Ludhiana, October 14
Tall claims of the Northern Railway authorities of tightening noose around touts operating at the railway reservation centre have fallen flat as a nexus of touts, middlemen and even unscrupulous travel agents still thrives as far as securing railway reservation in long route trains is concerned.

And getting reservation in the "tatkal" category is no exception even though the Railways claims to have introduced stringent rules by cutting down the period of tatkal booking from two days to one day in advance.

With many passengers intending to travel on long route trains to their native places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa and Souther India for the coming festival season, the operators running the racket of getting rail tickets reserved in advance, are also becoming more active.

The fact that the Railway Protection Force and vigilance teams of the Northern Railways have nabbed unauthorised persons with reserved tickets, a couple of days ago, goes on to prove that all is not well with the system of rail reservation.

"There is not even an iota of doubt that many touts and middlemen are getting journey tickets reserved in advance which are then passed on to bona fide passengers at a hefty premium. It is possible that the racket may have been running with the connivance of the railway employees and the police personnel deployed to keep an eye on unscrupulous elements," sources at the railway station said.

The allegation gets credence from the fact that even though there are no seats/berths available in most of the long route trains at least for the next one month, but confirmed reservation can be had on any of these trains for any day of one's choice only if the intending passengers do not mind to spend a couple of hundred rupees extra. "How these confirmed journey tickets are procured by the touts can be guessed by any body," maintain the sources.

Railway officials, however, assert that surprise checks are conducted and senior officials keep vigil on the activities of the employees deployed at the reservation complex. "It is only due to pressure mounted by the railway authorities that chaos witnessed earlier when the tatkal booking opened in the morning, is no longer there," claimed officials.

Meanwhile, the Northern Railway authorities have introduced several festival special trains to tackle the rush of passengers for the festivals of Dasehra, Diwali, Durga Pooja and Chhat Pooja. The trains will chug in October.

Some trains will operate from various stations in North India, including Ludhiana, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jammu Tawi, Pathankot, Udhampur, New Delhi, Ferozepur to important destinations in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Ludhiana, October 14
Adding to the burden of the common man, the Punjab Government has announced an increase in bus-fares.

The general secretary of the Small-Scale Bus Operator Association, JS Grewal said that the prices were increased following the meeting of bus operators, with the Transport Minister, Punjab, a few days ago.

"As the Central Government had increased the prices of diesel, the bus operators were finding it difficult to ply buses on the roads. Though the government has announced a hike in bus fares, it has also increased the tax-burden on the buses. The bus operator has to pay Rs 200 as tax to the government for each bus", said Grewal.

Juginder Singh, a teacher, who has to travel to Malerkotla daily, said that teachers were being paid meagerly by the state government. And now, another burden was put on them by increasing the bus fares. "Earlier, for a one-way ticket I had to shell out Rs 32, now, I will be paying Rs 39 for the same. I have been put under financial burden. For a sole bread-winner like me, paying Rs 14 extra is too much. It hardly makes any difference to the policy-makers, leaders, bureaucrats and elite etc as they travel in chauffeur-driven AC cars but for me it is a jolt", rued Juginder Singh.

As per an estimate, about 2,800 roadways/PRTC buses ply in Punjab daily while the number of private players is more than 3,000. "Everyone knows that the leading politicians in the state have their own stakes in the private bus companies, by putting extra burden on common man, they will mint more money", said another government employee.

Ludhiana, October 14
The police is set to redesign police stations for the convenience of residents as they have been complaining about the zig-zag structuring of the police stations. To begin with, the Katani police chowki located on the Chandigarh Road that falls under the Sahnewal police station will be made a part of Koom Kalan police station.

The move has been taken following complaints by the residents of Katani village that they have to cover extra miles to report the matter at the Sahnewal police station, while the Koom Kalan police station that covers other areas is located barely a stone throwaway from Katani and the neighbouring village.

"We have received complaints from the area residents that they have to travel a long distance to lodge their complaints at the Sahnewal police station, while the Katani chowki is near to the Koom Kalan police station. So we have decided to restructure the police stations for the benefit of residents. The restructuring will start soon," said Ishwar Singh, Commissioner of Police.

The residents complained that whenever any incident occurred at Katani and surrounding villages it took nearly an hour for the Sahnewal police to reach the spot, whereas, the Koom Kalan police station is located few km away from these villages.

