ABOHAR
40 kg poppy husk seized: The Khuyiansarwar police on Friday recovered 40 kg of poppy husk from the possession of Angrej Singh Geji, son of Pala Singh, and Kuljit Singh Kala, son of Mukhtiar Singh, residents of Lamochadkala village, according to DSP Amrik Singh Minhas. Meanwhile, Surinder Kumar Babbu, son of Banwari Lal of Sadulshehar, who was held for possessing 250 gm of opium in 2002, was sentenced to one-year imprisonment by the trial court.

Dental care campaign: The Indian Dental Association and Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital have started a campaign to educate schoolchildren here on dental care. As part of the campaign, Dr Anita Kataria held a quiz contest at LRS DAV Senior Secondary School and RSD Girls Middle School in the Nai Abadi area. Principal Kusum Khungar and Headmistress Raj Karni of the respective schools distributed toothpaste and brush to all students.

Fatehgarh Sahib
AWARDED: Prof Ashok Kumar Sood, Co-ordinator Careers and Guidance Bureau and former Vice-Principal of Mata Gujri College, here and Director, Divine Light International School, Sirhind was awarded the prestigious national ‘Shiksha Samman’ award by the Indian Economic Development and Research Organisation at New Delhi on Friday.

Hoshiarpur
Shot dead: Unidentified persons shot Head Constable Prabhjinder Singh at his house at Fattan Chack village, near Dasuya on Friday night. According to the police sources, Prabhjinder Singh was a security guard of Sant Baba Charan Singh at Bikhowal village. At about 11:30 pm, the killers rang the doorbell. They fired at Prabhjinder Singh from point blank range.

Two duped by travel agents: Fake travel agents duped two persons of Rs 13.25 lakh on a promise to send them abroad. Two separate cases under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC have been registered at the Tanda and Dasuya police stations. According to sources, Vikramjit Singh, son of Mohinder Singh of Miani, alleged that Ashok Kumar of Kotla Mubarkpur, New Delhi, and Gurnam Singh son of Khushi Ram of Rai Sidh, Mamdot, Ferozepore, took Rs 12 lakh from him for sending him to England. In another case, Rajesh Kumar, alias Rakesh Kumar, alias Manjit Singh, of Dhada Khurd, Mahilpur, allegedly took Rs 1.25 lakh from Kala Sinh son of Gurdev Singh of Kalra for sending him to Australia.

Two held: The police arrested two narcotic drug smugglers on Friday night. The Bulhowal police arrested Gurdip Singh alias Deepa of Birampur and seized 2.50 quintals poppy husk from him. He was booked under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act. The Model Town police arrested Ravi Kumar of Bhagat Nagar and seized 5 gm smack from him.

Blood donation: The Public Anti-Corruption Board of India and Shivali Walia Student Book Bank, Hoshiarpur, organised a blood donation camp on the fourth death anniversary of Shivali Walia at Bhai Ghaniaya Ji Charitable Blood Bank on Friday. As many as 30 units of blood were donated.

Truck missing: Unidentified persons high jacked truck loaded with reels of thread from a workshop at Tanda bypass road on Friday night. On reaching Subhanpur, they threw the cleaner out and sped with the truck.

TOP RANK: Bharat Electronics has been ranked as the top Indian company in the electrical and electronic equipment sector for 2006, by Dun & Bradstreet India, in its assessment of India’s top 500 companies. BEL has been ranked first based on total income, which recorded a turnover of Rs 3536 crore for the last fiscal.

DEALERSHIP: The new dealership of Maruti Udyog, Berkeley Automobiles, opened in the city on Friday. Mr S. Oishi, Director (Marketing and Sales), Maruti Udyog Ltd, inaugurated the dealership. The dealership opened in Industrial Area and will be the second dealership of Maruti in Chandigarh. Berkeley has been awarded the dealership after it was withdrawn from Joshi Autozone recently. Berkeley Automobiles already has a Maruti dealership in Panchkula.

Mega Draw: The mega draw for a sales promotion scheme which was being run at all IBP sales outlets from August 10 to October 20, was held at IBP Auto Services, Sector 42, on Friday. All consumers buying fuel for Rs 750 (for four wheelers) and Rs 250 (for two wheelers) had been given coupons during this two-month period. The winners were given two motor cycles, 10 LG televisions, 50 Nokia phones and 20 invertors.

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Bahawalpur Panchayat: president — Mr Mahesh K. Budhiraja; vice-presidents — Mr Chaman Lal Jhamb, Mr Sham Lal Sachdeva and Mr Suresh Kumar Kinger; general secretary — Mr Prem Kumar Tulseja; joint secretaries — Mr Mohan Lal Arora and Mr R.B. Pahuja; finance secretary — Mr Gobind Pal Pahuja; publicity secretary — Mr N.D. Pahuja; and legal adviser — Mr S.D. Chawla.

SYMPOSIUM: First Friday Forum, (Art Nursery for Interactive Propagation of Creativity and Culture) will organise a symposium on ‘Chandigarh Heritage’ at the Government Museum and Art Gallery auditorium, Sector 10, on Sunday. Eminent experts from different fields will make audio-visual presentations on various aspects of City Beautiful, in the area of planning, architecture, landscape and art.

Mohali
‘Remove jhuggis’: The House Owners Welfare Association, Phase I, has requested the Chief Administrator of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority to get jhuggis removed which had illegally come up near the khokha market. The president of the association said jhuggi-dwellers were creating unhygienic condition in the area, much to the annoyance of the residents.

‘Utilise funds’: The Deputy Commissioner directed officials at a monthly meeting held here on Friday that funds received under Punjab Nirman Yojna should be utilised well in time. He said it must be ensured that the amount given in the second round was utilised by November 30 and of that given in the third round by December 31.