Abohar
Students honoured: About 14 students of Gopi Chand Arya Mahila College, who had excelled in academics and extra-curricular activities at the university level and six teachers including N Ranade, Sharda Grover, Raj Kumar Ahuja, Shakuntala Middha, Surinder Kaur and Dr Meena Mahajan were honoured by Bharat Vikas Parishad (BVP) during the ‘Guru Vandan, Chhatar Abhinandan,’ NGO spokesman Pardeep Garg informed on Monday. Retired teacher Naurang Lal, advocate Sahib Ram and Sita Ram have been elected as president, secretary and cashier, respectively.

Camp for farmers today: The Punjab Grameen Bank will organise farmers' credit and awareness camp at the village Jandwala Meerasangla on Tuesday, informed APS Brar, branch manager, today. Regional officer Ram Bhagat will distribute loans worth Rs 6.5 crore to the farmers during the mega function being arranged jointly by eight branches of the bank.

Annual Ram Lila: Shri Sanatan Dharam Pracharak Ram Natak Club has geared up preparations for the annual Ram Lila to be started from September 12, press secretary KK Sidana informed today. Ashok Gumber will be the director of the show.

Scouting camp concludes: The five-day third step 'Scouting Camp' concluded at the Government High School at the village Kerakhera on Monday. Headmaster Sushil Kumar Goyal informed that 34 scouts and 14 girl guides participated in the camp. In-charge Bhupinder Utreja said that eight km pedestrian hike was one of the important events while the campers exhorted the villagers to desist from alcohol and drug consumption, female foeticide besides inspiring to send each child to the school and plant one sapling at least.

CHANDIGARH
No discretionary quota for tube well connections: The Chairman, Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), on Monday directed that no tube well connections be issued under “the Chairman’s discretionary quota” till further orders. Giving this information, a spokesman for the PSEB said farmers who had already submitted their applications would be given connections in order of seniority. He said the decision was aimed at facilitating and expediting connections to those who had fulfilled the necessary formalities, including submission of test reports. However, gram panchayats and religious institutions had been exempted from the new orders, he added.

Muktsar
Free check-up camp : The Adesh Cancer and General Hospital (ACGH) will organise a free medical check-up camp at village Chibbranwali, near here, on September 13. Chief administrator Ashish Sukhija disclosed that Dr Anil Thakwani, a renowned oncologist from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will personally attend to the patients. Pathological and ENT tests will be conducted free of cost. The patients, who will attend the camp and decide to have surgeries at the hospital, will be charged 50 per cent less than normal charges. 

NABHA
Seminar on education Act: The Sikhya Vikas Manch organised a seminar on the Education Guarantee Act at Senior Citizens Home here. It was addressed by educationalist Dr Piare Lal Garg, journalist Hamir Singh, Devinder Singh Punia of the Democratic Teachers’ Front, Jagjit Singh Nohra of the Sikhya Vikas Manch, Nachatar Singh from the Dehati Mazdoor Morcha and other trade union leaders. Garg said the Act would promote the privatisation of education and reduce privileges of state governments, as their role was not clear in implementing the Act.

BILASPUR
‘Education top priority’: Education, roads and health and are the subjects to which the government is giving top priority as these are directly connected with the masses. This was stated by Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rikhi Ram Kaundal on Sunday while holding “meet the people” programmes at far off villages of his backward Gehadwin constituency, including Buhaad, Malhote, Jejwin and Bhadoli Kalan. He said under the able leadership of Chief Minister PK Dhumal, the state had succeeded in constructing 1,634 km of roads and 532 villages have been connected with roads during the past one-and-a-half year.

Freedom fighter’s wife dead: Saraswati Devi (90), wife of freedom fighter late Pandit Gopal Dutt Sharma, died after a brief illness in Kanon village near Panjgaain on Sunday. Her funeral at Rambagh on the banks of the Sutlej was largely attended by panchayat representatives, Congress leaders and social organisations who paid their last respects to the departed soul.

JAMMU
Woman robbed  in hospital: A woman patient was robbed off her purse by another woman in Vijaypur Hospital in Samba on Monday. Ailing Renu Devi of Sanura village had gone to the hospital for a medical check up when a woman took advantage of her ailment and snatched the purse. Renu’s brother, who was accompanying her, lodged a complaint with the police. According to the police, the purse contained two gold rings and a gold chain.

Building permission  cases cleared: The Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) cleared 192 cases of building permission in a meeting of Building Operation Controlling Authority (BOCA) held on Monday. According to a statement issued here, the cleared building permission cases would generate revenue of Rs.22 lakh for the corporation. The meeting was attended by the representatives of Town Planning Organisation, Power Development Department, Public Health and Engineering Department, Joint Commissioner (Administration), Joint commissioner (Works) and Senior Town Planner of the Corporation.