ABOHAR
ANNUAL FUNCTION: The annual function of RSD Girls High School was organised in the Nai Abadi locality here on Saturday. Mr Zora Singh Mann, MP (SAD), said the Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, had said the Abohar-Fazilka rail link project would soon be put up for the approval of the Union Cabinet.

BARNALA
CAR THIEVES: With the arrest of Gurcharan Singh, Pawan Kumar, Roshan Lal and Ashok Kumar, residents of Mansa, during a naka at Bhadaur, a gang of car thieves has been busted. This was stated by Mr Ajaib Singh Kaleka, SSP, here on Friday. Fifteen stolen cars were recovered from them. A case has been registered under Sections 379, 411, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC.

BATHINDA
ACTION DEMANDED: Strict action should be taken against those responsible for the slaughter of 32 cows near Choreal village in Hoshiarpur. This was stated by Mr Chiman Lal Garg, president of the local Beopar Mandal, in a press note here on Saturday.

THREATENED: The Punjab Food and Supplies Ministerial Staff Union has threatened to go on an agitation if the government did not implement the decision regarding the acceptance of their demands. This was stated by Mr Gurjant Singh Grewal, president, district unit of the union, while addressing a meeting of the union here on Friday.

REFUTED: The district unit of the PCMS Association has refuted the allegations levelled against the doctors of the local Civil Hospital by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties and the Insaf International that the doctors issue a fake medical certificates. This was stated by Dr Ajitpal Singh, president of the union, in a press note here on Friday.

DORAHA
GOODS STOLEN: Some miscreants broke into an electronics shop at Maloud on Friday night. An FIR has been registered at Payal Police Station. According to Nirmal Singh of Ramgarh Sardars, some unidentified miscreants broke into his shop and fled away with electronics goods worth Rs 23,000. A case has been registered under sections 457 and 380 of IPC. 

FEROZEPORE
SENTENCED: The special judge, Mr Chana Singh, has sentenced Sewak Ban, patwari of Behramke (Kot Isekhan), to one-and-a-half-years’ imprisonment and fined him Rs 1,000. According to Mr H.S.Mann, SP, Vigilance, the accused was caught while taking a bribe of Rs 1,000 from Mahinder Singh.

HELD FOR GRAFT: The Vigilance Bureau has arrested Kishan Singh, Superintendent with the office of the Executive Engineer, canal circle, Abohar, for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 1,000 from Mahinder Pal. According to Mr H.S.Mann, SP, Vigilance, Kishan had demanded Rs 6,000 from Mahinder for releasing the gratuity amount and the LIC claim.

FASHION INSTITUTE: The Irrigation Minister, Mr Janmeja Singh Sekhon, inaugurated a three-day exhibition of designer clothes organised by the National Institute of Fashion Design here on Saturday. He lauded the role of the institute in providing self-employment. Mr Sanjay Mittal, head of the institute, also spoke.

VACANT POSTS: Vacant posts of teacher in all government primary, middle, high and senior secondary schools of the district will soon be filled by appointing qualified youths from their respective villages on a contract basis. This was stated by Mr S.R. Ladhar, Deputy Commissioner.

HOSHIARPUR
BANNED: Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, District Magistrate, has reimposed Section 144 CrPC in the district. He has banned the assembly of five or more persons, carrying of firearms and sharp-edged weapons and holding processions in public places. Residents have been instructed to provide information about their tenants. Playing of tape recorders and exhibition of video films in government buses, and use of military colour uniforms, jeeps, motor cycle and other vehicles by civilians have also been banned. These orders will remain in force up to October 29.

FLYING SQUADS: Two flying squads for checking ultrasound centres in this district were formed at a meeting of the district Health Advisory Committee held on Friday under the chairmanship of Dr Ravi Kumar, District Family Welfare Officer. As many as 15 ultrasound centres were granted registration.

COUPLE BOOKED: On a complaint of Jaspal Singh of Bassi Jana, the Sadar police has registered a case against Satya Devi and her husband Kishan Lal of Attowal for cheating him. The couple allegedly took over Rs 8 lakh from the complainant to send him to the USA, but failed to do so.

TRAFFIC BLOCKED: Mr Balbir Singh Miani, Minister for Higher Education, Punjab, was held up in a traffic jam when agitating employees of the municipal corporation blocked traffic at the Parbhat chowk here to protest against the proposed abolition of octroi on Friday.

