Doctors' strike: PCMS doctors working in various civil hospitals, community health centres, primary health centre and rural dispensaries went on a lightening strike on Saturday in protest against the assault on Dr Manjeet Singh, by SHO, Rajasansi, on Friday. The spokesman of the association said they would continue their strike till the police officer concerned was arrested and a case was registered against him. The association condemned the handcuffing and beating up of their colleague and a bid to fabricate a report against him.

Deputation: A deputation of college teachers of district council of Amritsar PCCTU led by Dr V.K. Sharma, district president, met Dr G.D. Sharma, secretary, UGC, and urged him to ensure that the state governments implemented the new UGC grades in toto. Dr G.D. Sharma assured the teachers that state governments would not be allowed to effect any dilution in the pay scales notified by the UGC.

DERA BASSI
IT workshop: The local Sri Sukhmani Institute of Engineering and Technology organised a workshop on information technology (IT) for the staff of the local Government College on Sunday. Mr Avtar Singh, Chairman, of the engineering college, inaugurated the workshop which was attended by 75 participants. Lectures on fundamentals of computer technology and application of computers in education and practical training on terminals on the emerging technologies in the field of information were organised for the participants.

FAZILKA
Case solved: The city police has solved the mystery surrounding the death of an auto rickshaw driver, Chander Shekhar (26) who was found dead on Abohar-Sriganganagar bypass about a week ago. The police has identified all five accused and arrested three of them. According to Mr Talwinderjit Singh, in charge, city police. Maninderjit Singh, alias Billa, a resident of Talwandi Akala (district Ferozepore); Pammi; Raju, alias Tarsem; Billori Masih and Deepa, all residents of Fazilka had boarded Chander Shekhar's auto-rickshaw to go to Abohar. They had an altercation with the driver on the way and they attacked him with sharp-edged weapons. The accused had fled after throwing his body in a ditch.

GARHSHANKAR
Smuggler arrested: The Mahilpur police has arrested Parveen Kumar, a resident of Naili-Hamirpur on the Panjab-Haryana border for possessing six bags of poppy husk under Section IS/61/85 of the NDS Act. He had been smuggling narcotic drugs from HP to Punjab since long. In another incident, Mindo, a resident of Sarhala. was arrested for possessing 6 kg poppy husk.

Court summons: Mr Avtar Singh Karimpuri, general secretary of the state unit of the BSP, has been issued fresh summons by the local court. He has been asked to appear in the court on February 27 in the case of vandalisation of a police station here. He was earlier released, as he was found not guilty.

GURDASPUR
Compensation: As many as 371 persons, including 106 persons who suffered injuries while using farm implements, have been identified in the district for compensation. According to Mr S.K. Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, a grant of Rs 20.12 lakh had already been distributed among 122 of these victims. Mr Sandhu said the compensation was distributed by the district market committee.

HOSHIARPUR
Work completed: The construction work of a Rs 1376 lakh bridge on river Beas, near Siri Hargobindpur, along with its approach roads has been completed and it will be opened for vehicular traffic soon. Mr Raghubir Singh, State Transport Minister, said this bridge would provide the shortest link to Gurdaspur. He inaugurated the Soil Testing Laboratory set by Agriculture Department, Punjab, at Tanda,32 km from here, on Sunday. He said a bridge near Pul Pukhta choe was being constructed on this route at a cost of Rs 84 lakh. He announced Rs 1 lakh for the construction of the boundary wall of the laboratory and Rs 50,000 for the developmental work at Harsi village.

JALALABAD
Killed: A waiter, was allegedly shot dead by Kikar Singh at a marriage ceremony at Rohiwala village, 15 km from here on Friday. The accused fired at the waiter because he was obstructing his view of the dance being performed by some artistes. He was rushed to Civil Hospital at Muktsar where he was declared brought dead. The police has registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC.

Eye camp concludes: A five-day free eye camp organised by the Lions Club (Jallalabad Gold) concluded here on Saturday. As many as 104 cataract operations were performed and 1056 patients examined. Mr Prem Kumar Velacha, president, Municipal Council, was the chief guest and SDM Vimal Setia and DSP Manminder Singh were the guests of honour at the concluding ceremony. Medicines , spectacles and food was distributed free of cost to the patients.

MALERKOTLA
Sub-tehsil complex: The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, has announced that a new sub-tehsil complex will be constructed at Amargarh, 12 km from here. The Chief Minister was addressing a gathering at Manvi village, 15 km from here, on Friday evening during a village sports mela organised by the Dashmesh Sports Club and the village panchayat. He also announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh for the development of Manvi village.

NAWANSHAHR
Dental association: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district unit of Indian Dental Association: president — Dr Rakesh Chopra; vice-president — Dr Kawipal Singh; general secretary — Dr Tarun Kalra and treasurer — Dr Pirath Singh.

PATHANKOT
Bar association: Mr L.R. Vasudeva and Mr V.B. Aggarwal have been elected the president and general secretary, respectively, of the Taxation Bar Association.

De-addiction camp: The Teachers Association of Shaheed Maggar Singh Memorial Government High School, Karoli, organised a one-day camp on Friday against drug-addiction. The association decided to organise more such camps to educate people, according to Mr Viney Sharma, secretary of the association.

PATIALA
Cultural function: The State Bank of Patiala Head Office Cultural Committee organised a cultural programme here on Saturday. It was presided over by the Managing Director, Ram K. Gupta. Competitions of songs, dance, music, choreography and skits were held on the occasion.

Lyallpur Association: To keep their heritage alive, migrants from Lyallpur (West Punjab) have on Sunday formed an association called “Lyallpur Association”. Those interested in joining may contact Telephone number 740432.

