FAZILKA
Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Block Congress Committee (Urban): vice-presidents — Mr H.S. Bedi, Mr Ved Parkash Gupta, Mr Gian Chand Kamboj, Mr Krishan Lal Thakkar, Mr Babu Ram, Mr Ramesh Chander Goklany; general secretaries — Mr Sushil Kumar Periwal, Mr Bishamber Lal Grover, Mr Davinder Kumar Sachdeva, Mr Sandeep Kumar Kataria; and secretaries — Mr Joginder Singh Sachdeva, Mr Jatinder Kumar Gupta, Mr Raman Kumar Papneja, Dr Krishan Lal Sethi, Mr Sukhdeep Singh Pappi, Mr Karnail Singh, Mr Kewal Krishan Gagneja, Mr Rakesh Kumar Khera, Mr Abnash Chander Chugh, and Mr Parveen Bhardwaj.

Office-bearers : The following have been elected office-bearers of the Block Congress Committee (Rural): senior vice-presidents — Mr Kewal Krishan Josan, Mr Kashmira Singh, vice-presidents — Mr Shanti Swarrop Gilhotra, Mr Beg Chand, Mr Desa Singh, Mr Dalip Singh; general secretaries — Mr Sardool Singh, Mr Subhash Chander, Mr Harvinder Khera, Mr Des Raj; secretaries — Mr Vajay Singh, Mr Mohinder Singh, Mr Som Parkash, Mr Subhash Chander; and treasurer — Mr Balkar Chand.

FEROZEPORE
Two arrested: Rakesh Kumar Goyal, SDO of the DOT and Amir Singh a clerk posted at the local Tehsil office were arrested by the Vigilance Bureau staff while allegedly accepting bribes. The accused have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

GARHSHANKAR
Martyr cremated: The body of Naib Subedar Shavinder Singh, of the Sikh Light Infantry, who attained martyrdom while fighting with the Pakistani intruders in Jammu and Kashmir was consigned to flames at Bhattpur Jattan village on Wednesday.

Body found: The body of a 17-year-girl Rekha Rani of Pahlewal village, was found near a school on November 19. It wore wounds inflicted by the sharp edged weapons. The girl was missing since November 18. The police after registering a case has started investigation but no formal arrest has been made so far.

HOSHIARPUR
PYC leader killed: Mr Gurvir Singh Roop, Vice-Chairman of the kisan wing of the Punjab Youth Congress, was killed when the Tata Sumo in which he was travelling collided with a tractor-trailer near Lajwanti Tourist Complex here on Monday. He was going to his native village, Sikri, near Tanda.

Sentenced: The District Sessions Judge, Mr L.R. Roojam, has sentenced Vijay Kumar of Bodal village to a five-year rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000 for raping a minor girl of the same village on October 21, 1996. He was also sentenced to six months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 500 under Section 342 of the IPC.

PHAGWARA
Election authority: Ms Santosh Chaudhry, MP, said here on Wednesday that a five member Congress Election Authority would meet at New Delhi on December 1. The committee to be chaired by Mr Ram Niwas Mirdha would meet the PPCC presidents and its state chairman. The last date of enrolment would be December 31 and the party's organisational polls were likely to be held after Assembly election in Orissa and Bihar.

PHILLAUR
Urged: Punjab Hindu Shiv Sena President Surinder Dogra and General Secretary Pawan Prabhakar have urged Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to release a donation of Rs 1 crore to Shri Durgiana Mandir, as announced by him recently. They also opposed the government's move to impose new taxes.

TARN TARAN
Plea: The residents of Gali Jodhpur Wali here have asked the Municipal Council to repair a manhole in their area which has taken the shape of a well.

Case registered: A case under Sections 427, 447 and 506 IPC has been registered against Pargat Singh, Gurcharan Singh and Dilbag Singh, all residents of Sandhpura village, for allegedly harvesting the standing wheat crop on more than one acre land of Mr Harjinder Singh, a farmer of Bhikhiwind. This information was given on Tuesday by the local district police here.

Theft: Gold ornaments were stolen from the house of Mr Jagir Singh, a local resident, on Monday. The police is investigating the matter.

CME programme: A CME on 'Problems of Adolescent Girls' will be organised by the Obstetrics and Gynaecological Society of Northern India at the Lecture Theatre Complex of PGI on Saturday. Nearly 150 to 200 leading obstetricians and gynaecologists from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh are expected to participate.

Felicitated: At a representative gathering of artistes and writers called by the Punjab Arts Council at the Punjab Kala Bhavan on Monday, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, newly-elected MP, was felicitated by the presentation of the council's memento and the traditional blanket as a sign of honour. The meeting was presided over by the Chairman of the council, Dr Harcharan Singh.

Expelled: The local unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party on Wednesday expelled its Mani Majra unit chief, Mr Mangal Singh, for anti-party activities in the last Lok Sabha elections, according to a statement by Mr Ajit Singh Saini, Secretary of the unit.

Sadbhavna Divas: A cultural programme was held at the Sector 18 Government Girls Senior Secondary School on Wednesday to mark Sadbhavna Divas. Later a rally was held in which 200 students participated.

Contributed: Members of the Sector 42 Citizens Welfare Association on Wednesday contributed shoes, clothes, utensils, rice, blankets and bedsheets for the cyclone victims in Orissa.

SIRSA
Three arrested: Mahel Singh along with his father Balkar Singh and mother Didho Devi of Rattowal village in Rajasthan were arrested on Tuesday on a charge of victimising Ms Sukhvinder Kaur wife of Mahel Singh. Sukhvinder Kaur alleged that the accused were harassing her for bringing insufficient dowry.

Jeep seized: Teja Singh of Panjgarhian village was arrested on a charge of theft on Tuesday. Mr Kameshver Kumar Mishra, SP, said here on Wednesday that the accused Teja Singh with the help of Major Singh had hired two jeeps from Rajasthan and later on forcibly snatched the jeeps from their owners. Major Singh was arrested and both jeeps were recovered.

Admitted: Ms Anku of the local Noheria Bazar was admitted to the Civil Hospital with serious burn injuries on Tuesday. According to sources the defective LPG cylinder in her kitchen had caught fire.

SONEPAT
Shop raided: The city police on Tuesday raided the shop of Kishan Chand in Sector-15 and seized crackers and other explosives which were kept in violation of the orders of the District Magistrate. A case under the Explosives Act has been registered against the shopkeeper.

Pistol seized: The Rai police arrested Raj Kumar, alias Liloo, of Garhi Asadpur village and seized a country-made pistol from his possession on Tuesday. A case under the Indian Arms Act has been registered against the accused.

Gambler held: The city police arrested Raj Kumar, a resident of Shanti Nagar, on a charge of gambling on Tuesday. The police also recovered Rs 350 in cash and other articles from his possession. A case under the Gambling Act has been registered against the accused.

Removal urged: Mr Fateh Singh Singhmar, President of the Samaj Kalyan Maha Sangh, Haryana, on Wednesday urged the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, to remove Mr Arun Shourie, from the Union Cabinet as the remarks made against B.R. Ambedkar in his book had hurt the feelings of Dalits and other backward communities.

PALAMPUR
Fuel wood shortage: There is shortage of charcoal, fuel wood and kerosene in the town. Despite repeated requests, the HP State Forest Corporation has failed to provide these commodities. Most of the HPSFC depots have not received their quota of supplies so far.