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No meeting of planning board in 9 months
Ludhiana, November 18 Badal has visited Ludhiana several times, despite that no meeting of the board was been held so far. While the Congress says that the Akalis have “forgotten Ludhiana after winning from here”, ruling party leaders assert that the process is on and whenever the meeting is held, something substantial would come out of it.
So far, not a single project has been proposed/announced for Ludhiana. Official sources admitted that no development funds had been released for the district. It is learnt that the government wants to announce projects after the meeting of the board, but by then things might go worse. The SAD-BJP alliance had promised to change the face of the city before the elections. The state BJP president, Prof Rajinder Bhandari, who belongs to Ludhiana, had promised to make it like Paris. However, with the party finding it difficult to convince its alliance partner about the importance of urban areas, the promises seem to have been relegated to the background. Jagmohan Sharma, district Congress president, said no development work had been done in the district. He said the Akali-BJP alliance was not even constituting the two main development committees — the F&CC committee and the house tax committee. “We have not even seen the present regime provide atta-dal at subsidised rates to the poor, even though it came to power because of this,” he said. Harish Rai Dhanda, chief parliamentary secretary, said there was no immediate need to convene the meeting as the government wanted to make a consolidated plan and officials were already on the job. Besides, several new projects were to be formally announced. “We do not want to work haphazardly. The development projects for the district will be announced to the public very soon and no work has been delayed,” he claimed.
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Family refuses to cremate body
Says not one, but two youths were involved Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, November 18 At a press conference this evening, Sudama Devi, a cousin of the maid, said: “We have evidence that two youths were involved and the girl was murdered with the connivance of the family of the accused Kunal Jain.” The family sought the registration of a murder case against the two youths, a “fair” postmortem report and action against family members of the accused for allegedly destroying evidence. She said she worked in a house near the house where the girl was killed and saw two youths, including Kunal Jain, on the first floor of the house on the day of the crime. She said later the mother of the accused called her saying that the girl had committed suicide. The family of the victim alleged that they were being threatened to compromise. The SSP, R.K. Jaiswal, said the police was carrying out a fair investigation and so far there was no evidence to suggest rape or a conspiracy. Meanwhile, one of the accused who was arrested yesterday was remanded in two-day police custody by a local court last evening.
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Investors duped: Woman untraced for 5 years
Jupinderjit Singh Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, November 18 On September 14, 2002, Kiran Bala, a resident of Vishwakarma Chowk, Millergunj, disappeared with the money, including savings made by daily wage earners, and ragpickers. The district small savings department and the head post office reportedly did not follow the matter, making it easy for her to evade arrest. The Division No. 2 police also did not pursue the matter, saying that the departments were not “interested”. The then district magistrate Anurag Agarwal had ordered the registration of a case against the woman after taking cognisance of news reports, but no case was registered. It is alleged that she had paid money to some influential investors to escape police action. Police officials, however, claimed that they had requested the two departments to send a formal complaint for the registration of a case, but the departments had not replied. The accused had sold off her property in Shimla Puri and her house in Vishwakarama Chowk before disappearing with her family. Her modus operandi was simple. She would pocket a major chunk of money given to her by a person for depositing in either of the two departments. The passbook of the person showed the right balance, but official records showed an amount that was far less. The agent (CA-338662) used fake stamps and passbooks for the purpose, besides making false entries. Several policy holders had complained to A.K. Sharma, district savings officer, and M. L. Summan, senior superintendent of the post office, that the agent had not deposited their instalments for at least three years. It was only later that the victims came to know that the post office stamps on the passbooks were fake.
