FEROZEPORE
Meetings: A meeting of the District Planning and Development Board was held here on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Mr Nirmal Singh Kahlon, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats, Punjab. The minister said a sum of Rs 3.20 crore had been released for various development projects. He also presided over a meeting of the District Grievances Redressal Committee.

HOSHIARPUR
Encroachments: The Forest Department here has removed encroachments from 2 acres of forest land at Satial village, 3.5 acres at Dada village (both in Hoshiarpur range) and 2 acres at Sehzadpur village of Hariana forest range on Wednesday. This was stated by Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner.

LUDHIANA
Gang busted: The police here claimed to have busted a gang of robbers. According to the SSP a police party was holding a nakabandi at Gobindgarh village when the gang, armed with weapons, was intercepted and arrested.

Takes charge: Mr Kuldip Singh, IPS, took charge as Senior Superintendent of Police here on Wednesday in place of Mr Dinkar Gupta. He was previously the SSP of Muktsar.

MOGA
Gang busted: The Baghapurana police has busted a gang of vehicle thieves and recovered two jeeps and a car from them. The head of the gang, Major Singh of Sarwan village, has been arrested.

NAWANSHAHR
Resentment: Students and staff of the local DAV College of Education for Women are sore over the alleged negative attitude of the principal of the adjoining R.K. Arya College for causing harassment to them by keeping the main gate locked and prohibiting their entry into the college. Both colleges are run by the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Punjab. They have urged Mr Harbans Lal Sharma, President of the sabha, to personally intervene.

Power cuts: Residents of Sharda Mohalla, Gulshan Bazaar, Gandhi Chowk, Ghas Mandi, Teachers Colony have been facing a lot of inconvenience due to frequent power cuts and low voltage, even during the winter season. Mr Kamal Kant Barthwal, President, Nagrik Hitkarini Sabha, alleged that though a transformer had been sanctioned to be installed at Gandhi Chowk but nothing had been done in this regard.

Memorandum: The local unit of the Municipal Subordinate Employees Union on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to the Local Bodies Employment and Labour Minister, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, here at the office of the Municipal Council (MC) and brought to his notice that the local MC had not been depositing the provident fund (PF) in the accounts of the employees, though the same had been deducted from their salaries since 1986. Members of the union urged the minister to direct the local municipal authorities to deposit the PF amounts.

PATIALA
Celebrated: A week-long celebration was organised by the local Nehru Yuva Kendra in which a seminar on the philosophy of Swami Vivekananda was held. A cultural programme on Punjabi culture, an essay competition, a blood donation camp and rural sports were also organised, according to Mr Jaswinder Singh Kooner, coordinator of the kendra, here on Thursday.

Invited: Prof R.N. Misra, Head, Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, Punjabi University, has been invited to participate in a meeting of the committee constituted by the Association of Indian Universities, the International Committee of Red Cross and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to discuss issues relating to the teaching of laws of war and armed conflicts. The meeting is scheduled to be held on January 30, a university press note said here on Thursday.

Cultural show: An inter-office regional cultural meet was organised on Thursday by the Punjab National Bank, Chandigarh-B region, here at the Central Public Library. Mr I.D. Singh, Senior Regional Manager of the bank, was the chief guest.

Demands: The Driver Operators Union of the Punjab State Electricity Board has called a meeting on January 24 in Ludhiana to chalk out their programme to urge the board to accept their demands. In a statement issued here on Thursday, the union's General Secretary, Mr Jaspal Singh Aujla, said the management did not implement the decision regarding their demands which had been accepted earlier.

Association: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Himachal Welfare Association: President — Mr Shashi Bhushan Purohit, Vice-President — Mr Joginder Singh; Secretary — Mr Ashok Kumar Dogra; and Treasurer — Mr Himraj Chang.

Driver dies: Randhir Singh, a driver of the Haryana Roadways, was killed on the spot when a car hit him near Pataudi. The police said the driver was checking some defect of the bus when the mishap occurred.

SIRSA
Raids: The police here has registered a case under Section 420, IPC, and Sections 51, 52, 53, 63, 66 and 68 of the Copyright Act against two shopkeepers here on Thursday. According to police sources, on a complaint of Jaswant Singh, owner of an audio cassette company, raids were conducted on the two shops. Vikas Kumar, one of the shopkeepers, has been arrested while the other one has absconded.

Injured: Five persons were injured when a Haryana Roadways bus dashed into two shops near Kariwala village in the district on Thursday. Some mechanical fault is stated to be the cause of the accident due to which the driver lost control. A case under Sections 279, 337, 427 IPC has been registered.

Sullage disposal: Resentment prevails among residents of Harchand ka Bass at Ellenabad, 40 km from here, against the local Municipal Committee for not making any arrangement for the disposal of dirty water and sullage of the area.

SONEPAT
Memorandum: The Samaj Kalyan Mahasangh, Haryana, on Thursday sent a memorandum to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, seeking reservations for the Scheduled Castes and women in the appointment of judges at various courts.

Kavi sammelan: The local unit of the Adbi Sangam, Haryana, organised a kavi sammelan here on Thursday. Poets of Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Multani languages participated.

Suicide: Ms Swadesh (28) reportedly committed suicide by taking insecticide in her house at Chhotu Ram Colony here on Tuesday. According to the police, the victim was the wife of a lecturer in a college. A family quarrel is stated to be the reason.

Body found: The police found the body of a twelve-year-old boy lying on GT Road near Larsauli village, 15 km from here on Tuesday. According to the police, the boy was the victim of a road accident.

Blood donation camp: About 147 students, affiliated to the ABVP, NSS, NCC and Red Cross Society donated blood at a camp organised on the concluding day of the National Youth Week by the NSS of Hindu College here on Tuesday. Mr P.K. Mahapatra, Deputy Commissioner, was the chief guest.

Reservation: The Haryana Chamar Mahasabha on Wednesday sent a memorandum to Mr Bansi Lal, Chief Minister, demanding the immediate scrapping of 'A' and 'B' categories for granting concessions to the Scheduled Castes in admissions to educational institutions and reservation of jobs in government departments.

Statehood day: The Himachal Pradesh statehood day this year will held here on January 25. Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, will be the chief guest. The district-level Republic Day function will be held in Kangra.