Dharna: Members of the District Bar Association on Friday staged a dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office here. They demanded that Abohar and Balluana should not be excluded from Ferozepore district and transferred to Muktsar district.
Salaries: Resentment prevails among officers and employees working in the marketing section of the Agricultural Department here as they have not been paid salaries since June. In a representation to the Joint Director, Dr Sukhdev Singh Musa, they have sought release of salaries.

GURDASPUR

Murder solved: With the arrest of Ajay Kumar alias Gama on the night of October 20, murder case of Baba Daya Nand Giri priest Mandi Temple here on the Railway Road has been solved. The Baba was killed on the night of September 15 and the accused who was a disciple of the deceased had been missing since the day of murder. Mr Gaurav Yadav, SSP said the accused is a resident of East Mohan Nagar, Amritsar and had left his house about two years ago. Mr Yadav said that during interrogation the accused, said that the Baba used to compel him to sodomise with him. The accused confessed having taken away Rs 45, 000 in cash from the person of the deceased of which the police has recovered Rs 15,000. A case under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered.
Convention: A state-level convention of primary teachers will be held on October 25 at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall, Jalandhar, to urge the government to concede their demands. This was stated by Mr Ajit Singh Babehali, President, Punjab Primary Teachers Association, while talking to reporters here on Friday. He said the proposed replacement of the Primary Directorate by the Elementary Directorate has led to resentment among primary school teachers.
Office-bearers: The following have been elected as office-bearers of the district unit of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: President — Mr SK Sandhu; Vice-President — Mr Jagdish Singh Dhillon; Secretary — Gambheer Inder Singh; Joint Secretary — Mr Yashpal Singh Chheena and Treasurer — Mr S S Koundel.

HOSHIARPUR

Roads' repair: Mr Harmail Singh, Minister for PWD (B&R), Punjab, said that loan of Rs 250 crore for the construction and repair of link and plan roads in the state from HUDCO would be finalised within next 15 days. Bank guarantees and other documents in this regard were furnished to the HUDCO on Thursday. First instalment of loan would be received within a fortnight. He was talking to reporters at the residence of Mr Tikshan Sud local MLA here. He said that the Hoshiarpur-Phagwara road, condition of which was very poor, would be repaired on priority.

JALALABAD

Mishap: A one-year-old child was killed in a mishap near the DSP's Office, Jalalabad. Ajit Kumar of Baje Ki village was riding along with his wife and a child on his scooter. Suddenly he lost the balance and the scooter overturned. The child died on the spot. Mr Ajit Kumar and his wife were injured. They have been admitted to the local Civil Hospital.

LUDHIANA

Student selected: Harmanjit Singh, an M.Sc student of College of Agriculture, PAU has been selected member of the national Bhangra team for visiting Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Muscat. This was disclosed here on Thursday by Dr Pal Singh Sidhu, Dean College of Agriculture. Dr Sidhu added that 12 students of the college had qualified in the junior research fellowship conducted by the ICAR , New Delhi, and 20 students cleared the national eligibility test.

MOGA

Over-charging alleged: The Consumers Association of this district on Thursday at an emergency meeting chaired by its president Rajan Aggarwal expressed resentment against the high-handedness of owners of petrol stations for overcharging both for petrol and mobil oil. The meeting said that they charge Rs 54 for 1.9 litres of petrol and 40 millilitres mobil oil against the actual price of Rs 45. They urged the district authorities to intervene and take action.

PATIALA

Urged: Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha state vice-president Dr Bhai Paramjit Singh urged the Centre to provide simplified bank loans to farmers and introduce crop insurance scheme. Also a team of farm and meteorology experts be set up to study climatic changes.

PHAGWARA

Code of conduct: AICC member and a former Punjab Minister Mr Joginder Singh Mann on Friday alleged that the model code of conduct was being flouted by the ruling SAD-BJP combine in connection with the Adampur bypoll he said the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal was using the state helicopter and state machinery was being misused. He urged the Chief Election Commissioner to take cognisance of this.

