GURDASPUR
PRIEST HELD: The police on Thursday arrested Mahant Santosh Giri, resident of Shimla and presently working as priest in Hanuman Mandir near the Khaddi bridge, Pathankot, on charges of rape according to the SSP. The victim had gone to the priest to seek his blessings.

HOSHIARPUR
LOK ADALAT: A special Lok Adalat will be held in the Sessions Court Complex, here on May 20 at 10 a.m., according to Mr L.R. Roozam, District and Sessions Judge. Similarly a pension adalat will be held on May 25 for those who receive their pension from the DPDO here.

BAN IMPOSED: Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, District Magistrate, here has imposed a ban on the entry of public within the radius of 200 meters of all examination centres of the ITI entrance test on April 14 and 15.

THREE KILLED: Three persons were killed in two incidents in the district on Wednesday. Sanjiv Kumar and his cousin Nachhatar Singh of Mirzapur died on the spot when a Tata Sumo hit their scooter near Kahadiala Sainian. The driver of the Sumo fled after leaving the vehicle on the spot. The Hariana police has registered a case under Sections 304-A, 279 and 427 of the IPC against the driver. In another incident, Hans Raj Sharma of the local Bahadurpur Mohalla was killed when a Matador hit his two-wheeler near Piplanwala on Wednesday.

SUICIDE: Raghubir Singh (27), alias Bobby, committed suicide by consuming poison at Kot Fatehu village on Wednesday. He was missing from his house since Monday.

BURN INJURIES: Suman Devi (22), wife of Surinder Kumar of Toorpur village under Mukerian police station, succumbed to the burn injuries she sustained when her clothes caught fire from a burning gas stove in her kitchen on Wednesday.

CASE REGISTERED: Balbir Singh of Adda Chalang Tanda has got registered a case under Sections 420 and 506 of the IPC against Prem Singh and Tarsem Singh, so-called travel agents of Chalang. In his complaint, Balbir Singh alleged that Tarsem and Prem took Rs 6.5 lakh from him for sending him to the USA. However, neither had they sent him to the USA nor returned the money, he alleged.

JAGRAON
NON-AUCTION — A BOON: Liquor shops have not been auctioned so far for this area. These shops are being run by the Excise and Taxation Department. There is rush for Indian made foreign liquor in the evening at these shops. The medium IMFL brands which were sold between Rs 220 and Rs 300 per bottle are sold at Rs 190. Mr Parminder Singh, Excise Inspector, who remains present during the sale, told this correspondent that given proper infrastructure, the department can manage the sale at all points. 

KHARAR
AMBEDKAR'S BIRTHDAY: Dr Ambedkar Bhalai Manch, is celebrating the birthday of Dr B.R. Ambedkar today at Janta Nagar. Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, MP, Ropar, would be the chief guest and Dr Bhajan Kaur, Reader, Department of Laws, Panjab University, would preside over the function, according to a press note. 

TARAKSHEEL CHETNA KAFLA: The Taraksheel Society, Punjab, is taking out a Taraksheel Chetna Kafla on Saturday in the morning from Landran village. According to a press note issued here on Friday, this rally would pass through Bhagomajra, Chadiala and Raipur villages. A Taraksheel mela would also be organised in Saneta village on the same evening. 

NEW DISTT SAD HEAD: In a meeting of SAD workers held here on Friday under the presidentship of Mr Prem Singh, local SAD president, the workers hailed the decision of the party high command of appointing Mr Pritam Singh Sallomajra as president of the Ropar district unit of SAD. Workers resolved that all of them would work hard under his guidance for the betterment of the party.

LUDHIANA
WATER PURIFYING TABLETS: Pure and safe water is the need of the day. Keeping this in mind, a water purifying tablet Aquasafe, was launched in the market by G.M.Remedies, here on Friday. Mr Bhagwan Singh, Executive Director, G.M. Remedies, while talking to mediapersons said nearly 80 per cent of diseases were water borne. He said due to industrialisation and various other factors the water in the city was polluted, which could invite various diseases like gastroenteritis, cholera and jaundice. He said that one tablet could purify 10 liters of water and was available for Rs 2 (per tablet).

