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44-yr-old NRI crushed to death
Was hit by speeding tractor-trolley; wife, daughter hospitalised; traffic stuck for 2 hrs
Mohit Khanna
Tribune News Service

Traffic chaos after the accident in Ludhiana on Saturday.
Traffic chaos after the accident in Ludhiana on Saturday. Tribune photo: Himanshu Mahajan

Ludhiana, June 9
A 44-year- old NRI was crushed to death by a speeding tractor trolley near the Jagraon Bridge today. The victim identified as Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Muradpura near Dhuri Line, came from Kuwait nearly a month go and was scheduled to return after 10 days.

The accident took place when Kuldeep along with his wife Kulwinder Kaur and daughter Arshnoor (11) was going home on his motorcycle after visiting his in-laws house in Field Gunj. The accident took place near Dukh Niwaran Gurdwara.

An eyewitness said the speeding tractor trolley hit the rear end of the motorcycle from behind. The impact was so strong that Kulwinder Kaur and Arshmoor were tossed to one corner of the road, while Kuldeep Singh was dragged to some distance by the tractor trolley.

But before Kuldeep could react, the tractor trolley ran over the victim, crushing his head under its rear tyre.

The tractor-trolley driver managed to escape from the accident spot. Kuldeep Singh died on the spot, commuters rushed Kulwinder Kaur and Arshnoor to the local civil hospital. The Division No 2 police swooped into action and nabbed the tractor- trolley driver and impounded the ill-fated vehicle.

Traffic jam

Thousands of commuters were stranded in a traffic jam on the Jargaon bridge following the accident. The police tried to divert the traffic, but failed to do so. One of the police officials said the body was crushed to such an extent that it took nearly half-and-hour to collect the organs and ferry it in the ambulance. The traffic department was pressed into service. The situation turned so bad that Kulwant Singh Malhi, traffic in charge, was seen pushing the slow moving vehicles in order to clear the chaos. It took two hours to clear the traffic.

Family shattered

Kulwinder Kaur was beaming with joy a few minutes before the accident. She had no inkling that she would see her husband being crushed to death in front of her. Holding her 11- year- old daughter, who fell unconscious on seeing her father dying in front of her, she was brooding over the responsibility of nurturing her.

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Spinning mill gutted
Puneet Pal Singh Gill
Tribune News Service


A spinning mill near the Cheema Chowk in flames in Ludhiana on Saturday. Photo: Inderjeet Verma

Ludhiana, June 9
Cotton yarn and fabric worth crore of rupees were destroyed in a fire that broke out at a spinning mill near the Cheema Chowk today evening. A multi-storied building of Manisha Spinning Mill is located near the Cheema Chowk. The fire started from one of the floors of this mill and slowly engulfed the entire building.

A fire department official said a few workers were present inside the building when the fire broke out. “But they were safely brought out before the fire could engulf the entire mill. Not a single person was injured in the incident,” the official added.

Fire Officer Krishan Lal Kakkar said: “We are trying hard to douse the flames. About 20 fire tenders were pressed into service till 9 pm to douse the flames. It will take one more hour to do so. I suspect that short circuit could be the reason behind this fire incident,” said Kakkar.

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Bouncers hit big in MC poll
Mohit Khanna
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 9
You might have noticed unusually huge men accompanying candidates knocking at your doorsteps for seeking votes in the municipal corporation election. Well these men in “kurta pajama” are none other than the notorious bouncers, who could be spotted at shopping malls and while throwing mischief mongers out of discotheques.

The muscle power of wrestlers, bodybuilders and ‘kabaddi’ players is making its presence felt in this election.

Candidates are making full use of these men to ward off trouble while canvassing in their respective constituencies. These huge men are paid fat pay package. Sources said a few of them had even charged Rs 30,000 for accompanying the candidates during the electioneering.

But, the police is all set to crack its whip on these men following inputs that the bouncers would be deployed in and around the polling stations and if need arise used in clashes tomorrow.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashish Choudhary has made it clear that strict action would be taken against those creating ruckus tomorrow.

