Ludhiana, January 19
Material worth crores was gutted in a major fire that broke out at a garment factory at Bal Singh Nagar in Basti Jodhewal here late last night. The five-storeyed building in which the factory was housed was reduced to ashes.

Cotton Care Export Private Limited is situated in a narrow street of Basti Jodhewal. The Fire Department had a tough time dousing the flames as it took more than 10 hours to bring the fire under control.

Eyewitnesses said the building was locked at the time of the fire and there was no one inside. “It was between 9.30 pm and 10 pm when I heard a hue and cry. When I went out, I saw flames coming out of the building. Since it was very foggy and cold outside, the fire was perhaps not noticed earlier,” said a neighbour.

Residents immediately informed the company owner and fire brigade. Before the fire tenders could arrive, the residents had started dousing the fire on their own. They were using water pipes and buckets of water to douse the flames.

“The fire tenders were not able to reach the site due to narrow streets it was tough for the big fire engines to find their way and small fire engines had less water-storage capacity.

Besides, we were astonished to see that the Fire Department did not know any technique to tackle fire of high-rise buildings,” the neighbour added.

ADFO Kartar Singh was manually sprinkling water to reach the third and subsequent floors of the building, added a BJP leader and area municipal councillor Sunita Phanta’s husband.He said the firm was owned by Pawan Moudgill and he had been residing here for the past more than a decade.

Investigations revealed that a fire had broken out in the same building in March 2001 and during that time, the company was registered under a different name. Despite the fact that the area is fire-prone, the Punjab Government has allowed commercial activities in the residential area.

Talking to The Tribune, Kartar Singh said, “A major tragedy was averted because there was blank space on both sides of the building that didn’t allow fire to spread. The Fire Department tried its best and my men did a great job.”

Municipal Commissioner AK Sinha and Deputy Commissioner Vikas Garg also visited the site to take stock of the situation.

Ludhiana, January 19
The Fire Department may be reeling under severe shortage of both men and machines, but its working spirits are unrivalled. The department of the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, has a workforce of just 70 men and 28 fire tenders.

Workers of the department have to work for more than 12 hours at a stretch and that, too, without any extra pay or incentives.

Residents should be thankful to firemen for their commendable job, who are available round the clock.

Despite the department’s pleas being turned down a number of times by the Punjab Government, it has performed its duty diligently.

Their demands include expansion of staff and updated machinery.

While lauding ADFO Kartar Singh and his team, MC Commissioner AK Sinha said, “Despite so many hurdles last night like cold weather and narrow streets, firemen did a great job. I have already appealed to the Department of Revenue, Punjab Government, to grant us calamity funds given by the Government of India. We hope that we get the grant soon.”

“Besides, there are bike fire tenders with around 9-litre water capacity, which help douse flames in cars and transformers, where a fire tender is not required. The cost of this motorcycle is around Rs 1 lakh and I have already drafted a proposal for it and will send it today.”

“As far as Rs 6-crore hydraulic staircase is concerned, which is the need of the hour due to tall buildings in the city, the request for it is already with the Punjab Local Bodies Department and will be taken up with the higher authorities at the earliest,” added the Commissioner.

Senior Deputy Mayor Praveen Bansal said, “Despite being 70 in number, they are ready to take care of around 40 lakh lives in the city. These men are doing a selfless and thankless job with a commitment.”

He promised to take up the problems of the department with Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia.

Ludhiana, January 19
Some of the smaller city jewellers may be complaining of little or even no business for the past month so. However, as far as leading gold and diamond jewellery storeowners are concerned, they seem to be having a hectic time tackling huge rush of customers - especially those of nonresident Indians - these days.

A few jewellers said no wedding ceremonies were being held by members of a “particular community for astrological reasons”, due to which business had slumped by 30 to 40 per cent. At the same time, NRIs living in Europe and the US can be seen thronging major stores, placing big orders for gold and diamond jewellery to be shipped to their homes.

Talking to The Tribune, Suresh Dhanda of Krishnasons Jewellers said most city jewellers were “sitting idle” due to very few or no customers.

