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Grappling over prize money
hours before kabaddi final
Sukhbir oversees seating arrangements
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Ruling
SAD-BJP alliance sure to lose in coming political kabaddi, says Bhattal
Fiscal issues alone will decide poll outcome: Manpreet
SAD decides on liquor baron for Faridkot seat
No differences on Manpreet’s dera visit: CPI
SAD’s Moga rally on Dec 18
Wrestling losing it out to kabaddi
Khali’s absence disappoints fans
India to get MFN status after Cabinet nod, says Pak ex-PM
Post-package, bankers make a beeline for Gobindpura
Dullo speaks up for weaker sections
Power corp staff to go on strike today; engineers also to join them
Tota Singh wants to contest from Dharamkot
Sharjah case: 4 Indians to return today
JEs, power corp at loggerheads
Punjabi varsity gets grant of Rs 6.1 cr
Preneet vs Harsimrat: Politics wins, farmers left high and dry
Alcohol, high-fat diet to blame for pancreatitis, says expert
NRI, family injured in road accident
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Grappling over prize money
hours before kabaddi final
Ludhiana, November 20 The issue was raised by Karnial Singh Khaira, a veteran kabaddi player and manager of the England team. He was supported by members of kabaddi federations of other countries. Khaira claimed the sports federations of various countries were unaware that the prize money would be distributed only among the players and coaches and managers would not get anything. “We spent lakhs of rupees on flying the players from England to India. The federation has also spent money on training players. But it will be very disappointing if the key persons who made the kabaddi cup a success do not get their due. Why the money should only be given to the players and not the coaches and managers who were part of the unit?” said Khaira. He said the authorities of all the sports federations and coaches would protest if the money is given only to players and not the officials accompanying the teams.
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Sukhbir oversees seating arrangements
Ludhiana, November 20 Accompanied by a battery of senior government officials, Sukhbir appeared unsatisfied with seating arrangements for the VVIPs when he reached the venue. He was scheduled to arrive at 4 pm, but instead came at 3:45 pm. Miffed over the seating arrangements, he himself started moving chairs. A senior government official said in order to have a first hand account, Sukhbir himself sat in the front row so as to see how the view would be from there. Later, the government officials were told to keep some carpets under the seats so that the VVIPs could have a clear view. He even wanted the event management company to shift the main stage, but the latter said it was not feasible at the last
moment. SAD tries to Gain political mileage Ahead of the assembly elections, Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal missed no opportunity to use the kabaddi final match platform to highlight various developmental works carried out by the SAD-BJP government. During his speech, Sukhbir counted several development works, including the atta-dal scheme and distribution of cycles to girl students. Even the singers including Harbhajan Mann, Satiner Satti were all praise for Sukhbir for promoting this sport. Mild lathicharge at venue gate The finals of the second World Kabaddi Cup held at Guru Nanak Stadium here on Sunday witnessed an unpleasant incident when the police had to resort to mild lathicharge at Gate Number 6, which was meant for entry to mediapersons and VIP card holders. The incident occurred when the “enthusiastic” crowd tried to barge into the venue to have a glimpse of their favourite Bollywood stars and popular Punjabi singers performing at the closing ceremony.
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Ruling
SAD-BJP alliance sure to lose in coming political kabaddi, says Bhattal
Speaking to mediapersons here, she termed the Kabaddi World Cup, being organised with much fanfare by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal on public expense, as a ‘tamasha’ (comedy) with the alleged objective to distract voters’ attention from real issues facing the state. “The economy is in a shambles; the state has gone bankrupt and the debt burden is increasing with each passing day. And in the wake of a dismal power scenario, the industry has either gone sick or is in the process of shifting elsewhere,” she maintained. Bhattal alleged that the government had shown criminal negligence in the execution of work on new power projects with the result that not even a single mega watt of power could be added during the last four and a half years. The former CM also accused the government of letting loose a reign of terror against the voices of dissent and protest. "Dande de zor te lok raj wich sarkaran nahin chaldian" (In a democratic set up, governments cannot rule with force and repressions),” she
remarked. Mum on choice for CM’s post While claiming that the Congress was a united house and would form the next government in Punjab, Bhattal remained cautious and refused to elaborate on who would be the party’s choice for the chief ministerial post. "There is no need to make public statements on this matter, which is the prerogative of the elected members of the House and the party high command," she said...
