing loan offer for the earnest money availed by the applicants for these plots translated into a business of a whopping Rs 180 crore for the bank. Says Pawan Aggarwal, a city resident, who has applied for a 200 square yard plot in the scheme, “The massive response to the GLADA offer for allotment of freehold residential plots is not unexpected. Such offer has come after a long gap and the reserve price of the property has been fixed at a reasonable level which is much below the prevailing market price.” Sources in real estate sector
revealed that even though the number of applicants for these plots had exceeded by over 85 times than the number of available plots, but there would be very few genuine buyers who intended to construct a house on these sites. “ A majority of the applicants are speculators and property dealers who are submitting multiple applications to secure allotment just to sell the plots at a high premium,” the sources added. |
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Police station gheraoed
Amloh, September 1 According to the villagers, the Jhambala feeder, which supplies power to Ghulumajra, Gurdhanpur and Marardu, failed to supply power since yesterday morning and the PSEB office was informed accordingly. JE Sukhdev Singh Virk reached the village and Baljinder Singh (17) was allegedly asked to climb the transformer while the power supply was reportedly not switched off. Balwinder Singh got electric shock on the pole and was taken to Appollo Hospital, Ludhiana, where his condition was stated to be serious. When people went to the police station at 8 p.m. on Monday, the police did not lodge FIR and the agitated people gheraoed the police station. The gherao was lifted after the arrival of SHO Kamaljit Singh at 11 pm. On the statement of the victim's cousin Gurpreet Singh Babli, a complaint was lodged and action promised under the law. Efforts to contact Sukhdev Singh Virk failed twice. SDO Akshey Kumar Gupta said the supply on the 11 kv line had been stopped on permit for repairs. How the current was released would be probed and the guilty punished, the SDO added. |
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Child labourers rescued
Ludhiana, September 1 Led by SDM Prem Chand, a team of officials raided Chauhan Bakery and Cake House Bakery and rescued two minor boys -Rehan Khan and Mohan, both 12-year-old. The SDM said they were reunited with their family. He said the administration had received a complaint from the area residents that children were working as labourers with these two shops. After receiving the complaint, they laid a trap and found the two boys working with the bakeries. The owners of these bakeries were challaned under the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulatory Act, 1986. The challan would be presented in a CJM court. |
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Travel agent nabbed
Ludhiana, September 1 The accused has been identified as Ajay Arora, a
resident of Dharamsala, who was running ‘illegal’ immigration
business from the Housing Board Colony in BRS Nagar. According to the
police, he used to take money from the youths and insure them permanent
residency abroad. After receiving payment, he used to shift to a new
place. The accused was declared proclaimed offender (PO) in many cases
of fraud, besides he was wanted in many cases of fraud in Moga, Jagraon
and other parts of the state.
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Chhapar Mela
Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 1 Even as a large number of devotees have already started coming for paying obeisance at Guga Mari, officials of the Industries Department are yet to conduct physical verification of the infrastructure at the meal site. To avoid rush during the peak days, a large number of elderly men and women were seen paying obeisance at Guga Mari today. Dakha DSP Paramjit Singh Goraya claimed that he had already written to the authorities concerned to get the fixtures examined before issuing formal certificates. “We will ensure that not a single organiser is allowed to operate the joyrides without getting permission from the authorities concerned," said Goraya. A visit to the meal site revealed that unskilled labourers had been deputed to erect giant structures. A majority of mechanics were not even aware of the fundamentals of engineering. “We have been doing this job for many years and can work faster than any qualified engineers. Neither any official has ever guided us, nor do we need their advice,” said one of the workers, who was trying to install a bar by “hit-and-trial” method. Sources at the control room established at the mela site said no official from the directorate of factories had reported at the mela site. “However, we have directed that only those joyrides be allowed which had been issued valid licences by the authorities,” said Kulwant Singh, in charge, control room. A large number of joyrides, including motorised merry-go-rounds, swing and ‘maut ka kuan’, have been doing brisk business since the few past years. Though the erection of a large number of structures is almost complete, persons supervising these joyrides failed to show any no-objection certificates. Most of them said the documents were with their masters who were not present at the site. The sources said a few persons were seriously injured during the Columbus ride in past and one of the performers had met with an accident while driving a car in “maut ka kuan”. At least four persons were killed at Muktsar mela a few years back when a cradle of a revolving lark fell from a height due to centrifugal force.