“The business of 90 per cent of jewellers has been affected as there were virtually no weddings till May 2010. Everyone cannot afford to buy gold ornaments these days due to the skyrocketing price of the yellow metal. Still, people do make jewellery purchases for weddings. As this season is not considered by many to be ‘appropriate’ for wedding ceremonies, there are virtually no buyers in the market. However, we expect to get buyers during mid-February which is thought by many people to be ‘auspicious’ for marriages", said Dhanda.

Meanwhile, a salesgirl at a leading gold jewellery store on Mall Road, speaking on condition of anonymity, disclosed the store was getting plenty of NRI customers these days.

"In winter many NRIs residing in America and Europe come to India for 2-3 months. And for them the soaring gold prices hardly matter. They purchase a good number of ornaments from our store. Besides Ludhiana, we also get plenty of committed customers from Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Nakodar, Jagraon and Moga. Even if is for minor repairs, they prefer to come to us only", said the salesgirl.

Sukhminder Kaur, an NRI from Chicago who was accompanied by her teenage daughter, said she was buying jewellery from this particular store on Mall Road. “Indian women love traditional jewellery. This has been our jewellery store for the past four decades and we don’t go anywhere else. There should be mutual trust between a jeweler and his customers. I’ve come here to get lightweight stone-studded jewellery for my daughter", she added.

Ludhiana, January 19
Burglars reportedly broke into a house in H block of BRS Nagar here on Monday night and fled with gold jewellery as well as cash worth several lakhs of rupees, though the precise amount of the loss is yet to be ascertained.

According to information, the house belongs to Manjit Singh, a local property dealer, who along with his family was out of town and was later informed about the theft. Till the filing of this report, he was yet to return to the city though his wife and son had arrived at their home.

Talking to The Tribune on phone, Manjit said, "I'm still on my way and would be able to comment on the exact amount of the loss only after reaching Ludhiana”.

Manjit’s sister-in-law, Bhagwant Kaur, said: "There’s a vacant plot adjacent to the house and we suspect the thieves came in by jumping over the wall. They broke a window and door of the store to enter the house."

According to neighbours Manjit lived with his wife, son and daughter in the house. "On Sunday the family had gone to take their daughter to Ferozepore, where she is studying in a dental college. As Monday was declared a holiday by the government the family decided to stay back at Zira. On Tuesday morning Manjit went to drop his daughter while his wife and son remained at their relative’s house," said area councillor HS Brar.

Said Sarabha Nagar SHO Beant Juneja: "I’ve visited the house where the burglary was committed. Preliminary investigations have revealed gold jewellery was stolen. However, the police is yet to record Manjit’s statement, after which a case would be registered. As far as the precise loss is concerned this would be clear only after Manjit returns to the city”.

Ludhiana, January 19
Quackery has spread its tentacles in religious institutions, as a large number of quacks are managing the show in charitable dispensaries and hospitals run by various temples and gurdwaras in the city and its periphery.

The department of Health and Family Welfare being the regulatory authority has failed to take any initiative to check the ongoing menace despite the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued in 2008.

The trusts of the temples and gurdwaras are misled by these quacks, who produce certificates and diplomas from China, Russia and various other universities in India that are offering courses in alternate system of medicine. The trustees and managements of the religious institutions are unaware of the fact that any person holding diplomas and certificates in alternative system of medicine can not practice medicine in absence of a degree of MBBS (allopathy), BAMS (ayurveda) or BHMS (homeopathy).

In a recent incident, a quack after showing his invalid credentials managed to get an appointment in a dispensary run by a gurdwara in the interior part of Ludhiana. But the quack was caught when he was approached by an educated devotee, who went to him with an abdominal pain.

Satnam Singh, who is a devotee said, "I was shocked when the so called doctor prescribed a steroid without even taking the complete case history, thereafter, I brought the matter to the notice of the gurdwara management and immediately the doctor was terminated from his services."

The self-styled doctors in these dispensaries make a clientele from regular visitors, who are devotees and blindly follow their medication.

Ludhiana Civil surgeon Dr Maninderjit Singh said they were waiting for fresh guidelines from the department authorities in Chandigarh. The Senior Medical Officials (SMOs) have already been asked to prepare the lists of the quacks in their respective areas, he added.

Ludhiana, January 19
In a major development for the city, the finance and contracts committee (F&CC) of the municipal corporation today approved the construction of Pratap Chowk flyover.

