AMLOH
GIANI DIT SINGH AWARD: Mr Rajinder Singh and Mr Lal Singh, chairman and general secretary, respectively, of the Pendoo Sahit Sabha, Nandpur Kalaur, in a joint press release issued here on Friday, invited applications from the Punjabi writers, alongwith their latest publications, for Giani Dit Singh Award, which will be conferred at a function to be organised at Nandpur Kalaur on October 28.

MEETING: A joint meeting of the general body of nambardars and chowkidars of Amloh sub-division will be held at Amloh Fort on Saturday at 10 a.m., for electing its office- bearers. This was disclosed by Mr Sohan Lal Abroal, nambardar of Anian village, here on Friday.

BATHINDA
CHEQUES DISTRIBUTED: Mr Gobind Singh Kanjla, Minister, Social Security, Punjab, on Thursday gave away cheques for Rs 1 lakh for a dharmshala at Kotahamir village and Rs 50,000 each for two Dalit dharmshalas of the village. The minister said 44,000 persons were getting pensions and Rs 6 crore had been distributed under various schemes.

MEETING: Mr J.R. Kundal, Secretary, Public Health, chaired a meeting on Thursday to review developments in the sector reforms project. Potable water will be provided to the rural people in Bathinda, Moga and Muktsar districts under this scheme. Mr R. Venkatratnam, Deputy Commissioner, said the Deputy Advisor to the Union Government would visit the area on June 18.

APPOINTED: Mr Inderjit Singh Fauji was appointed secretary of the state unit of the Dalit Sena at a meeting held here on Friday. It was presided over by Mr Kiranjit Singh Gehri, president of the Dalit Sena.

CONVENTION: Mr T.S. Gambhir, General Manager, Bharat Sanchar Nigam , said at a convention on AIDS here on Friday that the nigam would float messages on telephones to create awareness about AIDS. 

GARHSHANKAR
OPIUM SEIZED: The Garhshankar police has arrested Sham Sunder of Paddi Sura Singh village and seized 1 kg of opium from him. A case under the Excise Act has been registered.

COMPLAINTS: Mr Satnam Singh of Kunta village has lodged a complaint with the Mahilpur police stating that an electricity transformer, electricity wire and some material for a tubewell was stolen on the night of June 3. In another complaint, Mr Boota Ram has stated that his wife, five-year-old daughter Kiran and eight-year-old son Rachhpal have been missing from the house since June 8. The police has registered cases.

HOSHIARPUR
ACCIDENT: Meenakshi and her eight-year-old daughter Sirutipal died on the spot while her husband Roshan Lal and driver Joginder Singh were seriously injured when their car, coming from Vaishno Devi, collided with a bus near Motia Oil Mill at Chilang on the Jalandhar-Pathankot road on Wednesday. The injured were admitted to the Civil Hospital, Tanda. The car occupants belonged to Meerut.

MISHAP: Sukhwinder Singh of Allabakash village died on the spot when the tyre of a tractor suddenly burst and hit him at Adda Hajipur, Mukerian, on Wednesday.

UPGRADATION: Mr Mohan Lal, General manager, Telecom, Hoshiarpur, in a press note issued here on Thursday, said the OFC transmission link between the Hoshiarpur main exchange and the JCT Chohal exchange was being upgraded from 8 mb to 34 mb. The JCT Chohal exchange would remain closed for four hours from 11 am on Saturday.

THEFT: On a complaint of Mrs Bakshish Kaur of Thakker village, the Dasuya police has registered a case under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC against Satwinder Singh and Harbhajan Singh of the same village for allegedly stealing gold ornaments and other household articles worth Rs 20,000 from her house.

ARRESTED: The Mahilpur police has arrested Balbir Singh of Mukhu Mazara village and seized 20 bottles of country-made foreign liquor from him on Wednesday.

