Police officials talk to Abhishek’s father.

The deceased’s mother.

Ludhiana, June 22
While the state government is patting its back for nabbing around 27,000 drug peddlers in a drive aimed at curbing drug addiction, another life was snuffed out due to drug overdose.

The deceased, identified as Abhishek (22), a resident of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, was found dead in his black Honda City near SCD Government College here today. According to Dr AK Banerjee, Abhishek’s father, his son died due to adulterated drug reaction or overdose.

He said he was pursuing third year of law from a law college in Pune and had shun drugs. He said he had come home for summer holidays and was due to leave for Pune the next week.

The investigation officer said it was in the morning that some commuters noticed Abhishek lying in car and informed the police about it. Soon the police reached the spot. They tried to wake up Abhishek by knocking at the windshield but the latter did not respond.

The police spotted syringe marks on Abhishek’s forearm and immediately opened the door of the car. However, Abhishek had died. Soon, Dr AK Banerjee was informed. He reached the spot and reportedly told the police that Abhishek had left home last night and soon his phone was switched off.

“At 11pm, we rang up helpline 100 and informed the police that our son’s cellphone number was not functioning. My son had led to the arrest of some drug peddlers in the Dugri area. I thought those drug peddlers would try to settle a score with him. I had kept calling up the police till 2.30 am but they failed to locate my son,” said Dr Banerjee.

Abhishek’s mother Madhu was inconsolable. She said Abhishek was their only child and at the fag end of their life they had lost their son.

The investigation officer said prima facie it appeared to be a case of drug overdose. The body has been sent to the Civil Hospital for post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death.

He said the police would scan the call details Abhishek’s mobile phone for zeroing in on the person who supplied drugs to him.

Ludhiana, June 22
Though the state government has been launched a massive campaign to curb the menace of drug addiction, certain government employees and officers engaged in the campaign feel stressed. Some of them term it as a futile effort while a few think the government is in a hurry.

An employee at a drug de-addiction centre said: “The addicts who are more than 15 years old are very tough to handle. How can the government expect them to shun drugs just in a span of a few days or weeks? It seems as if the government is in a hurry to prove that good days are here again.”

Officers and employees are not only busy handling these addicts but also keeping their higher-ups updated. Fed up of sending daily updates, an officer said: “I feel as if I am serving in a statistics department as we have to update our higher-ups about addicts on a daily basis.

However, Rajat Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, is very hopeful of positive results. He said: “There is nothing wrong in starting a new drive at the right time. The government has started a 15-day campaign against drug addiction. There will be continuous follow-ups. We should work as a team”. He said there could be delays due to some reasons in some cases. But continuous and consistent efforts will definitely bear fruits.”

Dr Subhash Batta, Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, said: “Indeed, it is a time-consuming exercise but if the government wants to curb this menace completely, then nothing is impossible. The only requirement is all departments concerned should work as a team. So, the effort will never get wasted.”

Ludhiana, June 22
Meritorious school, an initiative to facilitate meritorious students from the weaker section of society, has got a poor response in the district. The district Education Office received only 130 applications for admission against 500 seats of plus one.

The state government has launched six meritorious schools across the state and 3,000 students would get admission in plus one. Around 4,700 students have submitted their applications for admission in such schools across the state.

The academic session of meritorious schools is going to start on July 1. The school will provide free education, board and lodging to the students of class XI and XII.

Despite these facilities, not many students from Ludhiana have applied for admission in such schools. However, in the class X results of the Punjab School Education Board, the names of a large number of students from the district figure on the merit list.

Now, the officials of the Education Department are considering extending the last date for submission of forms. According to the education officials, the parents do not prefer to send their wards to hostels.

Gurjot Singh, District Education Officer, said: “The number of applications in the district is lower than our expectations. However, the schools in other districts have got a good response. We have scrutinised the application forms. Admissions would be given as per the state-level merit list”.

According to information, the Education Department did not recruit the staff for the meritorious schools. As it is the first academic session, the state government has failed to assure parents that the session would start on time. Moreover, the building of hostel is still incomplete.

