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Question papers sent to DEOs
Step taken after science, English papers sent by PSEB were leaked online
Shivani Bhakoo
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 21
Realising that the question papers sent online had already been leaked the Punjab School Education Board has sent two fresh papers of science and English to the District Education Officers (DEOs) by hand. Besides, the timings of papers have been changed to 10 am. The schools will collect the papers on Monday morning itself (on the day of the examination).

Paramjit Kaur Chahal, District Education Officer (secondary), said that the Board had sent the papers. On being asked whether all schools would be informed about the question papers on time, Chahal said, "We have already sent mails to all 527 schools in the district. All the schools have been informed and there is no problem. They will collect the papers on Monday".

On Monday, the students of class IX will appear for their science paper while the class X students will take their English paper for the Summative Assessment I, which is going on in government schools for classes between VI and XII.

Appreciating the "late" move taken by the Board, one of the principals of a government school said that though it would become difficult for the schools to get the question papers collected from the DEO, still it was a welcome step since it was for the betterment of the students.

"Question-papers sent online were certainly not a viable decision taken by the Board, unless it was fool-proof. The media had even published the question papers, purchased by students for Rs 500. We are being told by the Education Department that the standard of education needs to improve in schools, but if the papers are being leaked then we are playing with the future of the students. Only principals and headmasters should have an access to question papers ", said the principal. 

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Tax benefits on donations to political parties
Electoral trusts get a breather
Now, they can file application by Nov 30
Manav Mander
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 21
The Income Tax Department has extended the date for filing of applications by electoral trusts for getting tax benefits on donations to political parties. The date has been extended to November 30.

"The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has permitted electoral trusts to file their applications up to November 30, 2013, with respect to the assessment year 2014-15, said the circular.

Earlier, the last date for filing of applications by such non-profit companies for the next assessment year was July 31.

Earlier this year, the government had notified that the process of the Electoral trusts scheme be streamlined and there should be more transparency in maintaining the record of funds being provided by corporate entities to the political parties for election-related expenses. The move was to bring in more transparency in the corporate funding of political parties for poll expenses.

The scheme permitted the entities to register non-profit companies having electoral trust as part of their names, thus differentiating them from the companies having other business interests.

As per the scheme, such companies can get tax benefits only if they distribute 95 per cent of the total contributions received by them in any financial year to the registered political parties within that year itself.

Besides, they can not receive any contribution in cash and they are required to take the PAN of all the contributors who are residents of India, and passport number of non-resident Indian citizens at the time of receiving the contribution. The electoral trust companies are not allowed to accept contributions from foreign citizens or companies. As per rules, all donations to political parties should be made only through cheques to get tax benefits.

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Man held for raping daughter
Charanjit Singh Teja
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana September 21
The police arrested a person for raping his 13-year-old daughter in the Jassian road area today. The accused has been identified as Charanjit Singh (40), a resident of Prem Nagar, Jassian road.

The girl said the accused had been raping her for the past three months, following which she became pregnant. The matter came to light when the victim told her mother about the gory act on Friday.

The victim’s mother, who works in a factory, said when she returned home on Friday, she found her daughter crying. When she asked her what had happened, first she hesitated to narrate the incident. On persuasion, the girl told her mother that she was being raped by her father for the past three months.

The victim’s mother lodged a complaint with the Salem Tabri police station in this regard. Taking action on the statement of the victim's mother, the police registered a case under Section 376 of the IPC and Section 4 of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act - 2012 against the accused.

The accused works as an electrician and was an alchoholic. The victim’s mother works in a factory and used to leave the house in the morning for work. The victim is a student of class VII and used to take care of the house and two younger siblings.

Was being raped for the past 3 months

The victim said that her father had been raping her for the past three months, following which she became pregnant. The matter came to light when the victim told her mother about the gory act on Friday.

Case registered

The victim’s mother lodged a complaint with the Salem Tabri police station in this regard. Taking action on the statement of the victim's mother, the police registered a case.

