BATHINDA
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Punjab Jail Gaurd Association : president — Mr Nachhatar Singh; vice-president— Mr Teja Singh; general secretary — Mr Jasvir Singh; joint secretary — Mr Jaswant Singh and treasurer— Mr Niranjan Singh.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
Gang busted: The district police has claimed to have busted an inter-state gang that used to prepare bogus documents and put fake registration numbers on stolen vehicles and sell these in the market. The kingpin of the gang Bhupinder Kumar, clerk in the SDM office, Ambala, has been arrested and 200 bogus registration copies of the Nagaland Government have been seized from him. This was stated by Mr Kanwaljit Singh Sandhu, SP (D), here on Saturday. A case under Sections 379,467,468,471,420, 120, IPC, has been registered.

FEROZEPORE
Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district unit of the Punjab State Pharmacist Association: president — Mr Harish Chander; secretary — Mr Ravinder Kumar Luthra; finance secretary — Mr Sham Lal and treasurer— Mr Rajinder Kumar Passi.

LUDHIANA
Chrysanthemum show: A chrysanthemum and baby show organised by the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, was inaugurated by the Deputy Mayor, Municipal Corporation, Mr Jagdish Loomba, at Nehru Rose Garden here on Saturday. Earlier, a painting competition was also organised for school students, where more than 600 students participated, informed a senior MC official.

Book released: The president of the Punjab Sahitya Academy and former Chief Secretary of the Punjab Government, Mr Amrik Singh Pooni, released a collection of poems, "Majboorian de Daavjood," written by Principal Dalip Singh Sidhu at a function held at Punjabi Bhavan on Saturday. The collection of 39 poems have been written over a period of 65 years beginning 1934. Among others present on the occasion were Dr S.S. Johal, former Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, Mr Arun Goel, Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, DC, Hoshiarpur, Mr Kulbir Singh Sidhu, DC, Ferozepore and Mr Jaswant Singh Kanwar, novelist. Mr Ravinder Singh Bhattal and Mr N.S. Tasneem presented papers on the book.

DRDA staff: The following have been elected office-bearers of the All-India DRDA Staff Welfare Association: chairman — Mr Rajbalbir Singh; president — Mr Madan Gopal Sharma, senior vice-president — Mr Jagmohan Saggar; vice-presidents — Mr K.K. Kalia and Mrs Swaran Kaur; general secretary — Mr Sukhjit Singh Prashar; and treasurer — Mr Ram Niwal.

Provident fund: In order to provide better service to provident fund subscribers a Lok Adalat was organised here on Friday under the chairmanship of Mr M.L. Meena, Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Punjab. A total of six case of PF and pension came up for hearing and five of these were settled on the spot, according to Mr G.R. Saini, Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner.

Lok Adalat: A Lok Adalat was organised by the Additional Civil Judge (senior division), Mr Paramjeet Singh and the Civil Judge (junior division) Ms Ranjeet Kaur, here recently. As many as 31 case related to civil suit, marital disputes, came up for hearing and 21 of these were solved on the spot.

MOGA
Women's Bill: The General Secretary of the PPCC and former Minister of State for Health, Dr Malti Thapar, has hailed the reported utterance of the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Pramod Mahajan, that the government was committed to introducing the women's quota Bill in Parliament after consulting the Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. While speaking to mediapersons here on Sunday, Dr Thapar said she was confident as the Prime Minister had earlier assured the House in this regard.

One killed: One person was killed while seven children were seriously injured in accidents near here, on Friday due to a dense fog engulfing the region, according to reports. A milkman lost his life on the spot when a mini bus hit him when he was on his way to Smadhbhai village, under the Baghapurana police station in the district. In another accident, seven children travelling in a van were injured when a truck coming from the opposite direction collided with it on the Faridkot-Ferozepore road, about 34 km from here.

NAWANSHAHR
Taraksheel mela: The Taraksheel Society, Rahon, in collaboration with the Nawanshahr, Banga and Balachaur units of the society organised a Taraksheel Mela at Garhi Fateh Khan village, 10 km from here on Friday, with a view to create awareness among the superstitious masses.

Foundation stone: Mr Sarwan Singh Hillaur, Welfare Minister, on Saturday laid the foundation stone of the bridge to be constructed at Aur-Phanwaran drain at Pandrawal village, 20 km from here. The bridge would be constructed at a cost of Rs 2.57 lakh. A sum of Rs 50 crore would be spent on repairing 7,961 km link roads in the state, he added.

Rally: Hundreds of brick kiln labourers under the aegis of the Bhatha Workers Union, Punjab, organised a rally here on Friday. The protesters were demanding the immediate declaration of increase in minimum wages, implementation of the factory Act and issuance of temporary ration cards to brick kiln labourers.

