Ludhiana, October 22
Three persons, including an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) and a Head Constable deputed in the office of the IG (Traffic), Punjab, in Chandigarh, landed in the police net for allegedly robbing diamonds worth Rs 35 lakh and other valuables from an employee of a Mumbai-based diamond trader on October 15.

The accused, identified as ASI Amar Singh, Head Constable Rajinder Singh and Angrej Singh, have been arrested by the police, while their accomplices Malkit Singh and Manpreet Singh are still at large.

The police has recovered diamonds worth Rs 22 lakh from the possession of the accused. Giving details about the arrests, ADCP, Special Branch, Harmohan Singh said the trio was caught following a detailed investigation.

He said ASI Amar Singh was a telephone operator at the office of the IG (Traffic), Punjab.

The ADCP said a hunt was on to nab Manpreet Singh and Malkit Singh, who were working as a private security guard and a taxi driver respectively. According to the police, Malkit's vehicle was used for the robbery.

Harmohan Singh congratulated the team, including ADCP Joginder Singh, ACP Swapan Sharma, ACP Dhruman Nimbale, ACP Gurpreet Kaur Purewal and CIA-II in charge Harpal Singh for cracking the case.

On October 15, five persons posing as policemen kidnapped Rajesh Kumar, a salesman of a Mumbai-based diamond jeweller, and robbed him of diamonds worth Rs 35 lakh.

The robbers threw Rajesh out of a moving vehicle near Doraha and fled with the booty.

Rajesh Kumar reportedly told the police that he had arrived in the city on October 12 for taking orders for diamond jewellery ahead of the festival season.

Due to a slump in the market, he did not receive encouraging orders from city-based jewellers and decided to return home.

When he came out of a hotel on the Mall Road and was heading towards the railway station to catch a train to Mumbai, two men, ASI Amar Singh and Head Constable Rajinder Singh, who were wearing khaki uniform, waylaid him.

ASI Amar Singh and Head Constable Rajinder Singh told Rajesh to sit in a jeep. Rajesh was told that he was being taken the the police station for questioning.

Three more men sitting in the jeep, Angrej Singh, Manpreet Singh and Malkit Singh, overpowered him.

One of them reportedly pulled out his weapon and the rest of them took Rajesh's laptop, a purse and a bag containing diamonds worth Rs 35 lakh and threw Rajesh out of the moving vehicle near Doraha.

The police remained tightlipped about the investigation process and did not divulge the details as how it managed to arrest the accused.

The accused have been booked under Sections 365 and 392 of the IPC for robbery and kidnapping.

Ludhiana, October 22
A woman journalist was killed while four other persons were injured seriously following a head-on collision between two vehicles near Bonn Bread Factory on the Chandigarh road in the wee hours here today.

Amrita Chaudhary, Special Correspondent with The Indian Express, succumbed to her injuries in the evening at the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital. She was 40.

The injured have been identified as Jatinder Preet, Taranpreet Singh, Onkar Singh and Jaswinder Kapoor.

Amrita's condition was critical since the time of the incident. She had sustained multiple fractures. Besides, she had suffered a massive head injury and was declared brain dead. Paramedics at the hospital were seen struggling to follow the line of treatment since morning as Amrita's blood pressure was constantly dropping.

The incident took place at 2 am when Amrita and Jatinder Preet were returning home by a Tata Indigo taxi after attending a function in Chandigarh. Jaswinder Kapoor was reportedly driving their vehicle. Taranpreet Singh and Onkar Singh, both residents of Dugri, were heading towards Parwanoo in Himachal Pradesh in a Ford Ikon.

Taranpreet told the police that they were rushing towards Parwanoo to help their friends, who had met with an accident.

According to an eyewitness, both vehicles were travelling at a high speed when the accident took place.

Jaswinder Kapoor, the taxi driver, was reportedly overtaking a truck when the mishap took place.

The impact of the collision was so strong that Amrita, who was sleeping on the rear seat, was thrown onto the front windscreen and her head got smashed against it.

Onkar Singh and Taranpreet Singh, who were in the other vehicle, sustained fractures on their legs.

Jatinder Preet and taxi driver Jaswinder Kapoor escaped with minor injuries.

Taranpreet's friends, who were travelling by another vehicle, helped the injured and pulled them out of the mangled remains of the cars. They informed the 108 emergency ambulance service and all injured were taken to the DMCH.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal have expressed shock over the incident.

They spoke to the family members of Amrita and conveyed their condolences.

