AMRITSAR
ELECTED: Mr Avtar Singh Afat has been reelected president of the Punjab State Pensioners and Senior Citizens Welfare Association for the next two years. Mr Joginder Lal Nanda, chairman of the eleven-member election panel said Mr Kirpal Singh, Mr Jaswant Singh, Mr Sarbjit Singh and Mr G.S. Chhina had been elected presidents of Patti, Tarn Taran, Baba Bakala and Ajnala units, respectively.

BARNALA
ORGANISED: A loan recovery camp was organised by the local branch of the State Bank of India on its premises on Thursday. Rupees 25 lakh were recovered on the spot under the one-time settlement scheme. Mr K.K. Mehra, Deputy General Manager, SBI, zonal office, Chandigarh, presided.

BATHINDA
CEMENT PRICE HIKE: Mr Pawan Kumar, general secretary, MES Builders Association of India, here has alleged that cement manufacturers and companies have created an artificial scarcity of cement and thereby increased the rates of cement. The rate of a cement bag has been increased by as much as Rs 35 per bag, he added.

FEROZEPORE
MEETING: A two-day state-level meeting of the Punjab Subordinate Services Federation will be held in Jalandhar from Saturday. According to a press note issued here by the district president of the federation, Mr Ravinder Luthra, over 500 employees from across the state will attend the meeting, which is being held to formulate strategy to oppose the anti-employee policies of the ruling Akali Dal.

ARRESTED: The Vigilance Bureau has arrested Ajay Kumar, an Inspector in the Industries Department, for accepting a bribe of Rs 500 from an applicant in lieu of a clearance certificate to establish a small factory at Malout. Sources revealed that the accused was arrested on the complaint by Mr Jagjit Singh of Muktsar.

KHARAR
LOK ADALAT: A lok adalat will be organised at Judicial Complex here on Saturday. Mr Justice H.S. Bedi and Mr Justice M.S. Gill of the Punjab and Haryana High Court will participate in this lok adalat.

LUDHIANA
EYE CAMP: The Jan Jyot Sewa Society, Dakha in association with the Eye Bank Mansuran, will organise a free eye check-up and operation camp on December 16 at Dakha village which would be inaugurated by Dr Gurmail Singh Deol. Another free eye operation camp will be held by the Lions Club on December 18 at the Rural Hospital, Mansuran. Dr Ramesh of the Eye Bank, Mansuran will conduct the OPDs and eye operations in both the camps.

POULTRY FORMERS: The scientists of Punjab Agricultural University have given some important suggestions to the poultry farmers in view of the winter season. They have suggested that curtains of the windows should be corrected and the temperature inside the shed should not be allowed to fall below 60 degree F. If the temperature still falls there is need for doubling the curtains. The chicks should be kept warm by giving them heat according to their age. For the first week the temperature should be kept at 95° F and then decreased by 5° F every week according to the season. The newly purchased chicks should be reared away from the layers. The entry of cold wind inside the shed should be avoided. The cereals in poultry ration should be increased 5 to 8 per cent by reducing the rice bran.

BOOKED: After receiving a number of complaints from several residents of the city, the police today finally booked a couple Harish Garg and Neelam Garg on Thursday for allegedly duping the complainant for lakhs of rupees taken by the couple on the pretext of financing car or housing loans. The two have been booked under Sections 420,406,467,468,471 and 120B of the IPC. The cases were registered on the recommendation of the Economic Offences Wing of the police which had investigated the complaints and found them fit for the registration of a case. The police,however, could not meet with much success in arresting the accused. Raids conducted by it at the offices of the Allied Marketing and Auto Finance Company Ltd, the companies being run by the alleged couple. The DSP Mr Satish Malhotra, said the couple had already vanished but the police was confident of nabbing them shortly.

CONTEST: ‘‘If I win Rs 1 crore in Kaun Banega Crorepati, I would be going on a world trip and dine out at the best hotels of Paris, New York and Switzerland,’’ said one student. ‘‘As I celebrate my birthday on moon, I would invite stars and Sun and prepare some mouth-watering dishes for them,’’ said another student. This is how the students from Classes V to VII of Kundan Vidya Mandir let their imagination go wild as they participated in an extempore contest held here on Friday. Four students from each class who participated in the contest had to pick slips and speak for a minute on the given topic. Some of the topics were, When I was scared, If I had a magic wand, It happens only in India, If I was a pop star’ and The best gift I ever received. Samidha of Class VI who spoke on ‘Environment’ bagged the first prize. Sahil Khanna of Class VII who got the topic ‘If I were God’ stood second, while Sapna Soin of Class V whose topic was ‘If I were Shah Rukh Khan’, was declared third. Dr Shuchi Aggarwal, Ms Geeta and Ms Suman Jain pronounced the judgement. Ms Baljinder Kaur, school teacher, compered the contest and the Principal, Ms N. Mannan, gave away the prizes to the students.