SAD candidate JS Sokhi was the first one to highlight this issue. Sokhi had alleged that his rival candidate from Congress Palwinder Taggar had hired musclemen from Moga. They had attacked his supporters in the Shimla Puri area.

These bouncers have been proving handy for woman candidates too as they keep a watch on eve teasers, who create ruckus after merging in the crowd. There are a few who hired them as they were falling short of supporters while canvassing in their ward.

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COMMUNITY

MC raids fail to deter roadside vendors
Sale of eatables in unhygienic conditions still goes on unchecked at Jagraon
Jaswant Shetra

Jagraon, June 9
Notwithstanding the directions issued by the Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tiwari and Civil Surgeon Dr Subhash Batta about maintaining cleanliness and keeping a check on the sale of eatables being sold under unhygienic conditions to prevent the outbreak of diseases of summers and rainy season, the practice of selling eatables in unhygienic conditions is going unchecked in Jagraon. Besides, there is no improvement in the cleanliness level of the town.

Though the officials of health department have been conducting surprise raids to check the sanitation level and hygiene of various eatables to prevent outbreak of water-borne and vector-borne diseases during the summer season, yet various eatables are still being sold openly in highly unhygienic conditions.

During a visit to various places in the town, a large number of vendors were found selling eatables like fruits, vegetables, golgappas, snacks etc under highly unhygienic conditions. This practice does not only violate the instructions of district administration but also poses a serious health hazards to the lives of the people.

It is reminded here that some days ago, Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tiwari had issued strict instructions to the officials of health department as well as officials of various civic bodies in the district to ensure that the sanitation level should be maintained properly in their areas in view of the summer and rainy season.

While the health department officials were asked to keep a regular check on the sale of eatables, the officials of municipal councils were instructed to keep the areas under their jurisdiction clean and lift the garbage on regular basis.

Following this, the officials of local health department conducted several drives in the town to check the hygiene of eatables being soled in the market and even destroyed a huge quantity of rotten and unhygienic eatables during these drives. Though this is another thing that even the drives conducted by the health department have failed to yield required results and the vendors are still selling the eatables in unhygienic conditions.

The authorities of the local municipal council, on the other hand, are yet to wake up. This becomes clear after seeing the sanitation level and heaps of garbage scattered in various areas of the town.

Even the contract of lifting the garbage awarded to a private company by the local MC sometime ago has failed to improve the cleanliness level. In fact, the employees of the company lift the garbage only from some fixed areas as per the agreement and the lifting of garbage from the remaining areas is still in the hands of MC employees that do not bother to lift the garbage on regular basis and the problem of garbage still persists.

The situation is worst at local Sabzi Mandi, Raikot Road, Old Sabzi Mandi Road etc where the vegetables are being sold under extremely unhygienic conditions.

SMO Dr Rupinder Kakkar said the health department officials conduct raids on regular basis to check the sanitation level. We are doing our best to maintain the hygiene of eatables. The public shall also become conscious and check the hygienic level before purchasing eatables from the market, added Kakkar.

Jagraon Municipal Council president Baldev Krishan Dhir, when asked about the irregular lifting of garbage, said that he was aware of the fact that some employees do not lift garbage on regular basis. He assured to issue strict instructions to all the employees to lift the garbage on regular basis and to keep the areas lying under them neat and clean.

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City students excel in PU exams
Shivani Bhakoo
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 9
The students from different colleges in the city have excelled in various examinations conducted by the Panjab University, Chandigarh, in April. Several students bagged top positions in the university and made their institutions and parents proud with their stupendous success. The principals, faculty members of the colleges and parents of successful students have expressed happiness over their good results.

Outstanding performance by KCW students in BBA I

The students of Khalsa College for Women, Civil Lines, here have excelled in BBA I examinations, results of which were declared by Panjab University, Chandigarh. Anikpreet Kaur has bagged first position in the university by scoring 85.33 per cent marks while Vanika Soin clinched fifth position in the university and 2nd in the district by scoring 80.8 per cent marks followed by Neha Kumari who scored 80.5 per cent marks and stood seventh position in the university and 3rd in district. Out of the 76 students who had appeared for the examination, 46 students secured first division. An elated Anikpreet Kaur, who has secured first position in the university, said that her hard work and support of the college principal and the faculty members coupled with blessings and support provided by her parents who had played an important role in her success.