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A fat eunuch wedding
Mandi Ahmedgarh, November 18 It was eunuchs’ marriage, the first one in four decades. Media was kept away from the ceremony and no one was allowed to take pictures. “We have gathered here to pay tributes to Guru Saaien who had led our way seven generations ago. The marriage of ‘Radha-Krishna’ is simply part of 10-day celebrations,” said Sheela, chief organiser of the function. The eunuchs claimed that they had gathered to pray for global peace and prosperity. “No eunuch on this earth will ever wish that war or warlike circumstances should prevail here. Peace and prosperity of normal citizens is prerequisite for our survival,” said eunuchs. At the marriage palace, over 400 eunuchs from all over the country had assembled, most of them coming in big cars. Attired in designer dresses, flaunting jewellery and stylish hair cuts, they seemed to be part of any other marriage. Pammi Mahant said the celebrations would continue for 10 days. Today, the adoption ceremony of a eunuch took place at the marriage palace. The eunuch had been adopted from another eunuch from Ludhiana. Senior members of the community presented shagun to the adoptee. Groups of eunuchs went around the town but made no purchases. Some vendors dealing in clothes, readymade garments and jewellery were also seen outside the palace doing business.
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Subway for Agar Nagar
announced
Ludhiana, November 18 He reiterated the SAD-BJP government’s commitment to promote trade and industry with the active participation of stake holders because the “best policies are those which are formulated and implemented with their involvement”. Paying tributes to Maharaja Aggarsen on the Punjab Pradesh Aggarwal sammelan here, he said Maharaja Aggarsen was an embodiment of compassion and was a true Socialist. Badal said this community deserved appreciation for
bringing prosperity not only within the country, but also abroad through the promotion of trade and commerce through their business acumen. He said the government would soon establish three boards -- one each for large and medium industry, small-scale industry and trade. Badal said the subway would soon be constructed on the Ferozepur road near Agar Nagar and also promised to set up a museum to depict the life and philosophy of Maharaja Aggarsen.
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Not a penny spent on aids patients
Ludhiana, November 18 Official information procured by Mehar Singh, president of the Punjab Networking of Positive People (PNPP), from the state government under the Right of Information Act (RTI) states that while over Rs 4.5 crore have been spent on salary, office expenditure, prevention and control of AIDS, HIV, publication and awareness programmes, another Rs11.89 lakh have been spent on the care and support of the PLHAs in 2006-2007. Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, he said no post had so far been reserved for the PLHAs. Only two persons had been employed in the field units, he said at a general body meeting held at district secretariat here today. He added that instead of helping these people, who had been disowned by society, the state government had ignored their rehabilitation. Mehar Singh, who is also HIV-infected, criticised the Punjab AIDS control society for delay in appointing the outreach staff. He added that in spite of being selected as an “outreach worker” in the civil hospital, Jagraon, under the national AIDS control programme, he was yet to join office, for he along with seven other HIV +ve patients who had got appointment letters had not been told to join yet. Meanwhile, Jagit Singh Mann, PNPP founder, said a meeting of the Punjab Networking of Positive People (PNPP) held today resolved to demand that an AIDS research training centre be set up in each district of the state.
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Ludhiana Calling
Infighting
Development works have been hit as SAD councillors are busy fighting among themselves or with those belonging to their coalition partner, the BJP. All development projects continue to be put on hold and the civic administration can be said to be in the state of “suspended animation”. CM’s sub-office
The Punjab Chief Minister should open a sub-office in the city as every other day, he is here to attend two or three functions. The huge money spent on his visits could be put to better use by opening a sub-office for the CM here. Ragpickers’ haven
Ragpickers seem to be doing well in the city, what with its garbage piles that can be spotted even in the posh areas. The area between Agar Nagar and Guru Angad Dev University is being used for dumping garbage. Though the road is frequently used by VIPs and rich businessmen, no one seems to be bothered about it. VIP visit
Tiny tots of a school got stuck in jams for nearly two hours due to traffic diversions following UP Chief Minister Mayawati’s visit to the city on Friday. Also, some parents were tired of waiting outside the school for very long. Elite astrology
