AMRITSAR
MEDICAL CAMP: The Daim Ganj branch of the Union Bank of India organised a medical camp here on Friday. The branch manager of the bank in a press note, issued here on Friday said more than 500 patients were examined and medicines distributed free of cost.

CULTURAL PROGRAMME: “Swagat-2000”, a cultural programme, was jointly organised by the Dean, Students’ Welfare, and the Cultural Committee of Guru Nanak Dev University here on Friday. It was organised to welcome freshers of all teaching departments of the university. Dr Bikram Singh Ghuman, Dean, Students’ Welfare, inaugurated it. Dr Harbhajan Singh Soch, Vice-Chancellor, presided. 

APPROVAL GRANTED: The Department of Local Bodies has issued a notification giving its approval to the 220 acre Defence Enclave Colony adjacent to Guru Nanak Dev University. This was stated by Dr Gurnam Singh, president of the Defence Enclave Welfare Association, in a press note issued here on Friday.

MEETING: An informative talk on ‘‘exercise for all’’ was delivered here on Saturday at the Rotary meeting. Dr H.S. Gill, Medical Superintendent, spoke on the benefits of regular exercise.

BATHINDA
CAREER GUIDANCE: Punjab National Bank (PNB) has organised a career guidance camp at the local Police Public School for students of Class X. In a press note issued here on Friday, Mr C.R. Khajuria, Regional Manager, PNB, said Mr Dinesh Vashisht, career counsellor, addressed the students. The information on education loan schemes was also provided.

FEROZEPORE
BRIBERY CASE: The Vigilance Bureau has arrested Tarsem Lal, store keeper, Punjab State Electricity Board, Moga, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 300 from a Junior Engineer of the department. He allegedly took the bribe from Mr Jaswant Singh, posted at Dharamkot, for issuing goods to him from the store.

SEMINAR: As a part of a drive to improve public-police relations, a seminar was held on community policing in the local Police Lines here on Friday. Mr G.S. Pherurai, SSP, urged the people to cooperate with the police.

GURDASPUR
CAMP: A medical camp was organised by the Rotary Club (mid-town) in the Prem Nagar slum area here on Saturday. Mr T.K. Aggarwal, Subdivisional Magistrate, inaugurated it. More than 500 patients were examined and medicines distributed free of cost.

KHANNA
Youth murdered: A youth of Goh village near here was murdered on Friday night. Dilbag singh was shot dead allegedly by Varinder Kumar of the same village over a love affair. A friend of the deceased was also hurt by bullet injuries.

KHARAR
HIGHWAY BLOCKED: Workers of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD) and other parties, led by Mr Rajbir Singh Padiala, Vice-President, SHSAD, sat on dharna on the Kharar-Ropar National Highway, which suspended vehicular traffic for about one and a half hour on Saturday. Mr Maan Singh Manheda, a Bahujan Samaj Party leader, and many other workers participated in the dharna. They were protesting against the non-procurement of paddy by the government due to which farmers were facing a lot of problems. They raised slogans against the Punjab and Central Government. Various speakers criticised the policies of the Punjab government. The dharna was lifted when Mr Devinder Singh, SDM, Kharar, assured them that he would see that paddy was being purchased by the agencies. Mr Rupinder Singh, DSP, Kharar, was also present on this occasion. 

Ludhiana
honoured: As many as 78 teachers of the elementary directorate and the JBT grade were honoured at a state-level convention of the Elementary Teachers’ Union held at Punjabi Bhavan on Saturday. It was proposed in the convention that an elementary directorate be established to continue the promotion channel of the teachers. It was also proposed that several posts lying vacant in the secondary section be filled. 

MOGA
BANNED: Mr Kanwalbir Singh Sidhu, District Magistrate, has banned the sale of crackers near residential areas in the town. Shopkeepers in all major markets have been directed not to stock such material in their shops.

RECOVERED: The police recovered the body of Preminder Kaur, a young girl, of Rode village in the district from a tank on Friday. She allegedly committed suicide. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination.

NAWANSHAHR
RALLY HELD: The district unit of the Democratic Teachers Front organised a rally in front of the office of the District Education Officer here on Thursday to press the state government to release the DA instalment and bonus in cash before Divali.

EYE CAMPS: The District Health Department organised eye check-up camps in schools on World Sight Day in the district on Thursday. The Deputy Commissioner, Dr Roshan Sunkaria, presided over the function organised at the Civil Hospital, Banga. 

PATIALA
DEMANDED: A former Lok Sabha member and senior Congress leader, Mr Gurcharan Singh Dadhahoor, said on Saturday that the Punjab government should take up the matter of restoring the procurement price of paddy to its earlier level . Talking to newsmen here, he said that reduction in the procurement price of paddy was a cruel joke on the farmers of the state. He also demanded that the government agencies should immediately purchase the whole stock of paddy lying in mandis of the state to instial a sense of security in the farmers of the state and save them from economic ruin . He also demanded that the FCI Chairman, Mr Bhure Lal, should be immediately removed from his post for making irresponsible statements. Claiming 80 per cent of the paddy in Punjab was not fit for purchase. He said the Punjab Agricultural University , Ludhiana, had conducted scientific tests which revealed that paddy crop in Punjab this year was better qualitatively than last years’ produce.

