AMRITSAR
PAY SCALES: The Punjab Government has increased the pay scales of ayurvedic doctors working in the state from Rs 2130-3700 to Rs 7,220-11,660. Consequently, the ayurvedic doctors have now been placed under the Class A category. This was stated by Dr Manjit Singh and Dr Atamjit Singh, president and general secretary, respectively, of the Punjab Ayurvedic Medical Services Association after they met Dr Baldev Raj Chawla, Minister for Health, Punjab, at the local Circuit House.

BATHINDA
WEEKLY STRIKE: The Bar Association, Phul (Bathinda), on Saturday decided to hold a week-long strike in protest against the decision of the high court to transfer petty criminal cases, to special judges at the district headquarters. This was stated by Mr Charanjeet Singh, president of the association.

RESIDENTS’ PROTEST: Members of the Indira Aavas Colony (Jhuggi-Jhonpri) Association of the city are up in arms against the allegedly false case registered against the residents of the colony and the Municipal Councillor, Mr Balkar Singh. This was stated by Mr Jagga, president of the association, in a press note issued here on Saturday.

GURDASPUR
ARRESTED: The police has arrested Raj Kumar, alias Raju, of Kapurthala who was absconding since February 25, 1997, after the registration of a case of charas smuggling under the NDPS Act. This was stated by Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, on Saturday.

HOSHIARPUR
SENTENCED: Mr L.R. Roozam, District and Sessions Judge, Hoshiarpur, has sentenced Balbir Singh, alias Ladoo, resident of Darapur, to life imprisonment for murdering Gobind Ram in 1998. This was stated by Mr Manninder Singh Multani, Public Prosecutor, on Saturday.

BAG STOLEN: Some miscreants stole a bag containing over Rs 9,000 kept on the cycle of constable Ajit Singh on the Railway road here on Friday. The police has registered a case.

CRUSHED TO DEATH: Jyoti, daughter of Gian Chand of Mahilpur, was crushed to death by a bus (No. PB08H-8382) of the Onkar company, Jalandhar, while she was going to her house on a bicycle on the Phagwara road, Mahilpur, 24 km from here, on Friday. Driver Amrik Singh fled from the scene leaving the bus on the spot. The Mahilpur police has registered a case under Sections 279 and 304 of the IPC.

CONDEMNED: The local Shri Brahmin Sabha, at its meeting held here on Friday under the presidentship of Mr Hari Dutt Kalia, condemned the audio cassette “Bahmani Glass Vargi” recently released by Bagga Safri and Surinder Sapna. In a press statement issued here on Saturday, Mr Gurdial Sharma, general secretary of the sabha, said a song in the cassette contained derogatory remarks against Brahmin women. He demanded an apology from the two and the withdrawal of the cassette from the market.

KHARAR
killed: Mr Santokh Singh died when the cycle he was riding was knocked down by a Maruti car near Bhago Majra village on the Kharar-Morinda road on Sunday. The police has registered a case under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC against the driver of the car (PB-10A-8948). 

LUDHIANA
CONFERENCE: The conference of the Indian Society of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology and national symposium on “Newer perspectives of veterinary pharmacology and toxicology in the improvement of animal health and production: Vision 2020” will be organised in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, PAU, from December 6 to 8. The conference will have presentations and discussions on the various issues related to pharmacology and toxicology. More than 200 delegates from the different parts of the country are expected to participate. Scientists will give direction to field veterinarians regarding judicious and rationale use of drugs under clinical conditions in a workshop on “Clinical pharmacology”, according to Dr A. K. Srivastava, organising secretary of the conference. The main emphasis in the symposium will be to provide cost-effective treatment to the animals by computing the appropriate dosage regimen of drugs. In addition, the toxic and adverse effects of drugs and pesticides in domestic, zoo and wild animals, and environmental pollution will also be discussed.

ORGANISED: The bhog ceremony of Dalbir Singh Dhillon, a noted philanthropist, was held at his native village Boparai Kalan, near here, on Sunday. He died in England on November 22. People from all walks of life, including Dr H.S. Deol, DPI (Colleges) Punjab (retd), Prof Bawa Singh, former Vice-Chairman, Minorities Commission of India, Mr Jagjit Singh Talwandi Chairman PSSI and E, Mr Manjit Singh Gill, president, Governing council., GHG Khalsa college, Gurusarsudhar, Principal M.S. Khattra, Principal Ram Singh Kular, Mr Avtar Singh Purain, member, SGPC, Dr Harbans Singh, Dean, Student Welfare, Guru Nanak Dev University, and Dr Gurmel Singh Deol, Guru Nanak Charitable Trust, Mullanpur, paid homage to the departed soul. His family donated about Rs 10 lakh to various social, religious and educational institutions. 

