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Man stabbed to death 
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 23
A 35-year-old man was stabbed to death by unidentified assailants at Maharaj Nagar near Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today.

The victim, identified as Mahinder Singh, was a native of Rajasthan. He was working as a manager at a sweetmeat shop on College Road and living in a rented accommodation at Maharaj Nagar.

Neighbours spotted the blood-soaked body of Mahinder Singh.

Soon after the incident, panic gripped the area. The police team led by PAU station house officer (SHO) Surinder Chopra reached the spot and begun investigations. The victim’s brother, who lives at Gill Road, was also informed about the incident. Prima facie it is 
suspected that stab wounds led to the death of the victim. Personal enmity is suspected to be the reason behind the murder.

What surprised the police was the fact that Mahinder Singh was sleeping outside his house, but nobody saw the assailants.

Two or more persons were involved in the crime, said the police.

SHO Surinder Chopra said one assailant would have gagged Mahinder while the others would have stabbed him.

Vipan Jain, owner of the factory unit, said Mahinder was hard working and had no enmity with any of the employees.

Mahinder’s younger brother was inconsolable. He told the police that Mahinder was married and had two sons. His wife and children live in Rajasthan.

The police have registered a case of murder under Section 302 of the IPC against the unidentified assailants. The body was sent to the Civil Hospital for postmortem. The police are visiting houses where CCTV cameras are installed. 

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When chaos occupied parking space 
Mohit Khanna
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 23
Cars were bumper-to-bumper on the service lane of Hotel Park Plaza today. As an exhibition is under way at the hotel, traffic scene went haywire. In the absence of traffic police, visitors had a tough time reaching the hotel.

Sanjiv Kumar, a visitor, said there was not even a single police official to regulate the traffic. He held parking attendants responsible for the jam.

In order to mint money, the attendants were parking vehicles haphazardly, which led to the jam, complained a commuter. Vinod Kumar, SHO, Traffic, said police personnel were deployed at Bhai Wala Chowk. “Such events often lead to traffic chaos. The jam was cleared,” he said.

Parking blues

Visitors, who parked their vehicles opposite the hotel, were asked to shell out Rs 100 instead of Rs 10 (one hour) and Rs 30 (four hours). The visitors said when they objected to the hike in fee, employees of parking contractor threatened them.

Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Urban Estate, Dugri, said: “As I parked my car, a boy approached me asking for Rs 100. When I raised my voice, the boy called his co-employees and started arguing. I did not want any trouble, so I handed over the cash to him.” A commuter said: “Police personnel are busy checking violators. The parking contractor and his employees are misbehaving with the visitors, but nobody is taking them to task.” 

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Narrow escape for two occupants as car catches fire 
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 23
Two persons, including a woman, had a miraculous escape after a car they were travelling in caught fire at Bharat Nagar Chowk today.
Car owner Majinder Singh said on seeing smoke billowing out of the engine, he, along with his mother, alighted from the vehicle. Later, some shopkeepers helped Majinder control the fire.

Theft at factory

Thieves struck at a factory unit in the Focal Point area and decamped with Rs 9.5 lakh in cash on the intervening night of August 21 and 22. Kamal Sharma, manager of factory unit, said he was shocked to find the premises ransacked. He said the thieves broke open a window to gain entry into the factory.

13 booked for assault

The police have booked 13 youngsters for attacking a student of SCD Government College on the campus on August 20. The victim, identified as Arjun, is undergoing treatment at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMC&H).

Student politics is suspected to be the reason behind the attack. The police have registered a case of assault against Manpreet Singh, Amandeep Singh, Davinder Singh, Simranjit Singh, Deepa Singh, Dilpreet Singh and seven unidentified persons.

Arjun told the police that he was with his friends when the assailants attacked him. After assaulting him, the accused fled the scene.

Two held with 70-kg poppy husk

Jagraon: The police have arrested a father-son duo with 70 kilograms of poppy husk. The two were nabbed on the outskirts of the town

following a tip-off this morning. The accused have been identified as Darshan Singh, a resident of Bassian village, and his son Nirmal Singh.

