Ludhiana, August 29
Schools are a lab for nation-building mission. Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Azad said this while interacting with the students of Satya Bharti Adarsh Senior Secondary School at Sherpur Kalan in Ludhiana district.

“Children stay in school for approximately 25,000 hours during their school life,” said the former President. Exhorting the youth to have a dream, he said: “Dreams transform into thoughts. Thoughts result into action.”

“Everyone dreams of prosperity, happiness and peace. When all three converge, India will be truly developed,” he added.

Asked why he has a special love for children, he said the latter are open-minded, enthusiastic and are willing to learn. Dr Kalam, while interacting with the students, was at his inspirational best. He asked the students to repeat seven affirmations: “I’m born with potential; I’m born with ideas and dream; I’m born with greatness; I’m born with confidence; I’m born with wings, I’m not meant for crawling; I have wings to fly.” Clearly indicating that he preferred to have spontaneous interaction with the students, he told the teachers who attempted to reframe the questions (for the students) to let the interaction remain unprompted.

The students, with their well-rehearsed questions, were all ears when parts of Dr Kalam’s inspirational talk were translated into Hindi/Punjabi.

Dr Kalam, who has said many a time in his public programmes that the dynamics of flight excited him as a child, asked the students whether they wanted to fly. Almost all the students raised their hands, which brought a huge smile on the former President’s face. Urging the students never to give up, he shared with them an incident of his school days. “Once our teacher took us for a swim. I lost my balance and had to fight the sea waves to save myself from drowning. I learnt an important lesson: Fight and you will win.”

Ludhiana, August 29
In a bid to cut down on wastage of water and save hefty power bills for running around 950 tubewells and submersible pumps across the city, the Municipal Corporation has curtailed the timing of water supply from 10 hours to seven hours.

From now on, city residents will get water supply for three hours in the morning, one hour in the afternoon and again for three hours in the evening. Earlier, the water supply was made available for four hours in the morning and evening and two hours in the afternoon.

The timing has been changed following complaints of water wastage due to unmetered supply and a large number of illegal connections which do not yield anything to the MC. The move will also reduce hefty power bills (amounting to Rs 4 crore every month) by at least 25 per cent.

Initially, Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria had some reservations about the decision taken by the civic administration, but later he too agreed.

He sought the residents’ cooperation. He said the money could be put to better use to finance development works.

Gohalwaria said as against the national norm of some 150 litre water per head, the MC in the mega city was supplying some 280 to 300 litres of water per day. “A large portion of the water is wasted which also puts additional burden on the sewerage network and water treatment plants,” he said, adding that the residents would have to learn to use and store water when it was available.

He, however, admitted that the revised timings needed some more fine-tuning. There were reports of shortage of water in some localities due to power failure or power cut at the local level. The Mayor said the MC would try to have better coordination with the senior officials of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited to ensure that power supply was not disrupted during the time of water supply.

“The four-hour water supply in the morning can be restored if the problem persists,” he said.

Ludhiana, August 29
The 13-year-old girl, who was dumped by her kidnapper in Ludhiana four years ago (when she was nine-years-old), will be sent to Children’s Home in Jalandhar on Tuesday.

The girl, who was kidnapped from Amritsar, was made to work at a factory to repay the amount spent on her failed marriage. Today, she was produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) at Shimlapuri.

The panel ordered officials to rescue the child and shift her to Government Children’s Home in Jalandhar.

As former President APJ Abdul Kalam was in the city, the girl could not be shifted today.

Sources said as police officials were busy making security arrangements for former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s visit, the girl’s medical examination could not be conducted today.

Till Tuesday, she will stay with her guardian Jaspal, who has been looking after her for the past four years.

It was learnt that the police was planning to report a missing complaint in order to proceed with the probe.

Dr SK Gupta, president of the Child Welfare Committee, said the police should have taken suo moto in the case and tried to arrest the culprit who had kidnapped the girl four years ago.

Gupta said the government had made all necessary arrangements to look after such children.

Child Protection Officer (CPO) Shilpa said she would coordinate with the police and the CPO in Amritsar to find out if any case of kidnapping was registered four years ago.

The girl was married to a construction labourer, Shiv Kumar, in July. She was then taken to Gonda in Uttar Pradesh.