Ludhiana, June 22
A garbage dump constructed by the Municipal Corporation on 475 acres at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Colony, developed by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT), in gross violation of norms has not only turned out to be a total waste of public funds, but has also become a big source of nuisance and a health hazard.

In the very first place, the construction of garbage dump at a cost of Rs 6.80 lakh by the Municipal Corporation, in a colony developed and still being maintained by the LIT, is a gross financial irregularity. Further, if the garbage dump is not serving the desired purpose, it is a waste of taxpayers’ money, say local residents.

Information obtained from the MC by the Council of RTI Activists made a startling revelation that the construction of the garbage dump in the colony was not approved by the Finance and Contracts Committee, which is a statutory requirement.

Not only this, the measurement books, on the basis of which payment was made to the contractor for this work, indicate that the work order was issued for the pavement of streets (in ward no. 59) while the contractor constructed the garbage dump with tacit consent of the supervisory officials.

The local residents complain that due to poor workmanship in the construction of the dump, tin sheets put up over the dump were blown away a couple of months ago. Since no gate or sheets have been put up around the dump, stray cattle scatter garbage all around, which is a health hazard.

Arvind Sharma, secretary of the Council of RTI Activists, who is also a resident of the colony, has lodged a complaint with the vigilance wing of the Local Government Department, demanding a probe and stern action against the guilty officials.

Ludhiana, June 22
Enter the railway station and it is hard to ignore people sitting on their luggage and on the floor. There are not enough seats and benches on the platforms.

“Why can’t there be enough seats? Ludhiana is a big city. A large number of people from the city commute by train every day. It is difficult to understand why there cannot be more benches here,” says Dinesh Khanna, a commuter. “The train I have to board is an hour late but there aren’t enough seats on the platform. It is difficult to keep standing for an hour in this hot weather,” he says.

Not only the platforms, but the entrance also lacks proper seating arrangements, said Renu, a resident. “I am waiting for my uncle to pick me up but I have no choice than to sit on my suitcase,” she added.

Passengers, who get down from trains to fill their water bottles, get upset to find taps running warm water in this hot weather. “I am told that there is a water cooler but in the short while when a train stops, it is not possible to go looking for a water cooler,” says Chetanya, a student from West Bengal.

A Happy New Year message pasted above the entrance that lacks metal detectors; and (right) danglers of NRMU hanging on the platform for about a year now and have not been taken off at the railway station in Ludhiana. Tribune photos: himanshu mahajan

Safety is a major issue at the railway station. The metal detectors installed at the entrance remain non-functional. “It is unexpected that such a large railway station cannot properly install such a simple technology to ensure security. Anybody can enter the station without any check. There are too many passages and anyone can enter the station without a platform ticket,” said Vipul 

Ludhiana, June 22
Two motorcycle-borne youngsters snatched the purse of a woman on the Brindawan road here today.

The victim, Rimple Sharma told the police that she visited the market along with her husband for shopping. While she was going towards her car, two youngsters, who were riding a motorcycle, came from behind and snatched her purse containing Rs 40,000. She raised the alarm but the accused managed escaped.

The escaping motorcycle-borne youngsters were caught on a close circuit television camera, which has been installed outside a shop in the area.

The police has procured the footage of the close circuit television camera.

Ludhiana, June 22
The strike by fishery students at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal University (GADVSU) entered 22th day here today. Several NGOs extended their support to the students after all the major political parties. Aneeta Sharma, president of Belan Brigade and Sanjeev Malhotra of Young Lawyer Brigade met the protesting students.

The students have been sitting outside Gate No. 5 of the Veterinary Hospital.

Kushwinder Singh, one of the students, said, “Senior leaders of political parties and activists of various NGOs met us and supported our cause. Everyone knows that after spending lakhs on degree everybody wants to be employed.”

“We will not call off the strike till the minister of the department concerned or any higher officials from the state government assure jobs to us. We will not stay calm. We are planning for the next action to intensify the protest,” he added. 