"Katani is near the Chandigarh Road, whereas the Sahenwal police station is located on the GT Road (Ludhiana-Delhi National Highway 1) nearly 20km away. You can well imagine what will be the security scenario in the village," said Harcharan Singh, a resident of Katani village.

Ludhiana, October 14
A couple from Roorkee in Haridwar has been booked for forgery after a cheque worth Rs 4.73 lakh bounced due to insufficient balance in the account.

The couple used to purchase cycle parts from Nova Bicycle Industries and payment was due with them for the last purchase they had made few months ago.

Balvir Singh, investigating officer (IO), Shimlapuri police station, said the couple Ravinder Singh and his wife Sumeet Kaur, have been booked under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC on the complaint of Harmohinder Singh. The amount of Rs 4,73,558 was pending with Ravinder Singh and his wife till April 1, 2011.

The complainant Harmohinder Singh said, "We contacted the couple and asked them to make the payment by cash as the cheque had bounced. They then started making excuses and finally refused to make the payment."

Ludhiana, October 14
The city police has booked the son of a policeman in a hit-and-run case that resulted in the death of a youth recently. The policeman and the dummy driver have also been booked for forgery, destroying of evidence and criminal conspiracy.

The trio has been booked in a hit-and-run case that took place near Hathi Complex on the PAU Road on October 2 in which a youth named Lekhraj, a resident of Jawhar Nagar Camp, succumbed to injuries while his friend Ajay sustained serious injuries.

The youth Vimal Kumar, son Vijay Kumar, a head constable in the Punjab Police, was arrested and has been sent to judicial custody today. While HC Vijay Kumar and the dummy driver Jagdishpal are still at large.

It was on October 2 that Vimal lost control over the speeding Maruti Ritz, belonging to his father Vijay Kumar, and hit Ajay and Lekhraj, who were travelling on a motorcycle. Lekhraj was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to injuries on October 7.

The death of a youth and subsequent inaction snowballed into a political issue. In order to save his son, Vijay produced a dummy driver Jagdishpal Singh before the police.

Vijay claimed that it was Jagdishpal, who was driving the vehicle. Subsequently Jagdishpal was booked under Section 304-A for causing death due to reckless driving.

The family of the victims again protested and claimed that Vijay Kumar was to shield his son. Ishwar Singh, Commissioner of Police, constituted a special investigation team (SIT).

The team probed the matter again and was surprised to find that according to the mobile location Jagdishpal was present near CMCH at the time of accident.

The mobile phone location further showed that Vimal was present near Hathi Complex during the time of accident. Now, it was clear that it was Vimal, who was driving the vehicle that met with an accident. In the meantime, Vijay, Vimal and Jagdishpal went underground to avoid police action.

The police also started conducting raids and finally caught hold of Vimal last night, while Jagdishpal and Vijay are still at large.

Ludhiana, October 14
More than 200 players of 16 colleges throughout the state have been participating in the Punjab Collage's Basketball Leagues at the Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana, but due to poor infrastructure at the stadium, players are facing inconvenience.

Besides the renovation work, construction of new urinals and toilets is going on in the main building of the stadium, but the building adjoining the Punjab Basketball Association is in bad shape.

A number of urinals, toilets and washrooms were constructed in the building, but except from one urinal, all are dysfunctional. There is no water supply connection in those toilets and urinals. The one which is in use is stinking and dirty.

Women players participating in the basketball league said, they were not able to bolt the washroom from inside.

"If one wants to use the washroom, one of her companions has to stand outside the washroom in the absence of inner lock. Moreover, washrooms are stinking and the urinals are in a bad shape" said a player.

Meanwhile, the staircase area of the building has been converted into a dumping area. The heaps of garbage can be seen everywhere in the building, where the players spend their free time.

"We had visited the stadium about two months ago. The same garbage heaps are still there" said a player from Amritsar.

Kartar Singh, District Sports Officer, said, "I am well aware about the problems the players are facing. We have made a proposal to renovate the area of the building. We have asked the Mandi Board to prepare the estimate required for the renovation. Moreover, we have only 12 workers which are not enough for the whole sports complex".

Khanna, October 14
Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, has forwarded an inquiry report of SDM Khanna against a coloniser to ADC General, Ludhiana, to examine and take necessary action if found guilty.

While talking to The Tribune, DC Rahul Tiwari confirmed that he has received an enquiry report conducted by SDM Khanna PS Sodhi against a colony situated at Bhattian village and had forwarded it to ADC General to examine the legal aspects and to take necessary action against the coloniser if found guilty.

