Ludhiana, September 4
People living in ‘vehras’ are falling prey to tantriks, who claim to have a solution to all the problems under the sun. Instead of visiting a qualified doctor, unaware residents approach godmen and tantriks for cure.

The fact came to light while talking to the mother of the 22-day-old infant, Dinesh, who was rescued by the Government Railway Police when his father tried to bury him near railway tracks yesterday.

Dinesh’s mother Rita (23) said: "I love my son and don't want to lose him at any cost." She said Dinesh was healthy at birth. But he was crying continuously for the past few days. She said: "The colour of his body used to change many times in the day. We consulted a doctor in the Haibowal area, but he was not able to identify the problem. Meanwhile, we observed that Dinesh started holding our hand with his small fingers. All these signs revealed that our child was in the grip of ‘yama’ or evil spirit. One of our neighbours advised us to consult a tantrik to get rid of the evil spirit.”

“Following her advice, we went to Malakpur village and met a tantrik. We demanded a duck from him as someone told us that a tantrik's duck could save our child. But the tantrik denied giving the duck and we returned disappointed.”

Rita said another woman at the ‘vehra’ advised them to put Dinesh’s hand in hot mustard oil. “We did the same and his hand got burnt badly. But there was no improvement in his condition. Then someone told us that the tantrik had solved a similar case by keeping the child in a pit near the railway tracks as yama would leave his body hearing the loud noise of the train. When my husband went to keep him in a pit near the railway tracks, the police nabbed him."

Mother of two children, Rita and his husband Mukesh came to Ludhiana eight months ago from Bijlapur village in Uttar Pardesh. She was married to Mukesh around five year ago and has a three-year-old daughter too. Her mother Maya and father Ram Khilawan have been residing in Ludhiana for past four years.

Rita said she and her husband were illiterate and were not aware that a public health system exists in the city.

Ludhiana, September 4
The Excise and Taxation Department cancelled the registration numbers of as many as 1,482 dealers last year. Out of these, 299 registration numbers were cancelled in District I, 528 in District II and 665 in district III of Ludhiana.

Most of the registration numbers belonged to the companies that have closed down their business in Ludhiana while others were the units involved in bogus bill net.

Surinder Singh, who had shutdown his unit last year, said it was becoming impossible for him to carry out his business. "The formalities by the department had increased forcing me to close down my unit. Besides, tax net on every item is increasing. Under such circumstances, it was impossible for me to carry out my business as profit margins were shrinking," he said.

Badish Jindal, president of the Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association, said: "The number of cancelled firms tells the tale of the economy of Punjab. Even after the provision of self-assessment and online filing of the VAT, the department issued online scrutiny notices to 20,904 assesses for their assessment of 2008-09 cases in Punjab in 2012-13, which comes around 15 per cent of the total assesses," he said.

Ludhiana, September 4
While the revised policy for regularisation of unauthorised colonies is still caught in bureaucratic rigmarole, the state government also appears to be clueless as far as the registration of sale deeds in such colonies is concerned. There is no clear policy or guidelines and the sale deeds are registered or refused at the whims of revenue officials.

Kultar Singh Jogi of the Punjab Colonisers and Property Dealers Association said the local area development authorities in major towns have been issuing directions to revenue officials not to entertain cases of registration of sale deeds in unauthorised colonies and in some towns, lists of unauthorised colonies have also been made available to the revenue officials or uploaded on the websites of the development authorities.

“However, these directions are followed or ignored at the whims of the revenue officials which not only causes inconvenience to the buyers and sellers of property, but also leads to huge loss of revenue to the state exchequer by way of stamp duty,” he stated.

Jogi said recently the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) had issued a circular to revenue officials in the area falling under its jurisdiction not to register sale deeds in unauthorised colonies. However, citing this to be a policy matter, the district revenue officials sought guidelines from the Financial Commissioner (Revenue) while the registration of sale deeds in unlicensed colonies was not stopped.

Similarly, he added, the revenue officials in Patiala district had also stopped registration of sale deeds for some time, but the restrictions have now been lifted without citing any reasons for this whimsical decision.