Earlier, Harcharan Bains, Media Adviser to the Chief Minister, visited the DMCH to enquire about the condition of Amrita and the other injured.

Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police Ishwar Singh has constituted a team to find out the exact cause of the incident. A case under Section 304- A (rash driving resulting in death) has been registered.

Ludhiana, October 22
Senior officials of the municipal corporation, the district administration, the Punjab Pollution Control Board and the Irrigation Department held a meeting in Chandigarh today to monitor the progress of work on cleaning Budha Nullah. The meeting was chaired by the Chief Secretary.

An official from the Pollution Control Board told Ludhiana Tribune that several important issues related to Budha Nullah were discussed at length by the officials.

"Pollutants are being discharged into the nullah by the local dyeing industry. There is a proposal for setting up two common effluent treatment plants, one for the small and medium dyeing industry and the other for big industry. The company concerned has demanded a counter guarantee of about Rs 400 crore from the state government in case of lapses or non-payment. However, the government says since it has provided land at subsidised rates to dyeing units, why should it give a counter bank guarantee?" said the official, adding that this was among other issues discussed at the meeting.

Besides, three villages in the district, Pratapsingh Wala, Tajpur Bet and Gaunspur, were also discharging their sewage into Budha Nullah. These were not attached with the municipal corporation.

Officials of the Irrigation Department presented a report on the cleaning of the nullah. An amount of Rs 50 lakh has been provided to the department to take out solid waste from the nullah. The capacity of treating water at three plants, Balloke, Jainpur and Bhattiyan, had recently been increased.

Ludhiana, October 22
The Ludhiana industry is facing a labour shortage, yet again. This time it is due to the festival season. With Dasehra and Diwali around the corner, labourers are rushing back home to be with their families.

"Diwali is a big festival and is celebrated across the country. We can't say no to labourers asking for leave. The pace of work will slow down due to labour shortage," said Jeevan Rai, an industrialist.

Ludhiana, October 22
Donating blood proved to be a blessing for this resident of Gill Chowk, who donated blood for a newborn baby in 2005 at the Christian Medical College and Hospital. Only after the blood donation did Gobinder Singh, a medical representative, get to know that he was suffering from hepatitis-C.

Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Gobinder Singh said, "In 2005, I donated blood for a newborn baby at the Christian Medical College and Hospital. After 15 days, I got a shocking message form the hospital that I was suffering from hepatitis-C. I was determined to combat the disease. Though I was a medical representative, it was not an easy task for me to get proper treatment done. I discussed the problem with my family and friends since doctors had told me 24 injections were required for the treatment and each injection would cost Rs 13,600."

Each injection was to be given after an interval of a week. Gobinder Singh was not in a position to bear the cost of the treatment. He said, "I thank my friends who helped me financially by providing a loan for my treatment. After six months, I became infection-free."

After recovering, Gobinder got married to Sarabjeet Kaur. Now the father of a four-year-old daughter, he said, "For the past five years, I have been serving as a member of a non-governmental organisation, Salaam Zindagi, which works for providing free treatment to the children suffering from thalassaemia. I am thankful to God that I donated blood and got to know about my disease. I appeal to the public to come forward for blood donation as it is a noble cause."

Ludhiana, October 22
To run the Ishmeet Singh Music Institute in a smooth manner, a PCS trainee officer, JP Singh, has been deputed at the academy. Since it is a government-run academy set up in the memory of Ishmeet Singh, the winner of the Indian Idol reality show, who died in the prime of his age, the official has been asked to sit there for two hours daily and manage the affairs.

According to sources, in the past few months, many students had complained to the District Administration that certain members of the Managing Committee were managing things as per their own wish and the students, seeking admission, were suffering because of the "biased" attitude of the members.

Since it is purely a government academy set up in the memory of city-based singer Ishmeet Singh, about two acres of land was provided to the authorities concerned free of cost by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) and Rs 10 crore were granted by GLADA to the academy. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is the head of the Governing Body while the Deputy Commissioner is the chairman. Both the SDMs (West and East) are the members of the managing committee. Charan Kamal Singh, Ishmeet's uncle, has been appointed Director of the academy.

"Of late, we came to know about certain issues such as many students were not satisfied with the state of affairs at the academy, the courses are yet to be started, the accounts are to be properly maintained, affiliation has not been granted to the academy, etc. Since it is a government-run academy, there needs to be an official, who can sit there and get the policy decisions implemented," said an official attached with the academy.