The corporation had made an estimated cost of around Rs 24 crore for the project, but the F&CC has decided that a new survey would be conducted for the project before taking its construction.

According to sources, members of the contracts committee have approved the project as the Punjab government has send Rs 1 crore for the flyover. Earlier, the corporation had taken a stand that if the Punjab government would send funds, only than the Pratap Chowk flyover would be constructed, as the civic body did not have the funds for the project.

The flyover would be linked to the Gill Chowk flyover and would be constructed by Deepak Builders. However, RITES would undertake the design and survey for the project after which the contractor would start with the construction work.

Interestingly, the project was under scanner as local bodies department chief engineer Manmohan Singh had expressed reservations on the project last year. Even, Senior Deputy Mayor Praveen Bansal was against the allotment of the project to the contractor Deepak Builders.

The sources attending the meeting revealed that apart from it, agendas related to O&M cell like laying of new sewer lines, installation and repairs of motors were passed. Similarly, the project of B&R were too approved, but many of them were held back stating them not to be a priority.

Besides, renewal of contracts, reimbursement case of some MC employees, etc. were also approved by the F&CC.

Commenting on it, Senior Deputy Mayor Praveen Bansal said, “The project was earlier being deferred because the state government had raised the objections and we had paucity of funds. But since the Punjab government is now ready to lend a helping hand, the corporation has no problem to take the project.”

Ludhiana, January 19
Setting in motion the process of development of new commercial and residential complexes in the mega city, the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) today launched a project for construction of 20 shops-cum-flats (SCFs) in the upmarket Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar locality here.

LIT chairman Ashok Juneja along with trustees - Naresh Dhingan and Gurinderpal Singh Pappu - laid the foundation stone of the commercial centre to be constructed at a cost of Rs 3.13 crore. Each SCF will have a floor area of little over 181 square yards and the construction work is scheduled to be completed within six months.

Juneja said after the disposal of huge number of files pertaining to the registration of conveyance deeds, transfers and other procedural matters about trust properties, the focus will now shift to the development. “It will be our endeavour to expeditiously take up the development of new colonies, providing better amenities and infrastructure in existing colonies and proper disposal of all vacant pieces of land as well as to built up properties.”

He said all built up properties and vacant pieces of lands had been duly identified and steps were being taken for their disposal through public auction as per the prevailing policy of the government.

Juneja further stated that explicit directions had been issued to the contractors and other agencies to speed up the ongoing work in various residential schemes in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Sukhdev Enclave and Model Town Extension so that possession of nearly 1,100 flats could be handed over to allottees by March 2010.

Preliminary work has already been started on the new project for the construction of EWS and LIG flats on 8.8 acre scheme of Shaheed Karnail Singh Nagar in the city, he added.

Ludhiana, January 19
Six years ago when Keshav Pandey went to attend a national integration camp in Jaipur, he never thought that at 16 he would be influenced by the Gandhian principles.

But a lecture delivered by Gandhian SS Suba Rao left a deep impact on him. The septuagenarian’s lecture made him attend several national integration camps, and now, he prefers to call himself an Indian first, rather than a Hindu or a Bihari.

Presently, cycling for peace from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, 22-year-old Pandey halted in the city and shared his vision and mission with The Tribune.

Q: Why did you start your journey in January when the North is engulfed in cold and fog?

Ans: I started my peace march from Katra on January 12 that happens to Swami Vivekanand Jayanti. As far as cold is concerned, when you have an ambition, weather conditions don’t deter you much. Besides, cycling gives me enough warmth to paddle at lest 80 to 100 kilometers a day. I’m going on a mission and will travel from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and than from the East to Guwahati.

Q: Tell us something about youself?

Ans: I am a commerce graduate from BR Ambedkar Bihar University. It was from this university that first president Dr Rajender Prasad passed out. I have done my Honours in Accounts. I hail from Muzzafarpur in Bihar and belong to a rich family. My father runs a shop of household articles and owns farms in a village. I have a sister elder to me and an younger brother.

Q: What about your peace march?