Neha scores second position in PU

Neha Jindal of Arya College here topped in Ludhiana district and secured 2nd position in the Panjab University B.Com II examination 2012 by securing 84.43 per cent. Over 123 students of B.Com II secured more than 60 per cent marks. The college pass percentage is 99. Principal Dr TL Joshi and Suksham Ahluwalia, incharge Arya College Women section congratulated the University position holder for her stupendous success.

MTSM BCOM IInd year students shine

The students of B.Com second year of Master Tara Singh Memorial College for Women brought laurels to the college by showing excellent performance in Panjab University examinations. Principal Dr Parveen Kaur Chawla, president and secretary congratulated the students and appreciated the efforts made by the faculty of commerce department for showing excellent results. They blessed the students and wished them good luck for their future.

Devki Devi Jain Memorial College for Women

The students of Devki Devi Jain Memorial College for Women secured good results in the BCA first year. Aanchal secured first position in Panjab University by securing 82.3 per cent marks, Priyanka got second position in the Panjab University, Chandigarh, by securing 82.25 per cent marks. Congratulating the students, chairman, president and other members of managing committee congratulated the students and staff for putting-in their best efforts to bring good results.

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Greenery neglected, residents’ bodies maintain most parks
Puneet Pal Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 9
The green cover of the industrial city is depleting and it seems that our candidates contesting the Municipal Corporation elections do not consider it as an “issue” to please the voters. That is why, while campaigning, majority of the candidates are stressing on issues such as roads, sewerage, streetlights and other such, but the issue related to depleting green cover in the city has taken a backseat. There are several green belts and parks of the city, which are either encroached or ill maintained.

Ironically, even the health department of the civic body is dying a slow death. With no new recruitments, the total number of dispensaries being run by the MC has come down from nine to four over the years. Even these dispensaries are run by a team of four pharmacists and the callous attitude of the MC could be known from the fact that the number of doctors have come down from nine to two.

It is learnt that presently, the MC is running only four dispensaries, which are located in Basti Jodhewal, Qila Mohalla, Sabzi Mandi and Vishwakarma Chowk areas of the city. Even these dispensaries are in a poor condition, with not many people availing this facility.

As per information, many years ago, the MC health department used to have staff strength of around 100, which included doctors, pharmacists, health workers and other such.

“In the 1990s, the MC’s health department was handed over to the state health department. Earlier, we were taking care of preventive as well as curative treatments, but later, the MC was left with only preventive treatment. We would vaccinate small children, but this wing was also handed over to the state health department. With no fresh recruitments, when the existing staff would retire, the MC health department might die its own slow death. Even our councillors are more interested in roads and sewerage projects and no one cares about the health department,” rued an MC official, who did not wish to be identified.

If we talk of depleting green cover in the city, only 45 parks and seven green belts were developed in the city since 2007. This also includes parks that were handed over to the Park Management Committee and very few new parks were developed for the city residents.

Out of total 754 parks in the city around 350 are managed by the Park Management Committees run by various resident welfare associations. Those managed by residents are in good shape, but those on the “mercy” of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation are in shambles.

At a time when the city is fast turning into a concrete jungle due to haphazard growth, the MC seems to have closed its eyes when it comes to maintaining the green cover in the city.

While the residents accuse the MC of callous attitude, the civic body officials blame it to “shortage” of staff in the horticulture wing of the MC. Ironically, the services of many of the gardeners are being taken by none other than political leaders and higher officials of the civic body at their residence, where the gardeners remain “busy” maintaining their personal lawns.

Presently, there is a workforce of 385 in the horticulture wing of the MC, out of which around 300 are gardeners, against a sanctioned posts of 600. The MC officials say that as per rules, for every acre, at least four gardeners are required. Even the MC has only three supervisors to check the working of these 300 gardeners, who work in 14 different circles.

