BATALA
CHEQUES DISTRIBUTED: Mr Natha Singh Dalam, Public Relations Minister, Punjab, on Saturday distributed 140 cheques for Rs 5,100 each under the Shagun scheme to poor families of the town and its surrounding areas.

FARIDKOT
STONE LAID: Mr A. Venu Prasad, Deputy Commissioner, laid the foundation stone of the Red Cross Senior Citizens’ Home complex here on Friday. Mr Prasad said the construction work would be completed by May 31.

HOSHIARPUR
SHAGUN SCHEME; Mr Sohan Singh Thandal, Minister of State for Civil Supplies, distributed cheques for Rs 5,000 each to 181 persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes under the Shagun scheme at a function organised in Garhshankar, 40 km from here, on Thursday.

OBSERVED: The International Handicapped Day was observed here on Thursday. A function in this regard was organised at the District Employment Exchange office.

PRESENTED: Mr Malkiat Singh, an LIC agent, was presented with a Matiz car by Mr S.P. Bhattacharjee, Senior Divisional Manager of LIC, here on Thursday for his commendable work in boosting the corporation’s business.

JALANDHAR
SEMINAR: The English Department of the local Kanya Mahavidyalaya organised a seminar on “Problems in teaching English” on the college premises here on Friday. Dr Gurupdesh Singh, director, Academic Staff College, Guru Nanak Dev University, and Dr D.R. Vij, former Principal of the Government College of Education, Jalandhar, were among those who spoke at the seminar.

VACANT POSTS: The All-India Blind Employees Association has demanded that the Punjab Government should immediately fill the vacant posts reserved for the blind in various departments.

LUDHIANA
PRICES REVISED: The district administration has revised the rates of ‘A’ class bricks to Rs1,425 per thousand with a view to ensure supply of good quality bricks for development work in villages. The decision was taken at a meeting of officers of the departments of Food and Supplies, PWD, Development, Public Health and representatives of the brick kiln owners association held here on Saturday under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Sandhu. Mr Sandhu informed that the earlier rates of bricks were much lower than the prevailing market rates, which led to brick-kiln owners’ refusal to supply good quality bricks to village panchayats for development projects. Among others, Mr S.R. Kler, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Parveen Vij, District Food and Supplies Controller, Mr Akhtyar Singh, Mr Ashwani Sharma and Mr Ashwani Sood, President and General Secretaries respectively of the brick-kiln owners association attended the meeting. 

CABLE OPERATORS: Cable operators in the city have formed a new body, Ludhiana Cable Operators Association, with Mr Sukhjinder Singh Jaura and Mr Amarpal Singh as its chairman and president respectively. Giving details, Dr Kuldip Singh, general secretary of the newly-formed association, informed that there was a general feeling among cable operators that their problems were increasing and their was nobody to properly represent them or to save them from the dictates of satellite channels. Other office-bearers of the association are Mr Amrit Madan — vice-president; Mr Baldev Raj — Secretary. The next meeting of the association will be held on January 29 at Gurdwara Akalgarh. Others present at the occasion were Mr Balbir Singh, Mr Atul Thapar, Mr Anurag Thapar, Mr Avtar Singh Sunet, Mr Devinder Singh, Mr Gurmit Singh Lucky, Mr Harwinder Singh Bawa, Mr Rajinder Pal Singh Raju and Mr Inderjit Singh.

VALMIKI SABHA: The District Valmiki Sabha, while condemning the murder of a Valmiki youth, Suraj alias Bau, has called upon the police to immediately arrest the accused named in the FIR. A meeting of the Sabha, presided over by Mr Ram Parkash Gill, placed on record, its gratitude to the city people, the shopkeepers, traders, the industrial community, the civic body, the school managing committees and all the dalit bodies in the city for making the ‘bandh’ in protest against the killing, a complete success. 

LIQUOR SEIZED: Nine bottles of liquor were recovered from Devinder Singh of Jaipura village on Saturday. A case has been registered against him under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the IPC. 

MANSA
COMPENSATION: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has ordered the SDO (Telephones), Mansa, and the District Telephone Engineer, Bathinda, to pay a compensation of Rs 20,000 to Mrs Darshna Sharma, Principal of the local S.D. Kanya Mahavidyalaya, following a complaint filed by her regarding excess billing by the Telephone Department. The forum also ordered that the telephone connection of the complainant be restored within seven days.