Ludhiana, June 22
Visitors who visited the Mini-Secretariat for getting their works done complained that they were overcharged while parking their vehicles in the multi-storeyed parking complex. These visitors fall easy prey to overcharging parking contractors.

Suneet Kumar, a visitor to the Mini-Secretariat, said: “There is no check on the parking fee. Employees serving at the parking complex charge fee on their will. There are no fixed charges whether you park your vehicle for a few minutes or for a few hours.”

Another visitor, Binder Singh, said: “While parking the vehicle a receipt was issued but charges were not mentioned on it. When I came back after a few hours, the employee deputed there asked for more fee. As I had no time to indulge in arguments, I paid the overcharges. But its wrong and the issue should be checked by the district administration.”

On Friday, Sarvesh Kaushal, Chief Secretary, Punjab, also got complaints of overcharging by parking staff. Following this, he told the Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, to blacklist the contractors who overcharge.

Dehlon / Mandi Ahmedgarh, June 22
Authorities in the health department have starting roping in staff and clients of other government and non-government departments in the fight against drug addiction and smoking.

Besides organising camps and workshops at civil hospitals and dispensaries, medical officers and teams of experts have starting succeeded in motivating constituents of these organisations to support the crusade.

With an intent to involve more people in the crusade launched against drug addiction and smoking, experts, led by SMO, Dehlon, Jasvir Singh and SMO, Ahmedgarh, Rajesh Garg, organised meetings at offices of various departments and branches of commercial banks.

While officials of the organisations were urged to declare their campuses as no-smoking areas, clients were motivated to contribute their share by educating masses about causes and consequences of drug addiction and smoking.

Emphasising on the need to have a complete check on consumption of tobacco products, Dr Jasvir Singh and Dr Rajesh Garg warned that those associated with consumers of banned tobacco products were also among the sufferers.

Appreciating the move launched by the authorities, Inspector Kuljinder Singh and lecturer Kuljit Singh Grewal said they were really impressed when a team of doctors asked us to be associated with the movement by working as volunteers when we visited a branch of the 1State Bank of India on Kila Raipur road.

“The informal discussions we had with doctors and members of paramedical staff was even more affective than a seminar and we felt being significant after being asked to volunteer for a noble cause,” said Singh and Grewal. Authorities at the offices of Block Development Officer, Block Primary Education Officer, Child and Development Project Officer and branches of the State Bank of India, State Bank of Patiala, Punjab National Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce were among those who assured the health authorities to declare their premises as no smoking areas and support the movement. 

Traffic chaos near the Pavillion Mall in Ludhiana. Tribune Photo: Himanshu mahajan

Ludhiana, June 22
Death of Pardeep Kaur (30) due to an iron girder felling upon her at a mall has again brought to fore the callousness of the newly opened shopping mall authorities.

The postmortem of the victim was conducted today. Her mother, who was injured in the incident, was also discharged from the hospital.

Pawan Kumar, investigating officer said necessary action would be taken after recording the statement of victim’s relatives.

Barely three days ago, Ludhiana Tribune highlighted the callous approach of mall authorities when the workers were installing the hoarding on the wall of a local mall without wearing any safety equipment.

Pardeep Kaur’s death was third such incident where the life was lost due to callousness of the Pavilion Mall authorities.

Ludhiana, June 22
Soft tissue balancing through computer navigation in total knee replacement surgery (TKR) has revolutionised lives of patients undergoing knee replacement restoring normal biomechanics of the knee.

During a press conference here today, Dr Harsimran Singh, director of Joint Replacement at Fortis Hospital, Mohali, said knee replacement surgery had seen commendable advances in terms of surgical techniques and the quality of knee implants.

“The currently available Zirconium-coated knee implants have shown to have a life in excess of 30-35 years in lab studies. The benefits of modern implants are supplemented by the accuracy in surgical technique provided by computer navigation. Computer navigated total knee surgery leaves no margin for error, which is always present in conventional surgical technique,” Dr Harsimran said.