Jagraon station house officer (SHO) Mohan Das said on receivinginformation that two persons were peddling drugs near Gagra village, a police team reached the spot and arrested the accused. During search, 70 kilograms of poppy husk was recovered from their possession, the SHO said.

A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against the father-son duo. The accused were presented in a local court which sent them to a one-day police remand. 

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COMMUNITY

Students block traffic 
Our Correspondent

Khanna, August 23
Students of AS College for Women, Khanna, today blocked traffic in front of the college on Khanna-Amloh road. They were protesting against the alleged harassment of a college lecturer by the college management. Led by college student union president Iqbal Kaur the students alleged that college management is trying to terminate the services of a college lecturer Amanpreet Kaur without any reason and had cut short her salary and forcing her to leave the college. 

Students said the teacher concerned is very gentle to all students. Later, police officials reached to the spot and persuaded the students to end the blockade by holding talks with college management. College management president Rakesh Goel assured that they will sort out the problem by Monday. College students threatened that they will be forced to intensify their struggle if their genuine demand is not met immediately.

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Teachers to hold protest on August 26
Charanjit Singh Teja
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 23
The various teachers’ organisation of the district organised under “Sanja Adhiapak Morcha” against the implementation of new system to mark the attendance through Short Message Service (SMS). The teachers across the district will hold a protest rally on August 26 outside the office of Deputy Commissioner.

Delegations from various teachers organigations met Supreet Gulati, Additional Deputy Commissioner, (Development) and urged him not to implement this system in schools.

The teachers alleged that ADC was adamant on the issue and ignored them. Irked over the response of the administration the teachers formed “Sanja Adhipak Morcha” and gave call of protest rally.

Charan Singh, district president, Democratic Teachers Front stated, “Schools sent online attendance of teachers to office of Director General of School Education (DGSE) daily. We mark our manual attendance on registers in the presence of school head/principal. Then there is no need to mark the attendance with mobile. Moreover, most of the time there is network problem at far flung schools.”

Daljit Singh, another teacher said, “Why ADC is implementing this system on teachers which are regular in comparison to the staff of Deputy Commissioner Office. It should be implemented on the officials of the revenue department first. But no one paid heed to our demand at the DC office so we are now going to stage a protest against the implementation of this system.”

“The attendance through mobile is an impractical method and it is just a waste of time and money. The purpose of checking attendance can be served by a single SMS sent by the school head or the principal,” said another teacher.

It is worth mentioning here that the district administration has installed new software to ensure the arrival of teachers at schools on time. The teachers have to send the SMS within 10 minutes of the opening of the school.

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Hosiery owner robbed of Rs 10 lakh, scooter
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 23
A hosiery trader was robbed of Rs 10 lakh and an Activa scooter at Kailash Chowk.
The incident took place at around 10.30pm when Ramji Das, owner of a hosiery unit, was returning to his residence at Patel Nagar.

According to information, when the victim reached Kailash Chowk, an unidentified vehicle hit his scooter.The victim fell on the road and the robbers took away the two-wheeler.

The victim said he had kept a bag containing Rs 10 lakh in the boot of the scooter.

The victim suffered an injury on his eye and was rushed to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital.

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language department
Fate of students hangs in balance
Anupam Bhagria
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 23
The fate of more than 300 applicants for the stenography course hangs in the balance as the Language Department, Punjab, has not sent any positive communication for the continuation of the centre at Ludhiana.

The department has already decided to wind up the centre here, which provides free of cost education to 30 applicants every year.

The last date for the submission of applications for the general category students was August 20, while Scheduled Caste category students could apply till August 22.

But with the decision coming just two days before the last date of the submission of applications, the department has left several applicants in the lurch as they were not informed about the development.

It was only on August 20 and August 22, that more than 300 applicants visited the district-level centre of the Language Department at Punjabi Bhawan, wherein they were informed that the course had been discontinued at the centre.