LUDHIANA
PROF MOHAN SINGH MELA: Twentythird Prof Mohan Singh Memorial international fair will be held on October 20 and 21. At a meeting of the Prof Mohan Singh Foundation, Mr Jagdev Singh Jassowal , Chairman of the foundation said the song competition of Prof Mohan Singh’s writings would be held on October 20. The competition of various instuments like dholak, tabla, algoza, tumbi and sarangi would also be organised. A drama called Sirjana of Pali Bhupinder Singh would be staged during the celebrations and a choreography on the Nazam Ambi Da Buta will also be presented. 

CASSETTE RELEASED: Mansurbi Films and Entertainment released a literary audio cassette titled ‘Bego’ at Punjabi Bhavan last evening. Mr Jagdev Singh Jassowal, Chairman, World Punjabi Academy, and Mr Krishan Kumar Bawa ,Chairperson, Malwa Sabhya Charak Manch, while releasing the cassette said it was unique and much different from run- of- the- mill cassettes. The writer and director of the cassette is Ram Sharan Mansorbi and was presented by Amandeep. The writer said the cassette was meant for entire family and has made a special niche in the world of music. 

TEACHERS PROTEST: The Democratic Teachers Front , Punjab, is up in arms against what it calls the lackadaisical attitude of the District Education Officer towards their problems. In a press release here on Sunday, Mr Bhajan Singh, president of the Ludhiana district unit of the front, said that hundreds of ACP cases of teachers were pending for months together. These cases were being prolonged as objections were raised time and again instead of dealing with them at one go. Mr Bhajan Singh also demanded that middle school teachers who had not received their salaries for the past three months, should be immediately paid. 

SEMINAR: The annual exports of synthetic and rayon textiles from India are expected to reach Rs 15,000 crore by the year 2005-06. The exports during 2000-01 had reached Rs 5,698 crore, said Mr Sanjeev Saran, Chairperson, Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) here on Friday night. While addressing the participants in a seminar on “trends in international marketing of man-made textiles,” he said the exports during April-May, 2001, were just Rs 741 crore showing a marked decline of 11 per cent compared to the same period last year.’’ 

MANDI GOBINDGARH
ENROLMENT BEGINS: The voters for electing the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee members will be enrolled from September 3 to November 2. Any keshdhari or sehajdari person may enroll himself as a voter, for which forms are available with the patwaris in the rural areas and with municipal councils in the urban areas, said Mr Vikas Partap, Deputy Commissioner, Fatehgarh Sahib, in a press release here on Sunday. The claims and objections would be filed from November 5 to December 18, which would be decided up to February 12, 2002, he added. 

MANSA
ARRESTED: The police has arrested Jaspal Singh and one of his accomplices in New Delhi while selling a car stolen by them from Mansa on August 25, 2001. The car belonged to Mr Bhagirth Lal Singla, president of the Punjab Rice Millers Association.

GANG BUSTED: The police has busted a gang of robbers with the arrest of Surinder Singh of Patiala, Sarabjit Singh of Dhaula village in Sangrur district, and Chamkaur Singh of Tapa in Sangrur district. Another member of the gang, Raghbir Singh, alias Gora, of Mehta village in Sangrur district is still at large. A countrymade .12-bore pistol and two cartridges were seized from Chamkaur Singh.

MOGA
BODY FOUND: The body of an aged man was found on the railway crossing near the Moga bypass on Saturday. He was reportedly run over and killed by a train.

CONVENTION HELD: A convention was organised by Krishak Indian Cooperatives Limited here on Saturday. Mr Amarjeet, District Manager of Markfed, presided over the convention. Dr Joginder Singh, an agriculturist with the PAU, advised farmers to grow quality crops.

LOK ADALAT: Sixtyone cases were decided on the spot and a sum of Rs 14,93,000 was awarded to claimants at a lok adalat held here on Saturday. Mr A.N.Jindal, District Legal Services Authority, presided over the lok adalat.

PATHANKOT
LOK ADALATS: Under the guidance of Mr M.R. Batra, District and Sessions Judge, Gurdaspur, five lok adalats were organised here on Saturday. As many as 194 cases were taken up, of which 62 were decided on the spot.

PATIALA
BOOK ON DALITS: In recognition of scholarship of Punjabi University, Patiala, Dr Chaman Lal, a Reader in the Hindi Department, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, has written a book in Hindi, ‘Dalit Aur Ashweta Sahitya’. Dr Lal has about 25 books of criticism, editing and translation in Hindi, Punjabi and English to his credit of which four are focussed on the Dalit literature in Hindi and English.

ROPAR
BANK BUILDING: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr G.S. Grewal, inaugurated a building of Punjab National Bank here on Friday. The General Manager of the bank (Punjab), Mr Khurana, said an ATM counter would be installed here soon.