POPPY HUSK SEIZED: The Joga police and the CIA staff police of the district has arrested Fuman Singh of Akalia village and Jang Singh of Bhupal village and seized 15 quintals of poppy husk from their possession. A case has been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. In another case, the Mansa Sadar police nabbed Ashok Kumar and seized 3 quintals of poppy husk from his possession.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Aggarwal Sabha, Bareta: patron — Mr Om Parkash Khudalwala; president — Mr Janak Raj Kularian; and general secretary — Mr Kulwant Rai Singla.

MOGA
STD OWNERS: The Telecommunications Department has directed all owners of STD and PCO units in the district to immediately install coin-collecting boxes in front of their respective units or face disconnection. This was stated by a spokesman of the department here on Friday.

WEDDING STOPPED: The marriage of 13-year-old Mandip Kaur, daughter of Ravinder Kaur of Chandnawan village under Baghapurana police station in the district, was stopped on Thursday by the intervention of the police. The grandmother of the girl had earlier lodged a complaint with the police stating that the girl was not of marriageable age.

NAWANSHAHR
AWARENESS RALLIES: The local Bhai Ghanaiya Sewa Samiti on Saturday organised rallies in nearby towns, including Balachaur, to create awareness about the polio eradication drive. The Civil Surgeon, Dr R.L. Sharma, flagged off the rallies.

PATIALA
DEATH MOURNED: The National Theatre Arts Society on Friday mourned the death of Shiromani Harman Dass Sehrai and Punjabi Tribune journalist Jagdish Singh Bansal at a condolence meeting held at NTAS Mandir. Mr G.S. Kakkar, president, Jigar Jalandhari, Shiromani Sahitkar, Seth Shyam Lal Gupta, Navyug, Pran Sabharwal and Sunita Sabharwal expressed grief on the death of their old associates.

CONDEMNED: The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) Employees Federation on Friday condemned the lathi charge on and registration of false cases against its employees in Bathinda district. Mr Karamchand Sharma, senior vice-president, Mr Karamchand Bhardwaj, general secretary, Mr Brij Lal, chief organising secretary, Mr Darshan Singh Chahal, vice-president, and others, while condemning the incident alleged that the employees had been demanding their rights in a peaceful manner and had been victimised.

SELECTED: Darshan Singh Aasht, working at Punjabi University Press and a writer for children in Punjabi, has been selected for junior fellowship for two years on the topic Children’s literature in Punjabi, by the Department of Culture, Government of India. The value of the fellowship is Rs 3000 per month. Aasht has written 15 books for children in Punjabi. 

ROPAR
GRAFT CASE: Shamsher Singh, a BSNL lineman, was caught by the police while accepting a bribe of Rs 500 from Mr Mohan Lal, sarpanch of Khaspur near Bharatgarh. The DSP (Vigilance), Mr Malvinder Singh, said the police acted on a complaint filed by the sarpanch that the lineman was not repairing his telephone despite repeated complaints and asking for bribe. A case under Sections 7, 13(2) and 88 of the IPC has been registered.

SAMRALA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Sacha Sauda Arhtiyas Association, Machhiwara: president — Mr Nirmal Singh Nagra; vice-president — Mr Harkesh Nehra; secretary — Mr Sukhdev Singh Kahlon; joint- secretary — Mr Gurjeet Singh Mangat; and treasurer — Mr Narinder Singh Batra.

OPIUM SEIZED: The police arrested Ram Pal of Shahajahanpur district in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday near Shamgarh village, 3 km from here, and seized 2.5 kg of opium from his possession. A case under the Opium Act has been registered.

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY: The Jat Sabha Chandigarh will celebrate Basant Panchmi and the 120th birth anniversary of Deen Bandhu Sir Chhotu Ram, on January 29. The celebrations will be held at the Jat Bhavan, Sector 27. Foundation stone of Sir Chhotu Ram Complex on the Jat Bhavan’s premises will be laid on the day. Meritorious students and outstanding sportsmen will also be honoured on the occasion.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of CIL Employees Recreation Club: president — Mr Rajendra Singh; general secretary — Mr Manmohan Singh; finance secretary — Mr V P Sharma; and chairman sports committee — Mr Deepak Mangal.