He also confirmed that the coloniser has also presented a complaint against SDM Khanna. The complaint has also been forwarded to ADC General to look into the matter.

On the basis of a complaint filed by Anil Kumar, a resident of Khanna, the SDM Khanna had conducted a probe into the matter. In his report submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, he pointed out at floating of norms by the coloniser in setting up of a colony at Bhattian village near Khanna.

He pointed out that the coloniser has received finance from banks on the plots meant for parks and roads and has also sold them. He pointed out that the colony set up at Bhattian is illegal and was found to be floating norms set up by the district administration and departments concerned of the State government. He has also pointed out embezzlement of revenue fees by the coloniser. However the SDM has also denied the charges leveled by the colonizer against him and termed it baseless.

Deputy Commissioner said appropriate action will be taken against the accused if found guilty and it will take about 20 days do decide on the matter.

Ludhiana, October 14
The Ludhiana Philately Club celebrated Philately Day today. Members of the club got together at the philately museum in the Head Post Office and exchanged information about the newest postage stamps and discussed way to encourage philately.

Yashpal Bangia, president of the club, said they would hold an exhibition and philately bazaar at the start of the next year to promote the hobby.

Members of the club said the postal department of the state must organise a state-level philately exhibition to encourage philately in the state as Punjab was lagging far behind in the field.

"Exhibitions were organised in various parts of the country to mark the day and postal week by the postal departments of different states, but nothing was done in the state," said a member of the club.

"The postal department in the state must take concrete steps to encourage youngsters and enhance their interest in the knowledgeable hobby," another member added.

"A few young philatelists are coming and taking up the beautiful hobby, and if it continues like this, the hobby will die in the state," said Bangia.

"Not only is this hobby very interesting, but the investment made in it never goes waste and the prices of the stamps and philatelic material collected always has more than face value and prices can shoot many times high," said another member.

"The activities that city philatelists do are all done on their own. The state postal department should think about inculcating the hobby among the young and old," he said.

Ludhiana, October 14
The commemorative postage stamp on Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) released by the postal department has created enthusiasm among the city philatelists.

According to Sanjeet Singh Kaila, Commanding Officer of Ludhiana unit for NCC No4 (Pb) Air Squadron, AWACS is very valuable to the defence services. It is based on IL-6 and has developed collectively by India, Brazil and Russia. It can detect activity or aircraft up to 450 km away and anything flying more than 80 km per hour cannot escape it, he said. As these are used in high altitude, the radars on the aircraft allow the operators to distinguish between friendly and hostile aircraft at hundreds of kilometres away.

"It is an exciting stamp. A stamp on defence was released a week back. It rarely happens that the two stamps on the same theme are released within a short span of time. It would be right up there in my collection," said Mukesh, a philatelist.

The AEWACS is a project of India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The programme aims to deliver three radar-equipped surveillance aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The first fully-modified aircraft for India’s indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control System landed on Indian soil at Centre for Airborne Systems, Bengaluru, at HAL Airport on August 22. 

Ludhiana, October 14
Customised lamps and lightings for homes are becoming a favourite of the city residents as these have both the contemporary and traditional appeal.

These decorative pieces are created with crushed glass, glass with mosaic patterns, pearls, beads, mirrors, crushed and frosted glass, crystals, and even broken bangles and threads to add traditional feel to the contemporary design.

These are mostly handcrafted and available in myriad colours. Customers can choose among ceiling lights, wall lights, lamps chandeliers and conceal lights matching to their interiors.

“These (lamps and lights) are available in thousand colours and shapes. People can choose these according to their interior decoration, be it Indian contemporary or western design. Each of the lamp and chandelier looks very elegant and different and that’s why these are much in demand nowadays," said Sonia Chugh, from GCS Lighting.

Sunil Aggarwal, a resident, said, “I wanted some different lights for my home so I have chosen these. Many of these are handcrafted which gives a traditional look and yet look pretty modern."

Vaneet, an interior designer, said, “Lighting depends a lot on the kind of decor and the functional as well as aesthetic requirement. Hybrid lights, available in the markets these days, give that versatility and flexibility required to change lights according to need at home.”

Ludhiana, October 14
Nothing can match the royal and splendid wedding outfit worn by one's mother or grandmother.