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15 villages left high and dry
Bhainibagha (Mansa), November 20 These villages have not been getting water for irrigation and drinking purposes for the past more than one-and-a-half months. The 26-km-long water channel is being widened to increase the water carrying capacity from 326 cusecs to 428 cusecs.This is being done to meet the water demand for the under-construction Banawali thermal plant. An amount of Rs 25 crore is being spent on the project. The base area of the channel is being widened to 10 feet and its side walls are also being repaired. Ram Singh, a resident of Bhainibagha village and district president of the BKU (Ugraha), alleged that the repair work had been hanging fire for the past many days because of the lackadaisical approach of officials supervising the work. “Besides, construction material used at several points is sub-standard. We had to get the channel side walls reconstructed at places where sub-standard material had been used”, he said. The villagers, while demanding immediate completion of the work on the channel, said the farmers of more than 15 villages had to draw underground water with the help of diesel engines. The XEN of the Irrigation Department, Nirmal Singh Brar, said the work was likely to be completed within three or four days. “The work has been delayed because of some technical problems”, he explained. He, however, denied that any sub-standard material was being used for repairs. “We are collecting samples at random and there is no possibility of sub-standard material being used”, he claimed.
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Fiscal issues alone will decide poll outcome: Manpreet
Talking to mediapersons, he said the elections would be the first of its kind in Punjab when the voters would decide on issues related to their daily life which were heavily influenced by the state’s economic policies. He said the Sanjha Morcha, comprising the PPP, the CPI, the CPI (M) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal), was ready with an economic agenda under which five lakh jobs would be created in five years. It had been named Shaheed Bhagat Singh Rozgar Yojana. The party had already announced the Bhimrao Ambedkar Awas Yojana for the shelterless and the Morcha would open 25 colleges and 25 hospitals in the state if voted To a question, he said the Morcha’s election manifesto would be announced by November-end or the first week of December. He said the Morcha would invite social activist Anna Hazare and his team for campaigning in the state elections. The Morcha was fighting against corruption as was Anna, he said. He said merely organising kabaddi tournaments and inviting film stars to public meetings was unlikely to benefit the SAD-BJP candidates. “The people can’t be befooled. They will be judicious in their choice of candidates,” he observed. He said with the people of the state donating generously, the PPP faced no shortage of funds. He addressed an impressive rally at the local Roshan Ground and appealed to the people to vote for Sanjha Morcha candidates.
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SAD decides on liquor baron for Faridkot seat
After his meeting with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal at Badal village yesterday, Deep Malhotra started canvassing in the area today. The SAD had been on a lookout for a strong candidate from Faridkot, capable of giving a tough fight to senior Congress leader and former Education Minister Avtar Singh Brar. Malhotra has liquor business in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. “Though reluctant to join politics, because of my late father’s association with the Badal Family, I agreed to enter the poll arena on Badal Sahib’s directions ”, said Malhotra. Malhotra paid obeisance at Guru Baba Farid Tilla Sahib today where he also met aprty activists. “Shortage of quality drinking water will be my first priority,” he said.
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No differences on Manpreet’s dera visit: CPI
Chandigarh, November 20 “It is the democratic right of every politician to explain his viewpoint to anyone he likes. Manpreet visited the dera to explain the Sanjha Morcha agenda to its members,” he said. The CPI leader said the Morcha was committed to secularism, “but this does not mean that one of its leaders cannot visit a religious place”, he explained. “It is a historical truth that religious leaders have played a role in bringing about social change. “There should be no objection if religious leaders come forward to elect honest politicians”, he added.
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Ludhiana, November 20 Party secretary Daljit Singh Cheema said the Chief Minister and party patron Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal would tour all the 117 assembly segments. The schedule for the rallies would be released soon. Dr Cheema said the core reviewed the preparations for the four mega events-inauguration of Virasat-e-Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib on November 25, Chhota Ghallughara (holocaust) on November 28, Vada Ghallughara at Kup Rahira in Sangrur district on November 29 and the memorial of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur at Chhaparchiri in Mohali on November 30. — TNS
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Wrestling losing it out to kabaddi
Ludhiana, November 20 These academies have been complaining that the money and hype revolving around kabaddi has significantly dented the prospects of wrestling, as no newcomers are opting for the sport. And even those who were trained recently, they say, are not thinking twice before switching over to kabaddi. Harmail Singh, Indian Style Wrestling Association of Punjab general secretary, said due to the lucrative prize money at Kabaddi World Cup (Rs 2 crore), a few of his wrestlers have quit. “If you offer Rs 2 crore for winning a kabaddi final, it will certainly draw crowds and the youth always prefer to take up such games where both money and glamour are associated,” he said. Recently, a national-level wrestler, Lovepreet Singh, who hails from Veerkalan village near Ludhiana, left Mandour Wrestling Academy in Patiala saying he was no more interested in the game, Harmail said. “I was shocked when Lovepreet said wrestling has no lucrative incentives to offer whereas in kabaddi, there are numerous opportunities,” he said. The trend, said he, was no different in Haryana with many young wrestlers taking interest in circle style kabaddi. Another reason why people were losing charm in wrestling, said he, was that the game was now played on mat. “Wrestling is a rugged sport and it is becoming very difficult to pull crowds when the game is played on mat. I believe the Wrestling Federation of India needs to make some changes so that people do not lose interest in the game,” said Harmail Singh.
