AMRITSAR
GENERAL BODY MEETING: Neuro trauma, its primary management and role of neuro surgeon were discussed at the 4th general body meeting of the Indian Medical Association here on Tuesday. Dr Somil Kansal, a neuro surgeon, said trauma cases were increasing all over the world.

APPOINTED: Baba Sarbjot Singh Bedi, convener of the newly floated Shiromani Akali Dal (Panthic Morcha), has appointed Mr Jasbir Singh ghumman and Baba Chamkaur Singh spokespersons for the party.

HONOURED: Mr Amrik Singh, Senior Executive Engineer of the PSEB, Tarn Taran, was honoured by the Punjab Government at a function organised here on Tuesday. The state Agricultural Minister, Mr Gulzar Singh Ranike, presided over the function.

TELEPHONE COMPLAINTS: Subscribers who have taken leased lines from the BSNL, including 64 kb circuits, VFT circuits, speech circuits and 2 mb streams etc, should lodge their complaints on No. 1918. In case of any difficulty, they might contact Mr K.L. Sharma, DE, on Nos. 212121 and 225550, said Mr Rakesh Kapoor, GMT, here on Tuesday.

BATHINDA
NEPALI EKTA SAMAJ: Mr Mitar Lal Sharma, central adviser, All India Nepali Ekta Samaj, in a press note issued here on Tuesday said as the Nepalis were not the citizens of India, they could not produce the residence or eligibility certificates as required by some state governments. They were not given ration cards in states like Himachal Pradesh which was in violation of an agreement reached between the two countries, he alleged.

WATER PROJECTS: The local Consumer Welfare Council has urged the authorities concerned to start work on water projects so that the residents of Bhai Mati Dass Nagar, and Harbans Nagar on the outskirts of the city on the Bathinda-Mansa road can get potable water. Mr Prem Bhatia, president of the council, in a press note issued here on Tuesday said they had written to the civic authorities to take steps in this regard.

DORAHA
THREE INJURED: Three persons were injured seriously when their scooter got crushed by a bus at the Jarg-Jora bridge road on Friday. Jarnail Singh, Pritam Singh and Taro were going on a scooter when a bus collided with their scooter. The three were admitted to the Civil Hospital, Khanna. A case has been registered against the driver of the bus who is at large.

FARIDKOT
SCHEMES: The Central Government has formulated two schemes for the nursing and rehabilitation of mentally challenged persons in the country. Initially the institutional care scheme will be launched in one district of each state and 20 persons will be treated. This was stated by Ms Jayanti Chandra, a Joint Secretary with the Union Government, at a meeting here on Monday.

FEROZEPORE
LIQUOR SEIZED: A police party led by Inspector Nagor Singh laid a naka near Dodewala village, near Abohar, and seized 48,000 pouches of illicit liquor. A case has been registered.

AWARDED: MJF Lion Kulbhushan Garg, regional chairman, Lions Club, has been awarded International President’s Appreciation Certificate by Mr J. Frank Moore III, International President of Lions Club, at a function held at Samana on Monday.

BOOKED: The police has registered a case against three persons, including a Congress Councillor, Mr Satpal Chowdhry, for allegedly beating up Ramesh Chander Bajaj and forcing him to vacate a house.

HOSHIARPUR
RALLY HELD: Employees of the Municipal Council on Tuesday staged a rally in front of their office in protest against the proposed abolition of octroi by the state government. Mr Kulwant Singh Saini, president of an action committee of the employees, said a state-level rally of municipal employees of Punjab would be held at Chandigarh on August 23 in this connection.

WATER-BORNE DISEASES: About 90 per cent villagers of Tibba village are suffering from water-borne diseases or viral. This was stated by Mr Prem Nath, numberdar of the village. Dr Kiranjit Kaur, Civil Surgeon, said here on Tuesday that chlorine tablets had been distributed among the villagers and all natural water sources had been chlorinated.

JAGRAON
DEMANDED: The local Beopar Mandal on Tuesday asked the Punjab government to abolish octroi within two days else it would be forced to hold a demonstration in front of the Municipal Council office. Mr Amrit Lal Gupta, president of the mandal, said if the government did not accept their demand, they would call for a Jagraon band. Mr B. S. Hans, general secretary, said abolition of octroi would help the traders and boost trade in Punjab. He added that the state government had made a promise in this regard during the last elections.