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Long uneasy day for candidates, new tie-ups come up
Meetings with supporters held; voter slips delivered; mineral water glasses, food and liquor purchased in advance
Puneet Pal Singh Gill
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 9
From fast heart beats to butterflies in stomachs, it was a long day for candidates contesting municipal corporation elections, scheduled for tomorrow. Most candidates, who had spent around 10 days campaigning in the scorching heat, preferred to stay indoors and held meetings with their supporters. Candidates were also seen making last-minute efforts to ensure that they remained in touch with supporters.

Several permutations and combinations were also seen and fresh ‘unconditional’ tie-ups had come up in several wards. Some independent candidates had announced their 'unconditional' support to party candidates from their respective wards.

Harmandeep Singh Billa, independent candidate from ward 59, promised 'unconditional' support to Tanvir Singh Dhaliwal, SAD-BJP candidate. Billa promised to support Dhaliwal in the presence of Dakha MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali during a function at the Kanchan Colony on the Pakhowal road here last evening.

Jagdish Singh Kala, independent candidate from ward 63, promised to support Jagbir Singh Sokhi, SAD-BJP candidate, during a function today. Harish Rai Dhanda, former Chief Parliamentary Secretary and SAD-BJP candidate from ward 28, claimed to have the support of Ram Sharnam.

As candidates were busy in meetings, their supporters were seen preparing voter slips so that those could be delivered to voters at their doorsteps. Supporters of candidates were also attaching manifestos. Some residents were surprised to see that they received voter slips from almost all candidates from their respective wards.

A candidate, who did not wish to be identified, said tomorrow was a big day for them. "Mineral water glasses, food and liquor for the evening have been purchased in advance. I am taking interest in all the arrangements and do not want my supporters to be ill-treated tomorrow. I have hired 19 air-conditioned taxis for ferrying supporters from their houses to polling stations,' he said.

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Craze to speak English
Rural areas youth thronging coaching centres too
Charanjit Singh Teja
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 9
Realising that learning English is as a ladder to growth in national and international job markets, rural youth of Punjab are thronging English learning centres in the city. Students from the peripheries of the city are making beeline for English learning centres to learn the language.

However, most of the students join the courses to go abroad but a section of students is interested to improve their language skills to get good jobs in local market.

Rural students feel that they are lacking on communication skills and due to this are not able to present themselves confidently.

"I feel that I am utilising the summer vacation in a constructive way. I feel learning English gives me advantage in many spheres. A person can communicate well and it is quite beneficial for my further studies. So I have joined English Speaking course", Hardeep Singh, a student from Raikot.

"I have completed my studies, recently, and searching for job. I lacked in communication skills. So I have joined English-speaking course. It would increase my confidence level as well when I learn it," says Roop Gill from Mullanpur.

Gundeep, another student said, "My main objective is to go abroad. There is lot of change in my personality and now I am quite comfortable with English language."

"Students have been taking a lot of interest in English courses in this session. The number of students learning has increased as compared to that of the previous years. Most of the students are from rural background and having optimistic approach in learning the language," said Jasmine Kaur, an English trainer.

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PAU runs short of finances
Facing problem in maintaining varsity infrastructure
Charanjit Singh Teja
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 9
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) employees also have expectations from Ludhiana Municipal Corporation as they feel that the university has been contributing a lot in the development of the city but the civic body does not pay back anything to the university. Maintenance of roads, poor sanitation, menace of stray dogs and lifting of garbage are the major problems on the PAU campus. The university has to manage all these issues and infrastructure by spending own funds.

Nowadays, PAU is facing financial crunch as the State Government has been issuing less grants to the university. It has become hard to maintain the infrastructure of the university in shortage of funds.

However, residential areas of the university come under Municipal Corporation Ward No 56.

GS Pandher, general sectary PAU Employees Union said, "Our employees are expecting maintenance of roads, sanitation and other basic facilities from the MC. Height of indifference by the MC when they start fogging in whole city to prevent the residents from mosquitoes, and only PAU campus is deprived from this drive. We are just voters for the MC. Councillors have no other concerns with us."