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Khali’s absence disappoints fans
Kabaddi buffs were expecting that Khali, who started his sports career from Punjab and was present at the kabaddi cup opening ceremony, would be coming for the finals too. But sources close to the wrestler said Khali was neither invited by the event management company nor by the state government. Khali’s entry in an open jeep along with ‘bhangra’, ‘gidda’ and other performers drew a big applause at the inaugural function of the kabaddi cup in Bathinda on November 1. He led various team captains to the stage. After the function, Khali allegedly expressed displeasure over the arrangements as he was not allowed to sit on the dais. His spokesperson had said “Khali was not happy with the way he was treated at the ceremony”. Those close to Khali said: “Crores were spent on Shah Rukh Khan whereas Khali did not charge a single paisa as he himself is a kabaddi buff. While a special chartered plane was arranged to ferry Shah Rukh, Khali did not even charge for the air ticket from the US…. Despite all this, the government chose not to accommodate him on the stage.” Director of Sports (Punjab) Pargat Singh said, “We have got to know that Khali is having some injury as he was limping at the inaugural function.” When told Khali was willing to come free of cost for the final match, Pargat said the wrestler “didn’t have any act to do at the final function, therefore, he was not invited”. Speaking over the phone, Khali said he was willing to travel anywhere to promote kabaddi. “If Punjab Government wants, I am willing to be brand ambassador for the sport.” Was unhappy after opening ceremony Khali's entry in an open jeep along with 'bhangra', 'gidda' and other performers drew a big applause at the inaugural function of the kabaddi cup in Bathinda on November 1. He led various team captains to the stage. After the function, Khali allegedly expressed displeasure over the arrangements as he was not allowed to sit on the dais. His spokesperson had said "Khali was not happy with the way he was treated at the ceremony".
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India to get MFN status after Cabinet nod, says Pak ex-PM
Attari, November 20 Heading a nine-member delegation that crossed over to India through the Attari-Wagah land route, Hussain said, “The Pakistan Government has not taken any U-turn on granting MFN status to India. In fact, it requires Cabinet approval and a few other technicalities have to be completed.” Hussain, who is Pakistan Kabaddi Federation president, arrived in India to watch the Kabaddi World Cup final to be held in Ludhiana today. Among others accompanying him is former Pakistan Sports Minister Mushad Hussain Sayad. The former Pakistan PM said the tournament was a step towards reviving the traditional sport, which was losing its charm among the young generation. He said sports could play a vital role in strengthening ties between the two countries. Earlier, former Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Inderbir Singh Bularia and several other MLAs and local administration officials welcomed the delegation on behalf of the Punjab Government.
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Post-package, bankers make a beeline for Gobindpura
Gobindpura, November 20 They are chasing the farmers with offers of soft auto and housing loans. The farmers are a little stunned by the incessant queries from bank and automobile executives about their bank balance and choice of vehicles. “Earlier we would visit banks at Baretta or Buddhlada, at least 10 km from here. Now the bankers are on our doorstep,” said a farmer, adding that most of the farmers who had received compensation had bought four-wheelers. “Earlier, the village had a few vehicles. Now several farmers have purchased luxury cars and SUVs,” said Nirmal Singh. “Chased by bankers, many farmers have opened accounts with more than two banks,” said Resham Singh.Senior district administrative officials at Mansa said that they too had received several calls, requesting that the farmers be asked to deposit their money with particular banks, but had refused to
oblige. CM invites farmers’ bodies to talks In a statement here, the Chief Minister said he was open to a negotiated settlement of all problems related to the land acquisition in Gobindpura for a thermal power plant. — TNS
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Dullo speaks up for weaker sections
Though the SCs comprise nearly 28 per cent of the state population and the Backward Castes more than 20 per cent, the Punjab Congress, like the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), is dominated by the Jat Sikhs. Among those in the race for the top post in case the Congress comes to power are Capt Amarinder Singh, CLP Leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Congress Working Committee member Jagmeet Brar. This is not the first time that Dalit leaders have tried to make a case for their consideration for the top post. Supporters of former PCC chief Mohinder Singh Kaypee, MP from Jalandhar, had also projected his candidature for the top post. Congress sources claim that Dullo’s demand for chief ministership on rotation (among various sections) is a reaction to the PCC cold-shouldering his claim to the Khanna seat. This seat (earlier reserved) , is now being sought by Beant Singh’s grandson Gurkirat Singh Kotli. Dullo is being asked to contest from Payal, which is a reserved seat now. Dullo, when questioned, said he had only raised the issue of alienation of the Dalit and BC votebank from the state Congress and the need to attract these sections back to the party by giving “due honour” to their leaders. Congress sources say only a Jat Sikh would be able to take on a powerful regional satrap like CM Parkash Singh Badal. They claim the Congress had earlier lost in states where they had failed to project powerful regional leaders. Another contestant and Gurdaspur MP Partap Bajwa, who has voluntarily dropped from the race for chief ministership, said that he was in favour of projecting Amarinder as the chief ministerial candidate. This, he said, was necessary to give a push to the party in rural areas where people identified with strong leaders. “I have opted out of the race to strengthen the party and not due to any weakness”, he emphasised. There is also a feeling in the party that Amarinder Singh’s pro-farmer image was responsible for the Congress doing well in the Malwa region in the last elections. This time, the party is clear that it will lose some ground in Malwa to the Akalis but fear the situation could turn worse if Amarinder Singh is not projected as the candidate for the top post.