Ans: I’m a disciple of Gandhian SS Suba Rao. After having worked with him for six years I am a different man mow. People like me; prefer to call themselves an Indian, rather than finding our identities in religion or states we live in. There is a different joy in associating yourself with your country. For the past few years, Indians are falling prey to radicals and regionalism. My aim is to make them rise beyond these and live unitedly. Take pride in your nation and become its identity.

Q: How has been your stay in Punjab?

Ans: Before commencing my journey, I had informed the Chief Minister of every state about my peace march. I didn’t have any response from the Punjab government, but Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda wants to meet me. I would be meet him in Rohtak on February 1. However, I really appreciate the reception that I got in Punjab. I was given a warm welcome by Ludhiana-based NGO-Rising Youth Association. I am thankful to its president Gurinder Singh Chahal and his friends Preet Kamal Grewal, Sandeep Thapar and Prabhdeep Singh for making my stay a wonderful one. I had similar experience in Jalandhar too.

Q: Something unique about you?

Ans: Well, I don’t believe in self-praise. But I love the way I started my New Year. For the past six years, on every December 31 I used to visit a place that has become a victim of natural calamity, riots or violence. I start my New Year by working and helping downtrodden and victims of such incidents. For example: I along with a few people went to Kandhamal in Orissa where a clash took place between Christians and Hindus. We helped Christian families rebuilt their houses and helped in reaching a truce between the two religions.

Ludhiana, January 19
Basant Panchmi was celebrated with great fervour and zeal on the premises of Bharatiya Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Udham Singh Nagar, and Bharatiya Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Kitchlu Nagar, here today.

Cultural programmes were presented in both schools. The programme commenced with recital of Saraswati vandana, which was followed by dance, poem recitation and a “natika” based on the life of Veer Haqiqat Rai by the students.

All classrooms were decorated with yellow flowers to give the premises a feel of Basant and yellow delicacies were also relished.

A hawan was also performed for the board classes.

Ludhiana, January 19
Singing is his passion since childhood. After remaining busy in the job one hardly gets time to pursue his or her passion. But it’s not in the case of Karamjit Singh Grewal. Even after joining as a teacher at Government High School at Kheri Chameri, singing never took a backseat in his life. While other teachers are busy earning money through tuitions, Grewal is pursing his love for music during his free time.

He seemed to be a pleased man while holding his recently released album. The album titled “Golden Collection” has two songs by Grewal. While one reminds us of our mother, the other is dedicated to motherland.

“Singing was always my first love. No doubt I wanted to become a singer but it’s a very expensive affair. After joining as a teacher I pursued my hobby. Morning and evening hours are reserved for my practice,” he added.

Grewal’s songs are not stereotype. These mostly relates to sensitive issues. “Sometimes it’s on menace of drugs or sex ratio,” he added. Apart from singing Grewal also composes music for the plays.

Mullanpur Dakha, January 19
The Dr BR Ambedkar Mission Welfare Society in a communication to the Punjab Government and the Education Minister sought the withdrawal of fee hike announced by the department recently.

Gurdev Singh, retired headmaster and president of the society, said today the government schools normally accommodated students of poor families, who were not able to pay the fees as per the previous structure. More than 95 per cent enrollments of the government schools are from the economically poor families. He said the students of the rich families had the paying capacity but hardly any one came to study at a government school.

Condemning the fee hike, he said soon child labour would become rampant as after being dropped out of school for non payment of fees, the children would have no other option but to resort to petty jobs.

The society has initiated a communication with all the authorities, including the Punjab Chief Minister to reconsider the fee hike, he said.

Ludhiana, January 19
The Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET), an institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, today inaugurated a training programme on the post harvest technology for rural catchments for farmers from Bhojpur, Bihar.

The programme is sponsored by ATMA, Bhojpur.

Director, CIPHET, Dr RT Patil said, “We never realised the potential of proper marketing for produce grown in the fields. That was the reason we were not able to sell spices by opening shops in the European market and instead Britishers made fortune by buying them at throw away prices from the Indian market and selling it across the world,” and added that the farmers with less investment could sell their produce.

Dr KK Singh, head of transfer of technology division, said 30 to 40 per cent of vegetables went waste till they reached the market. He said loses could be minimised if the food processing units could be established at the village level only.