Her guardian Jaspal brought her back to the city. But the boy’s family started pressing Jaspal to return the money.

The girl took up a job to return the money spent on her wedding. She recently met her schoolteacher Manjit Kaur and narrated her ordeal.

Manjit Kaur further reported the matter to Sukhdhir Singh Sekhon, president of the Nav Chetna Bal Bhalai Committee, an NGO working against child labour.

“Jaspal had reported the matter to the police four years ago. Had the police registered the kidnapping case at that time, things would have been different,” said social activist Sukhdhir Singh Sekhon.

Ludhiana, August 29
The appointment of Major GS Benipal (retd) as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Ludhiana Central Tehsil has hot up the political scene.

Benipal has been deployed at the same office (Ludhiana Central) where he was allegedly assaulted and stripped by Youth Akali workers on June 19, 2009.

Benipal was seriously injured in the brutal attack and underwent treatment for several months. The then SAD councillor (now an Independent), MLA Simarjit Singh Bains, had reportedly staged a dharna outside the SDM’s office when Benipal was being taken to the hospital.

Later, the police had booked Bains and two others, including his councillor aide Kawaljit Singh Kerwal, in an attempt to murder case. He and his accomplices, who were jailed for 10 months, were later released on bail. However, Bains had denied his involvement in the assault.

Finding faults in the probe report made by the first special investigation team (SIT), Bains had demanded reinvestigation from a second SIT.

However, Benipal moved the court challenging the constituting of the second SIT in the case. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered in favour of Benipal, following which Bains knocked at the door of the Supreme Court.

The apex court had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the matter. At present, the CBI is probing the issue.

Bains has termed the appointment as a vendetta political move of the SAD to settle a score with him for the ruling party’s debacle in the recently concluded Parliamentary elections.

Political Pundits said the move aimed at denting the influence of Bains in his constituency. Bains has opened a private Suvidha Centre at his home and reportedly directs officials to redress complaints of area residents.

He had been at loggerheads with Benipal and had accused the then tehsildar of harassing the residents over petty land issues. Benipal said he was a government employee and he would discharge his duty with utmost honesty wherever the government would get him posted.

Ludhiana, August 29
Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s visit to the city today kept the Health Department officials on their toes.

Teams of food safety officers were deputed at various venues on Dr Kalam’s itinerary. These teams collected 44 samples of different eatables that were to be served to the former head of state.

Civil Surgeon Dr Subhash Batta said: “We constituted three teams with the help of food safety officers from Ludhiana, Moga and Barnala districts. The teams collected samples of all eatables that were to be served to the former President of India.”

As Dr Kalam landed at the Air Force station, Halwara, arrangement of tea and snacks was made there.

Dr Tarun Bansal, food safety officer, Barnala, who was deputed at Halwara, said: “We collected samples of 15 eatables at the venue. We also got replaced two items, i.e. two pouches of lemon tea and a packet of roasted kaju as these were not having any batch number printed on them.”

Dr Kalam, however, did not stop for refreshments there and left for Sherpur Kalan instead.

“After reaching Satya Bharti Adarsh Senior Secondary School, Sherpur Kalan, by road, the high-profile dignitary enjoyed tea, a jam roll and biscuits,” said District Health Officer Dr Kulwinder Singh.

After interacting with students, Dr Kalam moved towards the city. He took lunch at the Circuit House, the menu being a mix of South Indian and Punjabi food. It included idli, sambar, coconut water, boiled rice, chapattis, bitter gourd, ridge gourd (tori), cauliflower, yellow daal, curd, fresh-cut fruits and ice cream.

Harpreet Kaur, food safety officer, Ludhiana, said: “We collected 15 samples of different items served at lunch.”

Ravinder Garg and Yogesh Sood, both food safety officers from Ludhiana, said: “We were deputed at Sat Paul Mittal School, Dugri, Phase-II. We collected eight samples from there. Dr Kalam, however, just had some water at the school.”

Abhinav Khosla, food safety officer, Moga, who was deputed at BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, too, collected samples of eight eatables at the venue.

Ludhiana, August 29
As there is acute shortage of staff in district transport offices of Punjab, so the government is planning to rope in automobile dealers of for shouldering some responsibility.