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Power corp staff to go on strike today; engineers also to join them
Patiala, November 20 According to highly placed sources in Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL), the decision was taken after talks between the employees/engineers and the power corporation remained inconclusive today. With power an important election issue, hectic deliberations are on at Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's office to find a way out of the deadlock. "The support of the power corporation employees and officers is crucial for the coming elections", said a senior officer attached with the office of the Secretary, Power, Punjab. The non-revision of the generation incentive (GI), non-fulfillment of the commitment to put Rs 250 crore in the GPF Trust and non-revision of the local outdoor duty allowance by November 11, have left the engineers fuming. Speaking to The Tribune, president of the PSEB Engineers' Association, HS Bedi, said: “The fact that the grade pay of Rs 6,850 has not been given to the assistant XENs, as agreed upon earlier, is also a betrayal. It is now crystal clear that our association will go ahead with the state-level agitation on November 22", he said. Thousands of employees working with the power corporation plan to hold a protest at the PSPCL headquarters here tomorrow. They allege that the state government has been “ignoring their genuine demands, despite accepting these principle.” Despite repeated attempts, the PSPCL/PSTCL top brass refused to comment on the matter.
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Tota Singh wants to contest from Dharamkot
Moga, November 20 Reacting to party president and Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal’s meeting with the Moga municipal councillors a couple of days back, the jathedar said he was confident of winning the Dharamkot seat even though local leaders Kuldip Singh Dhose and Sukhjit Singh Kaka had left the party. He said Dharamkot was a rural constituency dominated by the Akalis for the past several decades. Therefore, the defections would not matter much. The state government had made Dharamkot a subdivision, meeting the long-pending demand of the people, besides giving grants worth crores for rural development, he said. Tota Singh said he has already gone door-to-door in all the villages of the constituency and the people were appreciative of the development works initiated by the SAD-BJP government. “As far as the rebels are concerned, they will be ignored by the voters,” he added. Jathedar’s son Barjinder Singh Brar, popularly known as Makhan Brar, is vying for the party ticket from the Moga constituency. Makhan is the president of the local body and claims to have initiated development works worth more than Rs 120 crore in the town.
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Sharjah case: 4 Indians to return today
Chandigarh, November 20 Yousuf was murdered on July 11, 2009, following a violent clash between two groups of expatriate workers engaged in bootlegging. Ten expatriates, eight Indians and two Pakistanis, were tried on murder, bootlegging, arson and violence charges and sentenced to death by the Sharjah court last year. Mohammed Yousuf, victim’s father, later accepted the settlement reached with the families of the convicts. He also accepted the blood money (Rs 62 lakh) from Dubai-based Indian businessman SP Singh Oberoi in the presence of the judiciary hearing the appeal. The beneficiaries, Amarjeet Singh, Sachin Kumar Sharma, both of Goraya, Kuldip Singh of Moga and Hardev Singh of Kotkapura, were provided travel documents by the Dubai-based Indian Consul-General to enable them to fly to India. They would be arriving in Chandigarh tomorrow.