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Pugilist does Punjab proud
Simranjit Kaur to take part in world boxing meet in Bulgaria
Jaswant Shetra

Pugilist Simranjit Kaur.
Pugilist Simranjit Kaur. A Tribune photograph

Jagraon, September 21
The Shere Punjab Sports Academy, Chakar, near Jagraon, which owes the credit of providing the country with several national-level young talented pugilists, has produced another gem, Simranjit Kaur, who will be representing India in the World Boxing Championship for Youths.

Simranjit is the only pugilist from Punjab to be selected to represent India in the World Boxing Championship for Youths. The event is scheduled to be held in Albama city of Bulgaria from September 21 to 29.

After emerging as the national champion during the 58th National School Boxing Championship, Simranjit is all set to prove her mettle at the international level. "It is a great honour for me that I will be representing India in the world boxing championship. This championship is my first international tournament and I am looking forward to it. I will give it my best shot and win a medal for the country", said an excited Simranjit before leaving for Bulgaria. Simranjit hogged the limelight with her spectacular performance in the under-19 age group of the 58th National School Boxing Championship held in Andhra Pradesh in May. She won a gold medal for Punjab and became the national champion.

As soon as the news of her selection reached the village, the whole village was ecstatic. A sense of happiness and pride prevailed among the villagers and the administrators of the Shere Punjab Sports Academy, Chakar, over her selection for the international event.

"The selection of Simranjit is a great honour not only for our academy, but also for Punjab. It is her passion and dedication towards the game that has brought her to this level. If she manages to win a medal in the championship, it will do wonders to promote the sport among girls", said Balwant Singh Sandhu, chief administrator of the Shere Punjab Sports. "Simranjit is a very talented pugilist who can give good performance consistently. The best thing about Simranjit is that she has a never say die attitude. No doubt, there will be a lot of pressure on her, but she has the ability to give her best under pressure ", added Sandhu.

The academy has been set up by some NRIs of the village with the motive of promoting sports culture among the young generation. The academy has earned the honour of being the premium sports institute in Punjab and has produced several national-level pugilists in a very short period of time.

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Gold released
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 21
Gold weighing 170 kg seized by the Excise and Taxation Department on September 19 has been released by the department after owners of the showroom deposited an amount of Rs 32 crore, equivalent to the amount of penalty.

Goods have been released, but the case is still pending and is yet to be decided. The owners of the showroom have deposited a surety amount equal to the amount of penalty,” said Rishipal Singh, DETC.

Gold worth Rs 60 crore belonged to Kalyan Jewellers, who are yet to open a showroom in the city. The said amount of gold was transported to Ludhiana from Ahmedabad in a chartered plane.

The department seized the gold after the jewellery house failed to intimate it regarding the transportation of the gold into the state.

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CBSE postpones assessment test 
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 21
Problem Solving Assessment Test, conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education, which was scheduled for January 10, 2014 earlier, has now been postponed for about a week.

Harmeet Kaur, principal, Nankana Sahib Public School here said the test is taken throughout the country for the students of class IX and XI. “It is basically a general awareness test, which is being conducted for the students by CBSE. It is a part of their formative assessment,” said the principal.

Principal of BCM School Paramjit Kaur said since the test was conducted at National level, it was to be ensured that all the schools open after the winter-break. “In hilly-areas, the winter break goes long, so the CBSE has changed the date of test,” she said.

CBSE is taking the test for the second time. Harmit Kaur added that test was conducted to make the students aware about their surroundings. “Actually, this is a kind of foundation given to them so that they can compete at International level. 10 per cent marks will be given to the students in the boards and the test is considered as FA 4. It is a mental ability test, which is mandatory and the CBSE provides certificates to the students,” said Harmeet Kaur adding that such tests are important for the overall growth of the students. She said most of the times, students are burdened under routine syllabus and studies but these personality assessment or mental reasoning tests, gave them confidence.

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Postal Department to start core banking system
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 21
Core Banking System would be introduced by postal department in the city, within a year, according to SSPO city- division RL Meena. He said Head Post-Office and Sub-Post Office, Model town have been short listed to start CBS.