The situation in many other towns and cities is no different where buyers and sellers of property have to wait indefinitely to get their transactions registered in the absence of a uniform and clear cut policy on this issue.

Jogi said when the state government had agreed in principle to amend the existing policy for compounding of unauthorised colonies and basic amenities to residents of these colonies have to be provided on payment of composition fee and development charges, then what was the point in refusing registration of sale deeds in such colonies.

"It is only a matter of time and unanimity of the stakeholders over the modalities which is delaying the announcement of the revised policy. But till then, the least the Punjab government can do is to evolve a uniform policy and remove all restrictions on registration of sale deeds so the government continues to get revenue in the form of stamp duty," said Jogi.

Ludhiana, September 4
Sixty-year-old Rani had never imagined that one day her daughter will be working as a nurse in Canada and her grandson will be a Canadian citizen. Hailing from a poor family, Rani, who is a resident of Ghumar Mandi, still cleans utensils in the house where she works as a maid.

But it was education, financial and moral support by a city couple that three of her daughters managed to study. And it was not just school education, but her three daughters are now qualified nurses.

"One of them is in Canada, another will be migrating there on point basis soon, while the third is working as a nurse in a local hospital. It was just education and support from my employers due to which my daughters are now settled," an elated Rani said.

She managed to raise her daughters due to the efforts of Dr Ajaypal Singh Mangat, a veterinarian, and his wife Vandana Mangat. This couple has been helping several needy students in their education as well as overall development for the past more than two decades.

"It was in 1990 when Rani discussed that she wants her three daughters to study. She was firm that she does not want them to continue cleaning utensils in houses," said Vandana Mangat.

The three girls - Lovely, Paramjit and Rajni - were admitted to Malwa Khalsa Senior Secondary School on College Road in classes IV, V and VI, respectively. The Mangat couple used to pay for their tuition fee, uniform and books.

"When Lovely completed her Class XII, we sent her to the Government College for Women for Bachelor of Arts (BA) and after completing her graduation, she did her Nursery Teachers Training (NTT) course. But she could not find a suitable job. Meanwhile, Paramjit completed her Class XII and we had decided that she should do a nursing degree so that she manages to get a good job," said Vandana.

Paramjit was sent to Guru Teg Bahadur Nursing College and Lovely and Rajni followed her next year. As Paramjit was a qualified nurse, she got good matrimonial response and migrated to Canada in 2008. Lovely too applied through point basis for migration to Canada and her visa is awaited. Rajni is now working as a nurse in Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in Ludhiana.

Dr Ajaypal Singh Mangat, a leading city veterinarian, said from the beginning of his life, he had decided that he would donate 10 per cent of his total earning for social cause rather than for religious purposes.

The Mangat couple is taking care of studies of five other needy children as well. "They are children of our employees and we have decided to raise them exactly the way we are raising our son Adhiraj," said Vandana Mangat. These five children - Priyanka (11) and Bhanu (10) are studying in GRD Academy, while Robin (9), Muskan (6) and Pari (5) are studying in Central Model School, Model Town.

"Bhanu's father Arjun has been my assistant for around 18 years and that is why I want him to become a veterinary doctor one day. I want to appeal all city residents to come forward and sponsor at least one needy child's education because more than anything else, education plays most important role in a person's life," said Dr Ajaypal Singh Mangat.

Ludhiana, September 4
Two boys who were caught begging for alms at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) a few days ago ran into trouble again when were nabbed allegedly stealing taps in Government Model Senior Secondary School on the PAU campus.

The two boys, both aged between six and eight, were nabbed following a chase by the physical education teacher of the school. The school authorities said the boys had admitted to have stolen taps from the school.

Sanjeev Thapar, principal, Government Senior Secondary School, said: “We have fixed around 15 taps in the open yard of the school, but these taps were stolen thrice in past one month. Yesterday, one of the peons noted these children, who are ragpickers, roaming on the school premises. On seeing the school staff, the duo tried to escape, but they were caught following a hot chase."