JALANDHAR
DHARNA HELD: About 24 members of the Punjab Jail Employees Association held a dharna in front of the local Central Jail in protest against the transfers of some jail employees. Mr Raj Kumar Dogra, president of the association, alleged that employees were transferred out of vindictiveness.

KHAMANO
CAR FOUND: The local police has recovered an unclaimed red Maruti car (DNB 5228), with Press written on it, near Nanaksar Rice Mill on Khanna Road.

LUDHIANA
VEDIC LECTURE CONTEST: Sukhjit Singh won the Vedic lecture contest organised by the Ved Parchar Mandal at Sargodha Khalsa High School here on Tuesday. He spoke on Maharishi Dayanand. Amrit Pal Singh, who spoke on “Dharam Yodha Guru Gobind Singh” and Teena who delivered her lecture on “Om, the best name of God”, were adjudged second and third, respectively, in the contest. Other students who delivered lectures included Manjit Singh, Jaspreet Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Avtar Singh and Rajinder Singh. The chief guest on the occasion, Mr Roshan Lal Arya, general secretary, Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, said students must make physical, spiritual and intellectual progress. He said inculcating good values in life was the essence of all religions. Mr S.L.Chugh, Principal of the school and who also presided over the contest, said such contests influenced not only the students but their parents and teachers as well.

BSP RALLY: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo, Mr Kanshi Ram, would address a party rally to be held at Mela Chhapar, near here on September 2. This was stated by Mr D.P. Khosla, vice president of the party, while presiding over a workers’ meeting here on Wednesday. According to Mr Gurdial Chand, secretary, party activists were asked to mobilise masses for participating in the rally and to strengthen its base by propagating the policies and programmes of the BSP. Prominent among those present in the meeting were Mr Om Parkash Chauhan, Mr Abdul Shakoor, Major Pritpal Singh, Mr Bhupinder Singh Jassal, Mr Balwinder Bitta, Mr Surinder Heera, Mr Surinder Chhinda, Mr Ram Singh Gogi, Mr Bharpur Singh Bhura, Mr Amrik Singh Poheer, Mr Bishambar Das and Mr Jarnail Singh.

STAMP VENDORS’ MEETING: A meeting of the Punjab Pradesh Stamp Vendors Union would be held at Tehsil Complex, Jalandhar on Saturday. Giving the information, Mr Arjan Singh Budhiraja, president of the union, said besides discussing general problems being faced by the stamp vendors, the meeting would focus on poor rate of commission and low sale limit.

SAD (B) MEETING: A joint meeting of the activists of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), the Akali Dal Youth Wing and the Sikh Students Federation (Mehta) was held at Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar under the presidentship of Mr Ajit Singh Batra, press secretary, District Akali Jatha (urban) of SAD-(B). The meeting adopted a resolution to express gratitude to the SAD-BJP government, for providing relief to the people by way of reduction in power tariff. Those present in the meeting unanimously urged the party high command to allot party ticket to Mr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Director, Markfed, from Ludhiana Rural constituency and Mr Avtar Singh Makkar, acting president, District Akali Jatha (urban) from Ludhiana West segment. According to Mr Batra, a BSP worker, Mr Gurbaljit Singh, had quit BSP and joined SAD-(B).

SHAGUN SCHEME: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Sandhu, has informed the members of general public that eligible beneficiaries could now apply for availing the benefits of shagun scheme for scheduled caste families, in force from April 1997. In a press note, Mr Sandhu said eligible persons whose daughters were married after April 1997 but for some reason could not apply for Rs 5,100 shagun scheme, could submit their applications to the SDMs concerned by September 30, 2001.

MANSA
BANDH FAILS: A bandh call given by the Punjab Radical Students Union and the Punjab Students Union on Tuesday failed to elicit any response as markets remained opened. Union leaders tried to force shopkeepers to close their shops but in vain. Mr Dilbag Singh Gill, SSP said a criminal case had been registered against union workers for taking law in their hands.

CONVICTED: The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr Harbans Lal, has convicted Gurpreet Singh under Sections 376, 511, 342 and 506, IPC, and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year for attempting rape. However, his father who was charged under Sections 506, IPC, has been acquitted.