Sania Mirza wore the wedding outfit of her mother and following the league is Kareena Kapoor. The much-hyped wedding of Kareena-Saif will see the bride wearing the ancestral wedding dress.

Kareena is expected to wear the ancestral wedding dress which originally belongs to Begum Sajida Sultan of Bhopal, who wore it at her wedding in 1939, she later passed it onto her daughter-in-law Sharmila and now Kareena Kapoor will don it for her wedding with Nawab of Pataudi, Saif Ali Khan.

Quickly following the trend are the brides from the city who are also going in for the ancestral wedding dresses. "I have got my mother's wedding "lehnga" redesigned from a local designer. The dress is so majestic and no modern designer can reproduce the same today," said Neetu, a would-be-bride.

Heena, another girl from the city who is getting married in a couple of months, said it was a tradition in their family to wear the ancestral wedding outfits. Both bride and bridegroom wear their ancestral dresses. "I will be wearing a golden and pink royal “sharara”,” she added.

Why wear your mother's wedding outfit ?

Family tradition

It might already be a family tradition or if you're looking to start a tradition, it maybe the dress that gets passed on for generations. It is usually preserved or kept in a better place, it can also serve as an inspiration for the next generations.

Be different

Going vintage will give off a very different feel to your dress. It will really make you stand out as modern brides will look different from yours.

Savings

Bridal gown is one of the highest expense you can incur in your wedding. Having one already, saves you a lot, and restoration and alterations can still come out as cheaper than having a designer wedding dress.

Less things to focus on

Stress is usually the bride's biggest problem, with the wedding dress out of the way, there will be a fewer things to worry about. It saves one from scouring over many different designers and shops.

Ludhiana, October 14
They are pegging away at their computers and sketchbooks. The city's creative graphic and web designers are designing not for the people here, but for clients across the seas.

Many graphic and web designers in the city are working and designing for foreign clients.

Manvir Singh, who works online, has a good number of clients abroad.

Designers in the city say although there is enough talent in the city, corporates, big companies and industrial houses prefer to hire creative agencies based in Delhi or Mumbai.

"They hire designers and creative agencies in the NCR rather than looking for talent here," says Manvir.

Although there is immense talent in the city, all it needs is encouragement from the government and patronisation from the industry, he says.

The city can become the creative hub, says another designer Saravjit Singh. Looking at the industry here, there is a need to develop the city into a creative design and an IT hub, which would give the industry a great boost as well in terms of good branding and visibility as well.

Another freelance designer, Supreet Kaur, says the opportunities in the city for creative designers are much less, and the employers here pay paltry salaries, not commensurate either with work hours or the quality of work.

The government should also create an IT park, which will help provide creative services as well as IT capabilities to the industry, says Manvir.

Although international-level material is being manufactured here, owing to lack of world-class branding, most of the quality brands in the city have been reduced to export houses or have become restricted to regional brands despite top-quality products, says Saravjit.

Ludhiana, October 14
The name of the leader of opposition in the municipal corporation has not been finalised so far due to the ongoing slug fest among senior Congress leaders.

The new MC house was administered oath on September 21 and even after three weeks, the party has not been able to finalise the name of the leader of opposition.

In the 75-member Ludhiana municipal corporation house, the Congress is having a total of 19 councillors, two more than its tally in 2007.

After the 2007 MC elections, Prem Mittal, a councillor from ward number 51, was declared the leader of opposition. But during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Mittal along with his political mentor, Congress heavyweight Gurcharan Singh Galib, joined the Shiromani Akali Dal. Presently, Prem Mittal is an Akali MLA from Mansa and after being elected as the MLA, he resigned from the MC in April this year.

After Prem Mittal joined the Akali Dal, Hem Raj Aggarwal was made the leader of opposition for one year, while Sham Sunder Malhotra remained on the post for around 18 months.

In the outgoing MC house, Sham Sunder Malhotra was the leader of opposition. But this time, Malhotra lost to Gurpreet Singh, an Independent from ward number 37 of the city.

If we talk of seniority, Congress councillors Balkar Singh Sandhu from ward number 55, Hem Raj Aggarwal from ward number 27 and Jai Parkash Sharma from ward number 30 are four-time councillors. Sanjeev Kumar Talwar from ward number 39 is a three-time councillor and Gurpreet Singh Bassi from ward number 53 has remained councillor twice while his wife Sukhchain Bassi remained councillor once.

