BATHINDA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Tax Bar Association: president — Mr A.K. Mangal; vice president — Mr Sushil; general secretary — Mr Vijay Kumar; and secretary — Mr Shanoo Goyal.

KHAMANO
TRAINING: A two-day rehearsal training of census for the year 2001 was held at the SSS School, Khamano Kalan, under the chairmanship of the SDM, Mr Nirbhai Singh. As many as 189 supervisors and counting agents took part in it. Mr Didar Singh and Mr Babu Singh Chauhan gave information to the trainees about the census. The Deputy Director, Census, was also present on this occasion. 

LUDHIANA
LOK ADALAT: A Lok Adalat to resolve pending labour disputes will be held under the chairmanship of Mr S.K. Aggarwal, Additional District and Sessions Judge and Presiding Officer, Ludhiana Labour Court, in the judicial complex of the mini secretariat here on January 18. Labour Minister Balram Ji Dass Tandon and Mr B.C. Gupta, Secretary, State Labour and Employment, will preside over the occasion. 

SANGAT DARSHAN: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Sandhu, on Thursday asked the complainants to the weekly sangat darshan programme to be present in person in future, otherwise their complaints would not be attended to, according to a press note issued by the District Public Relations Officer here. As many as 40 complaints were put up at today's sangat darshan programme, out of which 27 were decided on the spot, while in other cases officials concerned were directed to investigate and report within a week. A large number of district officials, including heads of various departments, along with the Additional Deputy Commissioner, police and vigilance officers were present at the programme. 

LOHRI: Students and staff of Kundan Vidya Mandir, city branch, celebrated Lohri on on Thursday. In the morning, a big bonfire was lit and a cultural programme organised by tiny tots of KG. The little girls came dressed up in suits and lehngas, while the boys wore Pathani suits with turbans on their heads. They danced on the latest Punjabi numbers like Ik charkha gali de wich dah leya, Chappa chappa charkha chale and Dupatta mera satt ranga da. Boys of the middle section sang Sunder mundariye.

NAWANSHAHR
PROTEST RALLIES: Two factions of the Punjab Subordinate Services Federation, the Barhi group and the Gandhari group, held separate dharnas and rallies in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner here on Wednesday to protest against privatisation. They also submitted their charter of demands to the Deputy Commissioner.

PATIALA
DIRECTORY: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jasbir Singh Bir, on Thursday released the first part of Panchayat Directory (2001) of the district. The directory has been published by the Chardikala group of newspapers and contains important numbers relating to development projects, medical services and those concerning sports activities of panchayats falling in Patiala district.

NURSES: Ms Jiwan Preet Kaur, president of the Punjab Nursing Association, along with other delegates have met Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, at Punjab Bhavan, Chandigarh, and urged him to fulfil demands related to the increase in pay scales, stagnation of income, filling up the vacant posts and to ensure better health services to the masses.

RESEARCH: Dr O.P. Jasuja of the Department of Forensic Science, Punjabi University, has been awarded the certificate of merit and a medal in recognition of excellence in research, for his paper on forensic physics, submitted for assessment to the 88th session of the Indian Science Congress at New Delhi held last week. 

CHHOTI BARADARI: Mr Jaspal Singh has been nominated president of the Chhoti Baradari Association (Main). Other elected members are: chairman — Mr Mohan Singh Sandhu; secretary — Mr Rakesh Gupta; cashier — Mr Satish Kumar; and joint secretary — Mr Deepak Kataria. 

PUTA: The general body meeting of the Punjabi University Teachers Association was held here on Wednesday to discuss the Student Appraisal Scheme that is, being launched by the university. There were heated debates at the meeting. A section of teachers belonging to the United Teachers Front stagged a walkout even as the House authorised the PUTA executive to take appropriate step to see that the scheme was not implemented. Members of the UTF, including Dean Students Welfare Dr Dalbir Singh Dhillon and convener, Dr Hari Singh Boparai, questioned the holding dharna by the PUTA executive on this issue. The UTF members said PUTA should negotiate with the Vice-Chancellor on this and the other issues like stopping of the promotions from the, lecturer grade the reader grade. 