A total of 20 farmers from Bihar are participating in the programme, which would include training in grading and milling of grains, milling technology for pulses and oilseeds, preparation of snacks food, processing of onion, ginger, garlic, groundnut, soyabean and beetroot, technology for making green chilli powder, storage and processing of other crops.

Ludhiana, January 19
It seems that the ordeal of Gulshan Kumar (24), who is suffering from renal failure and undergoing treatment at the Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) for the past four years, is far from end.

As the patient’s family is reeling under financial crunch, the hospital authorities have given generous discount to the patient, but still the family needs a financial help for Gulshan’s treatment.

A resident of Raison village near Karnal, the boy comes for dialysis twice a week. The weekly expenses incurred on the dialysis is approximately Rs 7,000, which adds up to Rs 28,000 every month, an amount that the family is unable to arrange even after seeking help from their near and dear ones.

Gulshan’s family suffered first shock on learning that he was suffering from renal failure in 2005, but the hell broke loose when he tested positive for AIDS following transfusion of infected blood at one of the hospitals, where he was admitted at the initial stage of his disease.

Som Prakash, the boy’s father, who has been running from pillar to post for his treatment for the past four years says, “The police has denied me justice, as no action has been taken against the doctor, who is guilty of transfusing infected blood to my son, but I am hopeful to get help from philanthropists as well as the government quarters so as to continue Gulshan’s treatment.”

The amount can be sent through a cheque, draft or cash in favour of Gulshan Kumar Setia, c/o Somprakash Setia, department of nephrology and renal transplantation, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana.

People interested in meeting the family or giving money by hand can contact at 098961-73326

Ludhiana, January 19
“Today bhangra has become an integral part of the film industry. After “Singh is King”, bhangra has become a household name today. All films have a dash of bhangra in them,” said Remo, during a video conference here today.

His films like “Patiala House”, “Jane Kahan Se Aayee Hai” have bhangra in them and his directorial debut will be launched in February this year.

Talking about the pressure built on the contestants during the reality shows, Remo said, “Pressure on children is always there, it’s just that its visible on the screen. One has to be strong enough to bear the stress. There are people who achieve their goals despite being under pressure,” said Remo.

Remo is an ace choreographer, whose stunning acts and warm, friendly image on Zee TV's Lux Dance India Dance has made him a household name across the country.

In the last season of the show, it was under his guidance that Salman from Bangalore walked away with the “Sunehri Taqdeer Ki Topi” and became a dancing star from just a dancer.

The latest buzz on the show is superstar Salman Khan’s awaited visit on the sets of the show. Nikitasha Marwah and Punit Pathak both from Remo’s team are eagerly waiting for the episode. “We both have worked hard for this episode and hope that Salman recognises our efforts,” said the duo during the video conferencing.

Remo D’souza has prepared a breath-taking act with his contestants Nikitasha and Punit on Salman’s popular love song “Chaand Chhupa Baadal Mein” from the movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.

The US-based, Nikitasha Marwah, is a trained classical dancer and has come all the way to India just to participate in Lux Dance India Dance. Lovingly called “Taashu”, the gorgeous girl has been Miss India World in recent years.

“My destination will be Bollywood. I want to do a film opposite Hritik Roshan. Dance India Dance gave me a platform to showcase my talent on the screen,” she said.

Punit Pathak, the strapping lad from Mumbai, has warmed his way into everyone’s hearts with his smile and sparkling dance performances. “I have put my fingers crossed and let’s see what is stored in future,” he added with a smile.

Jagraon, January 19
The two-day Sardar Mohinder Singh Memorial Inter-College Competition began today at Guru Nanak Auditorium, Khalsa College for Women, Sidhwan Khurd, near here, today. Various activities like rangoli, shabad gayan, poster making, quiz and debate were organised.

Teams from 15 colleges participated in the event.

Dr Swaranjit Singh Deol, principal of GHG Khalsa College, Gurusar Sudhar, was the chief guest, while Gurpreet Kaur Deol was the guest of honour.

Results:

Shabad gayan: GN Khalsa College, Gujjarkhan Campus, Ludhiana, 1, SGG Janta Girls College, Raikot, 2 and GGS Khalsa College, Jhor Sahib, 3.