NAWANSHAHR
INAUGURATED: Mr Jatinder Singh Kariha, MLA, inaugurated a building of Government Primary School at Sauna village on Tuesday. He also handed over a cheque for Rs 1 lakh to the sarpanch, Mr Mehanga Singh Gill, for the development of the school. Mr Kariha said so far, Rs 8.50 lakh had been given to the village for carrying out various development works.

LINKED: Mr Jagjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chairman, District Literacy Society, in a press note here on Tuesday said the ongoing post-literacy campaign in the district had been linked with self-employment projects. Under the programme as many as 60 sewing training centres had been opened to enable neo-literates to start their own ventures.

RECEIVED: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jagjit Singh, in a press note here on Tuesday said the District Planning and Development Board had received a sum of Rs 412.12 lakh for carrying out various developmental and welfare schemes, Rs 42 lakh under the shagun scheme. Apart from that Rs 20.51 lakh would be spent under the Jawahar Samridhi Yojna and Employment Assurance Scheme, he added.

PROHIBITED: Mr Jagjit Singh, District Magistrate, in an order issued under Cr.PC 1973, has imposed Section 144 in the DC complex here and prohibited political parties, and other organisations from holding dharnas, rallies and protests in the complex. The order will remain in force till November 20.

VANAMAHOTSAVA: The Punjab Youth Social Welfare Organisation, Banga, organised a vanamahotsava programme at Government Senior Secondary School, Mukandpur, about 20 km from here, on Tuesday. Mr Baldev Nayyar, District Chairman (Environment), Lions Club 321-D, inaugurated the programme. As many as 70 saplings were planted.

LOOTED: Two miscreants on a motor cycle looted Rs 1,400 from a liquor vend at Maiopatti village on Monday. They also attacked and injured Karnail Singh, an employee of the vend. A case has been registered under Sections 382 and 323, IPC.

PHAGWARA
INVESTIGATING TEAM: A special investigating team of the Haryana police, headed by Sub Inspector Paras Kumar, on Tuesday visited the town in connection with the murder of Pardeep Singh in Kurukshetra district last month. It questioned a few friends of the deceased.

ASSURED: Agitated parents of Tushar Prashar, a school boy, on Tuesday raised the issue of rash driving on the roads with the local SDM, Mr Amarjit Paul. He assured them that the needful would be done. Tushar died on Monday after his school van rammed into a stationary truck on G.T. Road at the Hoshiarpur crossing.

ROPAR
DIRECTED: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Gurinder Singh Grewal, has directed the officers concerned to settle the complaints presented at the sangat darshan programmes in a time-bound manner. Addressing the district officers during a weekly sangat darshan programme here on Tuesday, he said senior officers should redress the grievances of the people to their satisfaction.

MOBILE LOK ADALATS: The District Legal Services Authority has decided to start mobile lok adalats in the district. Under the scheme, the cases of minor disputes of the rural people will be settled at their doorsteps. This was stated by the District and Sessions Judge-cum-Chairman of the authority, Mr Maghar Khan, after attending a quarterly meeting of the authority on Monday.

VANAMAHOTSAVA: The East chapter of the Bharat Vikas Parishad will launch the third annual project on Vanamahotsava at Government High School, Sector 7-C, on Saturday. Over 50 saplings will be planted. The main feature of the project is that a team of the organisation will visit the school after six months and identify the best-maintained plants and the students who had adopted them. Two prizes will be awarded to the students for the upkeep of the plants. Essay writing competitions will also be organised in two categories, one for students of Classes VI to VIII and second for students of Classes IX and X, said a press note.

ANGANWADI WORKERS: The Anganwadi Mulazam Union of Punjab continued with its agitation against what it described as “illegal removal” of certain anganwadi workers and helpers, for the second day on Wednesday. Hundreds of anganwadi workers assembled outside the office of Director, Social Security, in Sector 17, to register their protest. The president of union, Ms Hargobind Kaur, while taking a serious note of the implication of certain workers in false cases, warned the agitation would be intensified if the demands were not immediately granted.

