JALANDHAR
Condemned: The District Bar Association has condemned the "derogatory and defamatory" statement of Mr Suresh Sehgal, Mayor, against an advocate. The association alleged that Mr Sehgal while addressing a gathering at a kirya ceremony of Jagan Nath Goel, an advocate, at Jalandhar Cantonment on Wednesday had said that "late Dina Nath Kamboj, an advocate, was an expert in dealing with false cases and used to win cases by false means".

KHANNA
Seminar on AIDS: A seminar on AIDS awareness was organised in the local Police Lines under the presidentship of Mr R.L. Bhagat, SSP, here on Thursday. Mr H.R. Bansal, chairman of the Punjab AIDS Control Trust, was the main speaker. The SSP said the blood test of all policemen of Khanna police district had been done and no case of HIV positive had been detected. The seminar was attended by over 300 policemen.

LUDHIANA
Fellowship: Dr A.C. Vig, a senior soil chemist of the Department of Soils, Punjab Agricultural University, has been awarded fellowship of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi.

MOGA
Appointed: Mr Joginder Singh Sandhu, an advocate of Muktsar, has been appointed District chairman of the Ex-servicemen Cell of the Congress by the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Captain Amarinder Singh, according to reports received here on Wednesday.

SANGRUR
Special road tax: The district unit of the Punjab Motors Union at its meeting held at Bhawanigarh, 25 km from here, on Wednesday urged the Punjab Government to reduce the special road tax from Rs 3.49 per km to Rs 2 per km. The union said the private bus operators were incurring heavy losses because of the tax. The union alleged that the plying of unauthorised services, including trucks and jeeps, had considerably reduced their occupancy ratio resulting in further losses to private bus operators.

Camp: The Baba Sheikh Farid Blood Donors Council will organise a blood donation camp at the Institute of Town Planners, Sector 35-B, on Tuesday. A cultural programme and langar will also be held.

Patients examined: About 250 patients were examined and given medicines at a free medical check-up camp organised by the Lions Club Chandigarh Greater at Karsan on Thursday. Free X-ray, ECG and blood testing facilities were also provided.

PANCHKULA
Bank schemes: A swarozgar jagriti camp will be organised for the educated unemployed youth at Vocational Education School in Phase I on Wednesday. Various branches of banks will inform them of sponsored schemes for them.

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Vishal Punjabi Sabha: Chief Patron — Mr Inder Malik; Patrons — Mr S.K. Nayar and Mr Subhash Batta; Chairman — Mr Pawan Valecha; President — Mr Inderjeet Bajaj; Senior Vice-President — Mr V.K. Kapoor; and Vice-Presidents — Dr S.K. Chhabra and Mr S.P. Kapoor.

SAS NAGAR
Blood donated: About 108 persons donated blood at a camp organised by the Punjab School Education Board Employees Blood Donors Society on Thursday. Donors were given mementoes.

HISAR
Electricity bills: The Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) has intensified its campaign to recover pending dues of electricity bills from consumers in Hisar and Fatehabad districts. A spokesman of the HVPN told mediapersons here on Wednesday that 1,922 electricity connections had been disconnected in the two districts because of the non-payment of pending bills by consumers. He said Rs 57 lakh had been recovered from consumers of the Rs 1.07 crore pending against them.

SONEPAT
One killed: One person was killed on the spot and another injured when a motor cycle on which they were travelling was hit by a Haryana Roadways bus near Chidana village, 40 km from here, on Wednesday. According to the police, the deceased has been identified as Vijay Sindhu (22). A case has been registered against the bus driver on the charge of rash and negligent driving.

Counterfeit cassettes: The police conducted raids on two shops in Ashok Nagar here on Wednesday and seized counterfeit video cassettes from them. It also arrested two shopkeepers, Mukesh Kumar and Krishan Gopal, in this connection. The raids were conducted following a complaint made by officials of the Indian Film Copyright Action Committee.

Pistol seized: The Ganaur police arrested a youth, Rajesh of Chhinauli village, for allegedly being found in possession of an unlicensed pistol on Wednesday. A case under the Indian Arms Act has been registered. The police also arrested Mehar Singh of Chidana village and recovered 150 gm charas from him. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered.

House rent allowance: The Himachal Pradesh Government Non-teaching Employees Union on Wednesday demanded that the minimum level of house rent allowance to the non-teaching employees in rural areas be fixed at 5 per cent and the minimum limit be raised to Rs 500 a month. In a press note issued here, the spokesman of the association, Mr Chanderabh Mishra, said besides this, medical allowance at the rate of Rs 250 a month should be given to these employees with effect from January,1996.

NAHAN
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Swasthya Vibhag Karamchari Sangh, Sirmaur district: president — Mr S K Vatts; senior vice-president — Mr Anil Gautam; general secretary — Mr Som Dutt; vice-presidents — Ms Anita Gautam; Mr Som Prakash, Mr Laik Ram, Mr Geeta Ram and treasurer — Mr Rajender Kaushal.

NURPUR
Hike in rent condemned: The local Town Welfare Committee has taken exception to the municipal council's decision of increasing the rent of the council hall (used for marriage purposes) from Rs 500 to Rs 3,000. The committee at its meeting held here on Wednesday urged the council to revoke this "unprecedented hike". The committee also expressed concern over the increasing traffic hazard and demanded a suitable parking place in the town.