STRIKE: On the fourth day of their strike, medical representatives working in Punjab and Chandigarh, in pursuance of their 27-point charter of demands demonstrated in Sector 17 Plaza, on Thursday. They are demanding recruitment in permanent category, job security, implementation of the SPE Act and its extension to all the field workers of other industries as well. The rally started from the Punjab and Chandigarh Medical and Sales Representatives Union (PCMSRU) office in Sector 20 and culminated at Sector 17 Plaza. Later in a meeting, Mr A Sawhney, president of the union, and Mr Inderjit Singh condemned the liberalisation policies of the government. They also opposed and criticised the recent visit of the WTO chairman to Delhi. They are also demanding scrapping of the Public Sector Companies and amendment of the Indian Patent Act by the Central Government. The union has also asked the Administration to ensure supply of all essential drugs through Super Bazaar and stop the import of hazardous drugs. 

DANCE COMPETITION: City Entertainment Network (CEN) will organise a dance competition Dance Mania-2001 on Saturday at the Tagore Theatre. The competition is open to people in the age group of 5 to 22 years. Mr Gian Chand will be the chief guest. 

MEETING: Lectures on consumerism and health awareness marked the meeting of the Welfare Society of Chandigarh. Brig. K.I. Kumar spoke on consumer awareness, while Col B.R. Paruthi, a dental surgeon, spoke on health related issues. Members of the Elders Forum also attended the meeting. 

DHARNA: The Federation of UT Employees and Workers held a dharna on Wednesday to protest against the government’s, move to privatise public sector units and the Chandigarh Administration’s decision to close down super bazaar. The dharna was in support of the nationwide strike call given by the All-India State Government Employees Federation. Various trade union leaders, including Mr Bhag Mal Rana, general secretary of the federation, Mr Balbir Singh of CITU, Mr Ramesh Kumar Chandolia of UTSSF and Mr Vijay Singh and Mr Gopal Dutt Joshi, address the dharna. They condemned the Central Government for its privatisation move. They said that the government had surrendered before multinational companies, according to a press note. 

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Jagrukta Morcha, Haryana: patron — Mr Raj Kumar Valmiki; president — Mr Naval Kishore Sharma; vice-presidents — Mr Naranga Ram, Mr Achhru Ram and Mr Tasleem; general secretaries — Mr Santosh, Mr Harjot Singh and Dr Ram Parsad Singh; secretaries — Mr Gian Chand, Mr Kali Charan and Mr Parkash; cashier — Mr Raj Kumar; and auditor — Mr Satpal. 

DALIT SENA: The Dalit Sena, Chandigarh, will present a jeep to Mr Mahinder Singh Thakur, a former minister Himachal Pradesh. Members of the sena will collect funds from its workers. According to a press released of the sena, the decision was taken at a meeting of its office-bearers at Mani Majra on Wednesday. 

SOCIETY POLL: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Christian Science Society, Chandigarh: chairman — Prof SK Likhi; first reader — Ms Poonam Likhi; second reader — Ms Sunita Jain; clerk — Ms Poonam Likhi; treasurer — Mr Kishori Lal Chaudhary; and members of the board — Mr Parmod Singla, Mr Rajan Aneja, Mr Kishori Lal Chaudhary and Ms Poonam Likhi. 

FUNCTION: A colourful cultural programme marked the prize distribution function of GSSS, Sector 19-C, held at Tagore Theatre on Wednesday. Children presented folk dances. Play depicting social evils were also presented. About 150 students were given prizes for excellence in academics, sports and co-curricular activities. The District Education Officer, UT, Mr Brahmjit Kalia, was the chief guest. 

PRESS DEMANDS: The Class IV Workers Union of the Education Department, UT, urged all the officers concerned on Wednesday not to overlook the demands of Class IV employees in city schools. These include payment of salaries and uniforms on time. The union threatened an agitation in case it received any complaint from its members in this regard. 

GARMENTS: Ms Madhvi Kataria, DPI (Colleges), distributed woollen garments among 70 students at Government Senior Secondary School, Karsan, on Wednesday. The function was organised by the Karuna Charitable Social Service Society, said Ms Saroj Mittal, Principal, in a press note. 

EXEMPTION: Dr N.S. Khaira, secretary, Punjab Nephrology Society, has expressed concern over imposition of import duty of 35 per cent on the bulk purchase of cyclosporin drug used in kidney transplant. In a press note issue here on Thursday, Dr Khaira said, “Kidney transplants are very costly and imposition of such a duty will put additional burden on the patients.” He has appealed that medicines and equipment related to dialysis and transplantation should be considered as life saving and be exempted from all types of taxes