Rangoli: Vandana of Guru Nanak Girls College, Ludhiana, 1, Sanjyogita of Guru Nanak Girls College, Ludhiana, 2, Neha Jain of Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, and Kirandeep of GN Khalsa College, Gujjarkhan Campus, Ludhiana, 3.

Poster making: Amandeep Kaur of Guru Nanak Girls College, Model Town, Ludhiana, 1, Sukhwinder Kaur of Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, 2 and Pushpinder Kaur of Guru Nanak Girls College, Model Town, Ludhiana, 3.

Quiz (commerce): Aurbindo College of Commerce, Ludhiana, 1, Khalsa college for Women, Ludhiana, 2 and Lajpat Rai DAV College, Jagraon, 3.

Jagraon, January 19
The Jagraon police has booked a former sarpanch of the nearby Bassuwal village in a fraud case and also for misappropriation of wheat meant to be distributed among the needy.

The cases date back to the time when Parshan Singh was the sarpanch of the village.

Pal Singh, a villager, had complained the matter to Racchpal Singh, SDO of the Panchayat Department, against the sarpanch. The inquiry in the case was conducted by BDPO Jagraon.

Pal Singh had complained against the sarpanch that he had misappropriated an amount of Rs 1.43 lakh received by the panchayat as grant and 11.8 quintals wheat sent by the Central government under the HGRY scheme to be distributed among the needy free of cost.

All allegations were found to be true and the Jagraon police booked him under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC. No arrest has, however, been made so far.

Sources close to the sarpanch, meanwhile, claimed the case to be politically motivated as Parshan Singh was earlier an Akali worker. During the last term, appreciating the Congress policies, he joined the Congress party and served as sarpanch of the village. Akalis, agitated over his joining Congress, had got implicated him in this frivolous case, they said.

Ludhiana, January 19
Three persons were arrested for reportedly stealing 50 quintals of cloth worth Rs 12 lakh.

According to information, the accused have been identified as Sahib, Sahil and Sonu. The trio had stolen the cloth from Babita Fabric, New Shakti Nagar.

The police have seized the cloth.

Ludhiana, January 19
The economic offences wing of the police arrested a resident of BRS Nagar, identified as Paramjit Singh, for applying for a bank loan with forged documents.

The suspect allegedly prepared fake documents for a real estate property in the name of ‘Avtar Singh’ and applied for a loan of Rs 10 lakh from a branch of State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur.

According to EO wing in charge Gurbinder Singh, the police had earlier also filed a case against the suspect.

Ludhiana, January 19
Sanjivni, a student of Class II, BCM Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh road branch, gave an excellent performance to fetch a silver medal in the All-India Yoga Championship held at Palwal, Haryana, from January 15 to 17.

According to DP Guleria, school principal, Sanjivni along with other three students of the school represented the state in the championship and brought fame to the city as well as to the school.

More than 1,200 participants from the country competed in the championship.

Sanjivni bagged a silver medal in the girls’ section (5-8 years), while Promila, a student of Class III, clinched a bronze medal in the same age group.

Enakshi and Aadash Mishra, students of Class V, too made their presence felt, as they won bronze medals in the 8 to 12 years category. On the basis of their performance in the meet, all four have been selected to take part in the International Yoga Championship, which is slated to be held in May in Australia. The principal congratulated the students and their coach Vipul Malhotra for their achievement.

Raikot, January 19
The rural sports festival concluded yesterday at Abbuwal village, near here. The event was organised by Baba Roop Narian New Sports Club. Harjinder Singh, president of the sports club, said the club had been organising the football and kabaddi championships for the past 28 years. The village had three kabaddi teams and two football teams.

Around 16 kabaddi teams and 16 football teams had participated in the event.

In the football match, Team A from Abbuwal village emerged victorious by defeating Jassowal Soodan village by 1-0 goals.

In the kabaddi match (37 kg category), Suhani village emerged champions by defeating players of Dhatt village by 26:5 points.

In the 58 kg category (kabaddi): Players of Jhorran village registered victory by defeating Khedi village by 10:6 points. In the kabaddi open matches, Daudhar village defeated Pherurahin village.

A football match was played between Abbuwal A Team and Abbuwal B Team in the 40 plus category. Abbuwal A won by 5-4 goals. The tournament was organised by the villagers of Abbuwal village with the help of some NRIs. — OC