HOSHIARPUR
Cow slaughter: The district police has arrested Bhula Ram and Inderjit and registered a case against them under Sections 3, 4 and 9 of the Cow Slaughtering Act and Sections 379 and 427 of the IPC. The SSP said the accused and their two accomplices stole a cow and two calves from the house of Mr Manohar Lal on the night of July 9. They slaughtered the animals and then removed their skins.

JALANDHAR
Pensioners' body: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Telecom Pensioners Association here: president — Mr Inderjit Sehdev; vice-president — Mr Arjan Singh Guru; general secretary — Mr Ram Parkash Sharma; and treasurer - Mr J.M Rudra.

LUDHIANA
Poppy seized: The police has seized 55 kg of poppy husk from Harcharan Singh, a resident of Lalton Kalan village, near Ludhiana. According to Mr Kuldip Singh, SSP, the accused was caught red-handed while selling poppy. A case under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him.

MOGA
Announced: Mr Surjan Singh, a SAD member of Dhudike village, announced to join the Congress on Thursday. The announcement was made by him in the presence of Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar, a former MP.

PHAGWARA
Teacher dead: Neelam Rani, a teacher of Government High School, Maheru, was killed when she threw herself under the Sealdah Express near the Chaheru railway station on Tuesday.

Elected: The following have been elected the office-bearers of the Punjab Secretariat Personal Staff Association: President — Mr Karam Singh; Senior Vice-President — Ms Balbir Kaur; Vice-President — Mr Jasbir Singh Bhullar; General Secretary — Mr Kashmiri Lal Nafri; Joint Secretary — Mr Surjit Singh; Organising Secretary — Mr Jugal Kishore Khanna; and Treasurer — Mr Balwinder Singh.

Open forum: The Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi will organise an 'open forum', a meeting with citizens of Chandigarh for taking down their suggestions regarding their contribution to the cultural life of the city. Also, it will hold a workshop in puppetry, to be organised by Delhi-based Varun Narain, of the Pi Theatre Group, from July 21 to July 26. Body Movement Workshop, by bharatnatyam and modern dancer Navtej Johar, will be held from July 31 to August 6. The enrollment fee for each workshop will be Rs 200 per participant.

Mahurat performed: The mahurat of 'Mirza Sahiban', a tele-serial produced by Castle Films and directed by Sunil Babbar was held at Tagore Theatre on Thursday. The Adviser to the Administrator, Chandigarh, Mrs Vinita Rai, broke the ceremonial coconut and Mr Satish Chandra, MD of CITCO, sounded the clap. The lead role of young Mirza, is being played by Ashutosh, a product of St John's School, Sector 26. Earlier, a stage show of a play of the same name was staged at Tagore Theatre on Tuesday.

Photography workshop: The Photographic Society of Chandigarh and the Kodak India Ltd in association with the Imperial Photo Stores, New Delhi, will organise an exhibition-cum-workshop on portrait photography at Government Museum, Sector 10, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The main objective of the workshop, according to Mr Navneet Saxena, President of this society, is to upgrade one's professional skill in portrait and glamour photography. The workshop will be conducted by Mr Ranjan Sharma and Mr Rakesh Luthra of Delhi.

Art exhibition: The Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, in association with the Chandigarh Administration, will hold an exhibition of various forms of art on Tuesday at Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10. This exhibition will be held in aid of the Kargil victims, and many artists, sculptors, photographers and potters of the city will take part in it.

HISAR
Dharna: Students of Haryana Agricultural University held a dharna in front of the Vice-Chancellor's office on Thursday in support of their demands which include filling of vacant posts of agriculture development officer, veterinary surgeon and anganwari supervisor and enhancement of scholarships and stipend of students. The Vice-Chancellor, Dr J.B. Chowdhary, however, assured the students.

ROHTAK
Murders: Two persons were murdered, a schoolboy was killed and his sister injured in separate incidents in the district during the past 24 hours. According to the police, chowkidar Sukhbir was found strangled to death in a factory along the Rohtak-Gohana road while Jangli was shot dead near Garhi Mohalla here on Wednesday morning by some unidentified assailants. Schoolboy Meenu was knocked down dead by a vehicle while his sister Meena was seriously injured near Bhaini Maharaj, 35 km from here, on Tuesday.

SIRSA
Anti-Pak protest: Thousands of students of various schools held a procession in the city raising anti-Pak slogans. The procession culminated at Hathi Park where tributes were paid to Kargil martyrs.

CHAMBA
JEs assn: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Chamba zone of the HPSEB Junior Engineers Association: president — Mr Ravi Makkar; secretary — Mr K.S Naryal; finance secretary — Mr H.K Mahajan; and organising secretary — Mr H.S Chauhan.

Campaign: A special drive has been launched in the district to control the smuggling of liquor. Mr Dyal Singh, ETO, Excise, in a press note here on Wednesday said several cases had been registered against various persons. At least 20 bottles of liquor had also been seized.

SOLAN
Fined: The District Food and Civil Supplies Controller on Tuesday challaned 18 shopkeepers of Solan and Nalagarh towns for selling their merchandise in coloured plastic bags. Each trader was fined Rs 50 each. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr R.D Dhiman, has warned of stricter enforcement of the Act and fines of much higher amounts in future.