Ludhiana (West) MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu will also play an important role in the selection of the leader of opposition because out of the total 19 Congress councillors in the MC house, eight are from his group.

In a recent survey that was carried out by the Congress to finalise leaders who could lead the party in future, MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu is the only leader from Ludhiana whose name figured on this list of 15. The survey was conducted by a team of leaders who are close to Rahul Gandhi.

Both MLA Ashu and local MP Manish Tewari have been at loggerheads since the recently held state Assembly elections, when Tewari wanted his associate to contest from Ludhiana (West) and opposed Ashu's candidature for the same. And in the end, it was Ashu, who managed to secure party ticket and won convincingly by a margin of more than 36,000 votes.

Bharat Bhushan Ashu said, "The name will be finalised amicably. Moreover, all party leaders are united in the city," he added.

Ludhiana, October 14
The four laning of Ludhiana-Ferozepur (Talwandi Bhai) Road is expected to be completed within two and a half years. But there is a tedious task of removing about 63 encroachments on the particular road and orders have been issued to the nodal officers concerned to get all these encroachments in Ludhiana, Mullanpur and Jagraon removed within two months.

Meetings are being conducted on the issue by the respective nodal officers (SDM (West) and SDM Jagraon) with the police officials concerned. One meeting was held yesterday while another will be held on October 15 by SDM Jagraon.

SDM (West) KS Mahi said a majority of the encroachments were in Jagraon and an anti-encroachment drive in Ludhiana/Mullanpur had already been started. "Within next one-and-a-half month, we will be able to clear the roads of encroachments," he said.

Of the 63 encroachments, there are about 15 petrol stations (Ludhiana-Mullanpur-Jagraon) which are to be removed, besides portions of two temples, one police chowki, Civil Hospital, Mullanpur and 42 shop structures. A portion of the Jagraon Chowk has to be removed for four laning. Notices have already been served on the encroachers.

"With the move, commuters will heave a sigh of relief," said an official associated with the project.

Manpreet Singh Ayali had also recently asked that the records of Patwarkhana at Mullanpur might also be shifted to the new building. But Patwaris have reportedly objected to Ayali's "orders". They said the new building was too small to accommodate huge record (from 1908). "Unless two-three more rooms are constructed in the new building, the records cannot be shifted from old Patwarkhana and Zila Parishad authorities must realise this," said a Patwari. 

63 encroachments to be removed from Ludhiana-Mullanpur-Jagraon Portions of petrol stations, police chowki, Civil Hospital, Mullanpur and Jagraon Chowk to be removed Notices have already been served on defaulters SDM (West) and SDM, Jagraon, have directed nodal officers to get the encroachments removed

Jagraon, October 14
Despite a strict ban on storing fire crackers in residential areas, wholesalers of Jagraon have started storing them in huge quantities.

Sources said local firework dealers have illegally imported crackers worth many crores from other cities to evade tax.

The administration, however, has turned a blind eye towards this serious matter.

As most of the fireworks dealers have stocked crackers in their stores located in residential areas, a feeling of panic and fear has gripped the residents here.

To evade the tax, the traders are bringing the fireworks in the town during the night. Besides this, a majority of firework dealers do not have valid licences to store or sell crackers. Despite this, they have stocked massive crackers in their stores situated in different areas.

During a visit by The Tribune team, it was found that more than two dozen firework dealers have stored crackers in stores located in residential areas. Some of the stores are situated in densely populated areas and others in narrow streets where a fire brigade cannot even enter in case of an emergency. Adding to the woes, there is no fire brigade station in Jagraon.

There are many stores in areas like College Road, Railway Road, Nehru Market, Old Grain Market, Lajpat Rai Road where tones of firecrackers have been stocked.

The local residents have urged the administration to get the crackers shifted to a safer place outside the city to avoid mishap.

DSP Jagraon Surinder Kumar said the stocking of crackers in residential areas is strictly banned. Strict action will be taken against those who are found guilty.

"We are going to launch a special drive against stocking of firework in residential areas within a couple of days. Besides this, we will also hold meetings with the dealers to instruct them on storing crackers at safe places outside the town," he added.

Ludhiana, October 14
Students, teachers and daily commuters in the city today opposed the hike in bus fares by State Transport Department.

Thousands of students and workers, who commute daily from peripheries of Ludhiana, opposed the move. “I don’t know when the hike will be implemented on bus passes. So far, the due date of bus pass is on October 31. It will affect our budget. The government should rethink on the matter,” said Ranveer Singh, a student at Punjab Agricultural University.