Ashwani Kumar, State Transport Commissioner, and Anurag Aggarwal, Principal Secretary, Punjab, held a meeting of automobile dealers of Punjab here today at Circuit House and took their feedback about it. The dealers were asked to provide feedback on assisting the department in issuance of learner’s, permanent licences and renewal of licences along with work of Registration Certificates (RCs). Anil Garg, District Transport Officer, Ludhiana, said, “Listening to this all the automobile dealers agreed to it. The dealer said they are ready to do it in lieu of service or facilitation charges.”

Although no final decision has been taken after this interaction as of now, but it has given a ray of hope to the over burdened officers and employees of transport department.

It needs to be mentioned here that long queues of applicants can be seen at almost every counter of DTO offices. People usually complain of delayed work. In Ludhiana there are two posts of Additional District Transport Officers one of them has been lying vacant since April 2013. While the other post has been filled in the month of August but the said officers has proceeded on leave after joining here. DTO Ludhiana has been handling work of three officers single handedly. The meeting was attended by about 60 automobile dealers from the state. Out of these 10 were from Ludhiana district.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 29
Office-bearers and activists of various political parties have started preparing for their conferences scheduled to be held at Mela Chhapar on September 9, the main day of the mega event.

Besides, mobilising in-charges of various wings and segments, the organisers have also started arrangements including camping and transportation.

Maiden meeting of office-bearers and activists of various wings of the Ludhiana (Rural) unit of the Shirmani Akali Dal was held at Gurdwara Manji Sahib at Alamgir. Chief organisers of the event, MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali sought cooperation of rank and file in the party for making the scheduled conference a grand success.

“As it is after a long time that the SAD and BJP alliance is in power in Centre and State, we have to ensure that the gathering at the conference beats all previous records,” said Ayali.

Former ministers Jagdish Singh Garcha, Hira Singh Gabria, vice-chairman Zila Parishad Parminder Singh Rangian, Chairman Harveer Ayali and youth leader Paramdeep Singh Deepa assured maximum support for the event.

Paying gratitude for solidarity shown by the leaders of the area, Ludhiana (Rural) president Santa Singh Umaidpuri said discipline should be maintained till conclusion of the conference on September 9.

Congress leaders led by former legislator Malkit Singh Dakha, senior functionary Jagpal Singh Khangura and general secretary Ranjit Singh Mangat said village and block level meetings were being held to mobilise office bearers and activists of various wings of the party for the event.

The leaders claimed that preliminary arrangements for the conference had already been made.

Office-bearers and activists of the CPM and CPI, led by Sukhwinder Singh Sekhon and Kartar Singh Buani held a meeting at Latala village. Baldev Singh Latala, a senior functionary of the Punjab Kissan Sabha presided over the meeting.

Sikandar Singh Jartoli, convener of the meeting said the district and state leadership had resolved that issues related with demands of small farmers and labourers will be raised during the conference to be organised jointly by all leftists organisations.

Ludhiana, August 29
The Hero Cycle Mazdoor Union affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) today demanded a compensation to families of labourers who died in a fire at a Shiv Puri factory recently.

Addressing the union members during a protest rally at Giaspura Chowk, Chandigarh Road, CITU district president Jatinderpal Singh said the administration must file a case of murder against the factory owner, whose negligence led to the tragic accident.

“If he had not locked the labourers inside the factory, they could have been saved,” said the CITU leader.

The protesters said labour laws should be implemented strictly and workers should be given minimum wages, provident fund and other mandated facilities. They threatened to launch an agitation if families of the deceased persons were not given the compensation.

The three craftsmen were asphyxiated after the factory they worked in caught fire at Ganesh Nagar in Shiv Puri August 25. The victims could not escape as the factory owner had reportedly locked the main gate from outside. The deceased were identified as Sunder Lal (42) of Kali Sarak, Raju (32) of Shiv Puri and Surah (35) of Ghumar Mandi.

Ludhiana, August 29
The Shahi Imam of Punjab, Maulana Habib-ur-Rahman, has criticised “communal forces”, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party, for trying to malign Islam and members of the Muslim community in the name of ‘Love Jihad’.

Addressing a news conference here today, the Shahi Imam said rather than bringing back to the mainstream the youth influenced by the Western culture, certain “divisive forces” were giving the Muslim community a bad name, which was an unholy act and ought to be curbed firmly.