Gone are the days when people went to temples or priests to seek astrological advice. Now, astrologers are taking the help of computers and the clients are only too happy with this time-saving technique. Perhaps, this is the reason why an astrologer has opened his consultation services at West-End Mall. — Sentinel
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Sambar rescued after 16-hr operation
Ludhiana, November 18 The sambar, weighing three quintal, was taken out of the 10-foot-deep well after a team of experts from the Chatt Bir zoo reached here late in the evening. It took the team over 16 hours to rescue the badly-wounded animal. Though the sambar got trapped reportedly in the morning, officials failed to move and rescue the animal till volunteers of the CAPE India (Care for Animals and Protection of Environment) rang up the minister for action. CAPE (India) local unit chief co-ordinator Dr Sandeep Jain and animal welfare officer Dr Rakesh Jain said they made calls to various officials but to no avail. They said the animal might have strayed here after being chased by poachers or stray dogs. Earlier, attempts of officials posted at the treatment plant and residents of nearby villages to rescue the animal went in vain as neither the wildlife officials nor the forest staff failed to swing into action. The officials either did not answer calls or expressed their inability to help due to lack of resources. Even a tranquiliser gun was not available. Rajinder, an employee posted at the plant, first noticed the animal trapped in a sewer pipe in the wee hours. Later, officials of the plant released water at high pressure, which enabled the animal to come out from the other side. However, the sambar fell into a dry well. Nambardar Amarjit Singh of Balloke village said he along with officials of the treatment plant called the police. They also tried to convince forest officials to come but to no avail. Employees of the tiger safari were then called in but they expressed their inability to help due to lack of resources. Finally, a team from Chatt Bir reached here following the intervention of the minister.
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PSEB on motivation drive
Ludhiana, November 18 Chief engineer, central zone, B.S. Bath outlined a few steps being taken by the board to cut down tripping, breakdowns and improve the quality of power supply at a state- level awareness function organised at Gausgarh village in this district yesterday. While outlining the steps to be taken by the board, he said by March 2008 all villages in the PSEB’s Central zone would have an additional transformer in addition to excess load being shifted from all overloaded transformers. Similarly, if necessary power loads on all transmission lines in urban areas will be assessed and redistributed. Bath claimed that despite the state being deficient in power generation, the consumers were getting highest per capita power after Goa in the entire country. “Per capita availability of power in the state is 1,437 units as against 1,970 in Goa while the national average availability is 631 units.” Superintending engineer, east circle, H.S. Randhawa, said PSEB would organise such awareness programmes on regular basis so that the consumers could be motivated for conservation and made to switch to energy-efficient electrical appliances. The rural populace, present at the function, took a pledge not to waste power and desist from power theft, which was termed as a crime against society. Amarjit Singh from PAU, Navdeep Singh, Rachpal Singh, superintendent engineer, suburban circle, PSEB engineers Paramjit Singh Gill, Charanjit Singh Brar, Harjit Singh Gill and Rampal Singh, were present.
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Railway pensioners rue bankers’ apathy
Our Correspondent
Ludhiana, November 18 Citing examples, Northern Railway Pensioners’ Welfare Association chairman Sher Singh said Simlapuri branch of the State Bank of India had refused to make payment of enhanced DR in October on the ground that it was for the “pension cell” of the bank located in Panchkula to credit the increased amount to the pension fund. In addition, railway pensioners drawing pension from other banks in the city were yet to get the relief granted by the government. Maintaining that the fault laid with the management of the bank concerned, he said another branch of SBI (railway station) had paid the enhanced amount of DR to pensioners along with the payment for October. “This clearly shows that the branch refusing payment to pensioners is at fault and the clearance for making payment of enhanced DR could easily have been obtained from the zonal or local head office.” The chairman of railway pensioners body further alleged that employees in several branches of different banks in the city were extending rude and humiliating behaviour towards senior citizens in general and pensioners in particular. There were also complaints that many banks were withholding payment of various allowances, to which the railway pensioners were entitled, on frivolous and technical grounds. As a result, pensioners, were made to face avoidable harassment. Sher Singh called upon the union government and top managements of private and public sector banks to evolve a fool-proof mechanism to ensure timely credit of all allowances and relief announced by the government in bank accounts of pensioners.
