Samrala, August 18
Relatives of a youth and others today blocked traffic on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh road and Khanna-Nawanshahr road at the Samrala chowk in protest against the death of the youth at the Civil Hospital after an accident.

The deceased has been identified as Sagar Kalyan (19), a resident of the local Valmiki Mohalla. The protesters alleged that the youth died due to negligence on the part of the doctors. They alleged no one attended to an injured Sagar.

Meanwhile, SMO of the Samrala Civil Hospital Narender Kumar said: “I have constituted a three-member committee, which is recording the statements of both the parties. Next action will be taken accordingly.’’

The protesters also raised slogans against the local police for not acting fast. The blockade led to a massive traffic jam. The agitators laid the body of the youth at the chowk during the protest.

According to information, two youngsters, from the Valmiki community, Sagar Kalyan and his relative Rajan, were returning to Samrala after paying obeisance at a religious place near Khamano. When they reached near Malwa College, a car hit them. They were rushed to the Civil Hospital, Samrala. The doctors, instead of giving them first aid, referred them to a hospital in Ludhiana, alleged the protesters. They said the injured youth kept crying for about an hour but no doctor on emergency duty attended to them. Sagar died at the hospital.

Sanjiv Kalyan and other members of his family alleged that their son was referred to a hospital in Ludhiana despite the fact he was dead. They alleged that the government ambulance staff demanded money and they were forced to hire a private ambulance to ferry the injured youngsters to Ludhiana. The doctors at the Ludhiana hospital told them that Sagar had died at the Samrala hospital about two hours ago, they alleged.

Although police officials, including the Samrala DSP, reached the spot, the protesters continued with their protest. They were demanding registering of a case against the car driver and the erring doctors. The protesters lifted the road blockade after the car driver was arrested under section 304 of the IPC.

Meanwhile, Samrala DSP Jaswinder Singh said the car driver was arrested and the Health Department would file a report against the erring doctor for further action. They have talked the officials concerned in this regard, he added.

Ludhiana, August 18
Working in the building branch of the Municipal Corporation has been suffering in the absence of permanent Assistant Town Planners in Zones A and C. As the building branch has come under the scanner of both the authorities and the Vigilance Department after the arrest of an ATP in a bribery case, those who have been asked to handle the charge till permanent ATPs join seem to be “reluctant” to assume charge as officiating ATPs.

Sources in the building branch said following a controversy over regularisation of a building on the Chandigarh road, the ATP of Zone A was transferred to Moga and the Head Draftsman was given the charge of ATP. “But since then, the Head Draftsman has gone on medical leave. Officials are reluctant to take the responsibility of the building branch due to rampant corruption prevalent here,” said one of the officials at the building branch.

He said illegal buildings were mushrooming at a fast pace in the city and most violators enjoyed political patronage. “No one dares to continue with illegal constructions unless there is some support by influential persons or some understanding with officials. The authorities are keeping tabs on the working of the building branch officials, so everyone wants to keep a low profile these days. But because of all this, work is suffering in both the zones. The ATP of Zone B is taking care of Zone D also,” said the official.

Violators are taking full advantage of this situation. “They are having a field day as there is no higher official to check violations. We are getting many complaints. The charge of ATP cannot be given to an unqualified official. Besides, the post requires administrative, technical and public-dealing skills,” said an Inspector at the building branch. He said the officials, who are going to retire in the near future, “avoid” joining as ATPs. The posts have remained in controversies for one reason or another.

Ludhiana, August 18
In a bid to make the provisions of the Punjab Apartment and Property Act 1995 (PAPRA) more stringent, as well as effectively check the menace of proliferation of unauthorised colonies, the Punjab Government has amended the Act.

Notified on July 18, 2014, the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation (Amendment) Act aims at fixing heavier penalty for development of unauthorised/unlicensed colonies or issuing advertisements which contain wrong or incomplete information about a colony.

