Office opened: In order to implement the Chit Fund Act, 1982, the district administration has opened an office at the local Zila Parishad building. The Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), Mr Alok Shekhar, has been appointed as Joint Registrar.

FAZILKA
1 killed: Jagir Singh (30), a local resident, was killed in an accident on Tuesday near Panjeki village, 40 km from here. He was travelling in a jeep which skidded off the road when trying to cross a truck coming from the opposite direction.

GARHSHANKAR
Inaugurated: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr I.S. Sidhu, inaugurated a model aganwari of the Child and Women Welfare Department at Maili village. He said water shortage problem in the area would be solved shortly.

KAPURTHALA
Ban: In order to check the traffic congestion, the District Magistrate, Mr V.K. Singh, has banned the plying of trucks, tractor-trailers, carts and other heavy vehicles from bus stand to octroi post, Amritsari. The orders will remain in force till January 31.

Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Jagatjit Club: vice-president — Mr Naresh Kumar Anand; secretary — Mr Sohan Lal Kalia; joint secretary — Captain Vipan Sharma; and auditor — Mr Ramesh Kumar. However, Mr V.K. Singh, Deputy Commissioner, is the ex-officio president of the club.

LUDHIANA
Elected: Mr Darshan Singh, president, District Treasury Employees Association, has been unanimously elected the general secretary of the Punjab State Treasury Employees Association.

Front: The following have been elected office-bearers of the PAU Employees United Front: chairman — Mr Avtar Singh Deol; secretary — Mr J.R. Bansal; chief organiser — Mr Avinash Sharma; and treasurer — Mr R.S. Arora.

Blood donation camp: As many as 78 students of Guru Nanak Girls College donated blood in a camp organised jointly by the Bhai Ghaniya Seva International, Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle, and the Lions Club here on Wednesday.

Held for rape: The police has arrested Jangilal (30) of Mushtaqganj for raping a 7-year-old daughter of his neighbour, Kashe Ram. Both are migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh. The girl's mother had gone away to work when the accused approached Kashe Ram and reportedly got him intoxicated with alcohol before raping the girl.

MOGA
Challans: The District Transport Department has challaned 365 vehicles in the district in October and recovered Rs 3.65 lakh as penalty, according to Mr Bhupinder Singh, DTO.

AIDS cases: As many as 20 positive cases of AIDS were detected by the Health Department in the district till 1998 and 19 cases during 1999, according to the Chief Medical Officer, Dr G.L. Goyal. Addressing residents of the town here on Thursday, he advised them to be aware of the dreaded disease.

PHAGWARA
Environment march: More than 2,000 students from 18 schools and activists of 12 voluntary organisations on Wednesday took part in an environment march organised by the local Environment Association for eco-friendly and pollution free atmosphere. Mr Jarnail Singh Wahad, member, Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board, flagged off the march from Hargobind Nagar.

SAMRALA
Death mourned: Advocates, deed writers and typists observed a holiday in the local courts on Wednesday to mourn the death of Mr Girdhari Lal Vashisht, the oldest petition writer of the local kachehary compound.

SANGRUR
Book released: ‘‘Sanskrit Jyoti’’, written by Dr Randhir Kaushik with a view to popularise Sanskrit, was released by Mr Anirudh Tewari, Deputy Commissioner, at a function held here on Wednesday.

School function: Shemrock School in SAS Nagar and Chandigarh celebrated their annual function on Tuesday at Bal Bhavan, Sector 23 here where 400 students in the age group of two to five participated. The function was presided over by Brig S.S. Mann. The audience was enthralled by two English plays ‘Three Little Pigs’ and ‘Red Riding Hood’.

SHAHABAD
Relief for cyclone-hit: The Bharat Vikas Parishad, here, has dispatched a truck of relief material for the Orissa cyclone victims through the district administration. The president of the parishad, Prof Sunil Kumar Gupta, and the secretary, Mr Sudhir Sood, told newspersons here on Thursday that the relief included nearly 1,200 clothes, 1,000 woollens, 500 pairs of shoes and 600 utensils.

Appointed: Dr Bhasker Gupta has been appointed district convener of the doctors cell of the BJP, Kurukshetra, according to the district BJP chief, Mr Bharat Bhushan Bharti. Dr Ram Dayal of Pehowa will be the co-convener.

SIRSA
Four sentenced: Four persons were sentenced to 10-year of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh by the Additional District and Sessions Judge for possessing opium. According to the police, the convicts have been identified as Harnek Singh, Santokh Singh and Jai Singh and Resham Singh.

SONEPAT
Reservation sought: The Haryana Jats Reservation Sangharsh Samiti on Thursday threatened the state government that if it failed to grant reservation to Jats in government jobs within 15 days, the samiti would start a statewide agitation.

Employees' demands: The district unit of the Sarv Karamchari Sangh, Haryana, on Thursday urged the state government to accept the demands of its employees and end the stalemate without any further delay. In a press note issued here, it demanded immediate removal of all anomalies in the pay scales and implementation of the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission. It also urged the government to order the immediate reinstatement of Mr Rajinder Saroha, a leader of the sangh, in the Haryana Tourism Corporation.

Injured: All 23 members of a labourer's family were injured, some of them seriously, when the tempo in which they were travelling skidded off the road and fell into a 'khud' near Bahalgarh village, 12 km from here, on Wednesday. The injured were rushed to the local Civil Hospital. A case has been registered against the driver.

Murder: Ram Gopal, a milk vendor, was allegedly murdered by some persons near Roat village, 5 km from here, on Wednesday. According to a report reaching here, the assailants threw the body on the road and fled. A case has been registered.

Parent-Teacher Association: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Parent-Teacher Association of Government Postgraduate College here: patron — Ms Kanchanmala; president — Mr H.B Kaushal; senior vice-president — Mr R.N Sharma; vice-president — Mr Prem Chand Sharma; general secretary — Mr V.V. Sankhayayan; joint secretary — Mr Ravinder Bhatta; and treasurer — Mr K.R. Rattan.

Cultural competition: Shagun of the local Government Girls Senior Secondary School was declared the best actor at the four-day district-level high and senior secondary school girls cultural competition here on Tuesday. The school also stood first in vocal music and folk dance while High School Auhar came second. In the declamation contest, Aniketa, Taruna Kumar and Nidhi got the first, second and third prizes, respectively. Girls from eight high and senior secondary schools from various parts of the district participated in the competitions.

KULU
Building gutted: A house belonging to Deep Chand of Sultanpur was gutted here on Wednesday evening. The fire-fighting squad saved the adjoining buildings. The loss, according to the police, is estimated to be Rs 1 lakh. The fire reportedly started from a kerosene stove.

KUMARHATTI
Liquor seized: The police seized 1,152 pouches of country liquor and four boxes of English wine from Satwant Kumar and Ramesh Kumar, near here, on Monday evening. The duo have been arrested while their accomplice, Dhanpat Rai, managed to escape. The liquor was being brought in a car from Panchkula. A case has been registered.

NAHAN
Wood recovered: Mr Partihvi Raj, SP, said here on Wednesday that 300 logs of khair wood were recovered from a truck at Dhaulan Kuan and held two persons.

SHIMLA
Plea: The Himachal Pradesh Urban Local Bodies Employees Federation has urged the government to grant pensionary benefit to the employees of the Zila Parishad and the Panchayat Samities on the Punjab pattern. Mr Kishori Lal, president of the federation, said the government should frame uniform pension rules for all employees to avoid delay in the implementation of pension scheme.