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Govt sanctions Rs 38 crore for upgrading ITIs
Mandi
Ahmedgarh, November 18 This was announced by chief parliamentary secretary, department of technical education, Bikramjit Singh Khalsa, after laying the foundation stone of a hall at Government Senior Secondary School, Dehlon, yesterday. He, while talking to Ludhiana Tribune, said Rs 38 crore had been earmarked for upgrading a few ITIs in the state. “Opening of new skill centres and upgrading of the existing technical institutes will enable youths to acquire quality education in the industrial and technological fields,” the minister claimed. Khalsa said about seven new polytechnics would be opened districts which was not having such institutes. Former minister for technical education Jagdish Singh Garcha claimed that short term courses would help the unemployed youth take up self- employment projects.
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Benefits of cow milk highlighted
Mandi Ahmedgarh,
November 18 The call was made during Gopal Ashtami celebrations at Radhe Krishana Gau Dham at Kaind village, near here, today. Swami Ram Tirath claimed that the ruminant had been an asset to India in general and Punjab in particular. “While bullocks did agricultural chores in fields, cows provided milk at home. Even urine and dung were used to acquire immunity from dreaded diseases,” he maintained. Deputy speaker Sat Pal Gossain and former minister Jagdish Singh Garcha said it was unfortunate that hungry stray cows were left to roam in cities and towns. Stressing the need for providing shelter to such animals, Gossain gave a grant of Rs 1 lakh to the “gaushala”. Raj Kumar Sharma, chief organiser of the Shree Dandi Swami, Ludhiana, SAD leaders Simranjit Singh Bains and Deepak Sharma also spoke. Earlier, a “havan” was performed at the “gaushala”, that was attended among others by Swami Dwarka Dass, Kedar Nath Kapila, Om Parkash Sharma, Vijay Kumar, Dr Sunit Hind and Prem Singh. A “sankirtan” was organised by the Shree Ram Mandir Committee.
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Not so courteous
On November 5 while I was drawing my pension, I came across an elderly woman who was desperate to know whether her pension has been credited in the bank or not. Like a Good Samaritan I asked a counter clerk to check out whether her pension has been credited to by the Punjab government or not. But, the clerk refused to budge. The woman, it seemed was not aware of bank’s functioning. Her account opened in April only. The government department concerned had told her that the pension was deposited in the bank long time ago. She was going from one counter to another to enquire about her pension but to no avail. When, on being requested another clerk checked her account, it was found that her four months pension was just Rs 1000. Thus, neither employees nor the managers are courteous towards senior citizens drawing pension. They are only interested in talking to businessmen. The bankers should be aware that hundred crores of rupees of the senior citizens or pensioners are with the banks as FDs and they are shelling out only meager interest to depositors. Sher Singh, Ludhiana Readers are invited to mail letters (not more than 200 words) at "ludhiana@tribunemail.com" or post the same to The Tribune, 1, 2 Improvement Trust Building, Badaur House, Clock Tower, Ludhiana.
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SBoP honours customers
Mandi Ahmedgarh, November 18
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From Schools Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, November 18 Fancy dress: Guru Nanak Public School (nursery section) organised a fancy dress competition on Saturday. All LKG children came dressed up like freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rani Jhansi and a few of them even enacted as Gursikhs devotees. Girls looked charming as “Miss Universe”, “Miss Punjaban”, brides and fairies. A few children were dressed up like vegetables and animals and even enacted cartoon characters. Nursery class in charge Jagjit Jagdev encouraged the participants. Annual exhibition: The annual exhibition “creative minds” was held on the premises of G.M. T Public School. The exhibition was inaugurated by city’s mayor Hakim Chand Giaspura. A few enclosures have been set up based on the development, subject and matter like English, Hindi and Math and Social Science. The science block was the most appreciated section among the students. The study and cause of volcanoes were also depicted by the science department. The chief guest congratulated and appreciated the students for their creative performance. He also encouraged the students and took keen interest in the models displayed by kindergarten. Workshop: A workshop called, “innovative practice for effective teaching and leaning” was held at Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, BRS Nagar, to train the pre-primary teachers of the city. The workshop was conducted by Rashmi Vij, who is a chairperson and secretary of the Jalandhar Independent School Sahodaya Complex and the DAV Public School’s principal. The objective of the workshop was to acquaint the teachers with the latest development in the field of teaching and learning. Per-primary teachers of various schools of the city attended the workshop.