"Stray dogs are the major cause of concern of students, staff, employees and residents of the PAU campus. The university authorities cannot control the stray dogs without the help of MC. But no one cares," he added.

"Not only to the state, but university has been serving the city as well for 50 years. Our scientists, architectures, planners, landscapers serve the urban community.

Moreover, the city residents use our playgrounds, swimming pool, flower nurseries and the campus for morning and evening walk. Moreover, political personalities from all over the nation prefer to stay in university campus while on Ludhiana visit. So it is highly ironical and distressing, that the civic body does not take care for our problems," said another employee.

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Summer bonanza for many
Government employees at many offices had to work for only two days

Anupam Bhagria
Tribune News Service

Ludhana, June 9
Gone by week was not less than a summer bonanza in majority of the state government offices. Although it is five days a week in government offices but this week, employees had to work only two days, as the remaining days were holidays and election rehearsals.

The week started with holiday on Kabeer Jayanti on Monday. On Tuesday, it was second rehearsal day for the employees who have been deputed for election duty. With this majority of government offices wore deserted look. It was observed that some of the remaining staff (who were not deputed for election duty) also did not work whole-heartedly while some proceeded on leave.

After Friday, Wednesday remained a working day. Again, on Thursday it was holiday in the state due to elections of Nagar Panchayats and Nagar Councils. Some employees made their appearance on Friday i.e. last working day of the week while some smart workers proceeded on leave with a view to enjoy leave from Thursday to Sunday.

All this led to lot of inconvenience to the visitors who kept visiting various offices during holidays. Sumittar Singh, a resident of Samrala Chowk, said: "I visited mini-secretariat twice this week to get my documents but had to return empty handed due to holiday on Thursday and next the concerned clerk was on leave. Now I shall have to come again on Monday."

Similarly, people who were to pay water and sewerage bills and had to collect death and birth certificates had to face the same difficulty. Ranjan Beri said, "The state government should open its offices for six days. Whenever, more than two holidays come, it becomes difficult to get the work done from these offices as some smart employees go on leave of four five days by adding two three casual leave."

Commenting about it, an employee said: "It was like Diwali week when so many holidays arrive. Thank god it was too hot outside and I could spend some time with my family at least."

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Now, android application for election candidates
Gurvinder Singh
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 9
For the first time ever in the MC elections in the city, Elections Watch Punjab, in collaboration with city-based IT Company has developed an application for Android OS that would allow residents to check out information regarding the candidates during.

The application named "MC Ludhiana 2012" is available at Google Play- the Android marketplace.

"This is the first time ever, such an application has been launched for the elections," said Jaskirat Singh from Election Watch.

He said that for these elections, profiles of the two main party candidates would be released. To download the app, you have to search "MC Ludhiana 2012" or "Ludhiana" and this workshop would show up. After this a screen opens up, with the logo of myneta. info, followed by a list of ward. You must click the ward and information regarding the two candidates from main parties that would show up. The information is about the criminal cases, if any, assets, liabilities and education of the candidates appear. Anyone can share the information, it would appear as his or her FB status, said Jaskirat.

He said that they could not gather information regarding candidates of other parties, because it was only a couple of days back when they got the affidavits from returning officers about these candidates. Because of the time constraints, such apps could not be developed for other mobile operating systems.

He said that if the application if successful, this would be used for all upcoming elections.

"It is a great idea. Searching online for information gets very cumbersome. So an app, has checking the information regarding candidates, on mobile phone, right on your tips has made it very easy," said Rahul, a college student.

"It is ironical, that the state Election Commission has not put any such information about the candidates, while an NGO has to bring up all this information out to the people. It is good that it has been brought to residents through a mobile app for easy availability of information," says Anshul, a resident.

