BATHINDA
Police action flayed: Mr Hartej Singh Mehta, President , All-India Youth Akali Dal, Bathinda, has condemned the Khanna police for not allowing party leaders to hold a meeting in Kalgidhar Gurdwara, recently. In a press note issued here on Friday, he alleged that Mr Parkash Singh Badal was interfering in religious affairs of Sikhs.

FEROZEPORE
Seminar: A district-level seminar to educate people about free legal aid was held here on Thursday. Speaking at the seminar, the District and Sessions Judge, Mr M.M. Bhalla, said so far 1,080 persons had been provided free legal aid in the district. He said 1,537 cases had been settled in 47 Lok Adalats.

LEHRA MOHABAT
Threat:Mr Arun Arey, Regional Secretary, PSEB Engineers Association, has threatened to launch an agitation if its demands are not accepted by the authorities concerned. In a press note issued here on Friday, he said the demands included hardship allowance, shift duty allowance, commissioning incentives and grant of promotional scales.

LUDHIANA
Visit: Mr Ashok Rao, a former Revenue Minister of M.P.,visited Punjab Agricultural University here on Friday. He showed keen interest in the rice planter developed by PAU. Mr A Venu Prasad, acting Vice-Chancellor, presented him a set of university publications.

Power shortage: Residents of LIG flats, Sector 32, PUDA, have complained regarding frequent power cuts in the area. Mr R.R. Katyal, a resident of the area, has urged the authorities concerned to maintain regular supply.

Surgery: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Arun Goel, on Thursday visited the Dhussi bundh, constructed by the Drainage Department along the Sutlej to study preventive measures for floods.

MALERKOTLA
Child found: A three-year-old boy was found in Adambal village , 2 km from here, on Friday, according to Mr Pyara Singh, sarpanch of the village. However, the village panchayat handed over the child to an issueless couple of the village.

PATIALA
Dharna postponed: The Retired PSEB Employees Association, Punjab, has postponed its dharna to be held on July 6 in front of the PSEB head office here, according to Mr V.N. Sharma, President of the association.

Association: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Patiala Industries Association: President — Mr K.L. Verma; Vice-President — Mr Naresh Gupta; General Secretary — Mr Arun Ralhan; Joint Secretary — Mr Vikram Goel; and Treasurer — Mr Paramjeet Singh Walia.

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the State Bank of Patiala Retired Officers Association: President — Mr S.P Sharma; Vice President — Mr Pritam Singh Bakshi; Secretary — Mr G.S Rekhi; and Treasurer — Mr Gian Chand Goyal.

Union: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Municipal Workers Union: President — Mr Prem Chand Sharma; Chairman — Mr Pushpinder Kumar Pathak; Convener — Mr Jasbir Singh Sethi; General Secretary — Mr Sukhminder Singh; Vice-President — Ms Vijay Verma; and Treasurers — Mr Manjit Kumar and Mr Ajaib Singh.

Invitation: Dr Baldev Singh, Director, Physical Education, Punjabi University, has been invited to attend 26th International congress on Arts and Communication organised by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, at Lisbon, Portugal from July 14 to 18.

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Chandigarh Plywood Dealers Association: President — Mr Subhash Sethi; Vice-Presidents — Mr Ajay Gupta and Mr Ravinder Prashar; General Secretary — Mr Ajay Kumar Gupta; and Cashier — Mr Ramesh Aggarwal.

LALRU
Party workers: Mr Hardyal Singh Kamboj, President of the District Congress Committee, Patiala (Rural), while addressing party workers on Saturday said the Shiromani Akali Dal would be given a tough fight in the next Lok Sabha elections. The members of the party also observed a two-minute silence for Kargil martyrs.

SAS NAGAR
Admissions allowed: The Punjab School Education Board has allowed admissions to classes VIII, IX and X with late fee till July 15 and to class XII till July 26. In a press note issued on Saturday, Mr Jagjit Singh Sidhu, Secretary of the board, said the decision had been taken keeping in mind the difficulties faced by students, including inability to take admission due to summer vacations.

Trophy: K.L. Arya DAV Public School has won the All-India Dharam Shiksha and Sanskrit Competition organised by the Arya Vidya Sabha, New Delhi. According to Dr Asha Bhandhari, Principal, the school was awarded trophy for 1997-98. Priyanka Jain and Bhawna Goyal won the first position, while Prateek Grover and Sunny Gakhar won the second position.

Threat by HAUTA: The Haryana Agricultural University Teachers Association has expressed concern over the delay in the implementation of revised pay scales for scientists and teachers of the university. The association on Friday threatened to go on an indefinite strike from July 12 in case their demands were not accepted.

KAITHAL
Dharna: Residents of Bhagal village on the Cheeka-Pehowa road in Guhla subdivision held a demonstration in front of the electricity office on Thursday. They were protesting against the erratic power supply. They raised slogans against the government and the HVPN. However, the dharna was lifted on an assurance of the SDM, Guhla, and HVPN officers.

SIRSA
Four held: Paro Bai, her two brothers, Krishan and Balvinder, and her father, Surjeet Singh, of Kariwala village were arrested by the Rania police on Thursday in a criminal case registered against them under Sections 323, 324, 326 and 34, IPC. They were held on a charge of attempt to murder Arjun Singh, husband of Paro Bai.

Case registered: A criminal case was registered under Sections 302 and 34, IPC, against Madan, Om Parkash and Deep Chand of Bhuratwala village in this district on Thursday on a complaint of Mr Bhim Sain of the same village.

CHAMBA
Fautly telephones: As many as 50 telephones of Bakloh village are out of order for the past many days. Residents have urged the Department of Telecommunications to rectify the fault as early as possible.

HAMIRPUR
Probe sought: Mr Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, HP Youth Congress chief, has demanded a probe into the declaration of results for the posts of clerk in Kangra Central Bank. Talking to mediapersons here on Friday, he alleged that only near and dear ones had been selected in the preliminary examination.

NAHAN
Construction begins: The Hindu Ashram Trust of Nahan started the construction of a new multipurpose community hall on the premises of Hindu Ashram on Thursday. Mr Babu Ram Bansal, President of the trust, said the trust would spend Rs 20 lakh on the project.