KAPURTHALA
COMPENSATION: The district has received Rs 18 crore from the Punjab Government for disbursement among farmers of the district for distress sale of their paddy crop. This was stated by Mr Vivek Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner, while presiding over a meeting of district officers held at Yojna Bhavan on Thursday. Cheques would be distributed among the farmers of Kapurthala, Sultanpur Lodhi, Phagwara and Bholath subdivisions from June 19 to July 21, he said.

PADDY PROCUREMENT: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Vivek Aggarwal, has directed officials of the Development Department to make all arrangements within a week for the procurement of paddy during the kharif season. He was presiding over a meeting of officials held at Yojna Bhavan on Thursday. He announced that Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 per acre would be given to the farmers whose wheat crop had been burnt this year.

KHAMANO
PROTEST MARCH: Protesting against the removal of some encroachments by the nagar panchayat and the local administration, the Dalit Kisan Dal took out a procession here on Friday.

LUDHIANA
STREETLIGHTS: Ms Indu Parashar, councillor (Ward No. 49) formally commenced the streetlight work in the Tyre Market here under which sodium vapour lamps would be installed at an estimated cost of Rs 3 lakh. According to shopkeepers, it was for the first time that any area councillor had taken the initiative for laying of roads and providing streetlights in the market. Ms Parashar has further assured that the works relating to water supply and sewerage would also be taken in hand soon. Among others, Mr Karam Chand, president, Mr Ved Parkash Bathla, vice-president, Mr Partap Singh, secretary, of the shopkeepers association.

LANGAR ORGANISED: The SDP Shopkeepers Association organised a ‘langar’ in the market. Mr Rajesh Vaid, president, Lok Jan Shakti Youth Wing, Mr Raju Chopra, president, shopkeepers association, Mr Dhani Ram Kataria, Mr Jagdish Chand Gupta and Mr Hakam Rai were among those, who distributed the langar.

TRAINING COURSE : In view of the implications of the WTO for a strong need of diversification in farming, the Department of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University, organised two-day training course in agro-forestry for the Agricultural Development Officers of the State Department of Agriculture on the PAU campus, which concluded here on Friday. Different aspects of agro-forestry such as nursery raising, plant protection measures, seed management and nutrient cycling, composite wood products and seed sources were discussed with the participants by the experts of the university. While presiding over the concluding session of the course, Dr G.S. Saini, acting head of the department, advised the participants to take keen interest and put the concerted efforts to popularise agro-forestry.

MACHHIWARA
MEETING: A meeting of local unit of SAD will be organised at Gurdwara Charankanwal Sahib, Machhiwara, on June 19 at 4 pm, to prepare for the district-level conference of SAD, scheduled to be held at Gurdwara Alamgir Sahib on July 2. According to circle Jathedar Harjit Singh, the meeting will be presided over by Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, Minister for Technical Education, and Jathedar Daya Singh, district president of SAD (B), would also attend the meeting, he added.

INAUGURATED: In view of the forthcoming assembly elections, the office of the Congress Committee, Machhiwara block, was opened here at the Gurdwara Chubara Sahib road on Thursday. It was inaugurated by a former minister of state, Mr Ishar Singh Meharban, who is also a general secretary of the PPCC. Addressing the Congressmen, Mr Meharban said people from all the sections of society were annoyed with the Badal government for its wrong policies. He added that corruption had reached its peak under the SAD-BJP rule.

STRUGGLE COMMITTEE: The national general secretary of the SAD (A), Mr Charan Singh Lohara, disclosed here on Friday that formation of the Panthak morcha would be announced this week. He added that the morcha would include SAD (A), SHSAD, SAD (democratic), SAD (Panthak) and Sant Samaj, and would field its candidates from all the constituencies in the coming Vidhan Sabha elections. Mr Lohara had come here to preside over a meeting of the struggle committee regarding acquisition of land for Industrial Focal Point on the Kohara-Machhiwara road. He assured the committee that SAD (A) would stand by it on all the issues.

CHICKENPOX CASES ON RISE: Several cases of chickenpox have been reported from this area, in the last few days. A majority of the affected persons are schoolchildren. This is the second time in the past six months when chickenpox has struck badly. In a function held in the Primary Health Centre, Machhiwara, to mark the conclusion of the family health awareness fortnight, all the speakers laid stress on taking the precautionary measures to prevent such dangerous diseases. Apart from chickenpox, people are also afraid of the mad dogs wandering in the town, and hold the health authorities responsible for this menace.