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Shivalik gets mall's rear gate closed
Voters in his wife's ward complained; visitors bear the brunt
Puneet Pal Singh Gill
Tribune News Service


The stretch of a poor-quality road outside a shopping mall in Ludhiana on Saturday. tribune photo: himanshu mahajan

Ludhiana, June 9
Politicians can go to any extent to please voters, especially when it is election time. While campaigning for his wife, Gill MLA Darshan Singh Shivalik has taken the authorities of a shopping mall-cum-multiplex on the Ferozepur road here head on.

His wife Paramjit Kaur Shivalik is a sitting councillor and now Shiromani Akali Dal candidate from ward 58. Some residents of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar and Rajguru Nagar had complained to him about the mall authorities using a 30-foot-wide road as vehicles' exit.

During his campaigning, they had rued that this led to traffic congestion and other problems. Shivalik immediately asked the mall authorities to close the gate, to which they agreed. He said he got the rear gate of the mall closed as it was illegal.

Due to the six-laning of the Ferozepur road in front of the mall, the mall authorities had to close the main exit. They had been using another gate, on the rear, which opened to Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar. But now that the back gate was closed, people visiting the mall were using the front exit, which led to an ill-maintained road, which was already narrow and incomplete.

A local resident who visited the mall recently rued, "I am shocked to see the exit a shambles. Any car can fall off the road. I wonder why politicians use such gimmicks to garner votes." When contacted, Shivalik confirmed that the gate was closed on his order.

"It is an illegal gate and a shopping mall cannot use a 30-foot-wide road as a service lane. I am sure that such illegal construction cannot take place without the connivance of government officials concerned. After I came to know about this, I asked the mall authorities to close the gate. I will take up the matter in the Vidhan Sabha," he said.

When told that people were being forced to use an ill-maintained road to leave the mall, he said, "A tender for the construction of this road has been floated and the road will be completed soon."

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From housewife to politician
Priyanka Basant is Congress candidate from ward 57
Puneet Pal Singh Gill
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 9
From the kitty party circuit to the bustling election scene, it has been an interesting journey for Priyanka Basant, Congress candidate from ward 57, which comprises Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar and other adjoining localities.

Priyanka is a daughter-in-law of ice-cream baron Rajinder Singh Basant, who owns the 'Basant' ice-cream brand and restaurant chain.

Thirtyfive-year-old Priyanka hails from Delhi and is a graduate, with a certificate of the International Air Transport Association. She was running her travel agency before her wedding in 1998.

"When I came to Ludhiana, I met a group of girls my age and soon we became good friends. Since then, we have been meeting regularly at kitty parties," she said.

Asked about this sudden transformation from housewife to politician, she quipped, "My father-in-law has been associated with the Congress for a long time. I have been helping him in his activities. For me, politics is nothing new."

She added, "I used to work hard for my family. Now it is for residents of ward 57. I must admit that the change from housewife to politician is a drastic one for me."

Her kitty party friends were handy for Priyanka. "Since the day I filed my papers, my friends have been actively campaigning for me. I am thankful to them," she said.

Mother of two children, aged 14 years and 10 years, she was confident of a win.

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From schools
Arts students excel in PSEB


Children enjoy during summer camp at Delhi Public School in Khanna on Saturday. a tribune photograph

Ludhiana: The Class XII students of Arts stream in Master Tara Singh Memorial Collegiate Senior Secondary Public School got a 100 per cent result in the Punjab School Education Board examinations, held earlier this year. Poonam Ratta and Taranjot Kaur shared the first position in the school with 80 per cent marks. Ramanpreet Kaur (79.4 per cent) and Pavneet Kaur (78.2 per cent) stood second and third, respectively.

Summer camp ends

Golfer Harmeet Kahlon, an Arjuna Awardee, conducted a golf clinic on the final day of a two-week summer camp held at Delhi Public School, Khanna. Golf classes were held during the camp under the guidance of Manjit Kochar, a certified golf teaching professional.

Theatre workshop concludes

The Theatre Workshop concluded with a satire on leadership ‘Andher Nagri Chaupat Raja’ conducted under the guidance of Pratiush Toor, an eminent theatre personality. The children also learnt sculpture and oil painting in the Art Workshop.

