BATHINDA
Students' agitation: Hundreds of the elementary teachers' training (ETT) students were not allowed by the police to proceed towards the house of the Punjab Food Minister, Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, for submitting a memorandum as the minister was away to Faridkot.

HOSHIARPUR
Prisoner escapes: A case has been registered under Sections 223 and 224 of the IPC against Sham Lal (Head Constable) and Bilhar Singh, Mohinder Pal, Harbhajan Singh and Sant Ram (all constables) for their negligence in duty due to which Rajesh Kumar escaped from the police custody from the civil hospital on December 23, according to police sources here on Saturday. Sources said Rajesh Kumar was convicted by the court under Sections 376, 366, 363 of the IPC and was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment for raping a girl.

JALANDHAR
Elected: Dr G.S. Mangat, an orthopaedic surgeon, has been elected president of the Punjab Chapter of Indian Orthopaedic Association for a period of one year.

KHANNA
Sports meet: The 27th annual function and sports meet of A.S. Modern School was held here on Saturday. Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, M.P., was the chief guest and Mr Anil Sood, president, MC, Machhiwara, presided over the function. A cultural programme was also organised on the occasion.

LUDHIANA
Building inaugurated: The new building of Government Girls High School, Mansooran, was inaugurated by the Punjab Education Minister, Mr Tota Singh, 12 km from here, on Saturday. The minister said separate science blocks for girls and boys would be constructed for rural students so that scientific education could be imparted to them.

PATIALA
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Muhalla Sudhar Committee, Gobind Nagar, Model Town: president — Mr Gurcharan Singh; vice-president — Mr Harbhajan Singh; secretary — Mr Hardeep Singh, joint secretary — Mr Sukhdev Singh; and treasurer — Mr S.K. Singla.

Engineers' association: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Diploma Engineers Association, PWD Public Health, Punjab: president — Mr Paramjit Singh; senior vice-president — Mr Joginder Pal Sharma, general secretary — Mr Satnam Singh Dhanao; financial secretary — Mr Gurdeep Singh; and organising secretary — Mr Ashok Verma.

Water supply union: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (Ministerial and Class IV) Employees Union: chairman — Mr Sukhbir Singh; president — Mr Bal Krishan Sharma; senior vice-president — Mr Mohinder Singh; and general secretary — Mr Vinay Sharma.

Honoured: Mr Vijay Kumar, a teacher of the Government High School, Lachkani, has been honoured with the Vice-President of India's Scout Shield for the year 1998-99. The shield and certificate of honour were presented to him at a function held in New Delhi on December 22, according to a press note issued here on Saturday.

Trainee AEs: The training programme for the 46th batch of trainee assistant engineers of the Punjab State Electricity Board held at the Technical Training Institute concluded here on Saturday. The trainees' administrative member, Mr Baldev Singh Mann, urged them to provide an efficient consumer service.

Executive member: Prof K.B.S. Sodhi of the local GGN Khalsa College has been elected as the member of the executive committee (north zone) at the 44th annual All-India English Teachers Conference held at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. The function was held under the auspices of Indian Association of English Studies.

SANGRUR
Poppy husk seized: The district police has arrested Inderjit Singh, son of Gurdial Singh of Pahir, and seized three bags containing 90 kg of poppy husk from him. Inderjit, disclosed that he used to smuggle poppy husk from outside Punjab and sell it at Khanna and Jagraon for Rs 10,000 per bag.

Book release: The Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), will release a book Sir Sundar Singh Majithia and His Relevance in Sikh Politics by Mr Gurnam Singh Rekhi at Tagore Theatre here on Tuesday at 5.30 p.m. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, will preside over the function.

Gang busted: The police has busted a gang of robbers with the arrest of four of its members here on Saturday. According to Mr B.K. Sinha, SP, they had received an information that four youths staying in a hotel near Rohtak road were planning to loot vehicle owners on the Jind-Rohtak road. Those arrested have been identified as Balwan, Rajesh, Pawan Kumar and Ramesh Kumar. One revolver, two cartridges and two iron rods were recovered from them.

Five suspended: Mr B.K. Sinha, SP, on Saturday suspended five police officials on various charges. He said Om Parkash, Jagli Ram, Mahavir and Daya Nand were suspended for sleeping while on patrol duty and Sat Pal (constable) for drinking during duty hours.

REWARI
Counselling centre: The district Red Cross Society has set up a counselling centre here. The centre was inaugurated by the Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Sumita Mishra Singh, here on Friday. She said complaints made by women would be heard at the centre from 12 noon to 2 p.m. every day and efforts would be made to solve their problems.

BSP ticket sought: A meeting of the Dalit and backward class representatives of Bawal, Tankrirasiwas, Garhi Bolnidharuhera and several other villages was held under the chairmanship of Mr Sohan Lal Khinchhi, a retired government official, at Bawal on Saturday. The representatives have sought BSP ticket for Mr Mahesh Kumar Khinchhi, president, Haryana Parkash Khatik Samaj, from the Bawal (reserved) constituency.

SIRSA
Road accident: Eighteen persons were injured when a bus coming from Budhlada collided with a tractor near Pharmal, 7 km from here. Both drivers along with two others were injured.

Camp organised: The District and Sessions Judge said here on Saturday that a camp was organised on the directives of the High Court to dispose of trivial cases on the spot so that the load on the court and unnecessary confinement of persons could be done away with. The camp chaired by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr B.Diwakar, solved 13 cases on the spot.

SONEPAT
Road accidents: Four persons sustained injuries in two road accidents in various parts of the district on Sunday due to dense fog. The injured persons have been hospitalised and are stated to be in stable condition.

NURPUR
Revenue structure: The Himachal Pradesh Government will bring out an amended structure of the Revenue Department by the end of March 2000. This was disclosed by the HP state Revenue Minister, Mr Rajan Sushant, while inaugurating a shopping complex at Fatehpur in Jawali subdivision on Friday.

Cultural utsav: A seven-day-long National Integration-cum-Cultural Utsav will be organised at Rey village from January 6 to 12. As many as 500 artistes from 15 states will take part in it, according to Mr Bhushan Kumar, club coordinator.

SUNDERNAGAR
Cement plant: Mr Rup Singh, Forest Minister, has advocated setting up of a cement factory at Nalni. He said this while addressing a gathering on Saturday after laying the foundation stone of the office of the Mandi-Saket Truck Operator's Union at Dharnotu. Rs 6 lakh would be spent on the construction of the office.

Ex-servicemen plea: The ex-servicemen of the district have urged the government not to ignore their wards while providing employment to various sections of society. They said recently 45 posts of dentists were advertised of which three were reserved for ex-servicemen. But, only one post was filled. They said that the Chairman of the HP Public Service Commission had failed to protect their interests.

UNA
Playgrounds: The state government has decided to provide playgrounds and better sports facilities to all schools in Himachal Pradesh. This was announced by Mr Praveen Sharma, Minister of State for Sports and Youth Welfare, while inaugurating a three-day sports function at Secondary School, Ripoh Misra, 40 km from here, on Friday.

Bail rejected: Mr J.N. Barowalia, District and Sessions Judge, on Friday rejected bail applications of Karam Chand and Gurbax Singh of Santokgarh village, 18 km from here. They were arrested by the police on November 3 for allegedly raping a mentally retarded woman. The accused have been remanded in judicial custody.