The PCS officer, JP Singh, said: "Yes, I have started coming to the academy to understand and manage its affairs. It has to be brought back on track. I am trying to get all the feedback and holding meetings with the departments concerned to get things streamlined".

Ludhiana, October 22
The cluster development scheme is a key strategy for enhancing the productivity and competitiveness as well as capacity building of micro and small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). In Ludhiana, which houses many small and medium business units, clusters can play a very pivotal role in their development.

The clustering of units also provides to industrial units easy access to various services, thus reducing costs.

A lack of satisfactory and timely banking finance, unavailability of required technology, low production capacity, limited knowledge, weak marketing strategies, unavailability of skilled labour, etc, are some of the challenges faced by the MSMEs. Proper cluster development of the enterprises is the need of the hour, said Yogesh Bansal, owner of a small unit.

“In this era of liberalisation, small firms are under tremendous pressure due to factors like innovation, restructuring of operations and problems in achieving production efficiencies. Cluster development is the answer to all these questions,” said Jagjit Singh, owner of a sewing machine manufacturing unit.

Cluster development enables MSMEs to establish a strong position in the global market in the sales of a number of traditional products such as shoes, leather handbags, knitwear, apparel, furniture, tiles, musical instruments and food processing, added the owner of a small-scale unit, Bhushan Jain.

The competition between small and big firms is not only in prices and size, but also in their ability to innovate. Hence, in order to maintain sustainability in this ever-changing global economy, the MSMEs should also adopt innovative techniques and make continuous improvement in their product, process, like big players. Only “cluster development” has the potential to address the issue of resource gap, added Gurmukh Singh, who runs a unit in a cluster of units manufacturing bicycle parts. 

Ludhiana, October 22
It is time to pick up sticks, make rounds and dance in a group. As Navratras head for a conclusion, the tempo and excitement for the days ahead is increasing. Some in the city have not only been celebrating the spirit of the days, but are also to preparing to perform dandiya, both as a form of worship as well as a form of dance.

A few dance-training institutes in the city have been helping residents get set for the stick-dance. Shivam, a trainer from dance studio has said he has trained 36 students last month for performing dandiya. He says one needs at least a month of training to learn properly all the dance steps involved in the dance and one should always learn in a group as the dance is best performed in a group of 6-8 people, he says.

Unlike some of the dances, which require a lot of energy, dandiya requires graceful coordination and is a lot of fun, he says. The true magic of the dance comes with the occasion, as it is performed in Navratras with much more zeal by people, he says. Although it was performed better amongst the people, Mehak from Sangita Studio of Performing Arts has taught the young and the old for performing the dance. Being a folk dance, it has the traditional fervour, which is very interesting, and the colourful sticks and costumes add to the colourful celebrations, she says.

Ludhiana, October 22
Thanks to the skewed sex ratio, it is getting hard to find girls even for Ashtami Puja. During the Navratras Ashtimi Pooja, people had a hard time looking for young girls for performing the Puja in the morning today. Traditionally, about seven to nine girls are invited at homes in the morning of the Puja day, and worshipped as Maa Durga and the sisters. But as the distorted sex ratio in the state continues to decline, it is getting harder to find girls in the society.

"It was not easy finding young girls in the neighbourhood. I had to tell my friend residing in other areas living in the other colonies to send their daughters so that I could perform the puja," said Komal, a resident of Dugri.

The occasion Puja came as a realisation of the grim situation for many. "I have read in the news and heard reports about the skewed sex-ratio, but never realised the situation to be so grave. We, literally had to wait for hours as the few girls in our neighbourhood had to go to several homes today for the ceremonial worship to be completed," says Vikrant, another resident said. "I think, we have it enough in the news, but now people have to do something on our own to shake up the society from this slumber. We have to tell our people and honour and respect families with girls, and educate our girls and project them as leaders and role models, because the advertisement campaigns on television seem to be having little effect on people on the ground level," he says.

Dr Sukhdev Singh, professor in sociology at the PAU says that in addition to dowry and paternalistic attitude of the society, the degradation of women in Punjabi songs is leading to insecurity in the minds of parents. Such songs are one hand, desecrating women and dirtying the imagination of youngsters, these are on the other hand causing worries in the minds of the parents as well, he says.

Apart from totally barring such music and such depicting of women in movies and videos, more incentives like free education should be given to the girl child and parents, he says.

Doraha, October 22
The authorities at this point of time, seem to be ignoring the old bridge at Tibba chowk. The reason being that they are entirely engrossed in the erection of the new one, which it contends, shall be ready in the coming months.