The reason is attributed to the shortage of instructors.

Raman Kumar Sahota, District Language Officer, Ludhiana, said, “On the instructions of the Director of the Language Department, Punjab, classes for stenography and high-speed stenography for 2014-15 have been discontinued due to administrative reasons.”

“Earlier, the interview of applicants was slated for August 25 and August 27. But now the applicants should not come until further instructions. They should wait for the announcement of fresh dates. We don’t want them to face any harassment,” he added.

Meanwhile, the applicants and their parents have been making rounds of the district-level office of the Language Department. Sikandar Singh, an applicant’s brother, said, “On the one hand, there is unemployment and on the other, the state government is discontinuing such courses that can provide jobs to the youth.”

The centre at Ludhiana has been running these courses for the past more than 40 years.

The junior stenography course has 15 seats under the general category and 15 under the SC category. In the high-speed stenography course, there are a total of 15 seats, including both of the general and SC category. Students who pass the junior stenography course are admitted on the basis of merit (in all districts). 

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Ex-ATP delayed information to RTI applicant, alleges ATP
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 23
Assistant Town Planner (ATP), Monika Anand, has alleged that though bailable warrants were issued in her name by State Information Commissioner — during the first hearing of the case on March 23 — the then ATP, Rajinder Sharma, did not attend the court.

Anand, ATP of Zone B and D2, alleged that even during the second hearing on May 6, Sharma was not present at the court.

Anand said she was given additional charge of the office on July 8 but was unaware about the case and the information sought by the RTI applicant.

“The Public Information Officer Rajinder Sharma did not respond to State Information Commissioner Narinderjit Singh on all these hearings. Whereas I received the latest orders on August 19, after the date of hearing of the case. As such, I could not respond to the case on time. The former PIO, Rajinder Sharma, should be held responsible for the delay”, said Anand.

Bailable warrants were recently issued against Anand by the State Information Commission for not providing timely information to an RTI Activist. 

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Anti-begging campaign
Admn rescues 70 beggars
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 23
In a joint rescue operation, the District Administration with the help of the Municipal Corporation, Police Department and a non-government organisation today rescued as many as 70 beggars from different places in the city. These included 59 men and 11 women.

The beggars were rescued from the Shri Durga Mata Mandir, Jagraon bridge, Bharat Nagar Chowk, Dandi Swami Mandir etc. They were taken to a night shelter at the Hambran Road.

Of the 70 beggars, 12 needed urgent medical assistance and were sent to the Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital.

Neeru Katyal, Additional Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, and Assistant Town Planner Monika Anand also accompanied the rescue team.

Katyal said, “Legal action will be taken if they took to begging again.”

She said, “The Administration will help the beggars in the rehabilitation process.”

The raiding team caught 19 beggars from different places. Katyal said, “We decided to conduct a second raid at places adjoining their favourite haunts. We rescued 70 beggars.” More than 40 beggars were served meals by the Ann Jal Sewa Trust at the Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital, Ludhiana.

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MC chief deputes officials to inspect four zones
Shivani Bhakoo
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 23
To streamline the working conditions in all the four zones, Municipal Corporation Commissioner Pradeep Aggarwal has deputed a team of four officials, who will inspect zones independently for the next one month.

The random inspections by senior officials will help streamline things in the civic body, feels the Civic Body Chief.

Talking to The Tribune, Aggarwal said, “Till now, this practice was prevalent in the Deputy Commissioner’s office. This will help improve things. If regular inspections are conducted by the officials, other employees will also act in a more responsible manner. They will be more cautious regarding proper management of records, which currently is missing in the civic body,” said Aggarwal.

As per the MC Chief, all the four zones — A, B, C and D — will be inspected by officials, including Rishipal Singh, AS Sekhon, Ghanshyam Thori and Neeru Katyal, respectively.

These officials will independently check the offices in the four zones and if discrepancies 
are found, appropriate action will be taken against the erring officials/employees.