At the same time, as a deterrent to unscrupulous developers, the conditions of 25 per cent title of project land and enhancement in bank guarantee from 25 to 35 per cent of the cost of development works, among other things, have also been imposed.

The Punjab Government has also made it mandatory for developers to earmark 10 per cent of the apartments in group housing colonies and 5 per cent of gross area in plotted colonies for economically weaker sections to make available affordable housing to weaker sections.

In the amended Act, the apartment building has been defined as a building with five or more apartments while the colony has been redefined as area of land not less than 1000 square metres to be divided through registered sale or lease deeds or transfer of physical possession. The internal development works in licensed colonies have been specifically defined as storm water drainage, rainwater harvesting, solid waste collection centre and electric line to individual plots.

The ambiguity on providing amenities to unauthorised colonies has been removed with the new provision in the amended Act, which makes it clear that no government department or undertaking shall sanction a building plan, issue water, sewerage, telephone or electricity connection to any building in a colony which has not been licensed. At the same time, a blanket ban has been imposed on the registration of sale deeds in unlicensed colonies.

Among other significant amendments to the Act, the government has increased imprisonment from three years to seven years and a penalty from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for development of an illegal colony while in case of wrong or misleading advertisement by developers, they would be liable to imprisonment for three years (earlier one year) and a penalty of Rs 5 lakh (earlier Rs 5,000).

The amended Act has gone down well with a section of city-based property developers who were of the view that the government ought to deal firmly with the menace of illegal colonies after giving the developers an opportunity to get their colonies regularised under the policy (which has lapsed now) formulated for this purpose.

Ludhiana, August 18
Four cases of diarrhoea were reported while patient was referred to the hospital from a labourers’ locality at the Omax construction site, Thakkarwal, today. Unlike at Parkash Nagar, where the problem was caused by contaminated water supply, the workers living in this colony use water supplied to them through water tankers. Three persons had died of diarrhoea at Parkash Nagar.

The Senior Medical Officer, Sanhewal, Dr Parwinderpal Singh Sidhu, said a medical team, comprising 10 employees from the Community Health Centre, Sahnewal, had been asked to hold a medical camp and to conduct a survey.

“Today, four fresh cases of mild diarrhoea were reported and one was referred to the Civil Hospital. In the past two days, around 130 patients have been examined at a medical camp and during a survey of 450 jhuggis. Of them, 29 patients were found to be suffering from diarrhoea,” said Dr Sidhu.

After a survey, the team found that there were some celebration on August 15 and the food was prepared in unhygienic conditions there, which was the main cause of diarrhoea cases in the locality. Besides, they use stored water as it is a temporary labour colony near the construction site, added Dr Sidhu.

Dr Anil Verma, District Epidemiologist, interacted with the maintenance wing of the construction company during his visit to the site today.

“The company claims clean water is being supplied to the labourers through water tankers maintained by the company. The water is drawn with submersible pumps. Water samples have been taken from the tankers and from the source. The maintenance wing of the company has been asked to regularly supply chlorinated water. The jhuggi dwellers were apprised of importance of hygiene and asked to maintain sanitation. The medical camp will continue in the area to check the problem,” added Dr Anil Verma.

Ludhiana, August 18
Janta khana – ready made breakfast packed in handy boxes with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) marking, is now available at the local railway station.

The box contains seven pooris, potato curry, pickle and a green chilly. It costs only Rs 15. Available at railway refreshment room, it was restarted a few months ago. Earlier, the janta khana was not available at the station due to the closure of railway refreshment room.

Though the most of the visitors prefer to have fast food, a large number of visitors found this food reasonably priced. The station daily witnesses a huge footfall of migrant workers. They prefer to take the janta khana as it is affordable.

According to information, it is mandatory for the railway station authorities to ensure the availability of the janta khana at every railway station.

The contractor at Railway Refreshment Room said a large number of visitors demand Janta Khana, especially for breakfast.

“We have a variety of food. We sell more than 200 boxes every day,” said a worker at Railway Refreshment Room.