EVICTED: The enforcement wing of the Municipal Corporation evicted a khokha in Sector 15 on Friday under the public premises Act. The orders for the same were issued by the SDM (Central), following the Punjab and Haryana High Court directions. The staff took away the angle irons and four tin sheets of the khokha located near the platform area of Sector 15, where there was a rehri market earlier. The person selling readymade garments was allowed to take away his stuff. Despite some opposition, the staff was able to remove the same from there by the evening. The owner, Mr Sarjoo, had earlier lost the case in the High Court. He had filed an appeal in the Apex Court, but had not got stay from there. Sixty routine challans were issued in Sectors 15, 17 and 22 for those encroaching upon municipal land.

PANCHKULA
CRITICISED: The demolition drive in Rajiv and Indira Colonies came in for criticism on Saturday by the Creator Social Organisation of India, with the members demanding compensation for the aggrieved party. The president of the association, Mr Radhey Sham, along with the general secretary, Mr Manish Rampal, and other workers, visited Indira Colony and spoke to the aggrieved residents. He said the colony residents were living there for the past 15 to 20 years and had ration cards, voter identity cards and electricity connections. He alleged that despite promising plots to the residents in 1995, the subsequent governments had failed to make any land available for the purpose though the first instalment had been deposited.

AMBALA
THEFT: A servant of a former Education Minister of Haryana, Mr Phool Chand Mulana, allegedly decamped with around Rs 1 lakh worth of valuables and cash on Thursday evening. Mr Mulana and his family members were not present at their residence at the time of the incident. An FIR has been registered in this regard in the Baldevnagar police station. The incident came to light when the son of Mr Mulana came home. He found that the house was not properly locked and the goods were lying scattered. According to information the servant, Vipul, had been working at Mulana’s residence for the past few months. He belongs to Hisar. A police party has been sent to Hisar in search of the servant.

SIRSA
WOMEN’S CELL: The women’s cell of the district unit of the BJP has been constituted. This was stated on Friday by the district president of the cell, Ms Renu Sharma. She has nominated Ms Asha Jain as the general secretary of the cell.

POLIO CAMPAIGN: About 650 booths have been created in the district for the third and final phase of the pulse polio campaign beginning on Sunday. This was stated here on Friday by the District Civil Surgeon, Dr M.K. Majithia.

TWO HELD: The district police has arrested Sher Singh and his son Gurpal of Salamkhera village in the district on the charge of murdering Gamdur Singh of Pula village in Bathinda district of Punjab on January 16. This was stated by the district police chief on Friday.

SONEPAT
POLLUTION CONTROL: The Haryana State Pollution Control Board has taken a series of measures to check air and water pollution in the industrial sector of the state. This was stated by Mr H.S. Bains, Chairman of the board, while addressing a meeting of industrialists here on Thursday. He asked industrialists to install plants in accordance with the instructions of the state government and the board.

HAULED UP: The Railway checking staff carried out surprise checking on trains at the railway station here on Thursday and apprehended more than 12 passengers travelling without tickets. All ticketless passengers were produced before the Railway Magistrate, who imposed fines on them.

BILASPUR
DHARNA STAGED: Members of the Himachal Government State Teachers Union staged a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner here on Friday and presented two memoranda containing their demands. The demands include allocation of at least 10 per cent of the national budget and 30 per cent of the state budget for education.

ELECTED: Mr Vikram Sharma, a rebel BJP youth leader, was elected Chairman of the Ghumarwin Block Development Committee at Ghumarwin on Friday. He defeated BJP candidate Ramlal Sharma. Ms Savitri Devi of the Himachal Vikas Congress was elected Vice-Chairman of the committee. In the nagar panchayat elections at Talai on Friday, Mr Prithichand and Ms Shakuntla Devi of the Congress were elected president and vice-president, respectively, of the panchayat samiti.

COMMUNITY POLICING: The DIG (Central range), Mr M.L. Negi, inaugurated the community policing for Bilaspur Sadar police station areas here on Friday in the presence of police officers and Deputy Commissioner Jagdish Chander Sharma.

JAWALAMUKHI
ADJOURNED: The president and vice-president of the local nagar panchayat were not elected here on Friday as the three members belonging to the Congress boycotted the elections. In the absence of a quorum, the election was adjourned till January 22.

ELECTED: Mr Gian Prakash Dhiman and Mr Jagmal Singh of the BJP were elected Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson, respectively, of the Pragpur Panchayat Samiti on Friday.

SHIMLA
PROTEST DAY: Members of the Northern Zone Insurance Employees Association on Friday observed the nationalisation day of insurance companies as a protest day against the policy of privatisation. Insurance employees held demonstrations and rallies all over the state. Mr A.C. Chauhan, divisional president of the association, addressed the main rally here.