Lauding the step taken by the Commissioner, spokesperson of the Congress councillors, Parminder Mehta, said, “This move was the need of the hour. There is no maintenance of records. The clerks/staff are least bothered about important documents. Visitors/councillors are called time and again as they misplace important files/documents. There is no accountability. But now, the staff will ensure to maintain documents as inspections can be carried out any day, thereby inviting necessary action.”

“This will help to improve things in the Municipal Corporation to a large extent and fix accountability,” said Mehta.

Four Officets will work independently

Rishipal Singh, AS Sekhon, Ghanshyam Thori and Neeru Katyal will inspect the four zones — A, B, C and D. These officials will independently check the offices and if any discrepancies are found, appropriate action will be taken against the erring officials/employees. The move is aimed at streamlining things at the civic body and to ensure that records are maintained well. 

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ludhiana scan

A neckpiece catches the fancy of a girl during Wedding Asia Exhibition in Ludhiana.
A neckpiece catches the fancy of a girl during Wedding Asia Exhibition in Ludhiana. Tribune Photo: Himanshu Mahajan

Free medical camp

Rotary Club, Greater Ludhiana, organised a free medical check-up camp for ladies and children at Ram Nagar. The camp was inaugurated by Amanpreet Singh Arora, president of the club. Dr Jyoti Rai from Guru Angad Dev Hospital was the consultant. Amanpreet Singh Arora said 137 patients were examined in the camp. He also said free immunisation of children was done and free medicines were also distributed.

Phoolka flays government

HS Phoolka of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today questioned the ground and basic rationality of hike in power tariff retrospectively from April 1, 2014 and opposed the move of PSERC of increase in tariff by 2,74 per cent. The Akali-BJP Government wanted to take the political advantage out of it as they waited for the parliamentary elections as well as two by elections to be over, Phoolka said. Retrospective power tariff hike is unheard of and why people should pay for it, Phoolka questioned. “The power tariff hike will not only burden the common people from all walks of life but will also harm the industry from having a level playing field with the industry from other states.” Phoolka said the move of the PSERC is totally illegal and they will challenge the decision. — TNS

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school NOTES

A girl performs during the Sahodaya Inter-School Sufi Song Competition in Ludhiana.
A girl performs during the Sahodaya Inter-School Sufi Song Competition in Ludhiana. Tribune Photo: Himanshu Mahajan

Sufi song competition

Sahodaya Inter-School Sufi song competition was hosted by GNPS, Sarabha Nagar. Teams from 30 schools participated in the competition. Dalvinder Kaur and Amarjit Kaur, members of the GNPS Committee, were the chief guest and guest of honour, respectively. Participants dressed in Sufi attires, sang with zeal using percussion instruments and harmonium, using a repertoire of songs by Sufi poets. 

Panel of judges comprised of eminent personalities in the field of music. The keenly contested contest was adjudged by Dr Dinesh Raheja, senior composer, Music and Dance Department, Punjabi University, Patiala; renowned Sufi singer from Malerkotla Akhtar Ali; Shahnaz Akhtar, first runner-up in the Zee TV show ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ in 2012, and the first position holder in the national ghazal singing competition held at Delhi. Principal Mona Singh felicitated the winners and thanked all the participating schools for their whole hearted co-operation in making this event a grand success.

Green Day celebrated

Green Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm and zeal in the kindergarten section of Guru Nanak Public School, Model Town Extension, here today. The aim of the celebration was to help children recognize the green colour. Green is the colour of the nature around us. The children were taught about the importance of trees and nature. They were encouraged to save trees and nature a beautiful gift bestowed by God. Children creatively performed craft activities related to green colour. The children looked awesome in their green coloured attires. The students also spoke few lines on green colour and its significance.