However, the contractor does not make huge profits. “Owing to inflation, it is hard to provide seven pooris and vegetable in just Rs 15,” he said.

Sahnewal, August 18
The absence of any service lane at Sahnewal, has annoyed the residents and the commuters to the extent that they now seem to be up in arms against the authorities for showing utter disregard to their problems.

“Whenever an over-bridge or a road is to be constructed, the authorities have to first accommodate the existing traffic by making a temporary service road on the either side but nothing was done in this case. Our business has suffered a huge loss since nobody dares to enter the road and invite trouble.

“Majority of the residents have to cross on two wheelers and some of them have already invited trouble for themselves while trying to save themselves after falling down from this road,” said a resident.”

“It is the only road in Sahnewal on which all the shops are located and passing through it is a compulsion for the commuters. There is such a mess on the road that the passage has literally been rendered impassable but no authority, what so ever, seems to be least bothered about the hell we are forced to pass through each day,” complained Harbans Singh Sains.

“If the construction of ROB is being delayed, what is our fault in it? One can tolerate such a situation for days or even months but it cannot be tolerated for years. We had never thought that the construction of ROB will push us to such a position from where it would not be possible even to arrange the things of the daily requirements. At present Sahnewal is in a state of complete chaos where everybody is jostling with each other and none is able to get out of the confusion for hours together,” rued Rakesh Kumar Kapila.

PWD Official Gurvinder Singh said, “We are already heading towards giving the final touches to the ROB. Moreover, we should have constructed the service lane but it was the municipal authorities of the town that stopped us from doing so the reason being the laying of sewerage pipes all around. The service lane would again have been pulled up for the purpose so we had to listen to what the nagar council entreated upon us.”

Ludhiana, August 18
Residents are perturbed over the persistent problem of waterlogging in the city. The residents feel that they need a permanent solution to this problem.

Low-lying areas worst hit

Every rainy season, waterlogging creates a lot of difficulty for city residents, especially those living in the low-lying areas. The state government as well as the Municipal Corporation claim to be spending a huge amount on development but waterlogging is a major problem in the city, which needs to be taken care of at the earliest.

Priti Makkar, a homemaker

Development should be done in a planned manner

We have been reading in various sections of the media that almost Rs 60-Rs 70 crore are spent on recarpeting of roads in the city. But when water gets accumulated on roads, how can the roads last longer? The development of the city should be done in a planned manner and authorities should set the priorities”.

Balwinder Singh, an advocate

Problem needs to be tackled technically

Ludhiana is the industrial capital of Punjab. Dyeing industry is one of the major industries here. Besides, the population of the city is above 30 lakh. There is a heavy discharge in the sewerage system. When it rains, the discharge increases, and the problem becomes serious with roads deluged with rainwater for several hours. The problem needs to be tackled technically”.

Ajit Sharma, a yarn dealer

Poor drainage in Focal Point, Industrial Area

Even if it rains for two hours in the city, roads and streets get waterlogged and rainwater drains out in around 4-5 hours. But in the Focal Point and Industrial Area, rainwater does not drain out even after 24 hours. The problem has been persisting for the past about 2-3 decades. The government should sort out the problem on a priority basis.

Anil Bansal, an electronics dealer

Road ‘jalis’ never cleaned

We have been to other cities of Punjab during the monsoon season, but except Ludhiana, waterlogging is not so much problematic anywhere. There is no drainage system in the city. Road ‘jalis’ are never cleaned. Due to the choking of pipes, water does not drain out easily.

Rishi Palta, a hosiery manufacturer

Ludhiana, August 18
Trans fat raises your “bad” low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and lowers your “good” high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.

High LDL cholesterol level in combination with low HDL cholesterol level increases your risk of heart disease, the leading killer of men and women.

“When it comes to fat, trans fat is considered by some doctors to be the worst type of fat. Unlike other fats, trans fat - also called trans-fatty acids - raises your “bad” (LDL) cholesterol and lowers your “good” (HDL) cholesterol,” said Gagan Makhija, a city-based dietician.