"It is unfortunate that children are straying onto the wrong path. I personally feel that in this age, children cannot commit such crime. They do not even understand the definition of crime. I believe that somebody else is behind it and is making money by using them,” said Thapar.

However, the station house officer, PAU, said: “The children are innocent as it is very difficult to remove the taps at such a tender age. The children were not taken to the police station as law does not permit it. They were let off and sent home. Their parents were also informed.”

"Removing a tap is not a child's play. These children cannot even hold a screwdriver properly. Someone may be accompanying them and using them," said the SHO. 

Ludhiana, September 4
"Teacher's Day is a special day for students and teachers and it is a great day to celebrate the special bond," says Navneet, an engineering student. And to show gratitude to his teacher, he has bought a special greeting card.

A wide array and variety of gifts are available at various gift stores in the city. Gifts in the form of theme calendars, special pens, mugs and trophies are catching the fancy of students.

The prices of greeting cards range from Rs 30 to Rs 200. Some students are gifting a large greeting card to their teachers. "We want to thank our teacher for teaching us so lovingly and guiding us in following the right path, winning both in our personal and professional lives. So we have bought a large greeting and all of us have written messages for sir on the card," says Ritika, a Class VIII student.

Sarabjit, a businessman, feels that his teachers have had a great contribution to the kind of person he is. Having studied from his mentor and teacher a decade ago, respect for his teacher has only grown over the years, he says, and he makes it a point to gift something to his teacher. This year he's gifting an exquisite pen, he says.

"The gift of teachers is perhaps greater than any other gift, as wisdom, knowledge and the way to lead your life is all learnt from teachers. And they are perhaps the greatest ones for passing on the great learning and making the humanity grow and a small gift to acknowledge their huge contribution is a must," says Rohit, a student.

Ludhiana, September 4
A teacher plays a vital role in our lives. Dua family of Ludhiana has been into the profession for several decades.

The family can easily be tagged as the "Family of teachers", with more than 12 family members serving as teachers. The family's third generation is also into the same profession.

The family's association with the profession started in 1950 when Tej Kaur Dardi, the eldest member of the family started teaching students at Guru Angad Dev College in Field Ganj here. She is the wife of renowned poet Ram Narain Singh Dardi, who was also a teacher at a school in Kamliya (now in Pakistan). After a service of 24 years, Tej Kaur Dardi retired as a senior lecturer of Punjabi from SCD Government College here.

After the retirement, she again started teaching at Guru Angad Dev College and continued teaching till 1992. Even her brother Tarlok Singh Kanwar retired as the head of the Punjabi department from Delhi University.

In 1967, her eldest son Gunwant Singh Dua joined as a professor of English at GGN Khalsa College here and after retirement he is working as a coordinator in Gujranwala Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology here. He had been the member of Panjab University Senate for three terms.

Tej Kaur Dardi's daughter-in-law Surinder Kaur Dua served for more than 30 years as a teacher and retired as a principal from DD Jain College here.

Her younger son Amarjit Singh Dua joined as a teacher of Punjabi in Government College, Malerkotla, in 1966 and also served as the vice-principal at SCD Government College here for seven years. He then became principal of Government College, Zira, in 2003 and later became Dean, College Development Council, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. He is presently working as a director-general, Education, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, New Delhi. He is also an active member and chairman of many committees of the University Grants Commission (UGC), besides being a member of the Board of Directors of Sai University.

Amarjit's wife Kawaljit Kaur Dua served as a teacher for more than 30 years at Guru Nanak Girls College here. His son Simran Jit Singh served as a lecturer in Gujranwala Guru Nanak Institute of Vocational Studies for three years and is now settled in Canada while his daughter Amandeep Kaur served as an assistant professor in Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women here.

Tej Kaur's daughter-in-law Adarsh Kaur is working as an associate professor in Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women here.

Her daughter Dr Amrit Rishma is working as an associate professor in GGN Khalsa College while son-in-law

Dr Narinder Pal Singh is working as an associate professor in Punjab Agricultural University here.