JAIN SABHA: The S.S. Jain Sabha observed the “sanwastri parv” at the Jain sthanik at Sector 18 here on Wednesday. Speaking on the occasion, Jitendar Muni emphasised the importance of meditation for the uplift of the humanity. The flag was unfurled by Ms Anjana Jain and the function was presided over by Mr B.D. Bansal. A colourful cultural programme was presented by students of Jainandra Gurukul, Panchkula. A former MP, Mr Satya Pal Jain, was the chief guest.

OPTICAL-FIBRE CABLE: Punjab Cyber Net Limited, a wholly owned company of the Reliance Industries, will lay 35 km of optical-fibre cable (OFC) in the city. The company will be laying eight OFC ducts in Chandigarh.

PANCHKULA
BLOOD DONATION: A blood donation camp was organised by the NSS unit of Government College, Sector 1, in collaboration with the Lions Club on the college premises on Wednesday. Inaugurating the camp, the Deputy Commissioner, Ms Jyoti Arora, said it was a moral duty, especially of the youth, to donate blood to save human lives. At the camp, 45 units of blood were collected. The Principal of the college, Mr Bhim Singh Dahiya, and the NSS officer, Mr B.d. Arya, were among others present on the occasion.

AMBALA
EYE TREATMENT: A long-pending need of eye patients is likely to be fulfilled soon with an operating microscope being made available at the local Civil Hospital. The Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, Mr D.D. Gautam, said the equipment was going to cost about Rs 3 lakh and would be useful in cataract operations. Till now, the eye patients could not be operated upon for putting lens and had to go to private medical practitioners. Poor students may contact the Civil Hospital, Ambala City, for free consultation and spectacles, said Mr Gautam.

MICRO-TEACHING: A two-day orientation programme on micro-teaching was held at Sohan Lal DAV College of Education, Ambala City, under the supervision of the college Principal, Dr D.P. Asija. Dr Ajit Singh, Consultant National Open School, highlighted the need for this concept of teaching. He pointed out the shortcomings of the traditional teacher-training programme. Dr K.K. Sharma, the modulator of the orientation programme, spoke about the challenges being faced by in teaching staff and the tensions between global and local requirements.

1 DEAD: A woman was killed in a road accident in Ambala City on Wednesday. According to information, Kuldeep along with his relative Bimla was coming to Ambala City on the Ambala-Chandigarh road on a scooter. As he approached Baldevnagar, a Haryana Roadways bus allegedly hit his scooter. Bimla succumbed to her injuries, while Kuldeep was rushed to the local Civil Hospital. The police has registered a case against the bus driver.

MURDER: A person was allegedly murdered at Varola village on Tuesday night. The police has registered a case against five persons in this regard. According to a police report, the deceased Balbir Singh was working as a servant in a farmer’s house. He was allegedly beaten to death by the farmer and others mercilessly as he had not come back to work on a scheduled date after he went on leave.

BHIWANI
MURDERED: the police has arrested Leela Ram of Charkhi for raping and murdering a married woman Sunita (25) of the same village. He reportedly called the victim to his fields on the pretext of lifting a bag of millet and raped her before throttling her to death. The body of the victim was recovered from the field.

FARIDABAD
LOK ADALATS: As many as 64 cases of the Motor Vehicle Act were settled at a lok adalat held here on Monday. This was stated by Mr Pritam Pal, District and Sessions Judge. About 160 civil cases, 47 criminal, 491 summary and eight other cases were also disposed of. About 114 cases of various nature were also settled at a lok adalat held at Palwal town on the same day, he added.

REVENUE COLLECTION: The eastern wing of the District Excise and Taxation Department deposited an amount of Rs 23.85 crore in July this year. This is about Rs 5 crore higher than the revenue collected last year by the wing headed by a Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner.

JIND
3 ARRESTED: The district police has arrested three armed youths who were planning to loot a liquor vend near Badanpur village in the district. Stating this here on Tuesday, Mr O.P. Singh, Superintendent of Police, added that their three accomplices escaped. Arrested youths were identified as Satbir and Jaiveer of Badhawar village and Passa of Danoda Khurd village. Two countrymade pistols, four cartridges and an iron rod was also seized from them.

SUCCUMBS: A woman of the local of Sharma Nagar who had received burn injuries succumbed to them at the General Hospital on Monday. In another incident, a young girl of the local Housing Board Colony here allegedly made an attempt to commit suicide by consuming a poisonous substance.