DENTAL COURSE: The Indian Dental Association will organise a two-day course on ‘Orthodontic and Prosthodontics for General Practitioner’. Renowned Orthodontist from Delhi, Dr S.P. Aggarwal, will be the course director which will be held on April 15 and 16 at Magnet Resorts. According to Dr Rajiv Bali, president, district branch of IDA doctors from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh and Punjab will be attending the course. 

PENTAVOX HERBALS: The first batch of production of Ayurvedic Products of Pentavox Herbals will be released and launched for commercial sale on Sunday at the Majestic Park Plaza. According to an official press release the State Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr Baldev Raj Chawla, will be the chief guest on the occasion and Mr Vijay Chopra, Mr Vinod Kumar Jain will be the guests of honour. 

LOK ADALATS: The District Legal Services Authority will hold Lok Adalats at Ludhiana, Khanna and Samrala on April 21. The Lok Adalats, to be presided over by Mr S.S. Arora, District and Sessions Judge, Ludhiana, will deal with the civil and criminal cases, including those under the Hindu Marriage Act, bank loan defaults and the motor accident claims. Giving details, Mr Surjit Singh, Assistant District Attorney, Legal Services, informed that at Khanna Mr J S Bhinder, Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division), and Mr Munish Arora, Civil Judge (Junior Division), will hold the session of Lok Adalat while in Samrala Ms Asha Mehta, Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division), and Mr Ravinder Kumar, Civil Judge (Junior Division), will dispose of the cases taken up in the Lok Adalat. 

NOMINATED: Mr Mohinder Pal Singh (Raju), Organising Secretary of the All-India Sikh Students Federation (Mehta) has been nominated a member of the District Advisory Committee of the Excise and Taxation Department of District Ludhiana II.

MANSA
SCHEME INTRODUCED: Ms Raji P. Shrivastava, Deputy Commissioner, said here on Friday that the Central Government had introduced the “Pradhan Mantri Gram Uday Yojana” to provide nutritious food to all infants up to three years. She said the district Social Welfare and Child Development Department had identified 4,362 infants who were physically weak and not growing normally.

MEDICAL CAMP: As many as 601 persons were examined during a three-day free check-up camp which concluded here on Friday. The camp was organised by the district Red Cross Society. The society would provide 328 hearing aids and 143 artificial limbs to these persons on May 8, said Ms Raji P.Shrivastava, Deputy Commissioner, Mansa.

APPOINTMENTS: Mr Balbir Singh Miani, Minister for Higher Education and Medical Education, Punjab, said on Thursday that 400 new lecturers would be appointed to fill the vacancies in government colleges of the state. NEW SDM: Mr Krishan Chand took over as the SDM, Mansa , on Thursday. The post was lying vacant since the promotion of Mr V.K. Meena as ADC, Mansa

POST VACANT: Residents of Sardulgarh subdivision have urged the Punjab Government to immediately appoint a tehsildar in the subdivision. Mr Sher Singh Sidhu, senior leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal (B), said the post has been lying vacant for quite some time.

SECTION 144: Ms Raji P. Shrivastva, District Magistrate , has imposed restrictions under Section 144 of the Cr PC in a radius of 100 yards of the examination centres of the ETT test being conducted on Sunday. The orders have been issued to ensure peaceful conduct of the examinations.

PATIALA
DEMANDED: Pran Sabharwal, a theatre activist, said since it was on April 6 that Norah Richards, an Irish lady known as the mother of Punjabi Theatre, laid the foundation of Modern Punjabi Theatre by staging a play by I.C. Nanda called “dulhan” in 1914 at Dyal Singh College, Lahore, it should be declared International Punjabi Theatre Day. He stated that he along with other prominent personalities, including Janab Jigar Jalandhari, an Urdu poet and Senior vice-president of the National Theatre Art Society (NTAS) Patiala. Ms Sunita Sabharwal, NTAS Secretary and Dr Satish Verma, dramatist, made a fervent appeal to the World Punjabiat Foundation (India) Chandigarh, which is coordinating with the organisers in Pakistan and Dr Harcharan Singh, Chairman Punjab Art Council to frame a theatre policy to promote world theatre exchange programmes, especially in India and Pakistan during the conference.