Elaborating he added, “Computer assisted knee surgery uses a computer software programme to calculate angles of knee, enabling the surgeon to conduct surgery with greater accuracy and precision of the tune of 1mm variation.”

Dr Harsimran Singh was honoured for performing the highest number of navigated (computer assisted) total knee replacement surgeries. He has performed more than 5,000 cases of Columbus Knee with computer assisted surgery. It is highest number of computer assisted joints done by any surgeon in India.

Ludhiana: Indian tyre manufacturer CEAT has launched the second edition of the ‘Monsoon Smart Campaign’. The 360 degree campaign will address the issue of road safety for motorists with initiatives that allow commuters to be better prepared for the monsoon. Nitish Bajaj, vice-president, marketing, said: “The campaign will follow last quarter’s successful ‘Nimbu Mirchi Campaign’ which included new actor Irrfan Khan-starrer TVC to promote tyre safety. The strategy here was in sync with the company’s communication being led by strong consumer insight.” — TNS 

Ludhiana, June 22
Government College for Girls (GCG) is going to install CCTV cameras on the college campus for electronic surveillance. The college authorities have received a grant of Rs 99 lakh from the state government.

According to the government college authorities the grant will be utilised to renovate the building of three departments of the college.

The college was established in 1943 and the existing building had been constructed in 1953, so renovation of several blocks was required. The college got grants for renovation and repair several times in the past but found the amount insufficient to do so. However, this time the amount is quite sufficient as per the requirement.

According to the principal of the college, the grant has been received for the repair of buildings of three departments. The electric wires and equipments would be replaced on priority. As per the principal the grant is sufficient for the major repair work of the departments. The college will also buy new furniture and do sanitary work from this grant.

The college authorities informed that the fund committee passed a resolution to install CCTV cameras in the campus. One camera has been installed on the campus for trial. According to college principal Gurminder Kaur, CCTV cameras help to keep a vigil on the students. The cameras will be installed on all the important locations of college.

“The state government has been making hard efforts to upgrade the buildings and other infrastructures at government colleges,” she added.

The college has 30 classrooms, 22 labs and four computer labs. The work of renovations of building is going on in full swing. 

Ludhiana, June 22
Rajat Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, has instructed all the Sub-Divisional Magistrates of Ludhiana district to get the cell phones recharged of the family members of the Indians who got stranded in Iraq in case they do not have money to do so.

He was addressing a meeting of SDMs regarding the Punjabis stranded in Iraq. He said if they come to know about any such person, they should immediately inform him. He asked all the SDMs to help them in the hour of crisis.

The DC said Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal is continuously in contact with the Central Government for bringing back the Punjabis safely from Iraq.

He further appealed that people whose relatives or
family members were stranded in Iraq should contact District Army Welfare Officer at 0161-2741066. This control room number will remain functional 24 hours. 

Ludhiana, June 22
A poetry programme in the memory of noted poet Babu Rajab Ali was organised at Punjabi Bhawan today. Poets and kavishari jathas recited poetry on the themes of Punjab and its culture.

Dr Sukhdev Singh Sirsa read a research paper about the poet saying that Babu Rajab Ali was agreat poet and a gem of Punjab’s heritage. Despite being a Muslim, he wrote about Hindu and Sikh religious and loved Punjab.

Dr Sukhdev Singh Sirsaadded that the noted poet represented the lively zeal of the undivided Punjab and is part of the collective heritage of Punjabi culture. He went to Pakistan after partition and died longing for his love for his soil in this side of Punjab. Dr Sukhdev Singh said that his poetry was rebellious.

Poets, including Parvat Zaildar, Deep Zaildar and Ajeet Pyasa were awarded with prizes dedicated to the poet during the programme.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, June 22
Tributes were paid to senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Rakesh Dhand who died in a road accident in Rajasthan recently.

Appreciating role played by Dhand in inculcation of moral values among youth of the North India, speakers said he had played pivotal role in boosting the morale of residents of borders areas and members of armed forces deployed near the Line of Control (LOC).