ATM's would be installed at both the post offices.

Core Banking System would by offered at the post offices to offer banking facilities at the post office. Because of the large number of post offices in urban and rural areas, banking facilities would reach to a large number of places, where the reach of banks is limited.

"There are few banks in rural areas, whereas post offices are much more in number. With banking facilities coming to post offices, people in rural areas would get more accessibility of the banking system," said an official at the postal department.

Core banking facilities at post offices would also aid in making the postal department more relevant in the current times when quantity of postal mail has come down drastically after the advent of internet and mobile technology, he said.

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Badish Jindal appointed to ESIC panels
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 21
Badish Jindal, president of Federation of Association of Small Industries of India has been nominated in three committees of Ministry of Labour.

In the meeting of ESI Corporation held under the chairmanship of union minister for labour and employment, Sheesh Ram Ola and minister of state for labour and employment K Suresh, FASII's national president was inducted into the three main committees of ESIC.

The three committees are: Medical education projects progress monitoring committee. This committee will look into the progress of work of 38 medical colleges.

General purpose medical care sub committee.

This committee will monitor the working of dispensaries and hospitals of ESIC.

Sub committee on Ayush: This committee will monitor the work of Ayurvedic medicines, ayurvedic doctors, physicians, and ayurvedic dispensiries of ESIC.

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Research centre inaugurated
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 21
A new wing ‘Research and Development Centre' was inaugurated today at Dayanand Medical College & Hospital by Dr AV Chainulu, director DSIR, Ministry of Science and Technology. The aim of the new centre is to conduct research pertaining to health problems of our society which are different from other regions, said, Prem Gupta, secretary, managing society at DMCH.

The hospital has kept a separate fund of Rs 2 Crore for the research. Already, a team of 30 individuals is working in the research and development wing and useful data will be available for the benefit of patients of this region. Dr AV Chainulu informed that Dayanand Medical College is one of the few medical colleges in the country which has been recognised as a centre for research by the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR).

He said the centre must concentrate on a few areas rather than researching in many fields. He said researchers and the centre must be focused on becoming a centre of excellence for a few areas at the national level and conduct path- breaking research at international level for those areas rather than frittering away their energy by focusing on many areas.

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Karate player honoured

Khanna, September 21
Simmi Batta, a resident of Khanna and an old student of AS College, Khanna, who has been selected to participate in World Senior Karate Championship, was honoured at AS College by college principal RS Jhanji.

Simmi had won a gold medal in +68 Kg Senior Karate Championship held at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi and was selected for World and Asian Championship to be held later. She had already won Karate National Championship ten times. She had also won 1st gold medal for Punjab in National Games that were held in Jharkhand. She is also quarter finalist of Asian Games 2010. Principal of the college while honouring her along with staff gave best wishes to Simmi and blessed her to win more medals on International level. — OC

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Punjab Cong stands united, says youth wing chief
Minna Zutshi
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 21
Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu's case should be an eye-opener for those who have shifted their loyalties from the Congress to the SAD (B) in the district. Punjab Youth Congress (PYC) Chief Vikramjit Chaudhary said this today. He was in Ludhiana to hold a meeting of the Youth Congress leaders to chalk out the details of the statewide PYC “Padyatra” that starts on October 2 from the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar.

Denying that there were fissures in the Congress, the PYC Chief said those who had switched their loyalties for vested interests would soon realise their folly. “The Punjab Congress is united and our 'Padyatra' will showcase this unity,” he said.

Refusing to comment on the possibility of Sidhu entering the Congress fold, Chaudhary said such issues were worked out at the level of the Congress High Command. However, he said all those who raised their voice against the SAD (B) highhandedness were welcome to associate with the Congress.

Chaudhary alleged that "centralisation" of power in the hands of a few SAD (B) leaders was responsible for "poor governance" in the state.

He flayed the Akali-BJP government for "misrepresenting facts" about the Centre-sponsored schemes.