SCARED: The owners of various gas agencies of the city are a scared lot due to a series of robberies at gas agencies in the city. The latest incident of robbery which took place yesterday at Raikot was unfortunately fifth in the line where the armed robbers struck and took away a cash of Rs 60,000. The fear has gripped their minds so much that the Ludhiana LPG Distributors Association has written to the Senior Superintendent of Police asking him to take measures to prevent such robberies and provide the agencies with assurance and protection. In their representation to SSP, the association has expressed its fears that it is a common knowledge that there is a considerable amount of money collected with the agencies by the afternoon and is deposited in the banks only the next day. This makes the agencies more at risk during the evenings. Their fears are quite justified as all the robbers struck at all the agencies after 4:30 p.m. Various agencies that suffered the robberies include Nirjag gas, Shivalik Gas, Rachna Gas and Kehar Gas.

RALLY: The Class IV Government Employees Union here held a protest rally in support of its demands on Thursday. Addressing the rally, the Chief Organising Secretary, Mr Kuldeep Singh Kaul, and other leaders demanded that the pending bonus of the last three years be paid immediately. The services of the part-time workers should be regularised, and all allowances should be enhanced. The report of the Anomally Committee should be implemented immediately giving 4-9-14 year promotion scale to the workers. The leaders also demanded action against the culprits who had beaten the workers participating in the peaceful rally on November 21 and 22 here.

TRADERS MEET: The traders meet by the State Bank of India, Chaura Bazar, was organised here on Friday under the presidentship of Mr D.S. Bengali, Deputy General Manager, Zonal Office, Punjab. Mr Bengali explained various schemes offered by the bank like flexi loan, mortgage loan and housing loan. Mr Ashutosh Sharma, Assistant General Manager talked about the instructions of the Reserve Bank of India in regard to the recovery of N.P.A’s. Mr S.C. Wadhera, Chief Manager said that the management has decided to make it a model branch with computers, air conditioners and ATM facility.

MANSA
SWEATERS DISTRIBUTED: Mr Sukhwinder Singh Aulakh, MLA, presided over a function organised by the Parent and Teacher Association of the local Government Senior Secondary School for Boys on Thursday to distribute sweaters, fans and mats to poor students of 72 schools in the district. Mr Aulakh announced a grant of Rs 2 lakh for the construction of a hall and Rs 50,000 for the building of the school.

PATIALA
CHARGE TAKEN: Capt Amarinder Singh, President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, will take charge of the office at Punjab Congress Bhawan in Chandigarh on Saturday. Mr Moti Lal Vohra and Ms Ambika Soni, general secretaries of the AICC, will be present on the occasion. Capt Amarinder Singh will visit Amritsar on Friday to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple and Durgiana Temple, according to a press note of the PPCC.

STRIKE: Officers and employees of public sector, private sector, and foreign and cooperative banks will go on a nationwide strike next Thursday in protest against the decision of the Union Government to dilute its stake in public sector banks from a minimum of 51 per cent to 31 per cent. Addressing a rally of bank employees and officers in front of the State Bank of Patiala head office, Mr N.K. Gaur, general secretary of the Punjab Bank Employees Federation, said the Finance Minister was misleading the nation by stating that to maintain capital adequacy ratio during the next five years, banks would Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 crore of additional capital, which the union leaders said could not be provided out of budgetary allocation because of various financial constraints. The union leaders challenged that there was no need for the government to provide additional capital to public sector banks in case the government amended recovery laws relating to bad debts. They said stringent laws should be enacted for the recovery of bad loans which amounted to Rs 1 lakh crore.

DISTRIBUTED: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jasbir Singh Bir distributed relief in the form of medicines and fruits to the patients who underwent free eye check-up at the four-day camp organised by the District Red Cross Society in collaboration with the District Blindness Control Society which concluded at Rajindera Hospital here on Thursday. Dr Rameshwar Chander, Civil Surgeon, said blindness was increasing by the day. Dr Man Singh Bhatia, Professor and Head of the Eye Department, Rajindera Hospital, said during the eye camp more than 300 patients were examined and 56 patients were operated upon.

EYE CAMP: A free eye operation camp will be organised by Shaheed Bhagat Singh Youth Club at Dhudhan Sadhan village on the Patiala-Pehowa road on Saturday and Sunday. Dr Sukhdeep Singh Boparai of the Patiala Eye Hospital and Laser Centre and his team of doctors will examine the patients. Operations will be performed and intraocular lens implants will be done on deserving patients. The camp will be inaugurated by Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finanace and Planning Minister of Punjab.

SAMRALA
PADDY PAYMENT: There is no lifting of the paddy procured by the officials of the Punjab State Ware Housing Corporation and the Markfed in Khamano Mandi for the past several weeks. More than one lakh bags of paddy are lying in the open and no payment has been made to the arhtias. Mr Ajmer Singh Ranwan, President of BKU Block Khamanon (Lakhowal), talking to mediapersons here on Friday demanded immediate removal of paddy and also demanded immediate payment. He threatened that if their demands were not met , they would start an agitation from December 20.