Health minister Surjit Jiayani, BJP state president Kamal Sharma, BJP Kisan Morcha national secretary Sukhminderpal Singh Grewal and BJP local president Surjit Gogna were prominent among those who paid tributes to the saffron leader. 

Ludhiana, June 22
Irked over the hike in the rail fare, Left parties and organisations staged a dharna at the Giaspura railway crossing here today.

A large number of activists of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and CPM organised a rally on the NH-I in the Giaspura area. Later, the activists held a march towards the Giaspura railway crossing.

The activists led by Tarsem Jodhan, a senior leader of the CPM, sat on the railway track and raised slogans against the BJP-led Central government.

Speaking on the occasion, Jodhan said the BJP fooled voters of the country on the name of ‘Acche din’. He flayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inflation and the price hike in the rail fare.

He appealed to people to be prepared for a struggle against the anti-people policies of the Central Government.

Khamano, June 22
A migrant labourer was killed when a wall of a gurdwara caved in here.

As per information, the labourer was going on his bicycle. When he reached near Nanaksar Thath Gurdwara situated on the Badla-Kotla Bhari road at Badla village, a strong wind started blowing.

When the labourer stopped near a wall of the gurdwara to save himself from the strong wind, the wall caved in. He died after he came under it.

He was identified as Amresh Kumar, a resident of Rakhol village in Bihar. The police said no case was registered in this regard and the body was handed over to his guardians after the autopsy.

The parking system in the city is too haphazard. Too much fee is charged and there is no uniform system of charging parking fee in the city. It should not exceed Rs 10 for any vehicle at any place in the city. The parking system exists in other countries also, but is streamlined and hassle-free.
Nauraj Singh Mangat, a resident

It is strange that such a simple issue like parking is turning out to be a pain in the neck for residents. There should not be any parking fee at all at any place in the city.
Shamshad Alam, a resident

Though parking fee should be there, it should be nominal. It is strange that contractors are given the contracts of parking lots for a small amount by the government and are allowed to ‘loot’ residents as much as they want. There should be some guidelines and rules to govern the contractors and the parking system across the city. There is a disparity in the parking system even at the railway station and the bus stand. Parking fee at the railway station is much higher which should not be allowed.
Padamdeep Singh, a resident

The parking fee at the bus stand is much lesser than the railway station. In fact, I park my vehicle at the bus stand even when I visit the railway station. There needs to be a uniform, organised, and nominal parking fee system in the entire city.
Suresh Solanki, a resident

The parking amount should not exceed Rs 5 for a day for any vehicle. The parking system is much organised in Chandigarh and a uniform amount is charged almost across the city. It is difficult to understand why a simple model of parking existing there cannot be replicated here. 
Sudesh, a resident

Doraha, June 22
The ‘dismissed’ members of the Cooperative Society of Doraha have decided to move the court due to this unjustified action.

Indicating that there is definitely something fishy about the consideration reduction in the membership of the Cooperative Society and sabhas in Doraha, they have demanded a high level inquiry into the drastic reduction in membership.

Jagjiwan Pal Singh Gill, whose father had at one time been the member of this cooperative society, said, “The total membership of Cooperative Society was 1,791 out of which 1,764 have been dismissed. Hence, the present strength of members is just 27. Similarly, there were a total of 46 sabhas out of which just eight are left and 38 have been dismissed. Also, out of a total of 133 members of Begowal village, just 18 are left. Rampur, which used to have a total of 212 members, has not even a single member left at present. Such a scandalous situation cannot be tolerated anymore and we are going to move the court on June 25.”

Gurmit Singh Lapran’s father too had been a member once. He said “The amendments, whatsoever, were conveyed to the members through proper registered post.”

Similarly, Jarnail Singh Shahpur’s father too had been a member but as the membership now stands dismissed, he rued, “At one time Zone-1 had 600 members, Zone-2 had 595 members, Zone-3 had 596 members and so on. But presently Zone-1 has 12, Zone-2 and 3 have 17 and 15 members each”.