He said the word “Love Jihad” did not exist in Islam, as it forbade its followers to have anything to do with unrelated women.

“Those levelling such wild accusations that members of the Muslim community are pushing women of other religions astray and then marrying them have crossed all limits of decency. The real faces of communal elements that could go to any length to malign the minorities have been exposed,” said the Shahi Imam.

He also blamed social media and the growing influence of Western culture for the increasing trend of inter-religion court marriages. He said rather than pointing an accusing finger towards Islam and the Muslim community, all religious and political leaders should work together to check the menace of Western culture and exhort the youth to adopt their own country’s way of life.

Ludhiana, August 29
To combat any case of Ebola virus infection, the Health Department has arranged isolation beds and ventilators. District Epidemiologist Dr Anil Verma said as many as 53 isolation beds and 38 ventilators have been provided to both medical colleges and all big hospitals besides the Civil Hospital in the district.

“We also have a plenty of personal protective equipment kits and masks,” he said, adding that there was nothing to panic about.

As per the Government of India guidelines, all passengers arriving at international airports from countries where Ebola virus disease is prevalent must undergo medical screening. If symptoms are detected, they are isolated and quarantined and subjected to confirmation through lab investigation.

Ludhiana, August 29
The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), Punjab Chapter, in association with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India and Centre for WTO Studies, organised an industry consultation on Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) here today.

Bipin Menon, Director, and Vijay Kumar, Director, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, got the feedback from the exporters especially from engineering, machine tools & textile sectors.

SC Ralhon, regional chairman, (North), FIEO, apprised the participant entrepreneurs about the importance of this meet and the view points of the respective representatives who came from different trade and industry associations.

He said the objective of this RCEP agreement between 16 EAS countries is to promote the exports from the country. Ralhan shared with the exporters some of the statistical figures of foreign trade in India of yesteryears. He said import in some specific sectors has outperformed the exports figure which isn’t a healthy sign so the need of the hour is to increase our exports.

MS Dhillon, Regional Joint DGFT, Ludhiana, in his remarks apprised the participant exporters that such seminars aims at seeking feedback that lately results in the concessions from Ministry of Commerce and Industry, linked to the particular product code (HS / ITC code).

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is intended to be a free trade agreement (FTA) between the 10 countries of ASEAN namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam and the six countries with which ASEAN has existing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) – Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand.

Bipin Menon gave a statistical presentation on how Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) functions and what are its benefits. He apprised the participants that in fact there are three types of FTA namely Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on the Western Flank, Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) on the Central Flank and RCEP fits the bill of Eastern Flank. And RCEP is comparatively the smallest one.

Vijay Kumar, Director, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, apprised the exporters the Rules of Origin (ROO) and provided details on the benefits of the origination of the goods so that their goods can be accorded the benefits accrued under FTP/CECA and under this ongoing RCEP which is likely to conclude by the end of year 2015.

Jagraon, August 29
There is no end to the traffic woes of the residents of Jagraon as well as the commuters travelling through various city roads. There is hardly any road in the city which is free from the problem of traffic jams. The frequent traffic jams have become the order of day on most of the city roads thus causing a lot of problems for the commuters.

One can often see long queues of vehicles struck in traffic jams on various city roads including Tehsil Road, Rani Jhansi Chowk, Sadan Market, Old Sabzi Mandi Road, Raikot Road, Lajpat Rai Road, Railway Road, College Road and other roads. The situation on Lajpat Rai Road is very bad, several important government offices, including Telephone Exchange, Post Office and major banks such as State Bank of India, Punjab and Sind Bank, Central Bank of India are located here.

The people visiting these places often park their vehicles on the roadside which results in frequent traffic jams on the road. Long queues of vehicles struck in traffic jams is a common scene on this road and the commuters have to spend a lot of time while passing from this road.

Similar is the situation on various other roads of the town where traffic remain stuck throughout the day due to haphazard parking of vehicles on the roadsides by the people visiting the town. The local residents hold haphazard parking of vehicles on the roadsides by the visitors responsible for the problem of traffic jams while the visitors blame lack of proper parking space in the town.

The encroachment made by the shopkeepers on various roads is another reason behind the problem of traffic jams. Besides this, the presence of a large number of roadside vendors on different roads makes the situation more complex. These encroachment by the shopkeepers and roadside vendors further narrows the already congested city roads thus blocking the smooth flow of traffic.