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PAU: Maur group forms poll panels
Ludhiana, November 18 D.P. Maur, who contesting the election for the post of the president, while addressing
the gathering of employees listed out his achievements. He added that the matter regarding LTC had already been taken up with the state government. Other members also highlighted the union’s achievements during the past 12 years. |
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100 examined at eye camp
Mandi Ahmedgarh, November 18 This was observed by a team of ophthalmologists after examining around 100 persons at an eye camp organised by the health authorities and the Bose Society for Blind at Shree Ram Sharnam Ashram here today. Jagwant Singh Jaggie presided over the function and Prem Gupta was the chief guest. Diabetes is the major clinical entity leading to eye disorders in the urban people, while excessive exposure to sunlight causes cataract among the rural folk, said experts. Dr Rajesh Garg said a majority of patients examined at the camp had ignored eye care. “Besides ignoring proper hygiene, they paid little attention to nutritional constituents required for optimum vision,” maintained the ophthalmologist. Expressing concern over deteriorating eyesight among students, Dr Garg called upon management committees of educational institutes to organise routine check-up camps to detect the problems at an early stage. Vinod Jain and Satish Jain of the Jain Sabha also spoke. |
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Rachna, Gurpreet best cyclists
Ludhiana, November 18 The overall trophy in the women’s section was bagged by hosts Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology, while Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College secured the overall trophy in the men’s section. The runners-up trophy in both sections was secured by BBSB Engineering College, Fatehgarh Sahib. Dr Dulcha Singh Brar, director students welfare, PAU, inaugurated the championship, while Dr V.K. Arora, dean academics and officiating vice-chancellor, Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, gave away prizes to the winners. Results: Women: 500m time trial: Rachna Dhingra (GNIMT, Ludhiana) 1, Sanamdeep Kaur (PCTE, Badhwal) 2 and Namrita Ahluwalia (GNDEC, Ludhiana) 3; 1,500m team time trial: GNIMT 1, GNDEC 2 and DAVIET (Jalandhar) 3; 3,000m individual pursuit: Navjit Kaur (GNDEC) 1, Harsimer (GNIMT) 2 and Manjit Kaur (GNDEC) 3; 1,000m sprint: Rachna Dhingra (GNIMT) 1, Sanamdeep Kaur (PCTE, Bhaddal) 2 and Jaspreet Kaur (RIMT, Gobindgarh) 3; 3,000m team pursuit: GNIMT 1, GNDEC 2 and DAVIET 3; 3km massed start: Rachna Dhingra (GNIMT) 1, Navjot Kaur (GNDEC) 2 and Manjot Kaur (GNDEC) 3. Men: 1,000m time trial: Gurpreet Singh (GNDEC) 1, Harmandeep Singh (GNDEC) 2 and Jeevanreet Singh (BBSBEC, Fatehgarh Sahib) 3; 1,500m team time trial: GNDEC 1, BBSBEC 2 and DAVIET 3; 4,000m individual pursuit: Gurpreet Singh (GNDEC) 1, Ranvir Singh (BBSBEC) 2 and Harmandeep Singh (BBSBEC) 3; 1,000m sprint: Amritpal Singh (GNDEC) 1, Jeevanreet Singh (BBSBEC) 2 and Prashant Sharma (IET) 3; 4,000m team pursuit: GNDEC 1, BBSBEC 2 and DAVIET 3; 5km massed start: Gurpreet Singh (GNDEC) 1, Jeevanreet Singh (GNDEC) 2 and Harmandeep Singh (GNDEC) 3. |
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Annual sports meet at KVM