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Don’t encourage beggars: Police
Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 1 The police is on a hunt for a gang that is suspected to exploit the pitiable condition of some beggars, who had been coming to the mela site during past years, despite their inability to sit and walk. Suspecting pickpocketing by a section of beggars, the authorities have urged the devotees not to entertain them. However, the cops have been directed to avoid dealing them with a stern hand, obviously fearing action by human rights organisations. A large number of beggars, a majority of them migrants, have converged at the mela site before commencement of the event. Women and children, outnumbering men, cause more nuisance as people find it difficult to get rid of them. Those who beg for alms and parsad, sitting in rows, do not cause any inconvenience to the devotees. Investigations by The Tribune revealed that a large number of beggars, including those with amputated limbs, have been coming to the mela to collect alms. The authorities concerned have failed to understand that who bring those beggars who are not able to sit and walk. Their pitiable condition make people donate generously. How could they collect and preserve offerings in cash and kind is beyond the comprehension of the common man. “Obviously, some gang must be working to exploit their pitiable condition,” remarked Tarsem Garg, president of the CB Welfare Association. A few years ago, he had seen a person collecting money from the bowl of a beggar, whose both legs were amputated. The beggar was lying prostrate and devotees were putting money and wheat in his bowl and a gunny bag placed near him, he added. Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, SSP, Ludhiana (Rural) and mela in charge, said the police, instead of being strict with the beggars, had deputed extra force at sensitive points at the mela site. “At the same time, we have appealed to the devotees to beware of swindlers and pickpockets under the guise of beggars," said
Bhullar.
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Police claims foolproof security arrangements
Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 1 A total of eight sub-control rooms and an equal number of public assistance booths have been set up at the meal site. More than 1,450 police personnel have also been deputed for keeping round-the-clock vigil in and around the area. The venue has also been divided into eight pockets, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, SSP, Ludhiana (Rural), said. Taking notice of numerous incidents of robberies by offering drug-laced ‘prasad’, the cops have decided to play CDs, warning people about the modus operandi of the miscreants. Vehicular traffic would also be regulated in a more efficient manner. The administration has taken extra precaution while drafting security plan for the mela. Over 1,450 cops, including four SPs, 20 DSPs, 23 inspectors, 103 NGO, 175 ORs, 125 constables and a large number of traffic personnel and women cops have been deputed to keep vigil in the specified beats allocated to them. Mounted police and anti-sabotage squads have been constituted to tackle any tough situation. The police has also written to authorities in the health department and the Industries Department to make adequate arrangement for ensuring safety of those who visit the mela site. The administration has also banned carrying of sharp-edged and implements being used as weapon at the mela site and surrounding localities, including Latala, Maherna, Maholi and Rachhin. Meanwhile, the police has called upon office-bearers of various social and
political organisation to extend cooperation in maintaining law and order during the event.
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Inclement weather poses threat
Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 1 The organisers, who had expected to receive lakhs of devotees during the three-day fair are busy convincing owners of stalls not to uproot their sheds as according to them weather would be improved. Investigations by The Tribune revealed that a majority of the owners of stalls set up at the mela site were disappointed due to inclement weather one day before commencement of the event today. While some of them tried to strengthen their shelters by putting PVC sheets on their stall, others preferred to wait for the weather to improve. The vendors, who were yet to make payment of rent to the owners of land, hesitated in making balance payment to them for obvious reason of suffering loss. Meanwhile, leaders of various political parties, including the Congress, SAD, SAD (A), Lok Bhalai Party, CPI and CPM claimed that beside state-level leaders, some national-level leaders would also attend their respective conferences scheduled to be organised on September 4.