CAMP: A free blood pressure and blood sugar check-up camp was organised by the Dedicated Brothers Group, Punjab chapter, at Nehru Park on Friday. Inaugurating the camp Dr Rakesh Vermi, founder president of the group, advised people to go for a blood sugar test in every three month. More than 300 patients got their blood pressure and blood sugar checked by Dr. Vijay Sharma Dr Mandeep Puri and lab technicians, Mr Sunil Sethi and Mr Arun Kumar. Mr Harpreet Singh Sandhu, project incharge, presided over the camp. Mr Labh Singh, co-in charge, Mr Bhupinder Verma, Mr Chaman Lal, Mr Lal Chand, Mr Ramesh Sethi, Mr Raj Kumar Kaushik of the Dedicated Brothers Group also participated in the camp. 

PHAGWARA
ARRESTED: The police has arrested Debi and Naresh of Garhshankar and recovered two motor cycles from them. Mr Satinder Singh, DSP, said the two motor cycles were stolen from Phagwara about four months ago.

SAMRALA
CELEBRATED: The birthday of Rishi Valmiki was celebrated here on Friday. A shobha yatra, lead by the local MLA, Mr Amrik Singh Dhillon, was taken out. Mr Sandeep Hans, SDM, Samrala, appealed to the residents to follow the path shown by Rishi Valmiki. 

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Samrala Taekwondo Club: president — Mr Daljit Singh Shahi; general secretary — Mr Rakesh Kumar Kalyan; senior vice-president — Mr Tarlochan Singh Kang; vice-president — Mr Surinder Kumar; and joint secretary — Mr Bharat Bhushan Bhagi. 

Kalotsava-2000: A cultural fete, Kalotsava 2000 will be organised at Tagore Theater by the Kerala Sastra Kala Manch, on Sunday. The manch aims to provide a platform to about 100 upcoming artists representing different cultural organisations and schools of Chandigarh. The programme is being organised with a view to promote old traditions, arts and culture of the country. The event promises cultural programmes like bhangra, gidha etc. 

RALLY PLANNED: In a general meeting of the Chandigarh Nationalist Congress Party it was decided to hold a mass rally during November, to protest against the ‘wrong policies’ of the Vajpayee government, this was stated by Mr Gurbachan Singh, president of the party. In the meeting a two-minute silence was observed for the death of Mr Mohd Shagbuddin, secretary of the party, who died in an accident. 

CAMP: The 29th eye operation camp being organised by Lions Club Chandigarh Central, was inaugurated at Satsang Bhavan, Sector 26, on Saturday. 300 patients were examined and 55 were found to have cataract. Mr Sanjay Sardana, secretary of the club, said that all those found to have the disease would be operated at Snatan Dharam Mandir, Sector 27, on Sunday. The camp is being organised by Dr Joginder Singh, Director, Health Services, UT, Chandigarh. 

MEETING: The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation Public Health Workers Union, held a meeting near water tank in Sector 4, on Saturday. It was announced that the union will participate in rally on October 19, at matka chowk, Sector 17. This was stated here by Mr Rajinder Katoch, General Secretary of the union. The main demands of the union are: all the employees transferred from Chandigarh Administration to the Corporation be treated as on deputation with the MC, release of bonus before Divali, release of uniform to Class III and IV employees, and regularisation of daily wage workers. 

Mahasmadhi Divas: The working committee of the Shirdi Sai Samaj will celebrate the Mahasmadhi divas of Shirdi Sai Babaji at plot no. 6, Sector 29-A, Chandigarh, on Sunday. The programmes is as follows: Mangal Shan 6.00 a.m. Sathapna Samaroh of Shree Sai Sat Charitar 6.30 a.m. Shree Sai Sat Charitar Path 6.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. Bhajan and Satsang from 6.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. and Vishal Bhandara 9.00 p.m. 

CAMP: The Sewa Bharati organised a neuro therapy free medical check-up camp from October 9 to 14 under the guidance of Dr Lajpat Rai Mehra of Mumbai along with a team of 25 trainee doctors. More than 1000 patients were given treatment at the camp. These services will be available in the evening from 4 to 7 p.m. for six days in a week. 

PANCHKULA 
CRITICISED: The Haryana unit of NSUI has criticised the policy of the State Transport Department of not issuing bus passes to students, who study in evening classes. Mr Yoginder Sharma, spokesman of the union, said that they would meet the Transport Commissioner and the Minister of Transport regarding this issue. 

AMBALA
DEMANDED: A former MLA and state Congress leader, Mr Nirmal Singh, demanded on Saturday that the Food Corporation of India Chairman, Mr Bhure Lal, should step down. Talking to newspersons he stated that if Mr Bhure Lal arrived in Ambala, the farmers would gherao him. “The statements made by the FCI Chairman are not in the interest of the farmers whose paddy is not being procured,” he said. On Tajinder Mann’s issue, he said that they would approach the National Human Rights Commission on the matter. “We are contemplating a state-wide agitation on the issue,” he said. He alleged that false cases were being registered against the emerging leadership. While stating that merit was the only consideration for the selection of constables of Haryana police, he said the same was not the case in the selection of teachers. “A large number of eligible Ambala candidates, who should have been selected for the posts of teachers, were left out,” he claimed. 

COMPETITION: The Inner Wheel Club Ambala organised a rangoli competition here on Saturday at Government Senior Secondary School. Twenty four competitors participated in it. Narinder, Seema and Bhuwan won first, second and third prizes, respectively. The President of the Club, Mrs Babeja, distributed the prizes.