Students get career tips at GMCM School

A career counseling session was held at GBCM Sen. Sec. School, Basant City, here on Saturday. Mr Raghav, an alumnus and currently working in TCS as technical advisor and manager, shared his experience with the students and answered their queries.

Quiz by Vodafone organised

A GK quiz was also organised by Vodafone Derek's faster, smarter, better challenge. Four teams from different classes took part in it.

Pool party for kids

Yippee, the fun zone activity club of Daffodil IWS Pre School, organised a pool splash party for the school kids as part of the ongoing summer camp. Various water games and group activities kept the students engaged despite the terrible heat. — TNS

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Ludhiana scan
South-Indian food festival

Ludhiana: "Dosa Fest", a South-Indian food festival is being organised at Keys Cafe from till June 20 at Hotel Keys. The menu has been created by the hotels executive chef, who has put together list of dishes from South-India that has traditionally been popular. A variety of dosas including chili paneer tikka dosa, chicken tikka dosa, Mexican roast Dosa, Mysore butter dosa are on the menu during the South India dosa festival.

Martyrdom day observed

296th Martyrdom Day of Baba Banda Singh Bahadar was observed by Baba Banda Singh Bahadar International Foundation here on Saturday. Representatives of the organisation demanded that his picture should be installed in the Parliament and a chair on his name should be established at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU).

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Fate to be sealed today
75 wards, 543 candidates, 9 lakh voters, 964 booths
Shivani Bhakoo
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 9
The fate of at least 543 candidates in the fray for the municipal corporation elections will be decided by 7.30 pm tomorrow. More than 9 lakh voters in 75 wards would cast their votes at 964 booths between 8 am and 4 pm.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Rishi Pal said the counting would start at 6 pm at all polling booths. The counting of nagar councils and panchayats would be held at Macchiwara and those of Mullanpur would be held at Guru Nanak Bhawan, Jagraon. The counting for the Sahnewal nagar panchayat would be held at Kundan Vidya Mandir.

Pal added that the counting by the EVM would start at 6 pm. Once the votes are counted, the results will be compiled at six centers (booth wise) at SCD Government College, Government College for Women, Kundan Vidya Mandir, Arya College, Khalsa College for Women and Rotary Bhawan, he added. “All results will be declared by 7.30 pm tomorrow,” Pal added. 

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Candidates' kin accuse rivals of vehicle damage
Mohit Khanna
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 9
The kin of two candidates levelled allegations of damaging their vehicles against SAD candidates.

Veera Bedi, wife of Harpreet Singh Bedi, independent candidate from ward 57, claimed that Gurinderpal Singh Pappu, husband of SAD candidate Gurmeet Kaur, and his supporters tried to attack her.

She said Pappu and his men smashed the windshields of her vehicle and of the escort vehicle.

Pappu termed the allegation baseless and said Veera was concocting stories as she had sensed defeat.

Congress leader Gurdev Singh Lapran, father of Congress candidate PS Lapran, claimed that Kamaljit Singh Karwal and his men damaged the vehicle of Gurdev Singh, his son-in-law.

He said Karwal and his men ignored the poll code. Karwal refuted the charge.

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CIA nabs two youths with pistol
Mohit Khanna
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 9
The CIA sleuth of the railways nabbed two persons and recovered .315 country-made pistol from their possession. According to the police, the accused have been identified as Pramod Kumar and Bhoggi Shah during the routine checking by the police.

The police suspects that the weapon was smuggled to the city for being used during the assembly elections.

The police has registered a case in this regard and has started the investigations.

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CRIME
 

Two arrested from Amritsar
Our Correspondent

Mandi Ahmedgarh, June 9
A proclaimed offender and one of his accomplices were arrested from Amritsar last evening. He was wanted in a case registered against him at various police stations four years ago.

Sunny, main accused in the case registered at the local police station for allegedly abetting Vinod Kumar to commit suicide on May 26, 2008, was declared proclaimed offender on November 8 and arrested.