Her other daughter Amarjit Kaur is the vice-principal of Guru Nanak National College, Doraha, and son-in-law Dr Daljit Singh is working as the professor in the department of vegetables at the PAU.

Her grandson Harpreet Singh Dua is an assistant professor in GGN Khalsa College and is presently the member of Panjab University Senate. His wife Prabhjit Kaur is a headmistress (primary section) at Guru Nanak International Public School, Model Town, here.

Dardi's grandson Tripat Deep Singh Dua is working as an assistant professor in Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology and his wife Avneet Kaur is also an assistant professor of DD Jain College of Education.

Tripat Deep Singh Dua said teaching was in their blood. "Being a teacher is more like a tradition for us. It's like starting from my grandparents, parents and relatives, I have always seen teachers in my family. We all feel that teachers play a vital role in every person's life and our family is determined to continue the decades old tradition," he said.

Ludhiana, September 4
Sandeep Raikhi, principal of Spring Dale Senior Secondary Public School, Sherpur, here, was given the "CBSE Mentor Award for the year 2011" at a function held in New Delhi today. D Purandeshwari, Minister of State for HRD, Government of India, and Vineet Joshi, chairman of the CBSE at the India International Centre, New Delhi, conferred the award on her.

A total of 34 principals of CBSE affiliated schools were selected for the title. Sandeep was given a merit certificate, a shawl and a cash prize of Rs 25,000.

School managing committee President Sukhdev Singh, managing director of the school Avinash Kaur Walia, chairman Nirmal Singh Walia, director Mandeep Singh and headmistress Kamalpreet Kaur, staff, students, parents and all well-wishers congratulated Sandeep Raikhi on the achievement.

Ludhiana, September 4
After having taught thousands of undergraduate and postgraduate students in various medical colleges, Dr LS Chawla, a city-based teacher, doctor and former Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Science, feels that the younger generation has started commercialising the profession.

On the eve of Teachers Day, Dr Chawla who entered the profession in 1956 at Medical College, Amritsar, said,"I always tell my students not to run after money. Rather money will run after you if you treat your patients with competence and compassion. But there are some people who indulge in wrong practices, which is very wrong."

Dr Chawla, who will turn 78 this month, said,"Before starting a session, I cite a quote from KJ Cronil's book "Citadel" stating that "Medicine is not a profession, but an obsession, not an occupation, but a pre-occupation and not a means of livelihood, but a life commitment."

He said he has witnessed a drastic change in the teacher-student relationship all these years. Dr Chawla said, "Earlier, medical students used to be afraid of their teachers and used to ask a few queries. But nowadays students are more outspoken, they do not feel hesitated while clearing their doubts."

Ludhiana, September 4
Starcast of the movie "Ajj De Ranjhe" came to the city. Actors, including Aman Dhaliwal, Gurleen Chopra, Gupreet Ghuggi, Rana Ranbir, apart from other actors along with director Manmohan Singh, were in the city.

"The movie depicts policemen as people with heart and real-life characters," said Manmohan Singh.

"If the men in khaki are labelled corrupt, it's because of the mutual interaction with society at large," he added. But the movie presents all this with a comical treatment. The movie packs in action, which has been missing since the renaissance of Punjabi cinema began.

Talking about his own stint, he said it was a memorable experience and transitioning from a cinematographer to a director of Punjabi movies was a bit of a tough decision, but it had been a great journey and it was great to see Punjabi cinema reaching the golden period. Punjabi movies are appreciated more than Hindi movies these days.

Comedian Gurpreet Ghuggi plays a policeman. Beneath the veneer of comedy, I had to play a former international sportsperson and a responsible police official. It was a challenging role in the sense that the comedy had to be done in a very controlled manner, he said.

For actress Gurleen Chopra it is a great movie and the audience will get to see her in a different light as a journalist. "I play a role of a bold and fearless girl in the movie," she says. Actor Aman Dhaliwal, who plays the lead, says the characters in the movie are plausible and he plays a college going youth. 

Ludhiana, September 4
The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) conducted a raid on the premises of ESIC Hospital, here today.