Telephone connections: Resentment prevails among local industrialists against the dilly-dally attitude being adopted by the local Telephone Department as it has failed to provide them with telephone connections. Mr Subash Nayyar, vice-president of the local Industrial Focal Point Association in a press note issued here on Sunday alleged that a delegation had met the authorities on numerous occasions but nothing concrete had been done so far. Mr Mohinderpal, SDO (Telephones), when contacted attributed the delay to the non-availability of labour for laying the underground cables.

Power cuts: Residents here are facing inconvenience due to unannounced power cuts. The erratic power supply has also adversely affected the supply of potable water which is being supplied directly from tubewells by the Municipal Council thereby adding to the woes of the residents.

Cheque presented: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Roshan Sunkaria, on Saturday handed over a cheque for Rs 25 lakh to Mr Dinesh Chopra, president, Municipal Council, Rahon for carrying out development works.

Bestow powers: Mr Ajit Singh Jhikka, General Secretary of the local unit of the PWD (B and R) Ministerial Staff Association, in a press note issued here on Sunday urged the authorities concerned to immediately bestow drawing and disbursing powers on the Executive Engineer, PWD (B and R). He said though the office of the Executive Engineer was set up six months ago, employees and contractors had to face inconvenience due delay in disbursement of salaries. He also demanded that the office of the Balachaur subdivision should be transferred to the local divisional office, PWD (B & R).

Jan Kalyan Divas: The local Shivalaya Atma Devi Ralla Mall Bhucher organised its 11th Jan Kalyan Divas at Shiv Mandir, Musapur road, here on Sunday. A local industrialist distributed 100 blankets, 100 sweaters and 100 school uniforms amongst the poor.

PATIALA
Invited: Dr Neelam Verma of the Department of Bio-technology, Punjabi University, has been invited to present a paper on "Field analytical chemistry" at the Eighth International Conference on Site Analysis to be held in Las Vegas, USA, from January 23, a university press note disclosed.

Eye camp: The Lions Club, Patiala Central, organised a week-long free eye operation camp at Mullepur village in collaboration with the State Bank of Patiala, Jakhwali branch, from December 5 to 11. As many as 452 patients were examined and 54 operations performed. Twentythree intraocular lenses were also transplanted to the needy patients.

Honoured: The Harinder Nagar Welfare Association honoured Mr K.S. Kang, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, and Mr Manmohan Singh Bajaj of the Shiromani Akali Dal for outstanding contributions towards the development of the city, particularly the outer colonies. A record had been created by laying roads equal to 30 km in the city within three months, the association president stated.

SANGRUR
AIDS awareness camp: The local Civil Hospital authorities organised an AIDS awareness camp in the premises of the Ram Nagar Basti, a slum area of the town, on Saturday, according to Dr Anoop Kad, Senior Medical Officer. Residents of the area were made aware regarding the various aspects of the disease and preventive measures that should be adopted. A team of doctors also checked patients suffering from various diseases.

PANCHKULA
Office-bearers: The following have been elected the office-bearers of the Vaishya Aggarwal Rajvansh Sabha: Patron — Mr Mahendra Gupta; President — Mr V.P. Anil; Vice-President — Mr Sanjay Kumar, General Secretary — Mr A.C. Goyal; Treasurer — Mr Y.K. Goyal.

SAS NAGAR
Assault alleged: Ms Narinder Kaur, owner of a house in Phase II here, in a complaint to the Station House Office (SHO) of Phase I, alleged that she and her husband was assaulted by their tenants, who were living at the ground floor of the house. She alleged that her tenants snatched cash and jewellery from them.

Annual day: "The future of our nation lies in the hands of our younger generation. It is the quality of education that holds the key for the socio-economic development of our country," said Justice Goswami, Chairman, Delhi Public School Society, Delhi. He was speaking at the annual day function of Delhi Public School at Indian Oil Corporation, Panipat refinery township here on Saturday. The Principal, Mr Vinod Sharma, informed that the school had obtained affiliation with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

SIRSA
Rabi crop: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Amit Jha, said here on Saturday that rabi crop had been sown on 2.53 lakh hectares of land. According to him quality seeds, pesticides and fertilisers were provided to the farmers during the last month through mini banks, IFCO, HSDC and HAFED.

Gamblers arrested:In a move against gambling five persons were arrested in the district. According to the police press note issued here on Saturday, Surinder Kumar of Dhobian Mohalla and Hardeep were arrested under the Gambling Act. A sum of Rs 496 and 245 was recovered from them. The Kalanwali police has also arrested Sant Lal, Ruli Ram and Gaurdhan Ram of Mandi Kalanwali under the Gambling Act.

Suicide: A 29-year-old woman, Suman Lata, reportedly consumed a pesticide and later died in the local subdivisional hospital here on Saturday. Mr Kuldeep Kumar, brother of the deceased, lodged a complaint with the police stating that her sister used to be tortured by her in-laws. The police has registered a case under Sections 306 and 498, IPC. No arrests have been made so far.