HOSHIARPUR
Rally: A protest rally was held here by doctors, pharmacists, staff nurses and class-IV employees of the civil hospital, ESI hospital and nearby rural dispensaries of Hoshiarpur on Tuesday against the September 26 incident in which activists of the BJP raised slogans against a medical officer, who was on duty in the emergency ward of the hospital. Addressing the rally, Dr M.L. Puri, Convener, Joint Action Committee, demanded registration of a case against the activists.

JALANDHAR
Conference: The head of the Ophthalmology Department at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Prof Vijay Kumar Dada, presided over an ophthalmological conference, organised by the Ophthalmological Society here on Sunday. He said most cases of blindness come from rural areas while 70 per cent ophthalmologists have their practice in cities. Among those present were the President Ophthalmological Society of Jalandhar, Dr Davinder Singh Sandhu, and the Civil Surgeon, Dr Sunil Batra.

LUDHIANA
Seminar: A seminar on the "Role of Acupuncture and Moxibustion in Medicine" was organised here by Ludhiana Acupuncture Medical College and Dr Kotnis Acupuncture Hospital, Salem Tabri, on Monday. Mr Jiang Meimingm, Cultural Counsellor, Chinese Embassy, inaugurated the seminar. Mr Raja Narinder Singh, Minister of Public Health, Punjab, was the chief guest.

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Ludhiana Electroplaters Association: President — Mr Joginder Kumar; Vice-President — Mr Chabber Singh; Secretary — Mr Manmohan Singh; Joint Secretary — Mr Ramesh Sachdeva; and Cashier — Mr Sukhdev Raj Sethi.

NAWANSHAHR
Paddy procurement: Mr Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Welfare Minister, along with the Deputy Commissioner, Dr Roshan Sunkaria, and several others visited the various mandis of the district on Monday to oversee the procurement of paddy and hear the grievances of farmers. He asked the officials engaged in the purchasing to ensure all facilities to farmers. Up to Sunday 3,7043 metric tonne of paddy had been purchased in the various mandis of the district, he said.

PATIALA
Pensioners plea: The Punjabi University Pensioners and Retired Employees Welfare Association has demanded disbursement of pension on the first day of every month. A meeting of the association, held here on Monday in this regard, demanded inclusion of names and telephone numbers of the pensioners in the Punjabi University telephone directory.

Seminar: A seminar on traffic awareness was organised jointly by the district police and the Red Cross Society at Police Lines here on Saturday. Dr Asa Singh, Director, Red Cross Drug de-addiction Centre, said 80 per cent accidents were caused by alcoholic or drug consuming drivers. Mr Rachpal Singh, DSP, Traffic, said all policemen would shortly be trained in first aid administration.

Eye camp: As many as 850 patients were examined and 93 operated upon at a free eye operation camp, organised by the Amar Singh Kamboj Charitable Trust, Bhai Ghaniya Ji Foundation and Guru Arjun Kirtan Mandir at Amar Ashram here on Sunday.

Conference: The 11th Patiala FOGSI conference of obstetrics and gynaecology has called upon doctors to adopt a rational approach while using futuristic techniques. Stressing on the subject at the conference, which concluded on Sunday, Dr Monica Varma, Secretary, Patiala Obstectrics and Gynaecology Society, said assisted reproduction was on the verge of disturbing nature’s balance.

SANGRUR
One held: With the arrest of Nirmal Singh, a resident of Uppli village, near here, the police claims to have solved the murder case of Ram Surat Verma, who was murdered on September 23. According to Mr Arpit Shukla, SSP, he had confessed the crime.

Function: The local Lions Club (Greater) organised a function at Guru Arjan Dev Kusht Ashram here on Monday and shared food with the inmates of the ashram as a gesture of goodwill, according to Mr Mukesh Sharma, PRO of the club.

Youth club: The following have been elected the office-bearers of the 21st Century Youth Club: Chairman — Thakur Bahadur Singh; President — Mr Amit Kumar; Vice-President — Mr Avtar Singh; General Secretary — Mr Sukhjeevan Sharma; Secretary — Mr Pawan Kumar; and Treasurer — Mr Ravinder Singh.

Club formed: Officials of Markfed have formed a club for organising social, cultural, literary and sport activities. The following are its office-bearers: Patron-in-Chief — Mr G.S. Sandhu; Patron — Mr K.S. Saroj; President — Mr K.S. Goraya.

Office-bearers: The following have been elected the office-bearers of the Lord Murugan Bhakta Samaj, Sector 31-D: President — Mr A. Sivalingam; Vice-President — Mr N.R. Venkataramani; Secretary — Mr V.R. Kalaiselvan; Joint Secretary — Mr G. Veerapathiran; Treasurer — Mr M.V. Ravindran; and Joint Treasurer — Mr M. Ramalingam.

Plaza carnival: The plaza carnival will commence on October 9 at the Sector 17 plaza and continue up to May, 2000. The opening show will be a Punjabi musical evening with Manpreet Akhtar and her group from Sangrur. At the artists' corner, Prof Prem Singh will demonstrate his art of painting. Students of the Government College of art will sketch portraits of the public.

NSS camp: A 10-day NSS camp organised by the Sector 46 Government Model Senior Secondary School concluded at Faidan village, near here, on Tuesday. The objective of the camp was to provide cleanliness in the village and create awareness among people about AIDS and pulse polio, according to Mr R.S. Goraya, principal of the school.

PANCHKULA
IMA: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Indian Medical Association, Panchkula branch, for the year 1999-2000: President — Dr D.S. Verma; Secretary — Dr Rajiv Arya; and Treasurer — Dr Lalit Kaushal.

KURUKSHETRA
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Kurukshetra Cycling and Biking Olympic Club: president - Mr Ajmer Singh Pabla; senior vice-president - Mr D.R. Sharma; vice-presidents - Mr Ashok Saini and Mr Sarwan Singh; general secretary - Mr Gurdeep Singh Saini; joint secretary - Mr Balwant Singh; and treasurer - Mr Jagir Singh.

PANIPAT
Polio drive: The district administration has made elaborate arrangements for the success of the pulse polio programme in Panipat district. Stating this the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anurag Rastogi, said more than 1.23 lakh children in the age group of 0-5 years would be administered a polio dose on October 24 in the district. He further said as many as 441 teams had been constituted. Out of these 321 teams would be pressed into service in the rural areas and 120 teams in the urban areas.

ROHTAK
Zila Parishad: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Arun Kumar, on Monday administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr Dharampal Makrauliwala, the newly-elected Chairman of the Zila Parishad. Mr Makrauliwala was elected Chairman on August 31 by securing the support of 20 members out of a total of 28 members in the Zila Parishad.

Federation: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district unit of the Himachal Pradesh Public Relation Non-gazetted Employees Federation: patron - Mr Suresh Katoch; president - Mr Manoj Sood, senior vice-president - Mr Sunil Sood; vice-president - Mr Suman Kumar; general secretary - Mr Karnail Rana; joint secretaries - Mr Rajender Sharma and Mr Hem Raj; organising secretary - Mr Udam Singh; treasurer- Mr Subhash Katoch; and press secretary - Mr Satesh Kumar.