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Farmers against unbundling of PSEB
Ludhiana, September 1 In a memorandum submitted to the state government through the district administration, the union called upon the government to scrap the Electricity Act, 2003, waive off the debt burden of small and marginal farmers and set up a comprehensive mechanism to provide fresh loans to farmers on easy terms and an interest rates not exceeding 4 per cent. Speakers at the rally, including Hardev Singh Sandhu, president, Gurcharan Singh Acharwal, Sukhdev Singh Chakkar, Balwinder Singh, Balwant Singh Hathoor and Sadhu Singh, asked the government to link the prices of agricultural produce with wholesale price index, grant suitable amount of bonus to paddy farmers to make up for increased cost of cultivation, enhance subsidy of diesel and set up farm machinery centres in rural areas. The union leaders demanded formulation of a policy for providing comprehensive health cover to farmers and free education up to graduate level to their children. They also pressed for release of promised financial compensation to the families of those farmers who had committed suicides due to mounting debt burden.
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Industrialists demand development of focal point
Ludhiana, September 1 The industrialists heaved a sigh of relief as the area was in shambles for the past many years. Talking to The Tribune, Avtar Singh, president of the CICU here said in absence of sewerage, well-carpetted roads and garbage dumps, the condition of the area was miserable. There could be no development of the industry as well due to these factors. Officials, headed by the director, local bodies, Chandigarh, SK Sharma, the MC Commissioner and Mayor too visited the sight today to take a stock of the situation. “We told them the problems being faced by us. They have given us assurance to develop the focal point,” said Singh. The ministry of local bodies had announced a grant of Rs 7 crore for the development of focal point, to which MC, Ludhiana, will also contribute a share of Rs 7 crore. An amount of Rs 14 crore would be spent on laying sewerage, recarpetting of roads and proper disposal of garbage in the area. “We are very happy over the meeting with officials at our office today. All the amount will be spent as per requirement and priority. A detailed plan has been laid and we hope that work will be initiated in near future,” said
Avtar Singh. Upkar Singh, general secretary of the CICU, said the chamber had been making sincere efforts for the development of focal point. The industrialists had to face several problems due to bad roads, blocked sewerage and garbage all around. "Perhaps this was the reason that industry was not being developed in the area. Things have started moving in the right direction. We hope that industry will progress," said
Upkar Singh.
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Market Committee office-bearers assume charge
Ludhiana, September 1 Charanjit Singh Atwal, former Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha, Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, former MP and general secretary of the SAD, Ranjit Singh Talwandi and Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, both former MLAs, Manpreet Singh Ayali, chairman of the Zila Parishad, were present on the occasion. Atwal congratulated the newly appointed chairman and vice-chairman of the market committee and said the workers were the backbone of the party. These posts were given to the dedicated workers of the party. He exhorted them to work sincerely and keep up the image of the government. Dhillon said the Punjab government was committed to overall development of the state and had chalked out a comprehensive programme to fully upgrade the development infrastructure in rural areas in the state and had already sanctioned for rural infrastructure development plan of Rs 555 crore, under which all the basic amenities, including sewerage, water supply, roads, streetlights would be provided in the villages and towns of the state. Santa Singh Umedpuri, district president of the SAD, said a conference would be organised at Chhapaar on September 4 at historical Chhapaar Mela. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and many other ministers and MLAs would address the conference. He appealed to the SAD and BJP workers to attend this conference at a big level.
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Orientation programme at RIMT institute
Mandi Gobindgarh, September 1 In this programme, about 600 freshers from RIMT Institute of Management and Computer Technology, Regional Institute of Management and Technology and RIMT School of Management Studies participated. The students were accorded warm welcome by the chief guest, chairman of the RIMT Group Dr Hukam Chand Bansal. Dr Bansal said RIMT institutes have all the necessary resources, which are required to develop a student in to industry ready. He called upon them to take full advantage of the various resources of their institutes. The director general of the institutes, Dr BS Bhatia said just knowledge of the course curriculum was not enough, additional knowledge of current happenings in the environment was also required. He gave students many useful tips from his long career in professional education. In the orientation programme, the students were introduced to the members of the faculty of the institutes. They were also acquainted with the syllabus of their study programmes, with the rules and regulations of the institute and university and academic requirements and were also given personality development tips.
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Bank ventures into self-employment training
Ludhiana, September 1 Inaugurating the Rural Self-Employment Training Institute, Deputy Commissioner Vikas Garg said the initiative of the bank would go a long way towards upliftment of the rural population, particularly those living below poverty line and other weaker sections of society by providing them vocational training for entrepreneurship and skill development in various avenues of economic activities. Director of the institute Jeet Singh said the short-term training programmes in different vocations would range from three days to six weeks, depending upon the courses chosen by the trainees. All training programmes will be residential in nature and the bank will also provide free boarding and lodging facility to the candidates, he added. On the opening day joined the training courses in different trades. The sarpanches of these villages also participated in the inaugural function.