"The ‘Atta Dal Scheme’ of the state government is sustaining only because of the subsidised food grains being provided by the Congress-led UPA government,” he said.

Chaudhary also questioned the rationale behind the state government's “hurry” to acquire the prime agricultural land of the farmers. Assuring the farmers that the Congress will secure justice for them, he said: “Why can't the state government wait till the new Act of land acquisition, which secures the rights of the land owners fully, gets notified and becomes a law?”

Meanwhile, speaking about the PYC “Padyatra”, Chaudhary said the focus of the “Padyatra” would be on highlighting the achievements of the UPA-I/UPA-II government's flagship programmes such as the Right To Information, Right to Work (MGNREGA), Right To Education, Aadhaar, Direct Benefit Transfer, Land Acquisition Bill and Food Security Bill.

“The Congress will reach out to the youth of the state that is feeling cheated and frustrated by the non-fulfilment of various promises made by the SAD-BJP alliance in their manifesto,” he said.

The “Padyatra”, which would conclude on October 31 in Jalandhar, would cover all 13 Parliamentary Constituencies and pass through 70 Assembly Constituencies, Chaudhary said.

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Burglars strike at govt school
Decamp with gas cylinder, 50 kg rice stored for mid-day meal
Charanjit Singh Teja
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 21
Burglars struck at a local government school and decamped with food grains and a gas cylinder on the intervening night of September 19 and 20.

Kamaljit Kaur, head teacher at Government Elementary School at Bahiro Munna village, registered a complaint with the Sahnewal police station that some unidentified persons broke into the kitchen of the school and decamped with a gas cylinder and 50 kg rice stored for the Mid-Day Meal.

The investigation officer said the thieves only targeted the kitchen of the school and stole rice and the gas cylinder. All other rooms of the school were safe.

Kulwant Singh, SHO, Sahnewal police station, said: “The government school is not away from the locality and it also has a boundary wall. The thieves must be aware of the fact that the school has no security guard. We have registered a case against unidentified persons and started investigations”.

It is pertinent to mention here that theft incidents in government schools have become common these days. Due to the absence of security guards at government schools, they become an easy target for burglars.

Police officials said: “After the launch of the Mid-Day Meal scheme, theft incidents have increased in the schools. According to an estimate, every school keeps utensils, gas cylinders, stoves, food grains and other things for the preparation of Mid-Day Meal in the kitchen. But, there is no security arrangement for all these things in most of the schools”.

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Top brass to withdraw salaries after class III, IV staff get paid
Shivani Bhakoo
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 21
Financially crunched Municipal Corporation has failed to provide salaries to hundreds of its class IV employees due to the paucity of funds. Three weeks had already passed and the class IV employees are struggling to get their salaries for this month.

Realising how difficult it would be for class IV employees to run their homes without monthly salaries, Commissioner MC Rahul Tiwari and three additional commissioners, including Isha Kalia, Sumit Jarangal and Devinder Singh, had decided that from this month onwards, all these officials will draw their monthly salaries at the end of the month only after salaries are paid to all the employees of the corporation.

The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation has been facing difficulty in generating revenue as the House Tax was abolished from April onwards. Though, in lieu of house tax, property tax had to be implemented by the government but due to the "higher rates" quoted by the authorities, the property tax drew flak from all quarters.

As per information, there are about 7,000 employees in the Municipal Corporation, which include engineers, inspectors, road cleaning/sanitation employees, sewer men, officials, clerks and superintendents, who are to be paid monthly salaries of about Rs 18 crore to Rs 20 crore per month. The major sources of the revenue generation were house tax and the monthly grant of VAT (in lieu of Octroi). Since house tax was abolished and property tax could not be implemented, the corporation suffered financial crunch.

More than 5,000 workers in the MC belong to the class III and IV category and they were provided the salaries at the end of the month.

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'Aaashiqui Not Allowed' star cast visits city

Ludhiana, September 21
The cast and crew of the upcoming Punjabi movie “Aaashiqui Not Allowed” were in the city today for the promotion of their film. The star cast, along with the producer of the movie, Sikander Ghumman, visited the Punjab College of Technical Education (PCTE), Baddowal, and Kelong restaurant.