Sunny, along with his wife Seema and sister-in-law Sonia, had allegedly forced Vinod Kumar (Sonia’s husband) to consume some poisonous substance on the fateful day. Marital dispute was cited to be reason behind the alleged suicide.

Though other accused were arrested from various places shortly after the crime, Sunny had succeeded in fleeing from the region.

Police parties had reportedly raided suspected hideouts at his native village and houses of his relatives in other parts of the state, but failed to arrest him.

It was on the basis of records of telephones calls of other accused that the police succeeded in nabbing him from a locality in Amritsar yesterday.

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SPORTS
 

Punjab Chess: Harjap upsets top seed Vibhor
Anil Datt

Ludhiana, June 9
Top seed Vibhor Sharma of Amritsar went down against unseeded Harjap Singh from Jalandhar in the under 17 years category on the opening day of the 3rd DD Khosla Memorial Punjab State Chess Championship (sub-junior and junior boys and girls) being held at St. Thomas Senior Secondary School, Brown road, today.

Except for this, all other rated players wrapped up their respective first round matches to advance into the second round. They are Apoorv Anand from Rajpura, Sushant Manuja, Shubham Shukla, Imanjot Singh Deol and Ishaan Bansal, all from Ludhiana.

In the boy’s u-13 year section, Anmol Bhagat of Jalandhar got the better of Pratyoosh Chitkara while in the under 9-year category, Dushyant Sharma from Jalandhar, Vasu Dhawan and Raghav Bansal, both from Ludhiana, recorded victories to sail into the next round.

In the girl’s section (u-17), the current champion, Amritsar’s Rhythm Bhatia, besides Apoorva Sharma of Ludhiana and Inderpreet Kaur from Moga warded off stiff resistance from their opponents to secure berths in the second round.

Similarly, in the under-13 category, Sanchita Kapur of Jalandhar and Smridhi Manchanda from Ludhiana outwitted their rivals to enter the second round.

Apeksha Vasisht of Jalandhar and Meenakshi of Ludhiana scripted easy wins to sail into the second round in the under 9-year category.

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Cricket Tournament
Day 1: Mohali score 290 for 4
Anil Datt

Ludhiana, June 9
Poor fielding, coupled with dropped catches, facilitated Mohali to score 290 for the loss of four wickets after 95 overs in the first innings on the opening day of the four-day match against Ludhiana in the in the Punjab State Inter-District Cricket Tournament (u-22) being organised by the Punjab Cricket Association at PAU, here today.

Mohali’s resolve to bat first after winning the toss appeared to be a wise decision as they started the proceedings on a solid note.

Meanwhile, the hosts missed the absence of their mainstay bowler, Amritpal Singh, who was rested due to injury and the other bowler who is amongst the wickets this season, Sandeep Singh, had to leave the ground, immediately after the match began because of viral fever.

This limited Ludhiana’s bowling resources which the visitors utilised to its maximum. Ludhiana players added to the woes of their bowlers, dropping as many as eight catches which helped Mohali batsmen to relish.

Ankit Pursharthy contributed 67 runs while Sachin Sohal chipped in with 72 runs. At draw of stumps, Harsarup and Pukhraj were at the crease with 72 and 66 runs, respectively, against their names. The four wickets, Mohali lost, were shared among Himanshu Shelly, Ashish and Anil Siag. Himanshu accounted for two wickets for 66 runs while Ashish claimed one for 30 and Anil grabbed one for 51.

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Swimming trials on June 13
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, June 9
The Ludhiana District Swimming Association will hold trials to select the swimmers (boys and girls) in the sub-junior category at the municipal corporation’s swimming pool near Rakh Bagh on June 13 from 3 pm onwards. This was stated by honorary general secretary of the association Balraj Sharma.

Those born between 2000 and 2001 are eligible in the group III (u-12) and those born between 2002 and 2003 could attend the trials in group IV (u-10).

The selected swimmers will represent the Ludhiana district in the 27th Sub-Junior Punjab Swimming Championship scheduled to be held at War Hero’s Swimming Pool in Sangrur on June 17.

The aspirants have been asked to bring their date of birth certificates in original while attending these trials.

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