MALERKOTLA
ARRESTED: The Malerkotla police on Friday arrested Jagtar Singh of Sangala village and recovered an illegal .315 bore pistol from him. According to DSP Kulchhinder Singh, he was also involved in a number of crimes in the region. A case under Sections 25, 54, and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered against the accused.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
MEMO TO BSNL: The steel chamber, in a memorandum, has urged the General Manager, Telecommunication Department, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Patiala, to shift the post office at Mandi Gobindgarh to some spacious building in order to provide better accommodation to the staff and to save public from unnecessary inconvenience. Presently, the people have to stand in scorching heat in a long queue for long hours to deposit their telephones bills, etc. Besides, there is no parking place for the vehicles of the customers, which results in traffic chaos. The steel chamber has suggested the BSNL to open a counter in the telephone exchange building for receiving payment of telephone bills till the post office is shifted to some other building.

MOGA
PROFIT NOT PAID: Resentment prevails among members of the Cooperative Society of Mahesari village over the non-payment of the profit earned during the past 67 years by the society. A former president of the Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, Mr Kuldeep Singh Sandhu, on Thursday levelled charges of corruption against the society and urged the district administration to intervene and order a probe into the matter.

PATHANKOT
CHEQUES DISTRIBUTED: The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, distributed cheques worth Rs 2.50 crore to 135 panchayats falling in the Sujanpur constituency during a “sangat darshan” held on Thursday at Sujanpur, 10 km from here. A cheque for Rs 35 lakh was given to the Sujanpur Municipal Council for development works. The Chief Minister also inaugurated a newly constructed building of the Block Development Office.

PATIALA
CONFERENCE POSTPONED: The 29th All-India Conference of Dravidian Linguistics which was scheduled to be held from June 21-23 at Punjabi University here has been postponed. The conference will be organised by the Department of Anthropology Linguistics and Punjabi Language in collaboration with the Dravidian Linguistics Association. Dr Joga Singh, organising secretary of the conference stated in a press note that Dr K.R. Narayanan, President of India, had been invited to inaugurate the conference, but he could not make himself available on these dates.

BHAKTI SATSANG: Acharya Sudhanshu Ji Maharaj will hold a bhakti satsang at the Circus Ground in Sector 17 on Saturday and Sunday. According to a press note, pravachans and, meditation camp will also be held at the Shiv Dham Ashram, Nadha village, near here. The programme is being organised by the Vishwa Jagran Mission. Mr S.K. Gupta, president of the northern region of the mission, said a big pandal was being erected at the Circus Ground for the purpose. 

CHARGE TAKEN: Mr B.C. Gupta, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Hoshiarpur, after being transferred has taken over as Member Secretary of the UT State Legal Services Authority and Judge of the permanent Lok Adalat on June 8, according to the Superintendent of the State Legal Services Authority in a press note here on Thursday. 

SEMINAR: A three-day seminar organised by the ISKCON youth forum at Hare Krishna Dham, Sector 36-B, concluded on Friday. A total of 45 youths participated in the seminar. Lectures were delivered on “Art of mind control”, “Substance and shadow”, “Definition of God”, “Qualification of guru and disciple” and “IYF preaching at a glance”. 

FILM SCREENED: To promote meaningful entertainment, the Chandigarh chapter of People for Animals in association with Walt Disney, organised a special screening of “102 Dalmatians “ at Kiran in Sector 22 here today. About 400 children from various schools viewed the show. About 40 students of Asha School were the special invitees. 

PANCHKULA
ARTIST DEAD: Artist Kewal Sharma passed away on June 9 after a brief illness. In a condolence meeting his son Gobind Sharma said that the paintings made by his father will be displayed in the hall of Ram Mandir, Sector 2 Panchkula on June 17. 