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Medical official retires
Dr Dhir, in his capacity of district head of Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP), compiled a comprehensive report on the "epidemics" in the district with special emphasis on causes, prevention and awareness amongst the masses. The report has been submitted to the Department of Health and Family Welfare, which will enable his successors to combat epidemics in coming years. Having trained more than 400 paramedics to handle emergency situations during outbreaks, Dr Dhir is one of the few officials to have done their training at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) and IDSP in BJM Medical College, Pune. From his stint as senior medical officer at Sahnewal to his tenure as district health officer with the additional charge of additional district registrar of birth/death, Dr Dhir summmed up his experience as a "mix" of challenge (to work with limited infrastructure), resolve (to keep up the nobility of medical profession at forefront)
and progression (to evolve new methodology for creating awareness for good health).
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Watches stolen from showroom
Ludhiana, September 1 A dog squad and fingerprint experts were also pressed into service. According to Amandeep Singh Brar, the police has registered a case. The owner said the entire shop was ransacked. The thieves especially targeted high-end range of watches. The showroom owners had recently expanded their shop. The owners claimed that they had recently put in more range of watches. However, the cops found the manner of theft intriguing, as the locks of the shutter were not broken and the security guard appointed to man the ATM machine, situated adjacent to the shop, could not spot any activity during the night.
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Five get 2-yr jail for thrashing driver
Ludhiana, September 1 Those convicted include Paramjit Singh, Karamjit Singh of Barwala village, Sahnewal, Amarjit Singh of Gujjarwal village, Davinder Singh of Khatra village, Dehlon and Tapinder Singh of Ahmedgarh. A case under Sections 323, 325, 341 and 346 was registered against the accused on July 31, 2002, at the Division No. 5 police station on the statement of Lakhvir Singh. He had stated that he was working with Nirwar Ex-servicemen bus as a driver. On the day of the incident, he was sitting on the driver seat for parking his bus at the counter when the accused entered the bus and started beating him up. They also took him to the office of New Fatehgarh Sahib Bus Service. He was confined there for some time and then left him at bus stand. However, the accused had pleaded not guilty. But after appreciating the evidence on record, the court found them guilty and sentenced accordingly.
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Throwball Meet
Ludhiana, September 1 In the girls' under-17 category, students of the school pipped RS Model Senior Secondary School, 2-0, to emerge as champions. In the under-14 category, girls from Everest School secured second position. In the boys’ under-17 and under-19 categories, Everest Public Senior Secondary School finished runners up, while in the under-14 category, boys from this school had to content with third position. Rajinder Sharma, principal of the school, appreciated the students' performance. 
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Football trials on September 4
Ludhiana, September 1 Players born on or after January 1, 1995 are eligible to take part in these trials. The selected players will represent Ludhiana in the Punjab State Football Championship scheduled to be held at Jalandhar from September 9 to 14.
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City to host Punjab junior basketball meet
Ludhiana, September 1 Teja Singh Dhaliwal, general secretary, Ludhiana District Basketball Association informed that players born on or after January 1, 1991 are eligible to participate. Punjab team for the forthcoming Junior National Basketball Championship slated to be conducted at Bhubneshwer (Orrisa) from October 2 to 9 will be selected during the championship. Entries close on September 7 with Teja Singh Dhaliwal at Ludhiana.
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Yoga Meet
Ludhiana, September 1 Results: Boys U-19: Sai Public School, Shimlapuri 1, BVM Senior Secondary School, Udham Singh Nagar 2 and Guru Nanak Senior Secondary School, Lalto Kalan 3. Boys U-17: Sai Public School, Shimlapuri 1, Government Senior Secondary School, Lalton Kalan 2 and BVM Senior Secondary School, Udham Singh Nagar 3. Boys U-14: Sai Public School, Shimlapuri 1, Guru Nanak Senior Secondary School, Dholewal Chowk 2 and BVM Senior Secondary School, Udham Singh Nagar 3. Principal of the host school, Sunil Arora gave away prizes to the position holders.
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Ludhiana, September 1