The PPCB officials claimed that the hospital authorities created hurdles when they were conducting the raid. “When we reached the hospital premises, they did not let us enter some areas of the hospital. The hospital staff delayed the raid as we had to wait for almost 15 minutes before we could meet the hospital’s medical superintendent,” alleged Pardeep Balu, SDO, PPCB.

ESIC Hospital authorities even called the police. Balu claimed that the senior hospital authorities alleged that they had entered the female ward without permission. “Why would we enter the female ward without permission because one Dr Leena herself handed us sterlised gowns before entering the ward. We did not enter any hospital area without permission or forcibly. They even called the police to check our identities. This is for the first time that we have faced such a situation during a raid in a hospital,” claimed Pardeep Balu.

He claimed that the needle destroyer in the operation theatre was not working, besides there was no needle destroyer in the female ward. “They had not even maintained record of disposal of bio-medical waste in their registers and the record with them was maintained only till July 31, which is against the rules. They need to maintain the record on a daily basis. I have prepared a detailed report in this regard and will submit it to my seniors,” said Balu.

On the other hand, Dr PL Chaudhary, medical superintendent of ESIC Hospital, claimed that the raid was a deliberate attempt to malign the hospital’s image. I admit that the PPCB authorities found some minor violations in our hospital and some of them have already been rectified, while the remaining will be rectified by tomorrow. “We had called the police because some outsiders had also entered our hospital’s restricted areas without permission. PPCB officials can enter any part of the hospital for checking, but the way they conducted the raid today was not right,” she claimed.

Doraha, September 4
"The domination of market is spreading so fast that the minds of people are being captured by the market while their bodies are controlled by advertisements. The advertisements are determining how much and which part of the body should be hidden or exposed. This situation is far more critical than the cold war."

This was stated by Dr Sukhdev Singh Sirsa, General Secretary, Punjabi Sahit Academy, while delivering his presidential address at a function, organised by the Punjabi Likhari Sabha Rampur (PLSR) to release the book,'Tuhaanu Kiven Laggdi Hai', at Rampur village today. The book is written by poet Sukhminder Rampuri .

Sirsa said the present era was the era of “shameless consumption” and Rampuri's poetry had exposed the dirty face of the market and strived to ensure harmony in society. Later, the poems from the book were recited by Sukhminder Rampuri.

Meanwhile, three review papers on the book were presented by Dr Labh Singh Kheeva, Dr Gulzar Pandher and Dr Manjit Indra.

While presenting the review paper Dr Pandher stated the book strengthened the position of Sukhminder Rampuri in the world of Punjabi literature.

During the function, Gurdial Dalal, Dr Gagan Deep Sharma, Jasvir Jhajj, Prof Sham Singh, Harnek Rampuri, Mall Singh Rampuri, Amarjit Ghangas and Sandeep Sharma also presented their thoughts regarding the book. 

Ludhiana, September 4
The Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking (CICU) organised a seminar on the 'use of hydraulics and pneumatics' here today. The seminar was attended by 120 industrialists and the senior staff of various units from the different parts of northern India.

Avtar Singh, general secretary of CICU, said the Chamber had been organising and conducting seminars on various issues such as energy efficiency, quality and productivity, finance and material management, which were very useful for the industry at present as it was going through a crucial time and was facing difficulties regarding cost and savings.

He said the Chamber was making efforts to improve automation in industries to reduce manual work by 20 per cent.

Upkar Singh Ahuja, joint secretary of CICU, said CICU was trying to make the industries of Ludhian world class in terms of quality and productivity. He added that to attain the target automation at all levels was must. To spread awareness regarding the use of automation was possible through these types of trainings and seminars and CICU would also organise a summit on robotic automation soon, he added.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 4
With the intent to chalk out an action plan to rehabilitate the violence-affected student community in Assam, which suffered due to ethnic clashes between Bodos and Muslims, the Government of India, the Committee on Girls' Education and the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions have invited office-bearers of various social and religious organisations to participate in the national-level discussions to be held in Guwahati on September 8.