Adding hydrogen to oil makes the oil more difficult to digest, and body recognises trans fats as saturated fats. Although small amounts of trans fat occur naturally in some meat and dairy products, it’s the trans fats in processed foods that seem to be more harmful.

“If your LDL is too high, over time, it can cause atherosclerosis, a dangerous accumulation of fatty deposits on the walls of your arteries. These deposits, called plaques, can reduce blood flow through your arteries. If the arteries that supply your heart with blood (coronary arteries) are affected, you may have chest pain and other symptoms of coronary artery disease,” said Dr Verma, a city-based cardiologist.

Ludhiana, August 18
Irked with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan’s statement of having no proposal to give benefits of government employees to the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), ASHA workers today burnt the effigy of the Union Health Minister and raised slogans against the minister at Chatar Singh Park.

Sukhdeep Kaur, president of ASHA workers, Ludhiana unit, said: “ASHA workers are working so hard but are being paid meagerly. We are given emoluments according to delivery cases brought by us and there is even no restroom facility for us. Despite all odds, we are carrying our work in the best possible manner with little help from the government’s side”.

She said: “Resentment prevails among the workers after the Health Minister’s statement that the government has no proposal of giving benefits of government employees to them”.

“We have been working merely on incentives and have been seeking regularisation of jobs and minimum wages for a long time but no attention has been paid towards our demands and this statement has come as a blow to us,” she said.

“We have been demanding benefit and status of government employees. In case the government fails to fulfil our demands, we will continue our protest and our next destination for protest will be Delhi,” said another ASHA worker.

Ludhiana, August 18
The festival of Janmashtmi was celebrated with religious fervour in the city. Though there was some confusion about the date of the festival, some of the residents celebrated it yesterday while many others celebrated today as the government had declared a gazette holiday today.

The temples of Lord Krishna were tastefully decorated for the occasion and hundreds of devotees sought blessings of the Lord Krishna. Starting from early morning till midnight, bhajans of Radhe Krishna were played in markets and temples.

Smriti, a home-maker, said, “I have two daughters and Ladoo-Gopal is like a son in the family. The elder daughter had made a cake for the Lord, which was cut by the family in midnight. Janmashti is the festival in which all the family members were awake till midnight to wish the Lord.”

The temples were visited by the devotees in large numbers and till midnight, the celebrations were on with devotees dancing and singing on the bhajans of Lord Krishna.

Ludhiana, August 18
The Punjab Medical Council (PMC) will be acting tough against diagnostic centres giving discounts and commission to doctors for referring patients to such centers and also prescribing unnecessary investigations. The council has sent letters to the presidents of all state medical councils in this regard.

Dr GS Grewal, president of the Punjab Medical Council, has received a letter from the MCI in this regard. He said the PMC would be investigating all complaints received with regard to unethical practices adopted by the registered medical practitioners, such as prescribing investigations and referring patients to diagnostic centres for their personal benefits.

The Punjab Medical Council will also be sending the necessary directions/advisory to all medical practitioners registered with it to refrain from such unethical/illegal practices.

The letter sent by the MCI to the heads of the state medical councils has asked the state medical councils to investigate the matter in a time-bound manner and also take suo-motu action whenever a council feels it necessary. Action taken report will also be put on the website of the respective state medical councils and will also be published in newspapers. The MCI will be informed about it.

Welcoming the move, Satinder Singh, a senior citizen, said it was a good step taken by the MCI and the respective state medical councils. “A layman knows nothing about most medical terms and tests. Doctors sometime exploit their ignorance for their benefits and keep on prescribing unnecessary tests. Today, medical profession is no longer a noble profession and such unethical practices need to be checked,” he said.

The Medical council of India has also come out strongly against the practice of giving expensive gifts to doctors by the pharmaceutical companies and the allied health sector. At its recently held general body meeting, the MCI condemned the practice of accepting company gifts worth more than Rs1,000 by doctors.