SANGRUR

IOC function: A function was organised on the premises of the local Indian Oil Corporation terminal here on Thursday as part of the customer-service month. Mr S J Dube, Manager, presided over the function.
Arrested: The CIA staff, Malerkotla, arrested Sehjad Khan, alias Raju, during a naka bandi and recovered several articles from his possession, according to Mr Arpit Shukla, Senior Superintendent of Police. The recovered articles included a Bajaj Chetak scooter, a tape recorder and a telephone set. A case has been registered.

PANCHKULA

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Haryana Government Text Book Printing Press Workers' Union: president — Mr Yag Ram Sharma; vice-president — Mr Tirlok Chand; general secretary — Mr Rajbir Singh; secretary — Mr Ishwar Singh Yadav; propaganda secretary — Mr Krishan Chand and treasurer — Mr Lal Chand.
Plea: The Citizens' Welfare Association of Panchkula has urged the district administration to fulfil its promise to make operational the cremation ground in Sector 20 here.
Kisan panchayat: A kisan maha panchayat is being organised by Morni Kisan Andolan at Chandrawal Kunj Balag, Morni, on October 25.
Representation: The Panchkula Consumers' Forum in a representation to Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, has urged him to control the rising prices of essential commodities, especially the eatables.

Police failure: The Ganaur police has failed to apprehend the culprits allegedly involved in the murder of Mr Mohinder Singh, a former sarpanch of Ahulana village in the district. According to the police, the culprits have been identified as Anand, Yudhishter, Bijender-all brothers, Suresh and Raj Kumar, all five culprits escaped after the crime. The police has registered a case under Sections 302 and 120 of the IPC. The victim is stated to be an associate of a Haryana Minister.
Bodies recovered: The Rai police recovered the body of an unidentified youth (36) from Qumalpur village and sent it for a postmortem examination. The body bore several injuries of a sharp-edged weapon. A case has been registered. In another case, the police has also recovered the half-burnt body of a 25-year-old youth Jagbir from the jungle of Aterna village and sent it for the postmortem examination. The victim belonged to Shahpaur village and he was reported missing from his house for one week.
Mahapanchayat: The Bharatiya Gramin Anchal Samiti has convened a Mahapanchayat here on October 27 to register protest against the removal of Mr Sahib Singh Verma, from the chief ministership of Delhi. According to a press note release, prominent leaders of all political parties will address the maha panchayat.
Annual convention: A two-day convention of the All-India Sahitya Parishad will be held here on October 24 and 25. According to a press note, the Human Resource Development Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, will inaugurate the convention.

Violation: The Himachal Pradesh Forest Department has taken a serious note of the construction of roads on hills of this district in violation to the provisions of the Himachal Pradesh Forest Conservation Act. Mr R K Kapoor, Conservator of Forests, Chamba circle, said on Friday that the PWD authorities had been flouting the norms of the Act in the past also.

KULU

Recruitment rally: Army branch office will hold an open rally for recruitment in the Indian Army from November 10 to 14 at the Helipad maidan at Holta camp, Palampur. Candidates from Lahaul-Spiti and Mandi districts with necessary documents may be there between 6.30 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. Candidates are also required to bring six passport size photographs and matriculation certificate. Mandi Recruitment office can be contacted for more details.
Disputes settled: Seven out of the 17 disputes were settled at in Prashashan Janta Ke Dwar par at Ghiyagi village under the chairmanship of the subdivisional Magistrate. Remaining 10 items were forwarded to the departments concerned.

SHIMLA

Aid sought: The Himachal Pradesh Forest Minister, Mr Roop Singh Thakur, on Thursday urged the Union Minister of State for Forests and Environment, Mr Suresh Prabhu, to provide Rs 20 crore assistance to complete the survey and forest settlement operations in the state. He also sought an assistance of Rs 2 crore for the rehabilitation of wildlife sanctuaries and nature parks in the state.