BATHINDA
PENSIONS GIVEN: A camp was organised at the local Awa Basti on Saturday for giving pensions to the aged, widows and the handicapped persons under the social security pension scheme. Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, Science and Technology Minister, Punjab, said every eligible person in the state would be given the pension.

SCHOOL TOILETS: Toilets would soon be constructed in all government schools in the state at a cost of Rs 20,000 per school. This was disclosed by Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, Science and Technology Minister, Punjab, while presiding over a function organised in connection with the upgradation of the government school at Bhagu village on Saturday.

GARHSHANKAR
LICENCES CANCELLED: The Director Food and Supplies Department, Mr G. Vajralingam, inspected the grain markets of Garhshankar, Mahilpur, Saila, Hoshiarpur and Tanda. During the checking, the licences of two commission agents of Garhshankar, one of Saila and one of Mahilpur were cancelled for improper dealings with farmers.

GURDASPUR
CHECK-UP CAMP: Sardari Lal and Santosh Aggarwal Hospital here in collaboration with Escorts Heart Care and Research Centre will organise a heart check up camp on May 13 on the hospital premises here. As many as 200 patients would be treated free of cost on a first come first serve basis.

HOSHIARPUR
SUCCUMBED: Kuldip Kaur of Denowal village succumbed to burn injuries in the local Civil Hospital on Saturday. She had sustained severe injuries when her in-laws, and her husband allegedly tried to burn her for not bringing sufficient dowry. The Garhshankar police has registered a case in this connection and arrested the accused.

CHEMISTS’ STRIKE: Chemists and druggists in the district observed a complete strike on Saturday in response to a call given by the AIOCD and the Punjab Chemists Association. They assembled at the local wholesale market and staged a rally.

EXCESSIVE DRINKING: Gulshan Kumar (32) of the local Mohalla Islamabad died on Friday due to excessive drinking. He was admitted to the local Civil Hospital and later referred to DMC, Ludhiana, where he died.

POPPY HUSK SEIZED: The Mahilpur police has arrested Chhindo, wife of Guljara Singh of Denowal village, and seized 7.5 kg of poppy husk from her.

KHAMANO
MEETING: A meeting of Akali workers of the Khamano area was held in the local office of Nagar Panchayat on Saturday under the chairmanship of senior Youth wing leader Gurpreet Singh Bhatti. Mr Bhatti appealed the sarpanches, club members and mahila mandals to prepare the lists of development projects in their respective villages so that they could be given grants during the sangat darshan of the Chief Minister on Tuesday. He also called a meeting of sarpanches of the Khamano area and other Akali workers on Monday to chalk out a final programme.

KHARAR
6-year-old killed: A six-year-old child was killed while his parents were injured when the scooter on which they were travelling was knocked down by a Maruti car near Daon Majra village on the Kharar-Kurali road on Sunday. According to police Mr Rakesh Kumar of Hoshiarpur district has lodged an FIR with the police that when they were going towards Chandigarh their scooter was knocked by a Maruti car (Ch-01U-3077) and as a result his son died on the spot while he and his wife were injured who have been admitted into the Civil Hospital, Kharar. The police has registered a case under Sections 279/337 and 304A of the IPC against the driver of the car. 

LUDHIANA
CLARIFICATION SOUGHT: The District Congress Committee (Urban), Ludhiana, has asked the local Municipal Corporation to give some clarifications regarding the removal of encroachments along the Budha Nullah. Mr Tirlok Chand Bhagat, vice-president of the party unit, said in a press note on Sunday that the corporation should make it clear as to how long a road it was constructing along the nullah and how many feet of a piece of land it was acquiring along both the sides. He said while hundreds of poor families settled for the past so many years had been uprooted by the corporation, a number of shops and houses belonging to influential persons had been spared from demolition. The width of the road along the nullah which varied from 10 to 20 feet also needed an explanation from the corporation The leader urged the Local Bodies Minister, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, to ensure that poor families living along the nullah are not harassed unnecessarily.

COUNCILLOR COMPLAINS: Mr Om Parkash Angrish, Councillor from Ward Number 50, has come out against the mismanagement of stores looking after sewerage requirements of Zone A/A-2 of the city. Mr Angrish stated that sewerage-related complaints in the area were not being attended to properly for months together. When he inquired into the problem, he was informed by store workers that they had not received any wires and bamboos in the past three months. Moreover, the quality of whatever items they were getting was very inferior, he added. He said the affected zone comprised narrow laned residential area where sewerage blockades were common. The SDO concerned told him that there was not enough staff to oversee the sewerage problems properly. He demanded that every councillor should be given five sewerage cleaners and the items needed by them. If his demands are not met, he would head a delegation of residents to the corporation’s Commissioner to express the collective resentment of the area.

PATIALA
Office-bearers: Mr Sarabjit Singh Toor has been elected as the chairman of the Punjab State Tubewell Corporation (PSTC) Diploma Engineers Association at a meeting held here on Sunday. Mr N.K Garg has been elected as the president and Mr Jaspal Singh Billing has been elected as the general secretary of the association. 

Crash course: The IAS and Allied Services Training Centre of Punjabi University will start a two month crash course for PCS (Judicial) from May 30 for those candidates who will be appearing in this examination to be conducted by the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC). This was disclosed by Dr G.S Bajwa, Director of the centre, who said interested candidates may apply till May 17 and the interviews will be held on May 21. 