VANAMAHOTSAVA: Mayor of Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) Harjinder Kaur on Thursday commenced the “annual vanamahotsava” programme by planting saplings in Central Park, Sector 34. At a function organised by the House Owners Welfare Association of Sector 34, the Mayor along with residents and schoolchildren planted over 50 saplings of ornamental and medical plants. As many as 200 saplings will be planted in other parts of the sector. In a memorandum submitted to her the residents urged her to provide walkways on both sides of Central Park, install railings and start repair work of the remaining parks and get the carpeting of the internal roads done. 

NOMINATED: The newly-elected president of the Citizens Association, Sector 21, has nominated the following office-bearers: senior vice-president — Mr J.K. Sondhi; vice-president — Ms Sudarshan Kaur Aujla; general secretary —Mr K.C. Jain; finance secretary — Mr S.D. Khanna; public relations officer — Mr Balwant Singh Chaudhry; secretary (sports) — Mr Kirpal Singh Gandhi; secretary (works) — Mr A.P.S. Ahuja; joint secretary —Mr Darshan Singh. 

COMMITTEE: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Navyug Ramreela and Dussehra Committee: chairman — Mr Govind Kumar; president — Mr I.D. Singla; vice-president — Mr Sursh Kumar Chowdhary; general secretary — Mr Sanjay Kumar; secretary —Mr Laxman Singh; treasurer — Mr Devi Dutt; coordinator-cum-press secretary — Mr B.S. Negi; director — Mr Pardeep Kumar Jugadi; and cashier — Mr Ajay Kumar. 

STRIKE OBSERVED: The non-teaching staff of M.M. Modi College on Saturday observed the stay-in-strike policy on the footsteps of the Punjab and Chandigarh Non-teaching Employees Union in front of the college campus here on Saturday. The strike was observed keeping in view their demands related to the formulation of a new scale policy according to which the house tax was hiked. 

NCC CAMP: A cultural programme was organised at the end of the 12-day NCC camp held at Multipurpose School here on Saturday. Various competitions were held during the camp in which meritorious students were honoured with momentos. Presiding over the show, the school Principal, Mr S.S. Buttar, congratulated the students and those who participated in the NSS team. 

AMBALA
COPS PROMOTED: The Inspector-General of Police, Ambala Range, has promoted 25 Assistant Sub-Inspector. The promoted ASIs are: Mr Mam Chand, Mr Jagjit Singh, Mr Balwant Rai, Mr Jai Singh, Mr Rameshwar Prasad, Mr Suraj Bhan, Mr Karam Singh, Mr Gaurkh Pal, Mr Hari Singh, Mr Suraj Man, Mr Ram Chandra, Mr Kuldip Singh, Mr Mool Chand, Mr Lakkhu Ram, Mr Amar Nath, Mr Ved Prakash, Mr Vikram Singh, Mr Ram Pal, Mr Avtar Singh, Mr Balwan Singh, Mr Mewa Ram, Mr Zile Singh, Mr Devi Dayal, Mr Kitab Singh and Mr Brij Mohan, according to a press note. 

JIND
LOOT BID: Four car-borne armed youths looted a cash box containing about Rs 2,000 from a shop on the Jind-Rohtak road on Friday. The police rushed to the spot and sealed the area. On seeing the police, the youths abandoned the car with the cash box near Lijwana village. A case has been registered.

ROHTAK
CENTRE OPENED: The Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Pt B.D. Sharma, PGIMS, has set up an urban health centre to provide mother and child care services, especially to the poor. The centre, established with the help of the Police Department, was inaugurated by Mr A.S. Ahlawat, SSP, at the Police Hospital, Prem Nagar, on Friday.

SONEPAT
INJURED: An aged man was knocked down and injured by a Tata 407 on the Sonepat-Meerut inter-state road near Khewra village, 13 km from here, on Sunday. The injured was admitted to the hospital.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Dairy Owners Association: president — Mr Jagdish Khatri; vice-presidents— Mr Telu Ram and Mr Avtar Singh; general secretary — Mr Balwan Singh; secretaries — Mr Zile Singh and Ms Bedi Sharma; and treasurer — Mr Satish Kumar.

TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS: As many as 1,200 telephone connections will be released at the main exchange during the next few months and the waiting list up to November last year will be cleared. This was stated by Mr R.C. Hooda, General Manager, Telecommunications, here on Sunday.

YAMUNANAGAR
SARPANCH DEAD: A former sarpanch, who was injured seriously in a shooting incident by three robbers succumbed to his injuries at the PGI, Chandigarh, on Friday. A case has been registered under Sections 302, 392 and 397, of the IPC.