Navreet, a student from Government College for Women, said, "The students are already facing economical problem as they have been paying huge fees and the hike in bus fare will be an additional burden on us.”

Not only students but daily passengers also feel the pinch. Gaurav, a daily passenger, said, “I am travel daily from Moga, which is 65 km from Ludhiana. I used to pay Rs 45 for one side travel. However, today when the bus conductor charged Rs 55 it was shocking. So much increase is not justified."

Gurbir Singh, a student of SCD Government College, said, “Today, I came from my village which is near Ferozepur. I got a ticket for Rs 99, which used to be Rs 85 earlier. I used to visit my village twice a month. It will be hard to manage my expenses, now."

“People are already burden with high taxes. We oppose the move of the government. Education has to be on the priority list of the government. It is our long-pending demand to make the transportation free for the students. Our student union will struggle for this,” Ranvir, an activist of a student union.

Ludhiana, October 14
The city's foodies are swearing by the taste of egg and its health benefits. Komal, a self-professed foodie, says her cakes and other dishes are incomplete without eggs. "A day without eggs is incomplete, as these find some way or the other to enter our diet for their taste and nutrition," she says.

Apart from the great taste of the boiled and mouth-watering omelette, eggs add a bit of taste to a variety of dishes, and are a great source of healthy food, she says.

Preet, a resident of Civil Lines, says she is a vegetarian, and contrary to popular opinion, she considers egg as a part of the vegetarian diet. "I believe that eggs are completely vegetarian, simply because, these are not derived from killing any animal," she says. "Rather, we kill a grown up plant while harvesting. But here, we are not killing anybody. And like milk taken from an animal, taking an egg is purely vegetarian," she says. These are nutritious as well, as these are considered good for eyes and are a source of vitamins and other nutrients as well, she adds.

"Although, one has to watch the intake of egg as well, undoubtedly as excess of everything is bad, these are a part of my daily diet," says Harinder, a resident.

Raman, another foodie, says eggs add a great taste to cakes, puddings and ice-creams and simply for this reason are her favourite when it comes to conjuring up surprise dishes for her family and children.

Ludhiana, October 14
Four amateur Sufi and folk singers from the city have been selected for a reality show "Suraan De Waaris".

Unlike other shows, it is not a competition, says Ujagar Singh, a participant from Patiala. "This is the first reality show I am participating in. With an episode dedicated to each singer, this is a much better platform and a better way to acknowledge and encourage young talent," he said.

Another young performer said, "Reality shows may be discouraging when someone walks out with the tag of being unsuccessful from such shows. But this is a different and better platform," he said.

Ludhiana, October 14
Anmol, a student of Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Model Town, Nirdosh, Sameer Sharma of GMT Public School and Manpreet Singh clinched titles in various categories during the 23rd Prithipal Singh Memorial Open Table Tennis Tournament that concluded at Punjab Agricultural University today.

In the girls (U-21) section, Anmol faced a little resistance from her college mate, Kritika whom she defeated in straight sets 11-1, 11-3 and 11-9 to romp home champion.

Nirdosh, after some hiccups, managed to overpower her rival, Kritika of Guru Nanak Khalsa College. Nirdosh won the verdict 11-1, 11-8 and 11-9 to fetch the title.

Sameer Sharma won double crowns as he outwitted Harnoor Singh of DCM Presidency School 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 6-11 and 11-2 to clinch the title in the junior boy's section.

Sameer added another medal to his kitty when he outplayed Bhavuk 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 9-11 and 11-8 to lay his hands on the winners' trophy in the youth boys (u-21) section.

In the men's final, Manpreet Singh outclassed Sameer Sharma 11-9, 11-9, 9-11 and 11-9 to emerge as champion.

Results (final): Cadet girls: Tamana of Green Land School, Chandigarh road, bt Sonali Baweja of DAV Public School 11-8, 11-5 and 13-11.

Cadet boys: Nimish of Bal Bharti Public School bt Bhuwan Popli of DAV Public School 11-4, 11-9 and 11-6.

Sub-junior girls: Taniya of DAV Public School bt Apeksha of Green Land School, Chandigarh road 11-2, 11-5 and 11-9.

Sub-junior boys: Harnoor Singh of DCM Presidency School bt Parivanshdeep Singh of DAV Public School 11-5, 11-2 and 11-1.