MALERKOTLA
OVERBRIDGE SOUGHT: Residents of the town are facing inconvenience due to the absence of an overbridge at the local railway station. The residents, especially children, are forced to cross railway tracks to reach platform No. 2 from the main platform. They have demanded that an overbridge be built to connect the two platforms.

PROCESSION: Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) held a silent procession in front of the local Government College on Saturday in protest against the fee hike and withdrawal of free bus service.

NAWANSHAHR
SCHOOL FUNCTION: The local Red Rose Public School organised its annual prize distribution function here on Saturday. Mr Jatinder Singh Kariha, local MLA, presided over the function and gave away prizes to students. This was stated by Mrs Swarn Sikka, Principal of the school.

2 AGENTS HELD: The local police has arrested travel agents Rajinder Kumar Walia and Balbir Singh, residents of Delhi, on the charge of duping Davinder Singh of Kangror village of Rs 3.50 lakh and Harjinder Kaur of Sandhwan village of Rs 1.50 lakh, respectively. This was stated by Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP.

WATER SHORTAGE: Residents of the local Sharda Mohalla have been facing an acute shortage of drinking water due to an erratic supply for the past three days.

PATHANKOT
CHARAS SEIZED: The Sadar police has arrested Ashwani Kumar of Kashmiri Sujanpur Mohalla, Pathankot tehsil, and seized 1 kg of charas from him. A case under Sections 20, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him.

SUPPORT: The city Congress Committee and the local Rotary Club have passed resolutions extending full support to the Pathankot Zila Banao Sungharsh Samiti, whose agitation has entered the 47th day. Four members of the Bar Association sat on dharna in the court complex.

elected: Following have been elected the office-bearers of the Chandigarh unit of the All-India Valmiki Yuvak Sangh: President; Mr Gajendra; Vice-President; Mr Inder Katara alias Rinku, General Secretary — Mr Sameer Sahota and Secretary — Mr Satinder Bidla.

honoured: Mr K.K. Monga, Deputy District Cabinet Secretary and an employee of the State Bank of India, Treasury Branch, has been awarded memento by Lieut-Gen. (Retd.) JFR Jacob, Governor of Punjab, on World AIDS Day celebrations for his outstanding contribution in the field of AIDS awareness.

FATEHABAD
ORDERS: The District Magistrate, Mr Anil Malik, has ordered local panchayats to keep a constant vigil on canals, distributaries and water channels in the district to prevent illegal breach in canals. In his orders issued here on Saturday, Mr Malik said the panchayats would be held responsible for any breach in canals, falling in their territories.

INAUGURATED: Dr Sushil Indora, MP, inaugurated a new block at the local Raghupath dharamshala. Mr Indora announced a grant of Rs 2 lakh for the dharamshala.

HISAR
WORKSHOP: Dr P.S. Lamba, former Vice-Chancellor of Haryana Agricultural University, inaugurated the north zone regional training workshop on soil testing on Friday. Mr Vinay Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of the university, presided over the workshop. Mr Vinay Kumar urged the government to improve soil-testing facilities in the country and appealed to farmers to avoid indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers.

JIND
THREE HELD: The police arrested three persons of Danoda Khurd village on Friday on the charge of abducting and raping a 15-year-old girl of the same village. According to Mr Rajpal Singh, SP, Baldev, Somi, Subhash and Omparkash abducted the girl and took her to Uchana where they kept her in illegal confinement and repeatedly raped her. The girl had been traced and the abductors, except Omparkash, had been arrested, the SP said.

SONEPAT
ELECTROCUTED: Four-year-old Komal was electrocuted at Pritampura village, 15 km from here, on Saturday when she touched a live wire in a field. Villagers alleged that officials of the UHBVN had failed to remove the wire which had fallen in the field a few days ago.

MOLESTATION: A youth reportedly made an attempt to molest a married woman while she was working in a field at Chatia Aulia village, 20 km from here, on Saturday. According to a report, the youth escaped when the woman raised an alarm.

BILASPUR
CLASSES BOYCOTTED: Students of the local Government Postgraduate College boycotted classes and threatened to go on an indefinite strike in protest against the non-acceptance of their long-pending demands. They are demanding that a permanent principal should be appointed, all examinations of postgraduate classes should be held here and postgraduate classes in mathematics and political science should be started immediately.