Workshop: The Centre for Electronics Design and Technology of India (CEDT) in coordination with the local office of the Press Information Bureau will oragnise a half-day workshop on Internet for media on the CEDT premises at SAS Nagar on Monday.

Jan samparak: The local unit of the Samajwadi Party launched its Jan Samparak Abhiyan from Colony no. 5 for Sunday where party leaders talked about various issues , including price rise, communalism and unsatisfactory functioning of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.

Committee: Representatives of various gurdwaras and other religious organisations who met at the Sector 34 gurdwara on Sunday, decided to form a “300 Sala Khalsa Sajna Committee Chandigarh” to chalk out a programme for the tercentenary for celebrations and the concepts of the Khalsa Panth.

SAS NAGAR
Society :The local Amb Sahib Colony Welfare Association has demanded better civic amenities for the residents of the colony. At a meeting of the association, on Sunday, a resolution said that though the colony had been shifted from Phase VIII to Phase XI, no effort had been made to provide it with electricity, water, sulabh shauchalyas, roads and schools. The members demanded that these facilities be provided to them without any delay.

FARIDABAD
Two arrested: The police has arrested Arjun Singh and Hazari, residents of Mathura district, for an alleged attempt to snatch a van from a taxi driver. The arrested persons also confessed to having stolen six motor cycles and four cars earlier.

FATEHABAD
Inner Wheel Club: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Inner Wheel Club: president — Mrs Renu Gupta; secretary — Mrs Sushila Goyal; vice-president — Mrs Sushma Choudhary; joint secretary — Mrs Sarita Gulati and treasurer — Mrs Neera Goyal.

Signature campaign: Insurance employees here have launched a comprehensive public awareness drive against the proposed privatisation of the insurance sector. They have been going to schools, colleges, villages, streets and markets of the district in groups and have launched a signature campaign. Mr Ravinder Kumar, secretary of the district unit of Northern Zone Insurance Employees Association, said the unit had set a target of obtaining 40,000 signatures.

Prohibitory orders: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr V. Raja Shekhar, has ordered the promulgating of prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Cr.PC The order will remain in force from February 17 to March 27 this year. The step has been taken in view of the middle, matric and senior secondary examinations of the Board of School Education, Haryana.

KALKA
Welfare association: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Welfare Association Housing Board Colony, Kalka: president — Mr Tajinder Grover; general secretary — Mr Sat Paul Sethi; and treasurer — Mr D.R. Goyal.

SIRSA
Molestation charge: Rai Singh, a farmer and Balbir Singh, a milkman, belonging to Barasari village, in this district, were arrested by the police on Friday for allegedly molesting a minor. The father of the girl had lodged a complaint that the two had molested his daughter when she went to collect milk.

Cop killed: An ASI of the sadar police station, Krishna Kumar, died on the spot when his jeep rammed into a tractor trailer on Friday. He lost control of the vehicle while trying to overtake the tractor. Head Constable Raja Ram, was also injured in the accident.

Dismissed: Rameshwar Dass, Lambardar of Nahrana village, in the district was reportedly dismissed from his post by the District Collector here on Friday on a charge of misappropriation of funds. The Sarpanch, Mr Lara Chand, had complained to the Deputy Commissioner against Rameshwar in 1996 and had alleged that the accused had misappropriated government funds (Abiana). The Block Development and Panchayat officer had conducted an inquiry in which he was proved guilty.

Municipal Council: A meeting of the employees of the local Municipal Council was organised under the chairmanship of Mr Shiv Prashad, district president of the Municipal Council Association, here on Friday. He alleged that employees of the municipal councils and municipal committees in the state had not been given pay-scales as per the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission. He said municipal council employees here would submit a charter of demands to the Deputy Commissioner on February 17.

One killed: Subash Chand, a farmer of Chautala village, died in a road accident on Friday. He was going to his village when his cycle collided with a jeep on Chetak road near the village.

SONEPAT
Assault: Armed robbers allegedly assaulted a car driver, smashed the window panes of the car and snatched Rs 40,000 from him, in the thickly populated area in front of the Municipal Committee office at Gohana town, 35 km from here, on Friday. The car driver Mr Anand, was assaulted when his car was held up in a traffic jam. He was immediately hospitalised.

Rally: The district unit of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee held a rally in the town on Saturday to protest against the BJP-led coalition government's failure to check rising prices and to fill up the vacant posts of doctors and teachers in the district. Mr Sat Mahajan, president of the HPCC, criticised the BJP-HVC coalition in the state for its anti-people policies.

MANALI
Couple murdered: An old couple was found murdered here inside their house on Friday. The deceased were identified as Mr Baldev (50) and Sonam Dolma (60). Police sources said Baldev had injury marks on his chest and abdomen and there was an injury mark on the neck of Dolma. The cause of murder is not known as yet. The bodies have been sent to the district hospital, Kulu, for a post-mortem examination. A case under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered.

SOLAN
Resigned: Mr Kushal Jethi, who was recently appointed secretary of the Himachal Khadi and Village Industries Board, submitted his resignation from the post on Saturday due to "personal reasons". Mr Jethi is also the senior vice-president of the business cell of the BJP.

UNA
Kavigoshti: The Una district branch of the Akhil Bharatiya Sahitya Parishad and the Language and Cultural Department organised a "kavi goshti" at Bachat Bhavan on Saturday. The Assistant Commissioner, Mr Arvind Shukla, was the chief guest. Leading Hindi and Urdu poets of the district took part in the goshti.

Annual function: The local DAV Senior Secondary School held its annual prize distribution and cultural show on the school premises on Saturday. The Public Works Minister, Mr Mohinder Singh, was the chief guest and he announced a grant of Rs 2,51,000 for the school and Rs 11,100 for the participants of the cultural show.