Despite the tireless efforts of traffic police to solve this problem, there seems to be no respite for the residents from this problem. DSP Jagraon Surinder Kumar held the lack of cooperation on part of the shopkeepers and the visitors responsible for the problem. “We are making every possible effort to prevent traffic jams in the town. We have deployed traffic cops on all the busy roads but the people do not cooperate with the cops. The encroachment on the roadsides by the shopkeepers is another factor responsible for traffic congestion,” said the DSP.

Mandi Ahmedgarh/ Malaudh, August 29
As the festival season is approaching fast, residents of the region are worried about their safety due to accidental fires. Residents are prone to fire mishap during celebrations and due to unauthorized stocking of inflammable materials prior to festival season, as the successive governments have failed to procure any fire brigade at any of the localities.

Although, the administration earmarked special areas for the sale of crackers, none of the shopkeepers had organised vends at designated places. “We had initiated the process of forming a fire brigade yet it did not bear any fruit due to technical reasons,” said former president of the MC, Ravinder Puri. He said Shryans Industries Limited had been lending fire brigade in case of any emergency. Indu, president, Nagar Panchayat, Malaudh, said the MC had been directed to make extra arrangements for meeting any emergency during forthcoming festival season. — OC

Ludhiana, August 29
After the implementation of semester system for undergraduate classes in the colleges, affiliated with Panjab University, the authorities have now changed the examination pattern for internal tests. Now the colleges will not conduct the house tests in the months of September and December. Instead of these tests, the PU has instructed colleges to hold monthly tests.

The Examination Committee, constituted by Panjab University, has given a nod to the new system of examination.

The university has implemented this system only for the first year students of undergraduate classes. The new system would be implemented only for the students of first semesters.

The university has, however, not changed the criteria for evaluating the internal assessment. Of the 10 marks of internal assessment, university will granted 5 marks from monthly class tests.

According to the information, students will get 3 marks of internal assessment for participating in co-curriculum activities, 2 marks for attendance and 5 marks for the monthly examinations.

The Senator and principal, Master Tara Singh Memorial College, Dr Parveen Kaur Chawla, said, “The university has not changed any criteria of marking. The annual system is replaced with semester system. So instead of house tests now the colleges will take monthly tests.”

Ludhiana, August 29
The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI), Shimla, for the production of breeder seed of notified potato varieties, released by CPRI, Shimla at Punjab Agricultural University Camp Office, Mohali.

Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, vice-chancellor, PAU, and Dr Bir Pal Singh, director, Central Potato Research Institute, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective institutions.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Dr NK Krishna Kumar, deputy director general (Horticulture), ICAR, New Delhi, Suresh Kumar Nangia, financial commissioner development, Punjab, Dr LS Brar, director of horticulture, Punjab, Dr Gurkamal Singh, director, State Horticulture Mission, Punjab, Dr JS Minhas, director, Central Potato Research Station, Jalandhar, Arvinder Singh, managing director-cum-secretary (Agriculture), PSWC, Dr SS Gosal, director of research, Punjab Agricultural University, Dr RS Sidhu, officiating registrar, Punjab Agricultural University, Dr PS Chahal, associate director of research, PAU, Dr MS Dhaliwal, head, Department of Vegetable Sciences, PAU, Dr SS Chahal, director, Technology Marketing and IPR Cell, Punjab Agricultural University, and some progressive potato growers.

Ludhiana, August 29
A one-day workshop for veterinary officers of State Animal Husbandry Department, Punjab, was conducted at the GADVASU today.

Dr HS Sandha, Director, Animal Husbandry Department, Punjab, said the workshop was held to serve the purpose of enhancing the knowledge of veterinarians. Dr VK Taneja, vice-chancellor, GADVASU, said university will plan specialised trainings to handle diseases of different species such as pig and goat. Dr SNS Randhawa, Director Research-cum-DEE, GADVASU, flagged the basic emerging issues and developments related to livestock farming. The first technical session was chaired by Dr Sandha and the second was chaired by Dr Randhawa. About 200 field vets attended this event. An exhibition depicting the research highlights was also showcased. A plenary session was conducted for working out the recommendations, which will be helpful in planning the future strategies in livestock sector of the state. Dr VK Taneja, vice-chancellor, GADVASU, laid the foundation stone of the building of the School of Animal Biotechnology and the School of Public Health and Zoonoses. The foundation stone of another building for Small Animal Referral Hospital was also laid.

