Rare surgery: A rare surgery was successfully performed on a premature male child, who had survived on intravenous fluids since its birth and was not able to consume anything orally. A team of three doctors took two hours to complete the surgery. The child is the only son of Mrs Jasbir Kaur and Mr Mengha Singh of Sekhwan (Dhariwal) village.

Pensioners' day: The Punjab Pensioners and Senior Citizens Welfare Association observed pensioners' day here on Thursday on the premises of the district court. A memorandum to be forwarded to the Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, was handed over to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Narinderjit Singh. The president of association, Mr Avtar Singh, urged for the acceptance of recommendation made by the 5th Pay Commission and demanded an end to harassment at the level of treasury and the AG, Punjab Offices, Chandigarh.

BATALA
Variety programme: The Lions Club organised a variety programme at the Bearing Union Christian College Campus here on Friday. The camp was inaugurated by Mr Kuldeep Singh. Teams from the Government Girls College, Amritsar and Bibi Naki Girls College, Dhariwal, took part in skit, song and ghazal competitions.

GURDASPUR
Gang busted: The local police has busted an inter-state gang of cheats involved in alluring people to exchange fake currency notes for real ones. Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, said here on Friday that Randip Singh, a resident of Mian di Mauni in Hoshiarpur and Ramesh Kumar of Rishi Nagar, Kartarpur, Jalandhar, were arrested after their car was intercepted and 10 fake currency notes of Rs 500 denominations each were recovered from their possession.

HOSHIARPUR
Two sentenced: The District Sessions Judge on Friday sentenced Vidya Ram and Jagat Ram both resident of Kanchanpur village of Gonda district (UP) to life imprisonment. They have been booked under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC for murdering one Ganga, son of a ziledar of the same village — on May 16, 1998.

Book released: Mr Tikshan Sud, MLA, released a book titled 'Sood Parivar 1999", in a function organised by the Sood Sabha, here on Thursday. Mr Krishan Kant Sood, president of the sabha, said Sood Bhavan would soon be constructed at Hoshiarpur.

Arrested: A truck driver, Sarwan Singh, and his nephew Satnam Singh both residents of Chakowal village were arrested under Sections 302,201, and 34 of the IPC for murdering Raman Kumar, son of Jai Nand, resident of Haripur village of Mandi district (HP) and for trying to distort evidence by hiding his body in a heap of chaff.

KAPURTHALA
Integration camp: A 10 day national integration camp of the NCC began here at the local Sainik School. Camp commandant Lt Col A. Parmar said 555 cadets and officers from Andhra Pardesh, Karnataka, Maharshtra, Tamil Nadu, Orrisa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Chandigarh were taking part in the camp.

One dead: Balwinder Singh, a resident of Dalla village died in a road accident near Nadala village on Wednesday. The cause of death was stated to be a collision between Balwinder's scooter and a bus.

Police-public meet: A police-public meet was organised at the Police Lines here on Thursday. It was presided over by Mr Iqbal Singh, SSP. Representatives of various political parties, social organisations and prominent citizens attended.

LUDHIANA
Course concludes: The 15th refresher course on finger print concluded at the Punjab police academy, Phillaur, here on Friday. Eighteen participants from all over the state attended the course. This was stated by Mr Ranjit Singh, Director, Finger Print Bureau, Phillaur.

PATIALA
Telephone bills: Complaints of inflated bills are piling up at the local Telecom Office. Nearly 200 complaints are received each month. This trend began ever since telephone tarrifs were hiked. Complainants said bills are far in excess of the norm.

Honoured: The Head, Department of the Pharmaceutical and Drug Sciences, Dr Manjeet Singh, and his associate Dr Ajay Sharma, have been awarded the Uvnas Prize for 1999 for their research in autocoids and biogenic amines. This was stated here on Friday in a university press note. Medal and a scroll of honour were awarded to them at the International Congress on Frontiers in Pharmacology and Therapeutics held at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

SAMRALA
Open darbar: A Gypsy will be provided to the police post at Mehdoodan village near here. This was stated by Mr R.L. Bhagat, SSP, Khanna, in an open darbar organised on Friday in Jaspalon village. Mr Bhagat said an ambulance had already been handed over to the local police.

TARN TARAN
Gang busted: The city police has arrested three members of a four-member gang, including two Punjab police employees for selling smack to youths of the area. Those arrested have been identified as Jatinder Singh and Raj Kumar and Gurlal Singh, both head constables of the Punjab police. Surinder Kumar managed to escape. A case under Sections 21, 69 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused.

Truck waylaid: A Gujarat bound truck loaded with 700 bags of rice was stolen by some persons. Bhagirath, the driver of the truck has lodged a case under Section 379 of the IPC with the Sadar police.

Suicide committed: Ranjit Singh Rana (21), a resident of Khawaspur village who got married only a month ago has committed suicide. According to the Goindwal Sahib police, Rana was a mentally disturbed.

Water dispute: A dispute over water has claimed the life of Raja Ram in Data village under Hansi sub-division on Thursday. According to police sources, Raja Ram had gone to irrigate his field when he was attacked by some persons. He died on his way to hospital. The police has registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC against Pala Ram, Ramesh, Suresh, Balraj, Surajmal and others. No arrest has been made so far.

Honest candidates: Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala on Friday said only honest candidates and those likely to win would be given party tickets for the ensuing Assembly elections in the state. Talking to mediapersons, he said, a decision on distributing tickets would be taken only after the Election Commission announces the schedule.

PANIPAT
Memorandum submitted: A delegation of the district unit of the Haryana Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti led by the district President, Mr Jagbir Singh Rana, handed over a memorandum to members of the newly constituted Haryana Backward Classes Commission, Mr Raj Kumar Jogi. They were demanding backward class status for the Jats of Haryana.

KUMARHATTI
'Clean Himachal' campaign: A door-to-door campaign was launched here on Friday, to exhort the people to clean their surrounding and to shun the use of plastic bags by the officials and members of municipal committee, Parwanoo, 20 km from here. Today's processions was a part of a week-long "clean Himachal" campaign launched to make the state free of plastic bags menace.

NANGAL
NCC camp: A 10-day, annual training camp for junior division NCC cadets started at the NFL Fertilisers Senior Secondary School, Naya Nangal, on Friday. Lt Cdr, J.P.S. Mann, said 347 cadets from all over the state are participating in the camp. The cadets will organise anti-dowry march, an adult-education drive and anti-drug awareness campaigns.