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JEs, power corp at loggerheads
Patiala, November 20 Talking to The Tribune, general secretary of the Council of Junior Engineers, PSEB, Davinder Singh alleged, "The power corporation has debarred the serving JEs from applying for the post of AE. It is working to safeguard the interests of the graduate engineers only." The president of the council, Swaran Lal, said the recruitment criteria being adopted for the post of the AE and JE indicated that the PSPCL/PSTCL management was only concerned to induct more graduate engineers for the post of the JE and even below the supervisory level posts. "We want that the state government should intervene and safeguard their interests", he demanded. Earlier, a diploma holder JE with 12 years of experience were eligible for the post of the AE but now the eligibility criteria has been changed. "The decision to revise the eligibility criteria is in the interest of the PSPCL/PSTCL because the diploma holder JEs are not competent enough to handle computers and advanced equipment", said a power corporation official, while preferring anonymity. However, PSPCL Director HC Seth though admitted that there had been some changes in the eligibility criteria but didn't specify any reason.
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Punjabi varsity gets grant of Rs 6.1 cr
Patiala, November 20 Prof Devinder Singh, Director, Planning and Monitoring, said it was the biggest monetary support ever received by the university for any research project. The University Grants Commission (UGC), on the other hand, has sanctioned a grant of Rs 2.1 crore for the establishment of a sophisticated instrumentation centre. Expressing satisfaction, Vice-Chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh said this would enable the university to accelerate the research activities in the departments of zoology and environmental studies, botany, biotechnology and pharmacy. The grant has been sanctioned under the Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Programme for Advanced Research and Education on the basis of recommendation of an expert committee that had visited the university for an on site evaluation of the available infrastructure and other facilities, he said. Devinder Singh informed that an amount of Rs 2.5 crore would be utilised for procuring the equipment for various departments, while the remaining amount would be spent to meet the recurring expenses. Three group leaders, including Dr RC Gupta (botany), Dr Devinder Singh (zoology) and Dr Parveen Balgir (biotechnology) will carry out the task of fulfilling the assigned objectives.
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Preneet vs Harsimrat: Politics wins, farmers left high and dry
Notwithstanding the fact that instead of having deliberations on a "concrete agenda" to ensure that once again farming becomes remunerative in Punjab, both of them were more interested in launching "scathing attacks" on their rivals, keeping in mind the coming assembly elections. Though Harsimrat and Preneet did talk about various important aspects of the farming and the problems being faced by the farmers but it appears that both of them were more inclined towards the usual "blame game". Preneet Kaur, who first arrived at the venue, said though farmers of Punjab contribute 70 per cent to the Central pool of the country but unfortunately they still face hardships. "I would bring these problems to the notice of the Prime Minister and would ensure that the farmers are given a patient hearing and all their problems are listened to", she said. A short while after Preneet left the venue, Harsimrat reached there and criticised the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre for ignoring the plight of farmers, who are on the verge of bankruptcy and many had even committed suicide. "Farmers from the agrarian state of Punjab have always been ignored by the Union Government despite the fact that Punjab's contribution to the Central pool has been maximum. Due to the poor policies of the Central Government, the farmers of Punjab are under a huge debt trap", she said adding that she would take up the issue in Parliament over the implementation of the Swaminathan Report as desired by the farmers. Interestingly, while talking to TNS, one of the farmers, Satinder Singh, said, "It is good that Preneet and Harsimrat are concerned with the plight of the farmers but the harsh reality is that we keep listening to such speeches every time there is an election but no steps are taken to improve the condition of farmers."
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Alcohol, high-fat diet to blame for pancreatitis, says expert
Ludhiana, November 20 It was organised under the aegis of the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (Punjab and Chandigarh branch) at Dayanand Medical College, here. Dr Kang said,"Pancreatitis also occurs due to gall stone and one suffers from it if one eats a high-fat food. The people of Punjab also consume alcohol in high quantity and thus become an easy prey to pancreatitis." Talking about the imaging in acute pacreatitis, Dr Kang said,"Nowadays with CT software, one can easily detect small changes in blood flow to the vital organs in the abdomen and advise the patients accordingly. On the basis of this, the patient can be given tertiary- level care in the very beginning itself." She further said the PGI was, perhaps, the only institute in the state where this facility was available.
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NRI, family injured in road accident
Abohar, November 20 One person who came in to the help the victims escaped with mobile phone of a youth Varun who was contacting the 108-emergency ambulance, witnesses said. The victims said at the emergency ward of the Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital here that they were returning to village 13Z in Sriganganagar after spending holidays at Nainital in Uttar Pradesh. The doctors said patents were in stable condition.
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Ludhiana, November 20
Hoshiarpur, November 20
Faridkot, November 20
Ludhiana, November 20
Chandigarh: On the request of the BKU (Ugrahan) group, the CM hasinvited farmers’ association for a meeting to discuss their demands at the Circuit House, Bathinda, on November 26. 
Chandigarh, November 20
Patiala, November 20