Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Senior Citizens (retd) Welfare Association: Senior Vice-President — Mr Krishan Gopal; General Secretary — Mr Joginder Singh; and Press Secretary — Mr Inderjit Singh.

LUDHIANA
Sangat darshan: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Arun Goel, has asked various heads of departments in the district to sort out the cases taken up during the "sangat darshan" programmes at their offices on every Monday and Thursday and submit their reports during the next meeting. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner at a "sangat darshan" programme organised here on Thursday.

SAS NAGAR
Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Punjab Police Housing Corporation Employees Association: President — Mr Pawan Kumar Sharma; Vice-President — Mr Anuj Lal; General Secretary — Ms Neelam Sethi; and Cashier — Mr Mukesh Puri.

Contractors: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Private Construction Labour Contractors Association: President —Mr Jaswant Singh Bhullar; Vice-President — Mr Gurdial Singh; General Secretary — Mr Lakhbir Singh; and Cashier — Mr Bhupinder Singh.

Camp: The district Red Cross Society and the Rotary Club will organise a 15-day camp from March 15 at Rukmani Devi hall in the cantonment for the physically handicapped persons. Free artificial limbs, wheel chairs, crutches and hearing aids would be provided to them. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Ms Navraj Sandhu, here on Thursday.

BHIWANI
Life imprisonment: The District and Sessions Judge, Mr Pritam Pal, has sentenced Subhash of Kadma village to life imprisonment and fined Rs 1000 for killing his cousin, Praveen. The accused, according to the prosecution, had abducted his cousin on August 7, 1997, and threw him into a well situated 2 km away from the village.

FATEHABAD
Scooter taken away: Three armed youths forcibly took away a scooter from a petrol pump owner at Bhattu Kalan in the district on Thursday and decamped with some cash. A case has been registered.

KAITHAL
Convicted: The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr Harjinder Singh Bhangoo has sentenced Mangat Singh of Guhla to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1 lakh after convicting him under the NDPS Act. About 18 kg of poppy husk was seized from him.

Imprisoned: The Civil Judge (Senior Division)-cum-Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Inderjeet Mehta, has sentenced Narinder and Siya Ram of Siwan to nine months' imprisonment and fined Rs 500 each under Sections 323 and 506, IPC.

Gamblers arrested: The police arrested Bittu, Krishan, Subhash, Balbir and Jagdish, on Wednesday for allegedly gambling at a public place. A case has been registered under the Gambling Act.

ROHTAK
Cops held: The Civil Lines police on Thursday arrested two policemen, including an ASI of Ambala on the charge of dereliction of duty. According to police sources, the two had brought a murder accused, Subhash, from Central Jail, Ambala, to PGIMS, Rohtak, for treatment on February 25. The undertrial escaped from the police custody two days later.

SIRSA
Found dead: Pravesh Dass (40) of Bihar, working as a labourer at Kariwala village in the district, was found dead in his room at the village on Wednesday. According to informed sources, the victim had consumed spurious liquor.

Body found: The decomposed body of Begera Singh of Bhadra village in the district was found from Bijjuwali irrigation channel on Wednesday. According to informed sources, Begera Singh had shifted to Thiraj village, about four years back after the death of his father and was running some wood business.

Arrested: Goddi, alias Pahalwan Raisikh, of Rania along with his accomplice Harnek Singh, alias Bittu Raisikh, have been arrested by the Rania police in a case registered under Section 354, IPC, on the charge of misbehaving with a woman. In a complaint it had been alleged that both accused had molested the wife of Joginder Singh of Rania town.

Sentenced: Mr A.K. Vimal, Additional District and Sessions Judge, here sentenced Phula Ram of Dhakkavas to 10 years' imprisonment and fined Rs 1 lakh under the NDPS Act here on Wednesday. The accused was arrested by the Badagudha police near Lakranwali village in the district and seized 10 bags of poppy husk from him.

SONEPAT
Mishap: One person was killed on the spot and 17 others injured, seven of them seriously, when a Tata Sumo collided with a jeep on National Highway no 71-A near Sainipur village, 45 km from here, on Thursday. A marriage party was travelling in the Tata Sumo which was on its way from Panipat to Rohtak, whereas the jeep was coming from Panipat to Gohana.

Memorandum: The Residents Welfare Association on Thursday sent a memorandum to the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, seeking transfers of the officials responsible for the alleged sale of levy sugar and kerosene in the black market in this district. It also urged the state government to order a high-level inquiry into the racket.

Crushed to death: Jai Bhagwan (35) of Gandhi Nagar, Ganaur, was crushed to death by a train at Ganaur railway station, 16 km from here, on Wednesday. According to the Railway police, the victim was crossing the track when the mishap occurred.

Fax machines sought: Mr Suresh Chandel, member of Parliament from Hamirpur constituency and the state BJP president, has urged the Central Communications Minister, Mr Jagmohan, to install fax machines at Ghumarwin, Badsar and Dehra Gopipur.

Financial aid: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ramesh Kapil, said here on Thursday that Rs 2 lakh would be distributed in the district during the current financial year for encouraging youths and voluntary organisations in constructive activities under the "Swami Vivekananda Yuva Protsahan Yojna". He said this aid would be given for organising social service camps, cultural and sports competitions and seminars.

Training camp: A four-week screen printing training camp organised by the Himachal Pradesh Industries Department and Small Industries Service Institute (Chamba Ghat) concluded here on Wednesday. The additional District Magistrate, Mr R.D. Panwar, presided.

CHAMBA
Funds sought: The Salooni panchayat samiti of the district in its resolution has urged the authorities of the Chamera and Baira Siul hydroelectric project to provide funds for the development of those areas which fall in the catchment basin of these projects. Mr Dharam Singh Pathania, chairman of the samiti, said most of the areas under the Salooni development block had been affected by these two projects but overlooked by the authorities from the development point of view.

HAMIRPUR
Ujala divas: Members of the Himachal Pradesh Secondary Volunteer Teachers Association observed "ujala divas" on Friday by lighting a candle at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi near Gandhi chowk. These teachers have been seeking the regularisation of their services and granting of salaries on a par with their regular counterparts.

NURPUR
Murdered: Yodharam (42), a meat seller of Katholi village near Nagrota Surian, was murdered by certain persons on Thursday with sharpedged weapons. A case has been registered under Sections 302 and 34, IPC.
Association: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Junior Engineers Association: President — Mr Satish Dhiman; Secretary — Mr Balwan Singh; and Finance Secretary — Mr Tarsem Gupta.

Reinstated: Netar Singh, pradhan of gram panchayat, Hatli Jamwalan, who was placed under suspension by the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, in October last year, has been reinstated on Wednesday by the Director, Panchayati Raj, Shimla, who set aside the suspension order. The pradhan was remanded in police custody from October 10 to 12, last year, following an FIR under Sections 406 and 420, IPC.

Scheme launched: A two-day workshop on the joint forest management organised by the Wildlife Circle, Hamirpur, at Dhameta in Jawali subdivision was inaugurated on Wednesday. Mr Rajan Sushant, State Revenue Minister, presided.