Amjad Ali, chairman of Sohrab Group of Industries and Educational Institutes, said Dr Shabistan Gaffar, chairperson of the Committee on Girls' Education, had invited office- bearers and activists of various organisations to contribute in normalising situation in the Bodoland Territorial Council Area of Assam.

The invited have been asked to take stock of the situation and to suggest measures for the rehabilitation of the affected student community. 

Ludhiana, September 4
Narinderpal Singh, a resident of Gandhi colony, has a rare collection of old coins, hand-written manuscript and old weapons. Narinderpal says that he has been collecting them for the past 25 years and has exhibited his collections at Gandhi Colony here today.

He has a huge collection of coins from the "Khalsa Empire" of Maharaja Ranjit Singh period. There are some coins displayed which belong to the period of Sikh Missals, Lahore. These coins are from the mints of Multan, Lahore and Dera.

Narinderpal has many mint-mark copper coins in his collection. Apart from the Khalsa Empire, he has a good collection of coins from Patiala, Jind, Nabha, Malerkotla and Kaithal states of Punjab, before the British rule.

He has old manuscripts that were displayed at the exhibition. Most of the handwritten scripts are related to Sikhism and in Gurmukhi scripts but Narinderpal has old handwritten books in Persian, Arabic and Devnagari scripts too.

The oldest manuscript which Narinderpal has displayed is that of Adiaatam Parkash Granth written in 1669. He also has a good collection of weapons belonging to various periods of history. "I have organised almost 100 exhibitions in various villages of Punjab. I have collected all these in last 25 years. Some of the coins manuscripts are donated by people and some of them I have purchased ", said Narinderpal Singh.

"It is my individual effort. It's my assion. I am going to convert a portion of my home into museum" he added.

Ludhiana, September 4
High cotton yarn prices have left textile manufacturers worried. The industry has already been reeling under financial crisis and the hike in prices of the raw material has raised a question on the existence of the industry. Besides, the industry also feels that duty free import of yarn, as in the case of cotton, will help stabilise domestic prices and cater to the growing industry demand in the coming season.

Domestic yarn prices have gone up by 15 per cent in the last two months against thre and five per cent spurt in cotton prices. Yarn prices in India have become more expensive compared to that in Pakistan and other competing countries.

"The industry is already in financial crisis and is feeling the pressure of various excise duty on one hand and hike in raw materials on the other. If this situation continues, the industry will definitely collapse," said Vinod Thapar, chairman of Knitwear Club.

High prices are diminishing our margins, which is already under great burden of taxes. "It has become impossible to make both ends meet. The government should allow us the duty free import of yarn," said Jatin Aggarwal, a garment exporter. "Indian cotton yarn prices are higher than the price from other countries such as Pakistan and Commonwealth of Independent States. Hence, we have requested the government to make yarn imports duty free by removing 10 per cent custom duty," added Lakhwinder, another manufacturer. 

Max Bupa, an insurance company, has planed to expand its network in northern India, particularly in Punjab. While talking about the company's expansion plans in Punjab, Sibaranjan Patnaik, senior vice-president and head (agency channel), Max Bupa, said, "We had opened our branch office in Ludhiana in the first year of our operation and we have received great response. Currently, over five per cent of our customer base is from Punjab and Chandigarh who are being served through our network of more than 90 good-quality hospitals and over 200 agents in the region."

UHRO seeks DC's resignation

The Universal Human Rights Organisation (UHRO) has demanded resignation of the Deputy Commissioner after a person died of suffocation at a Suvidha Centre here. Satnam Singh Dhaliwal, president of UHRO, said the incident, which happened on Monday, was a shock and even the ambulance did not reach in time. "The Deputy Commissioner should resign on humanitarian grounds," he added.

Textile union submits demands

The members of the Textile Mazdoor Union met Assistant Joint Director (ESI), SK Bhatia, and handed over a letter of demands to him on Tuesday. The workers said they were not getting facilities under ESI. Though we had complained about the issue before, but nothing concrete was done by the authorities, they added.

