ABOHAR
APPOINTED: Mr Shyam Sunder Sachdeva, Editor of local daily Amritvela, has been appointed state general secretary of the Small Newspapers Association of India by its national president, Mr Shiv Shanker Tripathi.

BLOOD DONATION: As many as 62 persons, including women had donated blood during past 60 days to meet emergencies in different hospitals here, according to a press note issued by Mr Pradeep Bansal, secretary, Bharat Vikas Parishad, here on Friday. The NGO had organised eight blood donation and grouping camps during current year and plans to sponsor four more such camps in different localities.

AWARDED: Students of Flower Valley Senior Secondary School and DAV Senior Secondary Model School here excelled in the district level competitions organised by the sports wing of the Education Department at DAV School on Thursday. They will now compete at state level competitions. The winners were awarded medals by Principal R.P. Asija and Principal Brij Bhushan Sharma.

DHARNA: The Revenue Patwar Union staged five hours dharna at the sub divisional complex here on Thursday to express resentment against anti-employee policies of the state government besides the decision of the Supreme Court regarding democratic right of government employees to observe strike to press their demands. The dharna was led by Mr Jagdish Kumar, subdivisional president of the union.

CAMP: NPK bags and standardised seed packets were distributed at a farmers’ welfare camp organised by the Indian Farmers Fertilisers Cooperatives at Maujgarh village near here. Sarpanch Rajesh Jakhar presided. Field Officer R.L. Sethi spoke on diversification of crop as the traditional cotton crop had been continuously “betraying” the growers of the region for the past five years.

AMRITSAR
HEALTH CAMP: More than 351 women and children were examined at a free ‘mother and child’ workshop-cum check-up camp which was organised by Fortis Multi Speciality Hospital here on Saturday. Free consultations were also provided by eminent doctors of the hospital. This was informed in a press release issued here.

APPEAL: The Amritsar Vikas Manch, a non-government organisation, on Saturday urged the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, to constitute ‘Amritsar Tourism and Industrial Development Corporation’ on the pattern of Chandigarh for the development of the holy city. Dr Charanjit Singh Gumtala, president of the manch, in a letter to the Chief Minister alleged that though the Golden Temple was on the agenda of UNESCO to declare it as world heritage site, it seemed that it was not on the agenda of the state government.

BATALA
ARRESTED: The police along with a team of the Punjab Excise Department on Saturday arrested Gurmeet Singh from his business premises under the Excise Act. As many as 120 bottles of liquor were seized in the raid.

LUDHIANA
EYE CAMP: The 17th annual free eye operation camp was held at Mata Gujri Charitable Hospital, Gurdwara Akalgarh Sahib, Chaura Bazaar, here on Sunday. It was inaugurated by Mr Parkash Singh Badal, a former Chief Minister. Nearly 1,000 patients were examined and 250 shortlisted for operations. Dr Jacob Prabhakar from Ruby Nelson Hospital, Jalandhar, examined patients. Medicines were given free of cost.

MEDICAL CAMP: At a medical check-up camp organised at Life Line Super Speciality Hospital, Gill Road, Ludhiana, more than 250 patients were examined. It was inaugurated by Mr Gurcharan Singh, Mayor of London. Medicines, which were provided by Ind Swift Laboratories Ltd, were given free of cost. The hospital has so far organised more than 500 free camps, said Dr R.S. Maheshwari.

CAMPAIGN: Bharat Petroleum has announced the launch of an innovative campaign called ‘BP ka sitara’. The objective of the campaign is to create a platform for truckers to share their experience of using BP diesel engine oil, which promises a saving upto 5.1 per cent on diesel costs. Truckers are invited to write in their feedback to the BP.

Patiala 
SEMINAR ENDS : A three-day international congress on “Recent trends in plant chromosome research” organised by the Department of Botany of Panjab University concluded here on Sunday. Dr M.K Sidhu, convener of the symposium said plant scientists from foreign countries and from different states of the country participated in the congress. At least 46 research papers were presented.

NTAS PROGRAMME : A two day programme on “World peace, spirituality and arts” was organised by the National Theatre Arts Society (NTAS) here on Friday. The convener of the programme, Mr Pran Sabharwal, stressed the need for promoting world peace through theatre and art. PRTC Chairman Ved Prakesh Gupta, Mayor Vishnu Sharma, Additional Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon were also present on the occasion.

BLOOD DONATION : As many as 55 devotees donated blood as part of the 85th Samadhi Day celebrations being organised by the Shirdi Sai Samaj on the Shirdi Temple premises in Sector 29 here on Sunday. The camp was held under the supervision of doctors from the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Sector 32. According to Mr Vijay Kumar, president of the samaj, the idea of the camp was to involve people from all sections of the society which was Shirdi Sai Baba’s message.

PANCHKULA
ELDERS DAY: The Retired Persons Welfare Association celebrated the International Elders Day at Sri Geeta Mandir, Sector 11. Mrs Seema Chaudhary, president of the Municipal Council, was the chief guest while Mr V.P. Paul, Principal of Chamna Lal DAV School, presided over the function. Mr Vikas Chaudhary, councillor, was the guest of honour. Aziz Jalandhari and P.D. Mitra enthralled the gathering with their ghazals. Mrs Chaudhary gave a donation of Rs 5,000 to the association, while Mr Chaudhary donated Rs 2100.