DORAHA
DHARNA HELD: The non-teaching employees of Guru Nanak National College, Doraha, staged a dharna in front of the Principal’s office on Friday to protest against the non-acceptance of their long-pending demands by the Punjab Government. They threatened to intensify the agitation if their demands, including the implementation of pension-cum-gratuity scheme and release of arrears with effect from January 1, 1996, were not met immediately.

KHALSA HIGH SCHOOL: Students and staff of Khalsa High School, including Ms Naresh Sood, Principal, planted about 200 sap-lings on the school premises and the military area around it on Wednesday. Mr S. K. Goyal and Mr Kulwant Singh, Manager and Deputy Manager of the State Bank of Patiala, respectively, also participated in the function. The gathering on the occasion was asked to plant more and more trees for the restoration of a pollution free environment.

FAIR CONCLUDES: The Gugga Mari fair concluded here on Wednesday. Many Singers, including Sheena and Sharif from Malerkotla and Balbir Kanwal from Goraya, performed at the fair. Villagers from far flung areas visited the ‘mela’ to pay obeisance to the snake God.

REAPPOINTED: Mr Sudarshan Kumar Pappu, president, Nagar Council, Doraha, has been reappointed chairman of the Rama Natak Club. The decision was taken in a meeting held under the presidentship of Mr Chandra Shekhar, at Hindu Dharamshala on Wednesday. Mr Vinod Gupta, secretary of the council, Mr Krishan Lal and Mr Sandeep K. were also present on the occasion.

GURDASPUR
ELECTED: Mr Ajit Singh Babehali, Mr Mohan Singh Dhandhal, Mr Sital Singh Jafarpur, Mr Veer Singh Sultani, Mr Shingara Singh Darapur and Mr Pritam Singh Hardo Bathwala, all of the SAD (Badal), were declared unanimously elected Directors of the Cooperative Marketing-cum-Processing Society.

PADDY PROCUREMENT: All arrangements to procure paddy have been finalised in the district. According to the District Food and Supplies Controller, 118 procurement centres have been opened.

HOSHIARPUR
KANDI RALLY: On the call given by Kandi Sangarsh Committee, inhabitants of the kandi area of the district staged a dharna in front of the office of the Subdivisional Magistrate (Civil) here on Thursday. They also presented a charter of demands to the Chief Minister of Punjab through the SDM in which they demanded inter alia a drought compensation of Rs 5,000 per acre to the farmers of the area, four bags of wheat to each of the non-farmers and starting of construction of second phase of the Kandi canal. Mr Gurmesh Singh, district secretary, CPM, Mr Gurbax Singh, Mr Ganga Singh, Mr Harparkash and Mr Khushi Ram, all farmers and CITU leaders addressed the rally.

KHARAR
JUDICIAL CUSTODY: Mr Roshan Lal Chauhan, Judicial Magistrate, Kharar, remanded Kishori Lal of the Health Department, Punjab, who was arrested by the Vigilance Department, in judicial custody till September 14 on Friday. Mr Jatinderjit Singh Punn, Assistant Public Prosecuter, who appeared in the court said a case has already been registered against the accused under the anti corruption act. 

LUDHIANA
DECISION HAILED: The district unit of the Indian Medical Association has welcomed the gesture of State Health Minister for giving an assurance that an FIR under Section 304 can only be filed after the investigation by a qualified doctor. Dr Gursharan Singh, president of IMA, Ludhiana, in a press note issued on Friday said the Minister had also promised to talk to the DGP on this matter at the earliest. He also asserted that necessary instructions will be provided to the administration regarding the clarification on making medico-legal cases. 

COOKERY CONTEST: Khana Khazana, a television programme, has crossed the 400 episode mark recently. To celebrate the record as the India’s longest running and most popular cookery show, a “Khana Khazana Cookery Contest” will be held in 16 cities across India. In Ludhiana, the contest will be held on September 11 and 12. Chef Sanjiv Kapoor will judge the contest alongwith four local judges. 

ORTHOPAEDIC MEET: Fourteenth quarterly meet of the Ludhiana Orthopaedic Association was held here recently in which Mr M.K. Mann was elected president for the year 2001-2002 and Dr R.S. Sidhu was re-elected general secretary of the association. An academic session was also held in which Dr Parminder Singh, an endocrinologist from DMCH, delivered a lecture on medical management of diabetes in orthopaedic infections. 

KRISHI CARD CAMP: Punjab National Bank, Kum Kalan branch, organised a PNB Krishi Card Distribution Camp at Kum Kalan village here on Thursday. Mr K.I. Singh, Senior Regional Manager, Ludhiana Region, distributed the krishi cards worth Rs 72 lakh to farmers. Mr Vijay Sharma, Senior Manager (Development) said farmers having a minimum irrigated area of one acre were eligible for the scheme. The rate of interest is from 11.5 to 14 per cent per annum, he said. 

NABHA
KRISHI CARD: A krishi card distribution function was organised here by Punjab National Bank, regional office, Chandigarh, on Thursday. Mr Chand Singh, Assistant General Manager, Punjab National Bank, zonal office, Ludhiana, was the chief guest, while Mr N.C. Jain, Senior Regional Manager, Punjab National Bank, Chandigarh, presided .