Bhahpur Singh Buwani, director, Budewal Sugar Mills, said: “Major share of public involvement was expected in these cooperative societies. But there was a drastic reduction in it indicating that only a handful of members were willing to establish control over it forever.”

District registrar, Cooperative Societies, Shamsad Ali Singh said, “I have recently joined and shall first verify the facts and figures and then decide what is just and rightful.” 

Ludhiana, June 22
Host Ludhiana secured 211 points to emerge overall champions (boys and girls) and as many as 14 meet records were rewritten in the 39th Junior Punjab State Swimming and Water Polo Championship that concluded at the Punjab Agricultural University swimming pool here today.

In the team championship, Ludhiana (87 points) in the girls group I while Patiala (76 points) in the girls group II proved their mettle to come out victorious. Sangrur (76 points) finished as runners-up in the group I while Jalandhar (40 points) had to content at second place.

In the boy’s section, Ludhiana accumulated 77 points and finished ahead of others in the group II and Jalandhar with 44 points followed them to secure the second position. Amritsar collected 79 points to romp home victorious in the boys group I while Jalandhar pocketed 76 points to finish as runners-up.

In water polo (boys), Amritsar proved too good for Jalandhar whom they drubbed 8-2 to clinch the title and in the match to decide the third position, Sangrur outplayed Patiala.

In the morning session, Ravneet Singh Bittu, MP from Ludhiana, along with Bharat Bhushan Ashu, MLA, Balwinder Singh Bains, MLA, Jai Parkash, Balkar Singh Sandhu, Mamta Sharma, Deepika Bhalla and Narinder Sharma, all councilors of Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, visited the pool to encourage the participants.

Darshan Singh Shivalik, Ranjit Singh Dhillon, both MLAs, Parveen Bansal, president, BJP Ludhiana unit, were guests of honour during the evening session.

Today’s results:

Boys- 100m back stroke (group I) Manish Soni of Jalandhar 1, Heman of Patiala 2 and Ujjawal of Amritsar 3; 100m back stroke (group II) Anmol Jindal of Ludhiana 1, Rahul Kaushik of Sangrur 2 and Pranav Sharma of Patiala 3; 200m free style (group I) Manavdeep Singh Bal of Ludhiana 1, Manik Soni of Jalandhar 2 and Munish Kumar of Jalandahr 3; 200m free style (group II) Sahib Singh Sidhu of Ludhiana 1, Pranav Sharma of Patiala 2 and Arun Guleria of Jalandahr 3; 4x100m medley relay (group I) Amristar 1, Jalandhar 2 and Patiala 3; 100m breast stroke (group I) Vishal Sharma of Amritsar 1, Sahil Chopra of Patiala 2 and Sarabjit Singh of Sangrur 3; 100m breast stroke (group II) Anmol Singh of Amritsar 1, Ayush of Ferozepur 2 and Arun Guleria of Jalandhar 3.

100m butterfly stroke (group I) Deshdeep Singh of Ghai of Jalandhar 1, Manavdeep Singh Bal of Ludhiana 2 and Ishmanpreet Singh of Amritsar 3; 100m butterfly stgroke (group II) Abhikiran Bhullar of Ferozepur 1, Sidak Grewal of Ludhiana 2 and Pranav Sharma of Patiala 3; 4x200m free style relay (group I) Jalandhar 1, Amritsar 2 and Patiala 3; 1500m free style (group I) Naseeb Dhillon of Amritsar 1, Nitin Sharma of Amritsar 2 and Ishaan Sharma of Sangrur 3; 800m free style (group II) Dhananjay of Jalandhar 1, Sidak Grewal of Ludhiana 2 and Arbaz Khan of Patiala 3.

4x100m medley relay (group II) Sangrur 1, Ludhiana 2 and Jalandhar 3; 50m breast stroke (group II) Anmol Singh of Amritsar 1, Tanmay Dass of Jalandhar 2 and Ayush of Ferozepur 3.