Ludhiana, November 18 KVM schools manager Ashwani Kumar and S.C.Saxena,KVM School, Civil Lines branch,were the chief guests. School’s headmistress Namita Raj Singh thanked those present on the occasion. Results: LKG girls:tricycle race- Avneet 1, Tanima 2 and Richa 3; LKG boys: tricycle race- Akhil Gupta 1, Girish 2 and Pranav 3; LKG girls: frog race- Kirti Vasan 1, Jashanpreet Kaur 2 and Drishti Jain 3; LKG boys: frog race- Gurmanjot 1, Aditya Jindal 2 and Piyush 3. UKG girls: frog race- Ridhi Jain 1, Himika Sood 2 and Vanshika 3; UKG boys: frog race- Vaibhav Mahajan 1, Anuj Jain 2 and Gurnoor Singh 3; UKG boys: 25 m race- Ayush 1, Dev 2 and Harshit 3. LKG girls: obstacle race- Divanshi 1,Neni 2 and Anmol 3; LKG boys : obstacle race- Rahul Ahuja 1, Manrose Singh 2 and Shashank 3. UKG girls: obstacle race- Yukti 1, Hiya 2 and Vanshika 3; UKG boys: obstacle race- Madhav Aggarwal 1, Dhruv Makkar 2 and Kunwar 3. Obstacle race for guest children (girls)- Priyanshu 1, Akshita 2 and Simran 3; (boys)- Rahul 1, Harsimran Singh 2 and
Jagminder 3. |
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PSB blank Sriah Academy
Doraha, November 18 The tournament, being organised by the Doraha Hawks Club entered its third day today. IG S.K. Sharma was the chief guest of the day’s proceedings. On the inaugural day, Sriah Academy had beaten Maharaja Ranjit Singh Academy 2-0. Similarly, SAI, Patiala, had got the better of Mata Sahib Kaur, Jarkhar, 4-3. Also, SAI, Gurgaon, had defeated MPS Academy 6-0. In the final match, IHF had emerged victorious over Mehta Gurukul Hockey Academy, Doraha, 4-0. In yesterdays matches, SAI, Patiala, defeated PNB, Delhi, 2-0. For the SAI, Ajay scored in the 10th minute, while Surinder Singh scored in the 38th minute. Similarly, Rock Rovers, Chandigarh, beat BKSP, Bangladesh, 4-2. For Rock Rovers, Bodhraj scored twice, while Shamsher and Vijay Kumar sounded the board once each. Sayad Al Masood and Md Hassan scored the consolation goals for the rivals. In the third match, IHF beat SAI, Gurgaon, 4-2. Deepak, Harbir, Rupinderpal and Ranjot were the scorers for the IHF, while Gagandeep and Bharat scored a piece for the SAI. In the final match, PSB, Jalandhar, blanked Sriah Academy 5-0. Jashanpreet Singh (2), Pardeep Malik, Ajay Kumar (2), Ajay Kumar (1) scored for the PSB. |
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Dipin stars in Mahajan XI win
Ludhiana, November 18 The match was held in the memory of Anil Chitkara, a sports organiser who died last year in a road accident. Mahajan XI won the toss and opted to field first. Malhotra XI were bundled out for 90 runs in 22.4 overs. Zuber and Sunil were the top scorers, hitting 18 and 11 runs, respectively. Mony Pandey (8) and Sumer Singh (7) were the other contributors. For Mahajan XI, Parul Mehndiratta was the pick of bowlers, chipping in with four wickets for eight runs, while Gautam grabbed two wickets for 28 runs. Dipin Chitkara and Nimit scalped one wicket each. Mahajan XI achieved the target after losing just two wickets in 19 overs. Their innings revolved around Dipin Chitkara and Harnoor Singh. Dipin scored 30, while Harnoor remained unbeaten on 25. Mony Pandey of Malhotra XI captured one wicket for 16 runs. Dipin Chitkara was adjudged best batsman and man of the match, while Parul Mehndiratta was declared best bowler. |
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IN violation of the directions of the Supreme Court and the prohibitory orders issued by the district administration, banning the use of loudspeakers from 10 pm to 6 am, certain religious bodies and residents continue to hold jagratas and other functions at night. Only recently, loudspeakers were used in the Civil Lines area during a programme of bhajans. Calls to the police proved futile as violators got away in the name of God.