“A medical practitioner shall not accept any travel facility inside the country or abroad, including rail, road, air, ship, cruise tickets and paid vacation, etc, from any pharmaceutical or allied industry or their representatives for self and family members for vacation or for attending conferences, seminars, workshops, CME programme, etc, as a delegate. Those violating the instructions will be liable to be punished with suspension of their registration for up to one year, depending on the amount of the gifts received,” said Dr Arun Mitra, Chairman, Ethical committee, PMC.

Ludhiana, August 18
Punjab is all set to eliminate measles by launching a statewide sensitisation programme. To eradicate the disease, the Health Department has come up with the Measles Surveillance Programme. The campaign aims at controlling spread of measles and safeguarding lives of infants and children up to the age of 10 years and making Punjab measles-free state by 2020. The programme is like the pulse polio campaign and aims at eradicating the disease.

The project in this regard is being launched from October onwards in the urban and rural sectors. Currently, sensitisation workshops are underway to train medical officer in charges (MOICs) and health education officers (HEOs).

District immunization officer Dr Sanjeev Hans, while giving information regarding the project, said: “We have chalked out an elaborate plan to carry out surveillance programme in the rural and urban sectors and will be covering each and every block for the same. Under the surveillance programme, we will ascertain locations from where measles cases have been reported and subsequently corrective measures will be taken to eradicate the disease.”

“Currently sensitisation programmes are underway. After that, workshops will be held at the block level. Under the surveillance programme, health authorities will prepare a chart of identified pockets of measles and basic health workers will be trained in corrective measures to eradicate the disease,” he said.

Health officials claimed that measles was highly infectious and caused by a virus. An estimated 50,000 to 1,00,000 children die of measles annually making it one of the leading causes of child death. Measles death could be prevented by immunizing children with vaccine, which was safe and effective.

Symptoms of measles

If one is infected with the virus, it multiples in the back of throat and lungs. It then spreads throughout the body. The following are the most common symptoms of measles: A high temperature, sore eyes (conjunctivitis), and a runny nose usually occur first. Small white spots usually develop inside the mouth a day or so later. These can persist for several days. A harsh dry cough is usual. Going off food, tiredness and aches and pains are usual. Diarrhoea and/or vomiting are common. A red blotchy rash normally develops about 3-4 days after the first symptoms. It usually starts on the head and neck and spreads down the body. It takes 2-3 days to cover most of the body. The rash often turns a brownish colour and gradually fades over a few days. Children are usually quite unwell and miserable for 3-5 days. After this, the fever tends to ease, and then the rash fades. The other symptoms gradually ease and go.

Ludhiana, August 18
Snoring is a problem that is often ignored and one hardly cares to know the reason behind it or cure it. It is a common condition that can affect anyone, although it occurs more frequently in men and people who are overweight. Snoring has a tendency to worsen with age.

People whose snoring is caused by severe sleep apnea have a 40 per cent greater chance of dying early than their peers. That’s because this sleep disorder is related to a host of health problems, from heart disease to depression, says a sleep medicine expert.

Many factors such as the anatomy of mouth and sinuses, alcohol consumption, allergies, a cold, and weight can lead to snoring, says the expert.

Dr Amit Gambir, a city-based psychiatrist, telling about the health risks associated with snoring, said: “Habitual snorers can be at the risk for serious health problems, including obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep apnea creates several problems, including long interruptions of breathing (more than 10 seconds) during sleep caused by partial or total obstruction or blockage of the airway”.

“Prolonged suffering from obstructive sleep apnea often results in high blood pressure and may cause enlargement of the heart, with higher risks of heart attack and stroke,” says Dr Gambir.

One should not ignore excessive snoring and should consult a doctor immediately, the city-based psychiatrist said.

Ludhiana, August 18
Teachers of government-aided private schools had not received salaries from last 3 months. The office-bearers of Aided School Teachers Union and other Employees’ Union informed that teachers of 48 aided schools in district have not received their salaries since May.

