GARHSHANKAR
Poppy husk seized: The police here has caught a truck carrying 111 bags (4,440 kg) of poppy husk when it was intercepted at one of its check posts. Gurmukh Singh of Manguwal village and Baljinder Singh of Mahalon village were arrested and a case registered under Sections 15,61 and 85, IPC. Their two accomplices have absconded.

HOSHIARPUR
Gang busted: The police here has claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of thieves when it raided an abandoned alcohol factory near Relhan village, and arrested Kamaljit Singh, alias Doublu, Gurdip Singh and Jambir Singh, all residents of Gulpur, Balachaur. A Maruti car, one 12-bore pistol along with four cartridges, one 38-bore revolver along with four cartridges were recovered from them.

JALANDHAR
Demonstration: LIC employees working at offices under the local division of the corporation held demonstrations to protest against the violation of rules and the criteria regarding promotions and postings by the Senior Divisional Manager here. A rally was also held in front of the local divisional office of the corporation.

Bribe case: The Vigilance Bureau arrested Tilak Raj, Junior Engineer-II of Punjab State Electricity Board, on Friday for allegedly taking bribe. The accused was caught while accepting Rs 1000 from Mr Gurmail Singh of Meripurian Mohalla of Talwandi Chaudharian for making an illegal report regarding his electricity meter. A case under Sections 7, 13 (2) 88, IPC, has been registered.

Meeting: A meeting of the local chapter of Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) was held here on Friday. Dr Kamal Gupta, President, FOGSI, here said a public awareness campaign would be held at various hospitals soon.

MALERKOTLA
Association: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Malerkotla Contractors Association: President — Mr Rahat Hussain; Vice-President — Mr Pawan Bharti; Secretary — Mr Nasim ur Rehman; and Treasurer — Mr Raj Kumar Kapila.

NAWANSHAHR
Section 144: The District Magistrate, Dr Roshan Sunkaria, has imposed Section 144, Cr PC, in the district from August 10 to October 10 and has prohibited the carrying of arms. Persons having licensed arms have been directed to surrender them. This has been done in view of the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Function held: The Adbi Mehak Sahlon organised a function at Banga, 13 km from here, on Thursday to honour Ms Savita Mall, a student of Guru Nanak Public Senior Secondary School, Dhahan, Kaleran, who has topped the merit list for matric examination conducted by the Punjab School Education Board this year. Mr Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Welfare Minister, presided.

Seminar: A district-level students' science seminar was organised here at Government Co-Education Senior Secondary School on Friday. Nanki Navkiran Kaur (JSFH Khalsa High School) Pallavi (Red Rose Public School) and Anita (Adarsh Bal Vidhayala) got first, second and third prizes, respectively.

Pensioners' account: Mr S.R. Nanglu, Treasury Officer, here in a press statement issued here on Saturday stated that for the convenience of pensioners special arrangements had been made to open pensioners' accounts at the State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, United Commercial Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Indian Overseas Bank. The pensions and the arrears would be deposited directly in the bank accounts of pensioners on the 30th of each month.

PATHANKOT
Rotary Club: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Rotary Club here: President — Mr Lakhbir Singh; Secretary — Mr Ashok Sharma; and Treasurer — Mr Kuldeep Malhotra.

PHAGWARA
Telephone service: Telephone services here have been disrupted for the past few days. The increase in the workload because of the rise in number of telephone lines is stated to be the cause of this.

New body: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Sector 43-A Community Development Organisation: Chairman — Mr Amarjit Singh Walia; President — Mr Gian Singh Thind; Senior Vice-President — Mr Rajinder Prasad; Vice-President — Mr Naresh Kumar; General Secretaries — Mr P.K. Puri, Mr Karam Chand and Mr Gurmit Singh; and Finance Secretary — Mr S.D. Saini.

Reading room: The library-cum-reading room at the Sector 7-B Arya Samaj and maintained by Shrimati Kamla Ghai Memorial Charitable Trust will remain open to general public from 9 a.m. to mid-day and again from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.. The library has some useful books and periodicals.

Prayer service: A multi-religious prayer service to pray for peace and stability in the country was organised by the All-India Anglo-Indian Association at St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, here on Friday. The prayer meeting began with an introduction from the Principal, Mr Harold Carver, followed by a sermon from the Bible. Members of the community chanted hymns between the sermons delivered by Pandit Suresh Chimoli from a temple, Bhai Harvinder Singh from a gurdwara, Hafiz Mohammad Tahir from a mosque and Father Prem Anand from a church.

PANCHKULA
Sapling plantation:The ninth battalion of the ITBP on Saturday carried out an environment conservation exercise . About 300 jawans dug pits along the Panchkula-Zirakpur road for sapling plantation. The area for digging was earmarked by the Horticulture Department. Earlier the battalion had undertaken a similar exercise in the Morni villages. The Commandant of the battalion Mr MS Bhurgi , said almost 300 saplings would be planted .

Industrial body: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Barwala Industrial Association: Chairman — Mr SP Verma; President — Mr TR Batra; Vice President — Mr DS Pathania; General Secretary — Mr Vineet Sharma; Finance Secretary — Mr Parveen Sachdeva.

ROHTAK
Cleanliness drive: The district administration has launched a massive cleanliness drive in the town. The garbage is being lifted from all main roads and the sewers have been cleaned to counter the threat of flooding during the ongoing monsoons.

SONEPAT
Protest: The Haryana Cooperative Sugar Mills Engineers and Chemists Association in a press note issued here on Friday urged the Haryana Government to revise the pay scales of the engineers and chemists working at the cooperative sugar mills in the state.

Shot at: Sukhbir, a youth, was shot at by two persons at Jahri village, 5 km from here, on Friday. According to preliminary reports, the culprits waylaid Sukhbir and attacked him. An old enmity was stated to be the cause of the assault. A case has been registered.

Arrested : With the arrest of four persons, the city police on Saturday claimed to have busted a gang of thieves operating here for the past few months. According to the police, stolen property worth several thousands was recovered from them.

Sales tax evasion: The district Excise and Taxation Department here has nabbed 12 shopkeepers who were caught evading sales tax and fined them Rs 1,03,230 for the breach of law. The Food and Supplies Department also inspected 466 shops and fined the defaulters Rs 6,898.