HOSHIARPUR
Insurance staff: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Northern Zone Insurance Employees Association: President — Mr Om Parkash Sharma; Vice-President — Mr G.R. Sharma; Secretary — Mr B.R. Jaswal; Joint Secretary — Mr Gurdip Lal; and Treasurer — Mr Kushal Kumar.

Blockade: Drivers of the Punjab Roadways blocked traffic near DAV college here on Monday in protest against the beating up of Surjit Singh, a driver, by certain students when they were not allowed to board the bus. The blockade was lifted at the intervention of the district authorities.

Annual fete: Prerna, a social welfare organisation, held a fete at the JCT complex, Chohal, 8 km from here, on Sunday. Mr S.K. Maheshwari, Senior Vice-President, JCT Limited, inaugurated the fete.

Yuva morcha: Mr Sanjiv Sood has been appointed General Secretary of the district unit of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and Mr Rajiv Arora member of the district executive of the morcha. Mr Sunil Kalia has been appointed observer of Hoshiarpur, Mr Gulzari Lal of Hoshiarpur (rural), Mr Sumesh Dhawan of Shamchaurasi, Mr Natter Chand of Garhshankar and Mr Sanjiv Goyal of Mahilpur.

LUDHIANA
SAD leader bereaved: Mrs Joginder Kaur, mother of Mr Gagan Prakash Singh, circle Jathedar of the Shiromani Akali Dal, died at her native village, Bhanohar, near here, on Monday. She was 89. She is survived by two sons and two daughters.

PATIALA
Blood donation camp: As many as 50 persons donated blood at a camp organised by the Punjab Youth Club, Samana, according to a press note here on Tuesday. State Minister Narinder Singh inaugurated the camp.

Pension scheme: The local Citizens Welfare Society has started a pension scheme for poor women and a scholarship scheme for needy students. In a statement here on Tuesday, the General Secretary of the society, Mr Ashok Chawla, said five women were given Rs 150 per month as pension and that 10 students would get a stipend.

BSP rallies: The Bahujan Samaj Party, at a meeting here, decided to organise rallies in every constituency of the state to lift the morale of workers. A press note here on Tuesday said that rallies would be organised on February 1,2,3,4 and 10 at Nahba, Banur-Rajpura, Ghanour-Dakala, Patiala-Samana and Shatrana, respectively.

Appointed: Mr Jaskirat Singh Dhillon has been appointed General Secretary of the Yuva Janata Dal (rural).

FCI executive: The following have been elected office-bearers of the District Executive of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) here: President — Mr C.M. Bhardwaj; Vice-President — Mr J.S. Butter, Secretary — Mr G.S. Virk; and Treasurer — Mr Ashok Sharma.

PHAGWARA
Gang busted: The police on Sunday busted an inter-district gang of robbers and recovered a stolen scooter from their possession. A pistol, three cartridges and a toy pistol were also seized. The accused have been identified as Jasbir Singh, Rashpal Singh and Soma of Todarpur village in Hoshiarpur district and Moulu of Kapurthala district.

Oath: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr R.K. Rao, will administer the oath of office and secrecy to all newly elected panches and sarpanches of the Union Territory of Chandigarh at UT Guest House on January 21 at 11 a.m.

Computer course: The Chandigarh Zila Sainik Welfare Officer will organise a computer course for wards of ex-servicemen, war widows and their dependants at Punjab Engineering College in the first week of next month. Those interested could contact the Zila Sainik Welfare Officer latest by January 25.

Appointed: The following have been appointed office-bearers of the local unit of the National Muslim Welfare Movement working president — Mr Mehar Qureshi; vice presidents- — Mr Nizamudin Khan, Dr Nishad Siddiqui and Gurmail Khan and general secretaries — Mr Feroze Alam, Mr Rashid Azizi and Mohammed Sayed Ahmed.

Thanked: Residents of Sector 43 at a function organised on Sunday thanked Mr Venod Sharma, president, Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee, for appointing Mr P.C. Suri, a resident of the area as president of the District Congress Committee (Urban).

Killed: Lajja Singh was killed when his cycle was hit by a truck near Matheri Sekhan village on Monday. A case has been registered against the driver of the truck.

BHIWANI
Youth week: The NSS unit of Vaish Senior Secondary School organised a youth week here from January 12. On the occasion of the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand, writing and declamation contests were held. The Principal of the school, Mr S. Mehta, gave away the prizes.

GURGAON
Murder case: A case of murder was registered on Sunday following the recovery of the burnt body of Randhir, a barber, at Khawashpur. According to the police, the victim had accompanied Ram Kumar to a marriage party on Saturday. The body was discovered by a neighbour.

HISAR
Award for botanist: Haryana Agricuture University will confer a life-time achievement award on Mr Dhani Ram Vasudeva, a botanist, for his contributions to wheat research. The award, carrying a cash amount of Rs 1 lakh and a scroll of honour, will be presented to him on February 2, a university spokesperson said here on Monday.

KAITHAL
System affected: The telegraphic system here remained paralysed for the third day on Monday due to a snag. When contacted, the DET said he was unaware of the situation and would look into the matter.

ROHTAK
Inaugurated: Two power sub-stations have been set up in the district at a cost of Rs 20.4 crore within the past two years. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating a police post here on Sunday, the Town and Country planning Minister, Mr Siri Kishan Dass, said Rs 11.86 crore had been spent on the construction and maintenance of roads.

SUNDERNAGAR
Press Club: Members of the local Press Club at a meeting held at Suket Sadan on Monday unanimously resolved to take up the matter with the government regarding the ignoring of the mediapersons at public functions by some government departments. The meeting was presided over by Mr Roshan Lal Bali.