Inauguration

Ganga Ram Dham old age home was inaugurated here on Tuesday. Aged people will be getting proper care at the home. Swami Anand Aatri, director of the old age home, said the establishment of an old-age home was his guru Ganga Ram's decision which he had fulfilled today. — TNS

Ludhiana , September 4
The work pertaining to the four-laning of the Gahur- Talwandi Bhi Kee stretch has been expedited as the contractor concerned carried out a demolition drive in Mullanpur. A police post was removed from the highway. The authorities have issued 41 notices to violators.

Structures that had come up at the national highway in violation of the building by-laws were also razed.

Police personnel were deployed to avoid any untoward incident.

The drive was supervised by Executive Magistrate-cum-tehsildar Harminder Singh Sidhu. He was accompanied by SHO Prem Singh.

The officials removed encroachments from outside the office of the Nagar Panchayat.

Shopkeepers opposed the drive. Sidhu said the Deputy Commissioner had issued orders asking the officials concerned to remove encroachments from the highway to speed up the work.

Ludhiana, September 4
Hosts Ludhiana were bowled out for 288 runs in their first innings against Jalandhar on a rain-hit second day of the four-day match in the Punjab State Inter-District Cricket Tournament for the Katoch Shield being played at the Punjab Agricultural University ground here today.

Jalandhar began their reply on a sedate note and were 12 for no loss as the match was stopped due to rain, immediately after the lunch break.

Yesterday, Ludhiana skipper, Karan Goel won the toss and opted to bat first. The visitors bowled well and were supported by some excellent fielding which forced the Ludhiana top order to play cautiously.

Hosts lost the wickets at regular intervals and it was the duo of Geetansh Khera and Himanshu that fought back valiantly and in the process shared an unbeaten partnership of 57 runs for the sixth wicket.

Prior to that, when it seemed that the batsman was set and would stay on the wicket for some time, Ludhiana suffered a jolt. Ashish and Karan Goel were dismissed for 17 and 32 respectively while Akhil Aggarwal could add 23 runs. At draw of stumps last evening, Geetansh Khera and Himanshu were holding their forts with 57 and 26 runs against their names.Ludhiana resumed the day's play at 208 for five. Last night, not out batsman Geetnash was run out at his individual score of 67 while Himanshu was out for 60.

Brief scores

Ludhiana (first innings): 288 all out in 105.5 overs ( Nitin Goel 13, Ashish 17, Bharat Malhotra 13, Karan Goel 32, Akhil Aggarwal 23, Geetansh Khera 67 and Himanshu 60; Subheg Gill 1 for 40, Yogesh 2 for 75, Gurkirat 1 for 39, Ishan Malhotra 3 for 48and Taruwar 2 for 27). Jalandhar (first innings): 12 for no loss.

Ludhiana, September 4
The Punjab contingent finished runners up in the National Karate Championship held at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, recently. The karatekas drawn from different schools of Ludhiana comprised the state team which brought laurels. West Bengal emerged champions in the tournament.

The players from the city and those from Moga district who finished among position holders include, Simranjit Kaur Bhandari, Gursimran Singh Dhillon, Rubal Kumar, Vivekanand Sharma, Amarpreet Singh, Lovepreet Singh, Anupreet Kaur, Parampreet kaur, Simranjit Kaur, Damanpreet Kaur, Upneet Kaur, Manpreet Kaur, Harshanjeet kaur, Gursimran Singh, Arpit Singh, Amandeep Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Ravinder Singh, Arshpreet Singh and Kamalpreet Singh, all students of Guru Gobind Singh Public School, Ludhiana.

Uditi Goyal, Siman Chouhan, Sehajveer Singh, Jaskiranpreet Kaur, Tejwant Singh, Naman Gupta, Arshia Garg, Fatehjeet Singh, Tushar Shahi, Pulkit Garg and Arav Kharbanda: all students of Bal Bharti Public School, Ludhiana. The students from MGM Public School, Ludhiana, are Harkaran Singh, Tanu Pawar and Jahnavi Bali while Manav Arora of Sacred Heart Convent School and Garima Bedi.