FUNCTION HELD: In a prize distribution function of Nankana Sahib Senior Secondary School, Kot Gangurai, here, on Friday, Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha presided and Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker, joined as Chief Guest. The Principal, Mr Jaswant Singh Grewal narrated the annual report of the school, while Mr Ajmer Singh Lakhowal , BKU leader, highlighted the achievements of the Nankana Sahib Education Trust, Ludhiana. Mr Garcha and Mr Atwal gave away the prizes.

HONOURED: The renowned player of kabaddi, Mr Balvinder Singh Phiddu, Arjuna awardee, was honoured by the villagers of Kohara, here, on Friday. Mr Paramjeet Singh Garcha welcomed him on behalf of the villagers. The village sarpanch, Mr Bant Singh, awarded him a saropa.

BEREAVED: The president of the local Press Club, Ram Gopal Sofat, was bereaved with the demise of his father Diwan Chand (68) here tonight due to heart attack. Reporters of Samrala, Machhiwara and Khamanon and representatives of political and social organisations joined the funeral procession.

TWO INJURED: Two motor cyclists were seriously injured in an accident on Thursday near Malwa College when the college van hit them. A case has been registered.

SUSPENDED: Mr Mukesh Kangra has been suspended from the post of Shiv Sena Chandigarh Pradesh Pramukh with immediate effect. In a press note of the party, it has been stated that the action has been taken after directions from Mr Balasaheb Thackeray, Shiv Sena chief. The new appointment is likely to be made shortly. In the meantime, party activities will be looked after by Mr Virender Bajaj and Mr Rajender Shrivastva.

AWARDED: Mr Dilbagh Singh, a lecturer (vocational) at Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, has been given the National Award for being the best vocational teacher for 2000. The award was given by the NCERT, through the PSS Central Institute of Vocational Education, Bhopal, at a function held on December 5 at Bhopal.

NSS CAMP: A ten-day NSS camp began at Punjab Engineering College, Sector 12, on Thursday. Mr R. Prakash, Principal of the college, in his inaugural address, stressed on the importance of the individual’s physical, mental and spiritual growth. The volunteers will visit Janta Colony (Naya Gaon) and will also stage street plays.

SEMINAR ORGANISED: A two-day seminar on road safety, being organised by the Western Air Command from Monday at No.12 Wing here, will discuss various aspects like the role of law enforcement agencies, legal aid, provisions of Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal and views of psychologists and doctors. According to a statement issued here on Thursday, the seminar also aims at identifying pitfalls in road safety and to suggest remedial measures. Senior officers, chief administrative officers and assistant provost marshals of various bases under the Western Air Command are participating in the seminar. Modern road safety equipment will also be on display.

CONTEST HELD: The Base Hospital will host the 24th inter-sector first aid and ambulance drill competition from Monday. The aim of this competition, held every year, is to train good “first-aiders”, besides helping in spreading awareness among the troops. The first six winners of competition will be selected for the ITBP team to represent the force in the all-India police duty meet, scheduled to be held at Jamshedpur from January 3 to 7, 2001.

RESCHEDULED: The next meeting of the Chandigarh Eagles, an association of retired EME officers, has been rescheduled to December 15. This was stated by the association’s secretary, Lieut- Col Ravi Bedi (retd), on Thursday.

AMBALA
PENSION ADALAT: The annual railway pension adalat of Ambala division, which was presided over by the Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Mr Ashwini Kapoor, was held here on Friday. The pension adalat, which was organised at the Railway Club near the DRM office, was attended by a number of retired railway employees. Mr Kapoor said the pension adalat had received 74 cases, out of which 40 pertained to Ambala Division and 33 to Delhi Division while one case was withdrawn. He pointed out that in 1998, the pension adalat had received 73 cases. Mr Kapoor said similar pension adalats were being held in all the railway divisions.

RELAXATION SOUGHT: The District Excise and Taxation Ministerial Staff Association, Ambala, has sought grant of relaxation or waiving of age bar of 54 years for promotion from assistants to taxation inspectors or excise inspectors. In a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister of Haryana and to the Chief Secretary of Haryana, the association stated that due to wrong departmental policies, they were often deprived of promotion. The memorandum pointed out that there was no age bar for promotion from assistant to superintendent in any of the departments of the Haryana Government and there was no age bar for promotion from the post of superintendent to establishment officers.

FOUND: The Mohana police on Friday claimed to have found a 15-year-old girl Sunita who was allegedly kidnapped by a youth Dalbir (22) of the same village on November 19. The youth has been arrested.

WORKER INJURED: A worker sustained serious burn injuries when he accidentally touched live electric wires while working in an oil company at Fazilpur village, about 3 km from here, on Thursday. He has been admitted to hospital.

ARRESTED: The Kharkhauda police on Friday arrested Tirlok of Indira Nagar, Meerut, Rajbir Singh of Nabha and Jatinder of Ahulana village, Sonepat, on a charge of smuggling liquor. About 58,000 pouches of liquor worth Rs 10 lakh were seized from them.