Gurchet Chitarkar, Gurdeep Kakrala and Jaswant Rathore from the movie performed comedy acts at the PCTE. Actors Aman Sutdhar and Gurpreet Sandhu also interacted with students on the campus. Ghumman said: “The movie is a complete package of romance, love, horror and comedy. The songs of the movie have been sung by Mika, Javed Ali, Master Saleem, Lember Hussainpuri and Sonu Kakkar”. — TNS

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Mystery shrouds girl’s death
Jaswant Shetra

Jagraon, September 21
A BA final-year student of Lajpat Rai DAV College Jagraon, was found dead under mysterious circumstances at her house in the Lehndi Bhaini Basati area of Jagraon. The deceased has been identified as Harpreet Kaur.

The incident came to light when the family members of Harpreet Kaur saw her hanging from the ceiling fan in her room at night. The family members of the victim immediately informed the police about the incident, following which a police team reached the spot and began investigating the incident.

The police took the body in its custody and sent it for a post-mortem examination to Civil Hospital, Jagraon. On the basis of the preliminary investigation, the police suspected that it was a case of suicide, even though no suicide note was found from the victim's room.

The police is yet to establish the exact cause of Harpreet Kaur’s death. However, the police has initiated the proceedings after registering a case under Section 174 of the CrPc at the Jagraon city police station.

"We have started investigating. Right now, it appears to be a suicide case, but it is too early to reach to a conclusion. The exact cause of death is not clear and we are investigating the case from different angles. The picture will become clear once we obtain the post-mortem report", said Mohamad Jamil, SHO, Jagraon.

Sources said the victim was under depression for the past some months due to which she committed suicide.

"Harpreet was suffering from depression because she failed to clear English paper in the BA second year examination. It was due to this reason, Harpreet took the extreme step", said a source close to the family of the victim.

The lecturers who taught Harpreet at Lajpat Rai DAV College said Harpreet was a bright student.

“Apart from being good in academics, Harpreet was equally good in sports and cultural activities. She used to take part in cultural activities with a lot of enthusiasm. But she declined to get involved in cultural activities in the current session to concentrate on her studies", said a lecturer on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the police handed over Harpreet’s body to her family members after conducting a post-mortem examination this afternoon. 

We have started investigating. Right now, it appears to be a suicide case, but it is too early to reach a conclusion. The exact cause of death is not clear and we are investigating the case from different angles. The picture will become clear once we obtain the post-mortem report.
— Mohamad Jamil, SHO, Jagraon

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Father, son booked over land dispute
Our Correspondent

Khamano, September 21
The police, on the complaint of three NRI brothers, has booked former nagar council, president, Khamano, Balamjit Singh and his father into a land dispute case. NRI brothers Sardool Singh, Jasvir Singh and Baljinder Singh said they are real brothers of Joga Singh, father of the former president and residents of ward no. 5 Khamano.

In the complaint with NRI wing Jalandhar they stated that they are staying in America for last several years and their ancestral land and house was with former nagar council president Balamjit Singh and his father Joga Singh.

They alleged that they were not given any lease money of their land from last 30 years and they were also not permitted to enter their house.

They further stated that they were threatened of life by the above said persons and were not allowed to enter their premises. SHO, Khamano, Palwinder Singh said they had registered a case and are enquiring the matter. He said the accused are still at large and will be arrested soon.

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Two booked for forgery

Ludhiana, September 21
The police booked two persons for forging and threatening a resident here on Friday. The accused have been identified as Kuldeep Singh and Surjit Kaur, residents of Salana village, Fatehgarh Sahib district. The complainant, Pawandeep Singh, a resident of BRS Nagar, said he had a deal of a plot with the accused persons. Pawandeep gave them Rs 35 lakh in the form of land deed but they did not give him the possession of the property. The police registered a case against the accused under Section 420 of the IPC.