KURUKSHETRA
URGED: A meeting of sarpanches and panches of the Pehowa subdivision in the district was held at the government rest house, about 25 km from here, on Monday. They urged upon the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to revoke the suspension of the Block Development and Panchayat Officer, Mr K.C. Ashri.

PANIPAT
ALLOCATED: A sum of Rs 35 crore has been allocated by the 11th Finance Commission to the Public Health Department, Haryana, for strengthening drinking water supply system and laying sewerage in Panipat, Sonepat, Gohana, Jhajjar, Bahadurgarh and Rewari towns. This was stated by the Chief Engineer of Public Health Department, Mr M.G. Munjal.

ROHTAK
DATE EXTENDED: Maharshi Dayanand University has extended the last date of admission for Information Technology programme being run by its Directorate of Distance Education till August 27 with a late fee of Rs 500.

SONEPAT
BEATEN UP: The driver of an auto vehicle was allegedly beaten up in the presence of a large number of people allegedly by Mr Hardeep Singh Doon, DSP (Headquarters), at the Gita Bhavan chowk here on Tuesday. The driver had reportedly hit a rickshaw-puller who fell on the road there.

SUICIDE: A youth reportedly committed suicide by consuming celphos tablets in his house at Kansala village, about 30 km from here, on Tuesday. Differences with his father were said to be the cause of suicide.

CAMPAIGN: The police has launched a campaign to prepare a list of tenants in the city. The step has reportedly been taken after the issuing of an order under Section 144 Cr PC by the authorities concerned.

REHRIS REMOVED: The local Municipal Council during an anti-encroachment campaign got removed rehriwalas from the main bus stand and the railway road on Tuesday.

ACCIDENT: Five persons were injured when a Haryana Roadways bus collided with a car on the G.T. Road near Pio Munyari, about 15 km from here, on Tuesday. The bus reportedly was on its way to Chandigarh and the car was going to Delhi. A case has been registered.

THEFT: Thieves reportedly entered a temple near the main market of Sector 14 here on Tuesday and decamped with idols worth several thousands of rupees.

POWER CUTS: Representatives of various farmers organisations, including the BKU, said here on Wednesday that if there was no rain for one more week and the government failed to make arrangements to provide them water 50 per cent of their crops would be damaged. The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam had given an assurance that the tubewells in the rural areas would be supplied power for 10 hours daily. The farmers, however, complained of frequent power cuts.

YAMUNANAGAR
EFFLUENT DISCHARGE: The Haryana Government has notified that nobody will be allowed to discharge any treated or untreated effluent or sewage into the canal under Section 64 of the Haryana Canal and Drainage Act. This was stated by Mr Rajiv Sharma, Deputy Commissioner. The order would come into force with immediate effect from the date of its publication, he added.

BILASPUR
CRITICISED: The Himachal Congress Legal Cell has criticised the rejection of the state’s claim on power generation tax on hydroelectric projects by the Central Government. The convener of the cell, Mr Lekhram Nadda, said here on Tuesday that hydroelectric projects were “natural resources” of the state.

RESIGN: Led by the panchayat president of the Soldha area, Mr Hariram Sharma, and the panchayat member, Mr Dila Ram, 10 village leaders of the Congress resigned from the party and joined the BJP along with hundreds of their supporters at a public function at Soldha, about 40 km from here, on Monday. A former MLA, Mr Krishan Kumar Kaushal, presided over the function.

HAMIRPUR
MEETING HELD: The district unit of the HP Headmaster Cadre Officers Association has demanded formulation of a rational transfer policy in the Education Department. A resolution to this effect was passed at a meeting of the association held here on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Mr K.S. Chauhan.

SHIMLA
DEMANDED: The state committee of the Democratic Youth Federation of India has condemned the incident in which religious books, musical instruments and some other items of a church at Sainj in Kulu district were burnt by some unidentified culprits. It demanded stern action against the culprits.

STAMP ON SOBHA SINGH: The Union Government has agreed to release a postage stamp in the memory of renowned painter Sardar Sobha Singh. Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Communications Minister, reportedly conveyed this to the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, in a communication received here on Tuesday.