Savinderjit Kaur, district president, Aided School Teachers and other Employees’ Union, stated that it is height of insensibility on the part of the Education Department and the Finance Department, that aided school teachers have not been paid their salaries for the last three months. Even the majority of grant-in-aid files for the financial year 2014-15 submitted by the schools have not been cleared so far.

She informed that the schools submitted their grant-in-aid files to the District Education Office from where these are forwarded to the DPI (secondary).

“At the crucial time of admissions, when majority of parents are busy in getting their wards enrolled in educational institutions, about 4,000 teachers in the state are worried as most of them have not got enough money to get their wards admitted to institutions of their choice. All thanks to the callous attitude adopted by the state government that these teachers in the aided schools have not received their salaries for the past three months,” said Devinder Rehan, press secretary of the Union.

Gurmit Singh Madnipur, general secretary of union said, “It is a routine affair. Teachers always get their salaries late. We request the CM to issue directions to the Finance Department and Education Department to take concrete steps to release the salary regularly on 7th of every month.

Ludhiana, August 18
Sanjeev Kumar Taneja, a maths teacher, at Government Model Senior Secondary School, PAU, was selected for National ICT Award for School Teachers, for the year 2013. He is among the 12 national awardees selected for the award across India by Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET) NCERT. The National ICT Awards ceremony will be held on September 5 at New Delhi.

Sanjeev Kumar Taneja said, “I dedicate this award to my mother who always dreamt about the day when his son will get some honour from President or Prime Minister of India, and now her dream came true.”

Taneja said, “I am working as District Resource Person Math in Ludhiana. I always take my subject as a challenge.

When I visit different schools and find teachers facing problems due to negative attitude of students towards mathematics. This make me think to do something special in mathematics so that mathematics becomes easy for students. For this, I adopted ICT and multimedia. I prepared my own presentations and videos which make understanding of mathematics easy and effective. I put all the content on my web page so that every student and teacher can access it without any charges. The advantage of this blog is that it is in Punjabi as well as in English.”

“I presented my project for ICT National Award 2013, in which I used technology to teach any number of schools with single teacher. The feature of this project is that any student from any school can interact with teacher, can share homework, assignment and can work on the screen of the teacher. This type of technology can also help to remove the scarcity of maths teachers in remote area and the most effective is that student can learn mathematics through animation which makes the subject easy.”

Ludhiana Tribune invites feedback from its readers on issues of public concern relating to Ludhiana, Jagraon, Khanna, Mandi Ahmedgarh and the nearby areas. Readers can email their views to ludhiana.feedback@gmail.com

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Jagraon, August 18
The Jagraon police have arrested a man accused of robbing a camera and mobile phone from an employee of a Jagraon-based photography studio. The accused, identified as Manjit Singh, was arrested by a police team of Amritsar while he was trying to sell the robbed camera.

In fact, the accused had visited Kamal Studio situated near Jagraon Municipal Council Office few days back for renting a camera. He introduced himself as Baljit Singh and told the studio owner that he wanted to rent a camera for covering a function. A deal was struck and the studio owner agreed to rent out the camera to him.

However, the studio owner also sent his photographer along with the accused but the accused snatched the camera and a mobile phone from the photographer on gun-point near Kothe Khajura village located on the outskirts of Jagraon and fled. Following this, the studio owner lodged a complaint with the local police.

Interestingly, social media played a vital role in tracing the accused. While the police were investigating the matter, Ashok Sharma, owner of the studio, shared the information about the suspect on social media networking sites. Following this, two other studio owners from different parts of Punjab contacted Ashok Sharma and told him that they had also been robbed of cameras in same style by one person. One of the victims even shared a CCTV grab of the accused on social media networking sites which finally lead to the arrest of the accused.

According to sources, Ashok Sharma received a call from Amritsar on Sunday with the caller informing him that the suspect has come to Amritsar to sell the camera. Following this, Ashok Sharma contacted the local police and informed it about the phone call he received from Amritsar.