Padam remembered: Rich tributes were paid to noted Punjabi writer and Shiromani Sahitkar award winner Prof Piara Singh Padam at his bhog ceremony held here on Sunday. In a message read out by Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, OSD to the Chief Minister, on behalf of Mr Parkash Singh Badal, it was said that Prof Piara Singh Padam enriched Punjabi language with his writings and his death had left a big void as far as Punjabi language and culture were concerned. Mr Badungar said a memorial would be instituted by the government in consultation with the family members of Prof Piara Singh to commemorate the memory of the writer. Dr Madan Lal Hasija, Director of the Punjab Languages Department, assured the gathering that the department would make all out efforts to ensure that the research work started by Prof Piara Singh would not be left incomplete. He added that a special issue of the magazine ‘Punjabi Duniya’ would be dedicated to the memory of the noted writer. 

PHAGWARA
DISTRIBUTED: The local Jan Seva Society on Saturday started distributing milk and fruit free of cost to patients at the local Civil Hospital. The Deputy Commissioner, Kapurthala, Mr V. K. Singh, inaugurated the service, according to a press note issued here.

Appearance day: The local unit of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) celebrated the appearance day of Lord Narsimha Dev, an incarnation of Lord Krishna, here, on Sunday at Hare Krishna Dham, Sector 36-B, with great enthusiasm. Hundreds of devotees thronged the temple on the occasion, according to Bhakt Vinod Dasa Prabhu, president of the local unit of ISKCON. The main attraction of the programmes were Maha Abhishekham of Lord Narsimha Dev at 6 p.m. followed by aarati, kirtan, pravachan and distribution of prasadam (bhandara) at 8.30 p.m. among those present. A discourse on Srimad Bhagvadgita was also held. 

Development fund: The Punjab Government has decided to spend Rs 1 crore on the each assembly segment with a view to complete the ongoing development works, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Punjab Finance Minister said on Sunday. The Finance Minister, who was on a tour of the Morinda Assembly segment along with senior SAD leader, Mr Ujjagar Singh Wadali, informed that the work on the Morinda bypass would begin soon. During his tour, he inaugurated the middle school at Naya Gaon village and upgraded a school at Nadda village. Besides inaugurating an industrial focal point at Mianpur Changer, Capt Kanwaljit Singh also inaugurated the newly-built roads in Mullanpur, Mundho Sodhian and Dhianpur villages.

LOK JAN SHAKTI PARTY: The president of the Lok Jan Shakti Party, Mr Hem Raj, has appointed following as the office-bearers of Ram Darbar unit of the party: president — Mr Hem Raj Jarwal; vice-presidents — Mr Baldev Singh and Mr Jaswant Singh; general secretary — Mr Chaman Lal; office secretary — Mr Sohan Lal; press secretary — Mr Lalta Parshad; and treasurer —Mr Kala Ram.

AMBALA
Annual function: DAV Senior Secondary Public School, Ambala City, celebrated its annual function here on Saturday evening. The Commissioner, Ambala range, Mr Maha Singh, was the chief guest on this occasion while the Director the DAV schools managed by the DAV Management, Ms Sheetal Sharma presided over the function. The students presented a colourful cultural items on this occasion. The Principal, Ms Reena Nagrath, briefed the achievements of the school. The Chairman of the local management committee, Mr Rajinder Nath, was also present on this occasion. 

Buses demanded: The resident of Novelty, Dairy Farm, Babyal and Geeta Nagri areas have demanded that the buses plying on route no. 14 and 15 must complete the route allotted to them. The residents complained that the buses on these routes were not only undertaking excess trips, they are also taking different route, a press note claimed. They have demanded that the RTA officials must take action so that they are not put to inconvenience. 

IT seminar: Informatics Computer Institute organised a seminar of Information Technology in local Army School on Saturday. In the first session, a talk was delivered on “Information Technology — Global Perspectives”. In the second session, various queries of the students relating to information technology were answered. A quiz programme, ‘E-quizline’ was held in which Ishan, Ajay, Ravneet, Tejeshwar and Aseem of senior secondary classes won prizes, a release said. 

BHIWANI
ARRESTED: Three persons have been arrested and a case registered against them under the Essential Commodities Act at Siwani for being in illegal possession of 4,300 litres of kerosene. According to police sources, on interrogation, it was found that the oil was being transported from Rajasthan to Hisar without a licence.

BODY FOUND: The Civil Lines police on Friday found the fermented body of a woman, aged around 40, from the Jui Feeder canal here. The body was sent to the hospital for a post-mortem examination. A case has been registered.

JIND
COURTS VISITED: Mr Justice K.C. Gupta, Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, visited the civil and criminal courts of the sessions division here from May 1 to May 4. He also inspected the district courts here and the subdivisional courts at Narwana and Safidon.

SONEPAT
RECOVERED: The Gohana police has recovered a girl and her paramour following a raid at a house in Jind town, about 60 km from here, on Saturday. The girl was reportedly lured by the youth who is her relative. The police recovered the girl following a complaint lodged by the parents of the girl.

CASE REGISTERED: The Kharkhauda police on Saturday registered two cases of harassment for dowry. According to a report, one case belonged to Mandori village and another related to Sehri village. However, no arrest has been made.

INJURED: An aged man sustained serious injuries when he was hit by a motorcycle on the road between Sector 14 and Sector 15 here on Sunday. According to a report, the injured was immediately hospitalised.

QUAKE VICTIMS: The gram panchayat of Bali Qutabpur village, 16 km from here, handed over a bank draft of Rs 10,500 to Mr Jeet Singh mehra, SDM, Ganaur, on Saturday for the quake-hit victims of Gujarat.