Nritya Tarang at KVM

A two-day dance competition— ‘Nritya Tarang’— was organised at Kundan Vidya Mandir in order to provide a platform to the budding dancers for showcasing their talent. Principal Navita Puri presided over the function. Dr Lajpat Rai, chairman, KVM managing committee, Ashwani Kumar, manager, KVM managing committee, and other members of managing committee graced the occasion with their benign presence. The competition was held in two phases: Phase I included Classes LKG to VI and Phase II included Classes VII-XII. 

About 90 contestants competed in the final round. Seema Sood started the function with a prayer followed by a formal welcome by Ms Reena Kapoor. The panel of judges comprised Poonam Sharda and Dr. Rita Rai (Phase-I) and Gunjan Gumber and Mamta Bhatia (Phase-II). The young dancers put up an awe-inspiring show and different modes and shades of dance mesmerised the audience. The graceful moves of the dancers on rhythmic beats were indeed spectacular. The stage came alive with electrifying performances and colorful costumes and judges had a tough time deciding the best performers in each category. —TNS

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feedback

Road needs repair

The road leading from DMC Chowk, near OBC bank, to Lord Mahavira Hospital, Haibowal Chowk, is in a pathetic condition. During the rains, half of the roads was submerged. The road is full of pot holes.

 Only the other day, at around 8 pm, a lady’s Activa got stuck in a big pot hole which resulted in a huge traffic jam on the road. Apart from a number of two- wheelers and cars, the road is used by thousands of autos ferrying passengers to the railway station and bus stand. There are a number of schools and colleges on this road. One can easily imagine the plight of students who are carried to their educational institutes in the autos. The civic authorities should repair this road immediately. 
Ravinder Kumar Jain 
Ludhiana

City needs infrastructure

The roads in Khanna are bumpy and full of potholes. Streets submerge in sewage in many parts of the city, save a few under influential councillors. Toilets and urinal points seem to be a distant dream. 

The city is gifted with a four storey civil hospital with spacious and airy rooms but unfortunately, only the air and sunshine is available for patients as the hospital lacks in necessary infrastructure, ICU and dedicated doctors with specialization.

 Hence, the patients have to move to Apollo, DMC, CMC, Fortis, PGI and Ivy Hospital, shelling heavy amounts. Construction of a flyover by Soma has worsened the situation. The dingy stretch of 3 km has claimed more than a dozen lives, the worst being Samrala Chowk, Kalgidhar chowk and bus stand chowk under the flyover bridges. Thanks to the scanty rainfall which was a blessing in disguise, the city is saved from malaria and other glut water related diseases.
Gurnam Singh Seetal
Khanna

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CRIME

Two held with opium
Our Correspondent

Samrala, August 23
The police have arrested two persons, allegedly involved in drug-trafficking. They were arrested in Dabbi Bazar, Samrala. The two arrested youths were identified as Tejpal Singh Dhillon and Sanjeev Kumar, both residents of Samrala.

However, the driver of the car managed to escape. The driver was identified as Kinda of Hargana village. The car used in crime was bearing registration number HR-70B-0001. The police recovered 6 kg of opium from the accused. The value of recovered opium is said to be about Rs 30 lakh. The accused said they often brought opium from Madhya Pardesh, using vehicles bearing VIP numbers, and sold it in Punjab. They also revealed names of other smugglers involved in inter-state drug trafficking.

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SPORTS

Punjab State Inter District School Games
Ludhiana dominate on Day 2
Anil Datt
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 23
Ludhiana players dominated the proceedings on the second day of the 60th Punjab State Inter District School Games being organised by the Punjab Education Department at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Punjab Agricultural University campus today.

In handball (boys U-19), Ludhiana scored a facile 74-3 win over Fazilka. In the girl’s section, city players toiled hard to outplay Faridkot 6-3.

In softball (Boys U-19), Ludhiana was victorious at 16-0.

Second day’s results: Handball (boys U-19)- Ferozepur bt Nawan Shahri 17-13, Faridkot bt Jalandhar 14-11, Muktsar bt Mohali 8-2, Ropar bt Tarn Taran 14-9, Patiala bt Muktsar 27-14, Sangrur bt Tarn Taran 16-4 and Moga bt Amritsar 19-16.