Tibba bridge is one of the most frequently used bridges in the town. The traffic from Ludhiana, moving towards Sahnewal, also passes from this bridge.

Further, the villagers of the surrounding villages also use the bridge. The traffic is heavy to the extent that most of the times one-sided traffic is to be halted to let the other pass. But unfortunately, such busy humming bridge has dangerously eroded edges.

“We are really astonished that the department may be no doubt erecting a new bridge for the convenience of the passers-by but till then what? The bridge at both the ends has practically nothing to support a passer-by. A slight slip and one is lost. I think it does not even require a slip as the receding mud make cave in at its will and make you its victim forever,” said a villager of Bhutta who has to cross this bridge time and again.

“There are many chances for the commuters to be caught unawares the reason being that the point at which the edges are eroded is at both ends and this is what makes it a risky affair altogether. As the entry and the exit are dangerous, the commuters may have to pay through the nose,” rued another farmer of Tibba village.

A commuter from Sahnewal expressed, “It is good that the new bridge is being erected but is it written anywhere that the department has to be so focused towards the new project that it may ignore even the safety of the bridge users? How illogical does it seem that you simply ignore the risk to life that the residents are facing day in and day out just because you are too busy in the completion of the new one?”

“Whenever, I have to take to the bridge, my heart always seems to bulge out and I thank the Almighty for saving me at least this time from any slip anywhere. You may be cautious in your mind but the risk to slip and get entangled always remains,” was another commuters view. “The number of people crossing the bridge as a matter of routine is difficult to be estimated. Many a time, we have a feel that the commuters really had a narrow escape this time. If this is the situation at the time of the day, you can very well imagine it at the time of night. It is just the prudence of the commuters, which has till date enabled them to save their skin otherwise the department, on its part, has done practically nothing to ensure the safety of the bridge users,” said a shopkeeper who has a shop at Tibba chowk. SE PWD, when contacted said, “I shall look into the matter personally and ensure that the edges are solidly covered up so that no risk of any type remains.”

Ludhiana, October 22
The "Golden Jubilee Inter-College Youth Festival" of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), for the session 2012-13, was inaugurated here today amidst gaiety and ecstasy. Spectators in a large number gathered in the open air theatre to see the cultural procession, representing four-constituent colleges of the PAU including College of Agriculture (COA), College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology (COAE&T), College of Basic Sciences and Humanities (COBS&H) and College of Home Science (COHS).

Besides laying emphasis on girls’ education and inflation control, the procession highlighted the historical background of the PAU, its vital contribution in heralding of green revolution and to the nations' food buffer with the evolvement of new crop varieties and technologies. Competitions in folk song, creative dance and music items were held today, in which the students enthralled the audience with their singing and dancing skills.

Inaugurating the fest, the chief guest, Om Gauri Dutt Sharma, Deputy Director General, Doordarshan Kendra, Jalandhar and the PAU alumnus, said, “This university is my aan, shaan and jindjaan. (The PAU is dignity, glory and pulse of my life)." Stating that the PAU scientists have made a mark in the international arena," he exhorted the youth to work hard and serve the society with dedication.

Gauri Dutt Sharma told that in his 31 years of service; agriculture, the mainstay of Punjab's economy, has been his first preference. He gave away the prizes to the winners of various competitions.

In his presidential remarks, Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, said the university is proud of its students for bringing laurels as well as recognition to the institution at all levels. Dr Dhillon said that apart from playing a pivotal role in conservation agriculture and development of machinery, seeds of various crops and farm technologies, the PAU has carved a unique niche for itself by producing great sportspersons and by preserving rich cultural heritage of the Punjab state.

Results:

Cultural Procession: First-Basic Sciences and Humanities, second-Agriculture and third -Home Science creative dance. First-Rupeet Gill (agriculture), second-Deepika Malhothra (home science) and third-Anushikha Grover (basic sciences and humanities)

Folk Song: First-Dilpreet Kaur (home science), second-Iqbal Singh (agriculture) and Third-Sumita Bhalla (home science).

Rangoli: First-Aanchal (home science), second-Anupriya (agriculture) and third-Sumeet Kaur (home science). Extempore: First-Subhash SP (basic sciences and humanities), second-Silica Gupta (basic sciences and humanities) and third-Sushant (agricultural engineering and technology).

Elocution: First-Sulakshna (basic sciences and humanities), second-Sushant (agricultural engineering and technology) and Aakanksha (basic sciences and humanities).