A police team accompanying Ashok Sharma left for Amritsar and nabbed the accused. The police have also recovered two cameras and a mobile phone from the accused.

Bikramjit Singh, Station House Officer (SHO), Jagraon, said the police have registered a case against the accused at Jagraon city police station under various sections.

Jagraon, August 18
Thieves broke into a grocery shop at Abupura Road, Sidhwan Bet, last night and decamped with good worth Rs twenty thousand. The incident came to light today morning when some nearby residents called the shop owner and informed him about the theft.

Following this, the shop owner informed the police about the incident. After some time, a police team reached the spot and started an investigation.

According to shop owner Pradeep Kumar, the thieves decamped with an inverter, two sacks of sugar, one sack of tea leaves and other goods worth Rs 20 thousand. ASI Gulzar Singh said the police have registered a case against unidentified persons after recording the statement of the shop owner. — OC

Machhiwara, August 18
Gatkebaaz from Ludhiana district bagged the first position on the concluding day of the Punjab State Gatka Championship (Men & Women) by winning 73 gold, 26 silver and 2 bronze medals at Machhiwara, Ludhiana.

Patiala district, former champion, remained at the second place with 43 gold, 24 silver and 17 silver medals, while Gurdaspur stood third with 8 gold, 26 silver and 15 bronze medals.

Punjab Gatka Association coordinators Baljinder Singh Toor and Dr Deep Singh Chandigarh said in this two-day martial art tournament about 900 Gatka players from 15 districts participated in the U-14, U-17, U-19, U-22 and U-25 events in “single soti”, “farri-soti” and weapons demonstration.

Speaking on the occasion, MLA Amrik Singh Dhillon felicitated the Gatka players and assured all help to the Gatka Association.

Harcharn Singh Bhullar, president of the Gatka Federation of India, asked the participants to refrain from ‘bazigiri’ acts and stunts during the performance of martial art skills.

He said adopting Gatka as an amateur sport enables youth to stay healthy and agile and keeps them away from the menace of drug abuse and other intoxicants to lead a disciplined life.

Harjeet Singh Grewal, general secretary, said the Gatka Federation had taken major initiatives to revive and promote this rare art as a sport in India and abroad by organising “Virsa Sambhal” Gatka competitions to perpetuate the rich legacy of age-old martial art Gatka among the future generations on one hand and to revive this dying art on the other.

He said the Punjab Government must award due gradation to Gatka sport on a par with other games at the earliest.

Sabans Singh Manki member SGPC, Jatnail Singh Bajwa Sunny Enclave and Avtar Singh Patiala also spoke on the occasion.

Ludhiana, August 18
District-level school games for girls are scheduled to start from tomorrow at various playgrounds.

Tournaments in 12 different sporting events will be held at separate venues across the district. Girl students in the U-19, U-17 and U-14 age groups will participate in these games.

According to officials of the Education Department, competitions in 12 sporting events - basketball, badminton, wrestling, kho-kho, kabaddi (national style), handball, volleyball, table tennis, long tennis, hockey, gatka and carrom – would be held during these games.

The Education Department decided the venues as per the infrastructure available in schools.

The indoor games i.e. basketball, badminton and wrestling would be organised at the multipurpose indoor hall at Guru Nanak Stadium. Kabbadi competitions would be held at Shaheed Sukhdev Government Senior Secondary Girls School, Bharat Nagar. Hockey matches are scheduled to be held at Killa Riapur village. The district-level tournaments of handball and basketball will be organised at Government Model Senior Secondary School, PAU. Long tennis matches will be held at SCD Government College.

The district-level games for boys were held last week. The district will also host state-level competitions of various sports in school games.

Education Department officials said the state-level competitions for boys and girls (U-19 category) in softball and basketball were scheduled to be held on August 21-22.

Bikramjeet Bhanot, additional education officer, said: “All arrangements have been finalised to organise the district and state-level tournaments. Sportspersons will get good infrastructure and environment to perform”.