100m free style (group I) Mandeep Singh Bal of Ludhiana 1, Deshdeep Singh Ghai of Jalandhar 2 and Munish Kumar of Jalandhar 3.

50m butterfly stroke (group I) Deshdeep Singh Ghai of Jalandhar 1, Manandeep Singh Bal of Ludhiana 2 and Ishwanpreet Singh of Amritsar 3; 800m free style (group I) Naseeb Dhillon of Amritsar 1, Nitin Sharma of Amritsar 2 and Piyush Kamboj of Patiala 3; 4x100m free style relay (group I) Jalandhar 1, Amritsar 2 and Sangrur 3.

Girls-100m breast stroke (group I) Harleen Kaur of Sangrur 1, Mani Mehtab Dhaliwal of Ludhiana 2 and Sarman Grewal of Ludhiana 3.

100m breast stroke (group II) Gurmannat Kaur of Patiala 1, Nandini Dewra of Ferozepur 2 and Mehak Bansal of Patiala 3.

100m breast stroke (group I) Ishpreet Kaur of Ludhiana 1, Aanchal Joshi of Jalandhar 2 and Tamanna Jindal of Ludhiana 3; 100m butterfly stoke (group II) Sudrsihsti of Ferozepur 1, Anant Kaur Virk of Ludhiana 2 and Jaskaran Kaur of Ludhiana 3; 4x200m free style relay (group I) Ludhiana 1, Sangrur 2 and Patiala 3; 1500m free style (group I) Vibhuti Syal of Patiala 1, Ishatpreet of Sangrur 2 and Salina Dhaliwal of Patiala 3; 800m free style (group II) Mansi of Jalandhar 1, Pavit Sofat of Ludhiana 2 and Sharamadhee of Ludhiana 3; 100m back stroke (group I) Bhawna Yadowanshi of Sangrur 1, Tamanna of Sangrur 2 and Kawaljeet Kaur of Sangrur 3; 100m back stroke (group II) Ayushi Saluja of Patiala 1, Drishti Mahendru of Amritsar 2 and Sunidhi of Patiala 3; 200m free style (group I) Ishpreet Kaur of Ludhiana 1, Kawaljit Kaur of Sangrur 2 and Jasmeet Kaur of Sangrur 3; 200m free style (group II) Ayushi Saluja of Patiala 1, Anant Kaur Virk of Ludhiana 2 and Sakshi Joshi of Jalandhar 3; 4x100 medley relay (group I) Sangrur 1, Patiala 2 and Ludhiana 34x100m free style (group I) Ludhiana 1, Sangrur 2 and Patiala 3; 4x100m medley relay (group II) Patiala 1, Jalandhar 2 and Sangrur 3;50m breast stroke (group I) Harleen Kaur of Sangrur 1, Mani Mehtab Dhaliwal of Ludhiana 23 and Taj Dixit of Patiala 3; 50m breast stroke (group II) Gurmannat of Patiala 1, Nandini Dewra of Ferozepur 2 and Mehak Bansal of Patiala 3.

100m free style (group I) Ishpreet Kaur of Ludhiana 1, Mani Mehtab of Ludhiana 2 and Kanwaljeet Kaur of Sangrur 3.

Khanna, June 22
Two karate players from Punjab will be the part of the 20-member Indian team that will participate in the SAF Karate Championship to be held at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi, from June 24 to 26.

Rajesh Joshi, general secretary of the Punjab Karate Association, and Indervir Sharma, president, gave said two Punjab players - Simi Batta of Khanna and Kanupriya - will compete in the championship.

They said about 400 players from SAF countries, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Afganistan, Bangladesh, including boys 
and girls, will participate in the meet.

They expressed best wishes to Punjab players to win medals in the meet.

They said Simi Batta had also been selected for the coming Asian Games to be held at South Korea in September 2014 and would be a part of the Indian team.

About 400 players (boys and girls) from countries, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Afganistan, Bangladesh, will participate in the SAF Karate Championship.