Handball (girls U-19): Ropar bt Sangrur 8-3, Amritsar bt Moga 6-1, Kairon wing, Tarn Taran bt Patiala 10-4.

Softball (boys U-19): Gurdaspur bt Fazilka 12-2, Mohali bt Tarn Taran 18-5, Patiala bt Bathinda 16-2, Sangrur bt Faridkot 20-4, Amritsar bt Muktsar 11-0 and Jalandhar bt Mohali 10-0.

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City lad Pranaav to play in Denmark on Aug 25
Anil Datt
Tribune News Service


Pranaav Jerry Chopra
Pranaav Jerry Chopra

Ludhiana, August 23
Pranaav Jerry Chopra of Ludhiana added another feather to his cap as he will represent the country in the Li-Ning-BWF World Badminton Championship-2014 to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark from August 25-31.

Pranaav has already established himself as a doubles player at the international circuit. He, recently spearheaded India’s campaign in the 20th Commonwealth Games held at Glasgow, Scotland.

He will pair up with Akshay Dewalkar from Maharashtra. The duo will play their first round match on August 25 against Yun Chian and Chun Li from China.

Other Indian players who have been selected for the championship include star shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Jwala Gutta, Ashwani Ponnapa and P Kashyap.

Pranaav started playing badminton at the age of 7 and has represented India in various international meets since 2007 in the sub junior and junior categories.

The Badminton Association of India (BAI), selected Pranaav for the elite group of players and he became the youngest Indian player at the age of 18 years to represent the nation in the World Badminton Championship.

Pranaav has represented the country in prestigious tournaments such as Thomas Cup, Sudhirman Cup, World Championship, besides Commonwealth Games.

Meanwhile, the Ludhiana Badminton Academy where Pranaav began as a novice a decade ago, wished him success at Denmark.

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Ludhiana gain vital lead over Kapurthala
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, August 23
Fine bowling by Ludhiana skipper Nikhil Chaudhary and Hartejasvi Kapoor enabled Ludhiana to gain a vital lead of 39 runs against Kapurthala on the second day of the Punjab State Inter District Cricket Tournament (U-19) for the Dhruv Pandove Trophy being played at PAU grounds today.

The hosts won the toss and decided to bat first. Their first innings folded at 130 runs after 73 overs. The main contributors were Kashish and Deepin Chitkara who scored 40 and 17 runs, respectively.

For the visitors, Karan Bhargav claimed four wickets after conceding 41 runs.

Kapurthala batsmen scored 91 runs in 48.1 overs. Except for Danish Mehta and Yudhveer Singh, no other batsman could stay at the wicket for long. Danish made 40 runs, while Singh scored 16.

For Ludhiana, Nikhil Chaudhary and Hatejasvi shared the bowling honours. Nikhil chipped in with four wickets for 34 runs, while Hartejasvi grabbed three wickets for 31 runs.

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Badminton championship kicks off
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, August 23
The four-day Open Ludhiana District Badminton Championship began at Shastri Hall today. First day result: (mens’ singles): Amarveer beat Amit, Jaswinder beat Lalit, Guranjan beat Gurinder , Puneetinder beat Rubbal and Sachin beat Manik. 

Girls’ singles (U-19): Jasmine beat Neha, Simranjit beat Kashish, Dhriti beat Namrita. Boys’ singles (U-19): Aditya beat Rachit, Mitaksh beat Khelan, Lakshay beat Khushfateh, Dhruv beat Arpit. Girls’ singles (U-17): Simranjit beat Amanjot, Prerna beat Anisha, Neha beat Kashish and Dhriti beat Jasmine. Boys’ singles (U-17): Dhruv beat Navneet, Gurleen beat Vipul, Rachit beat Paramveer, Khushfateh beat Gian, Hakam beat Sehaj, Mitaksh beat Kapil, Arpit beat Rawel and Lakshay beat Deepak. 

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