AMBALA
SANITATION: The Ambala City Municipal Council has started a sanitation campaign in different areas of the city. According to the Executive officer of the council, Mr Arvind Kumar, all the drains are being de-silted. The drive has already been conducted at Kumhar Mohalla, Baldev Nagar, Takis Road and the Nahan House area. 

POLICE RECRUITMENT DRIVE: The Superintendent of Police, Mr Sandeep Khirwar, said that a police recruitment drive was going on. He said that physical fitness test of candidates which was slated for Thursday, could not be completed due to inclement weather. He said the candidates whose physical measurement had been completed must report on Monday morning, a release said. 

DEMONSTRATION HELD: Members of the Maxi Cab union on Friday held a demonstration in Ambala City to press for their various demands. They demanded that they should be permitted to park these vehicles near the bus stand and other facilities must also be extended to them. They also demanded that a few officials who had been “wrongly” issuing challans must be brought to book. The union activist, from different districts, stated that they would continue to hold demonstrations till their demands were met. 

FARIDABAD
SUICIDE: A 38-year-old woman, Vineeta, committed suicide on Thursday at her house in Sector 16-A by pouring kerosene on her body and setting herself ablaze. Frequent family quarrels are stated to be the reason for the suicide. On a complaint lodged by her relatives, the police has registered a case under Sections 304-B and 498-A of the IPC and arrested her husband, Dr Sanjeev Saxena, her brother-in-law and her mother-in-law.

MISSING: Sonu, a trader of Palwal, has been missing since Wednesday. His scooter was found abandoned in Faridabad, according to his family. The police is investigating the case and has ruled out the possibility of kidnapping.

FOOD POISONING: Seven members of a family were taken ill due to food poisoning at Palli village, about 10 km from here, on Wednesday. They have been admitted to a local government hospital where the condition of three of them is stated to be serious.

SONEPAT
ATTACK: At least six persons were injured, two of them seriously, when they were attacked with lathis and other sharp-edged weapons by persons belonging to Silana village, about 20 km from here, on Wednesday. The persons had handed over an objectionable letter to a woman which led to the assault. The police has registered a case.

PROMOTED: The Haryana Government has promoted Mr Mahavir Singh, Sub-Inspector and SHO of the Kharkhauda police station to the rank of Inspector and transferred him to Rewari.

SARPANCH: Ms Nirmala Devi, a panch from Ward No 5, has been appointed the officiating Sarpanch of the Pipli panchayat. She took charge on Wednesday.

37 ARRESTED: The Ganaur police on Friday claimed to have arrested 37 persons of Shahpur Tagga village in connection with the clash and burning of wheat crop in 14 acres on May 2 last. According to a report received here, the number of arrests made so far in this connection has risen to 43, including some women.

CASE REGISTERED: The Sadar police has registered a case against Ram Dass Verma, priest of a temple, and his son, Vijay Verma, on the charge of duping a number of persons and stealing gold and other ornaments from the temple and launched a hunt to apprehend them. According to the police, the duo had been living in the temple for the past three years and were doing the work of goldsmith in it.

SUICIDE: Naresh, a milk vendor of Bindrauli village, allegedly committed suicide by consuming celphos tablets in the Mandi area here on Wednesday. The cause of the suicide is not known.

CLASH: Two persons were injured in a clash between two rival groups at Bhatgaon village, about 15 km from here, on Wednesday. According to a report, a dispute over a house is stated to be the main cause of the clash.

PROBE URGED: Residents of Ridhao village on Thursday urged the Deputy Commissioner to order a high-level probe into the alleged partisan attitude of the Sarpanch in the distribution of plots in the village. The residents also handed over a memorandum to the DC on this issue.

ARRESTED: Two persons were arrested by the police on Wednesday in connection with the firing at the owner of a saree shop in the Mandi area. Two other persons involved in the incident are still at large.

GRANT-IN-AID: Mr Krishan Singh Sangwan, a BJP MP, toured 11 villages of the Kailan Assembly constituency on Wednesday and announced grant-in-aid for the development of the village.