Poetry recitation: First-Kanchan Shila (home science), second-Shtanshu Grover (basic sciences and humanities) and third-Amritpal Kaur (basic sciences and humanities).

Ludhiana: Green Grove Public School, Khanna, staged a rocking and thrilling “Musical Nite” to usher its new talent with its own School Rock band 'Green Grove Dynamoz'. The programme began with 'instrumental music' followed by a series of songs.

Navratras celebrated

Maple Bear Canadian Playway and Nursery School celebrated “Navratras”. Children came in fancy dresses representing the nine avtars of Goddess Durga namely Shailputri, Brahmcharini, Chanderghanta, Kushmanda, Skandmata, Katyayani, Durga Saptami, MahaGauri and Sidhidatri.

Students bring laurels

Students of Spring Dale Senior Secondary School made their way to the district-level science exhibition with nine models selected to be presented there. In the tehsil-level science exhibition was held at Sahnewal where approximately 150 models/projects from various schools of Ludhiana district participated and 10 out of 13 models/projects presented by Spring Dale Senior Secondary Public School won prizes and nine were selected for the district-level. — TNS

Jagraon, October 22
In the days of Navratras when people worship the girl child, certain persons abandoned a girl child at “panghura” set up at the Red Cross Bhawan, Amritsar. The Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar instructed the officials of the District Red Cross Society, Amritsar, to contact an orphanage and hand over the girl child to its authorities.

Secretary of the Red Cross Society, Amritsar, Thakur Randhir Singh contacted the administration of the orphanage being run by the Swami Ganga Nand Bhuri Wale International Foundation at Talwandi Dham, near Jagraon, and the girl child was handed over to the its authorities.

Kuldip Singh Mann, secretary of the Swami Ganga Nand Bhuri Wale International Foundation, said the girl child was a few days old. The orphanage authorities got the medical check up of the girl child done. The child is in good health.

According to Mann, with the arrival of this new baby in the orphanage the total number of children residing there has crossed the 50 mark. A small function was organised at the orphanage to welcome the new guest.

"We not only take care of the children at our orphanage but also provide them the best education at the educational institute run by the foundation. Several abandoned babies, who had been given shelter by the orphanage, have been legally adopted by people, including NRIs, and they are living very good lives," said Mann.

Ludhiana, October 22
A commemorative postage stamp on the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity in Hyderabad was recently released by the postal department.

The latest postage stamps to join in the collection of philatelists are on bio-diversity this month. The stamps feature bugun liochichla, hoolock gibbon, Nicobar megapode and venated gliding frog. Three of the postage stamps are priced at Rs 5 while the fourth one is priced at Rs 40. The miniature sheet, which has been released by the department, costs Rs 40.

India is one of the 17 most diverse nations, including Australia, Brazil, Congo, Venezuela and Madagascar, accounting for 60-70 per cent of the world's biodiversity.

"Maintaining and proliferating biodiversity is one of the needs as well as challenges in these times," says Rohit, a philatelist. "The postage stamps are worth preserving not only for their philatelic value, but also for their topic, which of paramount importance these days," he said.

The latest release being the fourth postage stamp in addition to the special cover on the PAU released by the department this month, the philately enthusiasts in the city are overjoyed. "We are hardly in the second half of the month, and it is not often that you get four postage stamps released in this short span of time," an elated philatelist said.

Ludhiana, October 22
Hypertension is a lifestyle disease and obesity and junk food are like adding fuel to the fire. However, "psychological life style" changes are making teenagers suffer from hypertension.

This was stated by Dr BM Hegde, former Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University, while interacting with The Tribune. Dr Hegde was in the city to attend the 21st National Conference of the Hypertension Society of India organised jointly by Hero DMC Heart Institute and the Hypertension Society of India.

He said: "Owing to the cut-throat competition, compassion in teenagers has been replaced with anger, fear, ego and hatred. When we hate anyone our mind gets affected. This way we become the victim of "auto immune disease". It means our own body cells do not recognise other parts of our body."

Whenever any doctor checks blood pressure, he says, "Your blood pressure is normal". Listening to this patients think that their blood pressure is not abnormal so they start taking more salt and spicy food. Dr Hegde said: "Normal is a wrong term for blood pressure. One should say the blood pressure is average. One should eat moderately, go for exercise, have compassion and do not harbour hatred for anyone."

The expert said women suffer from heart diseases more than men. Stress leads to hypertension and women’s problems, and all this results in polycystic ovaries.