NAWANSHAHR
DECISION CRITICISED: The Punjab State Cooperative Bank Employees Federation at its central committee meeting under the presidentship of Mr Faqir Singh Sahota, state president, here on Thursday criticised the Board of Directors, Punjab State Cooperative Bank, for passing the resolution no. 5 on August 16, terming it to be anti-employees. The federation has decided to launch a statewide stir from Monday.

PATHANKOT
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Rama Dramatic Club: president — Mr Vinod Saraf; general secretary — Mr Romi Wadhera; secretary — Master Mohan Lal; and treasurer — Mr Shakti Kumar Choudhry.

MEDICAL CAMPS: A medical check-up camp was organised by the Lions Club at Bhadroya. As many as 544 patients were examined and medicines were distributed free of cost. At another camp organised by the Rotary Club, hepatitis-B vaccinations were administered to 108 persons here on Wednesday.

ARMY MEDICAL CAMP: Brig J.S. Grewal of 86 Infantary said on Thursday that the Army would organise a medical camp at Dera Baba Nanak on Monday. It would be inaugurated by Lieut-Gen Surjit Singh, PVSM. The ex-servicemen of the area would also hold a rally on the same day.

LEGAL AID: The District Legal Services Authority, Gurdaspur, held a meeting presided by Mr M.R. Batra, District and Sessions Judge, at which it was decided to extend free legal aid to 41 applicants. Mr Batra said litigants whose income was less than Rs 30,000 per annum, convicts, women, bonded labourers and disabled persons were entitled to the free legal aid. He said seminars on free legal aid and lok adalats would be organised on Monday.

PATIALA
SEMINAR ON FOETICIDE: The dedicated Brothers Group would hold a seminar on Female Foeticide at Prabhat Parwana Trade Centre, Baradari, here on Sunday. The group has invited various social organisations to participates and discuss in order to form some concensus over the issue that is causing concern in day-to-day life. 

CAMP ORGANISED: A two-day first aid, health education and natural calamity prevention camp was organised by Rajpura Hindustan Liver Limited here on Friday in which over 120 workers, engineers, supervisors, drivers and security officers took part. Mr K.C.Vikas, the factory Manager, inaugurated the camp. The training imparted during the programme aimed at guiding the workers about commonly occurring accidents and awareness to prevent the same in order to lead a long and healthy life. The workers were examined by the Medical Officer of the factory, Dr Khurana. The factory management plans to enhance the activity by providing such training and awareness camps in other factories as well for the welfare of the community. 

TARN TARAN
CPM DEPUTATION: A deputation of the CPM under the presidentship of Mr Rattan Singh Randhawa, district secretary of the party, met SSP Jagdish Kumar Mittal on Thursday and demanded the arrest of persons responsible for the murder of party leader Udham Singh at Deenewal village on August 26.

TWO WOUNDED: Two persons, Mohammed Sajid and Mehboob, were wounded in a clash in colony No. 5 on Thursday evening. According to information available, the clash took place over a minor altercation between kids of the injured and the accused. The police has arrested five persons — Uma Shanker, Ramesh, Sunil Kumar, Ram Bali and Rameshwar. A case has been registered against them. 

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Panjab University Field Workers Union: president — Mr Hari Singh Dhiman; senior vice president — Mr Amara; vice president — Mr Surmukh Singh Dhiman; general secretary —Mr Jaspal Singh; secretary — Mr Ram Lout Yadav; and finance secretary — Mr Nek Chand. 

RADIOTHERAPY DEPT: The Radiotherapy Department of the Sector 32 Government Medical College and Hospital is expected to start functioning to its full capacity shortly, with a couple of essential machines for treatment of cancer patients having been added to the existing facilities. The department was earlier functioning partially and was providing only the basic chemotherapy facility to the cancer patients. More complicated cases were being referred to the PGI. The newly-added machines include state-of-the-art cobalt therapy unit and a linear accelerator. A three dimensional simulator is expected to be added soon to its fleet. 

NOMINATED AS FELLOW: Prof P.K.Mittal, the newly-appointed president of the Panjab University Teachers Association, has been nominated as the fellow of Panjab University senate, according to an official press note here on Friday. The former president, Dr Devi Sirohi, had resigned from the post following the recently-concluded elections for PUTA. 

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Panjab University (C’ Class) Staff Association: president — Mr Matbar Singh; vice-president — Mr Nakhroo Ram; general secretary — Mr Angrej Singh; joint secretary — Mr Jaswant Singh; and treasurer — Mr Girdhari Lal. 

DEMANDS DAY: The local branch of the All-India Central Ground Water Board Officers Association observed a Demands Day here on Friday to highlight its grievances. The association is demanding the extension of flexible complimenting scheme to engineers, implementation of recommendations made by the high-level ministerial committees and declaration of central ground water authority as an attached office. 

JAISINGHPUR
JOURNALISTS’ UNION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Jaisinghpur Union of Journalists: president — Mr Sandeep Sharma; vice-president — Mr Brij Mohan Kanthwal; general secretary — Mr Susheel Awasthi; press secretary — Mr Munish Sood; and treasurer — Mr Pushap Raj.

NURPUR
9 STUDENTS HURT: Nine students, including five girls, of the local Government Senior Secondary School got electric shocks as the bus touched a live electric wire. All injured students, who were from Ondh village, were admitted to the local Civil Hospital.