The new building for the School of Public Health and Zoonoses will have state of the art laboratories, lecture/seminar halls, central instrumentation lab to fulfill the research mandates. The new building will have food safety and quality control lab, water testing , zoonotic disease diagnostic, pesticide residue analysis, heavy and toxic metal residue and drug residue analysis laboratories with latest facilities. The new building of the small animal referral hospital will contain all the diagnostic facilities under one roof which will include radiology, endoscopy, ultrasound, echocardiography, clinical laboratory and operation theatres with all advanced diagnostic equipment. Dr SPS Sangha, DSW-cum-Estate Officer, said the projects will be completed within 18 months and combined cost will be about Rs 25 crore. Buildings will be eco-friendly with solar heated water system, rainwater harvesting and equipped with ramps and lifts.

Machhiwara, August 29
Some unidentified robbers attacked the driver of a pick-up jeep loaded with onions and forcibly take away the vehicle near Machhiwara. Jai Singh, a farmer from Haryana, was going in a jeep along with his driver to sell onions at Jalandhar.

When they reached near Garhi Bridge about eight to ten unidentified persons stopped them forcibly. Jai Singh said three thieves boarded the jeep and threw him out and abducted his driver.

Later the thieves stopped the jeep near Julahmajra village and thrashed the driver mercilessly. After beating the driver the thieves tied the driver with a tree and escaped in the jeep after throwing away several bags of onions on the road. After half an hour the driver freed himself from the rope and informed the police.

After receiving information SSP Khanna, SP (D) Khanna and DSP Samrala reached on the spot and conducted an inquiry. The police have registered a case in this regard. Harsh Kumar Bansal, SSP, Khanna, when contacted said they have some clues and had indentified some of the thieves and are conducting raids to nab the alleged accused. The picking of thrown onions by a villager proved curse for him when he was nabbed by the police. As per information a car driver of the village was returning to the village after dropping a passenger. When he noticed onions lying on the road he stooped and started picking onions and later come again after unloading the onions at his home. When he came for third time a police party nabbed him and he was detained and was said to be in police custody till filing of the report.

Ludhiana, August 29
Khanna secured 50 points to emerge overall champions in the boys’ category at the Ludhiana District Rural Games for Boys and Girls (U-16) that concluded at Guru Nanak Stadium here today. Samrala and Doraha garnered 18 and 16 points to finish second and third respectively.

In the girls’ category, Samrala collected 51 points to bag the top honours, while Jagraon and Machhiwara had to be content with the second and third spot respectively after pocketing 19 and 15 points.

District Sports Officer Kartar Singh Sehmbey was the chief guest at the prize distribution function. He garlanded a portrait of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand and highlighted his achievements. The three-day event was organised under the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan scheme of the Union Sports Ministry.

Final results

Basketball (boys) Khanna beat Doraha 27-19, (girls) Jagraon beat Doraha 14-13; hockey (boys) Dehlon beat Pakhowal 7-0, (girls) Dehlon beat Raikot 2-0; handball (boys) Ludhiana-II beat Samrala 21-13, (girls) Ludhiana-II beat Sidhwan Bet 8-2; kabaddi (boys) Dehlon beat Ludhiana-I 48-15, (girls) Pakhowal beat Ludhiana-II 10-5; volleyball (boys) Khanna beat Ludhiana-II 25-14, 25-12, (girls) Jagraon beat Sudhar 26-24, 25-21; weightlifting (boys) Samrala (first), Ludhiana-I (second), (girls) Khanna (first), Samrala (second); wrestling (boys) Ludhiana-I (first), Khanna (second).

Ludhiana, August 29
Students from as many as 15 schools of the district are taking part in the two-day Ludhiana District Schools Roller Skating Championship being organised by the District Education Department at Leisure Valley Rink, Sarabha Nagar.

Assistant Education Officer Bikramjeet Singh Bhanot declared the championship open. Competitions were held under the boys’ U-11, 14, 17 and 19 years categories.