Ludhiana, October 22
The District Health Department today collected samples from various sweet shops in the city. The samples of traditional sweets, including barfi, rasgulla, laddu, gulab jamun and kalakand, were collected from Sharma Sweet Shop and Bikaner Mishthan Bhandar at Model Town, Raj Sweet Shop at Model Town Extension, Giani Sweet Shop on the Gill Road and Shubham Sweet Shop at Mundian Kalan, said Harpreet Kaur, Food Safety Officer.

The samples have been sent for testing and the reports are expected in a couple of weeks.

The District Health Officer, Dr Kulwinder Singh, instructed the owners of sweet shops to maintain hygiene and to use only permitted colours and materials while making sweets.

The owners of sweet shops at times use colours that are not permitted as also inedible aluminium sheet instead of edible silver sheets on sweets, a health official said. 

District Magistrate, Rahul Tewari, has banned the burning of rice stubble. The ban, according to the orders, is in force with immediate effect and would remain in force till December 18. He said that burning of rice stubble causes pollution, which causes many diseases.

Free medical camp

A free medical camp was organised by Sree Ayyappa Seva Samiti here on Monday. The doctors from Christian Medical College and Hospital examined the patients and also provided free medicines. Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, PWD Minister, was the chief guest on the occasion. Over 225 patients were examined and 120 patients were diagnosed with diabetes.

Science exhibition

A two-day science exhibition was held at Ramgarhia Senior Secondary School. Ranjodh Singh, president Ramgarhia Education Council, inaugurated the exhibition. Prizes were given to the students who won positions in essay writing and slogan writing competitions.

Scholarhsips

Punjab Government would spend Rs 40 crore on scholarships of the girls belonging to OBC's in primary school, said Rajesh Bagha, chairman, Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission. He said Rs 20 crore would be spent on schoolbags, uniforms and footwear for the girl students, said Rajesh during a press conference after inspecting the facilities being provided in schools in the district. — TNS

Ludhiana, October 22
It was the common excuse of the Education Department officials for every blunder, “we do not have sufficient funds to organise the inter-district primary school games”. But it has been observed that the major problem behind all the mismanagement during the games is the lack of dedication of the Education Department officials.

On the third day of the games, mismanagement again spoiled the concluding show. There was uproar over the results of the kabaddi and kho-kho finals when the District Education officials were presenting the players with medals at the concluding ceremony.

Every team raised objections on the criteria adopted by the officials while disqualifying players. No one seemed satisfied with the decisions of the organisers.

The winning kabaddi team and their supportes rejoice.

The primary teachers, who were accompanying the players, were unhappy with the department officials as the staff from secondary schools were deputed to conduct the games. It was the height of carelessness when the officials presented the players with medals without a victory podium despite it was available.

"It is true that the education department doesn’t have sufficient funds to organise the games but management costs nothing. The major inconvenience is due to mismanagement by the sports officials. There are certain officials who are not aware about the rules of the games. The officials are doing mere formalities. No one is serious about the future of the budding players," said a trainer from Bathinda. "They do not have any concrete policy. The criteria to disqualify a player are very unscientific. The team playing opposite can raise overage objection on every other player. Officials count the teeth on the spot and disqualify them. Some good players, who study in class IV or V, were announced overage because they had more than 26 teeth," said a trainer from Mansa.

Mandi Gobindgarh, October 22
The RIMT Inter-School Cricket Tournament-2012 began on its campus in Mandi Gobindgarh here today.

Around 50 teams from the region are taking part in the eight-day tournament. Prize money up to Rs 1 lakh will be given to winners.

The chairman of the RIMT Group, Dr Hukam Chand Bansal, inaugurated the tournament.

He said students must take up sports to remain physically fit.

Around 8,000 spectators were present to cheer the players. The first-day matches included Shri Aurbindo International School, Patiala, versus St Jesus Savior School, Fatehgarh Sahib, and St John School, Mohali, versus Divine Light Public School, Sirhind.

Shri Aurbindo International School, Patiala, won the first match played at the Lords ground.

They scored 152 runs in 15 overs. Prabhsimran scored 105 runs. St Jesus Savior School, Fatehgarh Sahib, could make 55 runs only.

In another match, Divine Light Public School, Sirhind, got a walk over, as the second team failed to turn up.

• There were a number of budding players who gave extraordinary performances in the primary school games, but, ironically, there is no provision to maintain the record of the games. Moreover, the Education Department does not have the record of the previous primary school games.
• Ajitpal Singh, Additional Education Officer, said: "We do not have previous record but now we have decided to digitise all the results, timings and participations. We will upload this data on our website also".