Man held in cheating case

The police has arrested a person for cheating Rs 20 lakh in a land deal. The accused has been identified as Jagdeep Singh, a resident of Krishna Nagar. The police initiated an investigation on the complaint of Satish Kumar. The complainant said he had a land deal with the accused in July 2011. The victim had given Rs 20 lakh in the form of land deed. Before the deal, the accused claimed that there was no controversy over the possession of the land. But after the land deed, the complainant came to know that the possession case is in the court. — TNS

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Boxers showcase skills on final day of championship
Lovleen Bains

Doraha, September 21
The 46th State Junior Boxing Championship organised by Guru Nanak Model Senior Secondary School at Dr Ishwar Singh Memorial Hall of Guru Nanak National College, Doraha, concluded today.

Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, PWD Minister, Punjab, was the chief guest at the concluding ceremony. Dhillon was highly appreciative of the grand endeavour undertaken by the school and the college in organising the state-level boxing meet. He lauded the efforts of the school to promote various sports, especially boxing. Jaipal Singh, boxing coach of India, was the special guest on the occasion. It was attended by vice-president of the school, Harpartap Singh Brar, manager Tarlok Singh Jaggi, Jogeshwar Singh Mangat, director Jaswant Singh Gill, Rajinder Singh Khalsa, principal Dr NS Sidhu, principal DP Thakur, among others. They encouraged the participants and wished them luck.

Boxers from various districts of Punjab like Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Patiala, Batala, Hoshiarpur, Fazilka, Muktsar, Ludhiana, Tarn Taran, etc., showcased their skills on the concluding day of the championship.

The results of the final day are as follows. Akahsdeep of Barnala; Gurwinder of Ludhiana-B; Sodish of Patiala; Jaideep of Batala; Manish Sharma of Shaheed Udam Singh Academy; Karandeep of Chakar; Kuldeep of Patiala; Anil of Patiala; Jatinder of Patiala; Lovejot of Ludhiana; Ashok of Sai Training Centre, Mastuana; Navjot of Moga; Teja of Sangrur; Jaskirat of Patiala; Sandeep of Sai Training Centre, Mastuana; Sanjay of New Generation Youth Academy, Jalandhar; Ajay of Amritsar; Jeevan of Mansa; Kulveer of Amritsar; Azadveer of Ludhiana; Jagdeep of Malerkotla; Gurkirat of Ropar; Sukhjit of Moga; Amit of Patiala; Taranjit of Patiala; Jasmeet of Jalandhar; Gurwinder of Jalandhar; Punjab of Patiala; Jarmanjit of Tarn Taran; Gurwinder of Patiala; Varinder of Patiala; Ashish of Ferozpur; Manbir of Tarn Taran; and Sukwinder of Ludhiana emerged victorious.

The other winners are:

Men’s Bantam (56 kg): Navjot of Moga, Sunil of Sangrur; Men’s Welter (91 kg): Sandeep of Ludhiana, Harpartap of Amritsar Sahib, Arshdeep of Ferozpur, Akashdeep of Sai Training Centre; Men’s Light Fly (46-49 kg): Akashdeep of Barnala, Sudeesh of Patiala; Men’s Fly (53 kg): Karandeep of Chakar, Kuldeep of Patiala; Men’s Bantam (56 kg): Jatinder of Patiala, Navjot of Moga; Men’s Light (60 kg): Lalit of Sai Training Centre, Jaskirat of Patiala; Men’s Welter (64 Kg): Sandeep of Sai Training Centre, Ajay of Amritsar Sahib; Men’s Welter (69 kg): Kulvir of Amritsar Sahib, Gurkirat of Ropar; Men’s Light Heavy (81 kg): Punjab of Patiala, Gurvinder of Patiala; Men’s Heavy (91 kg): Ashish of Ferozepur, Mandeep of Tarn Taran; Men’s Super Heavy (91 kg), Harpartap of Amritsar Sahib, Akashdeep of Sai Training Centre; Men’s Middle (75 kg): Amit of Patiala and Jasneet of Jalandhar.

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