Junior girls: Anmol of DAV Public School bt Rajni of Guru Nanak Khalsa College 11-2, 2-11, 11-7 and 11-9.

Lucky doubles: Dharminder and Shubham bt Sahil and Anmol 11-4, 11-7, 11-9.

Veterans (above 40): Harpreet Singh bt Nitin Singla 11-9, 5-11, 11-5 and 13-11.

Ludhiana, October 14
In an exciting final, RS Model Senior Secondary School, Model Town, prevailed over BCM Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh road branch, 8-6 to win the title in the boys section in the Ludhiana District Baseball Championship held at Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Gujjarkhan campus, Model Town, today.

Anmol and Kashish accounted for two runs each to pave the way for their school to record victory.

Earlier, in the semifinals, BCM Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh road branch, pipped BCM School, Focal Point branch, 3-2 and RS Model School trounced BCM Arya Model School 10-0 to set up the title clash.

In the match to decide the third position, BCM Senior Secondary School, Focal Point branch, blanked BCM Arya Model School 5-0.

MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu gave away prizes to winners. Sukhdev Singh Aulakh, Harbir Singh Gill, Naginder Singh Nagi, Sanjeev Jadeja, Ramesh Kumar, all members of the local body of the Baseball Association and national player Anterdeep Kaur were present on the occasion.

Ludhiana, October 14
Gursher Singh proved too good for his immediate opponents to win top honours in the Ludhiana District Chess Championship that concluded at St Thomas Senior Secondary School, Brown road, today.

This was third title for Gursher Singh in the district championship. He emerged champion in 2009 and 2010.

Today, Gursher secured 5.5 points. He drew his last round game with the defending champion, Sushant Manuja .

Gursher was followed by Shubham Shukla and Ishaan Bansal who scored five points each and finished at second and third places, respectively.

Besides, Gursher Singh, Shubham and Ishaan, seven other players were selected to represent Ludhiana district in the forthcoming Punjab State B Chess Championship to be held from November 16 to 18 at Moga.

The players are Imanjot Singh Deol, Sushant Manuja, Raminderbir Singh, Amarjit Singh, Rishav Katyal, Jashanpreet Singh and Diljit Singh.

Upinder Singh, IRTS, senior divisional manager, Railways, distributed the prizes. CP Singh, Railway Officer, besides office-bearers of the Ludhiana District Chess Association was present at the concluding function.

Results

Women: Himani Arora of Green Land School 1, Meenakshi of International Public School 2 and Sunakshi Batra of Green Land School 3.

Boys (U-11): Rajat Gupta of Ryan International School 1, Pratyoosh Chitkara of BCM School, Shastri Nagar, 2 and Raghav Bansaln of Ryan International School 3.

Boys (U-15): Madhur of Green Land School 1, Sarthak Gupta of Ryan International School 2 and Samyak Jain of Green Land School 3.

Girls (U-15): Kanishka Chawla of Sacred Heart School, BRS Nagar, 1, Himandeep Kaur of Ryan International School 2 and Apoorva Sharma of Sacred Heart School, BRS Nagar, 3.

Girls (U-11): Samridhi Manchanda of BCM School, Shastri Nagar, 1, Shailja Kochhar of BCM School, Shastri Nagar, 2 and Mahima of St Thomas School 3.

Ludhiana, October 14
An all-round performance by Monika (51 and 3 for 16) and Anjali (25 and 5 for 13) helped Amritsar district thrash Combined Districts XI by 157 runs in the first match of the Punjab State Inter-District Senior Women's Cricket Tournament being played at Green Land School grounds today.

In the stipulated 50 overs, Amritsar district, amassed a total of 227 runs after losing nine wickets. The architects of their innings were Monika, Roshni and Anjali, who contributed 51, 42 and 25 runs, respectively while Renu made 13.

For Combined Districts XI, Baldeep and Navjit scalped four and two victims, conceding 35 and 41 runs, respectively. The target set by Amritsar eves turned out to be an uphill task as Combined Districts XI innings folded at 70 runs in 26.3 overs.

Only two players could touch double figure. Ramandeep scored 20 runs while Rajwinder made 12 runs.

For the winners, Anjali was the most successful bowler who got rid of five players for just 13 runs while Monika captured three wickets for 16 runs and Renu chipped in with two wickets for 14 runs.

Earlier, Rajesh Rudra, chairman, chain of Green Land Schools inaugurated the tournament.