AMRITSAR
UGC award: Dr Gurjeet Singh, a Reader of Law in Guru Nanak Dev University, has been selected for a UGC research award, popularly known as the Young Teachers Career Award. He will do research on "The status of legal education and research in India: a plea for reform".

GURDASPUR
Dharna: More than 500 employees owing allegiance to the Punjab Subordinate Services Federation and other unions held a joint dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner here on Thursday. Later, they presented a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, demanding grant of bonus, DA instalments, etc.

JALANDHAR
Job scheme: The Employment Assurance scheme (EAS), which was introduced from October 2, 1993, is now being implemented in all 5448 rural blocks of the country. According to the annual report of the Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment for 1998-99, the primary objective of the scheme is to provide gainful employment during the lean agricultural season to all able-bodied adults in rural areas.

NAWANSHAHR
Wheat purchase: Dr Roshan Sunkaria, Deputy Commissioner, in a press note issued here on Wednesday, said 1.12 lakh metric tonnes of wheat had been purchased this year in various mandis of the district. About 98 per cent of the purchased wheat had been lifted and stored and payments made to the farmers, he claimed.

Honoured: The Punjab State Blood Donation Committee organised a function here to honour the social workers associated with the blood donation movement in the state. Mr Pushp Raj Kalia, General Secretary of the committee, said the Governor, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber, presided over the function.

Literacy drive: A procession for literacy awareness was taken out in Sahlon village by the block Saksharata Samiti on Tuesday, Mr Ashok Kumar Sikka, SDM-cum- Secretary of the District Literacy Society, inaugurated the programme.

Protest: On a call given by the Agriculture Technocrats Action Committee, Punjab, technocrats in the Agriculture and Horticulture Departments of the district organised a dharna and rally in front of the office of Deputy Commissioner here on Thursday. They were protesting against the registration of 'false' cases against officials of the Agriculture Department for alleged misappropriation of subsidy on phosphatic fertilisers.

PATIALA
Stir threat: Members of the Class Four Government and Semi-Government Employees Union, Punjab, will hold a dharna at Chandigarh on May 20 in protest against the government’s move to withdraw certain facilities given to them on the occasion of the Khalsa tercentenary celebrations.

SAMRALA
Judicial remand: Harbans Singh of Rajgarh village was on Wednesday remanded in judicial custody till May 24. The Machhiwara police recovered an illicit pistol with live cartridges from his possession and registered a case against him under the Arms Act.

Meeting: The All-India Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Social Welfare Society held its meeting on Thursday in Sector 22, chaired by Mr Naresh Kumar Chalia, in which it discussed some issues related to the society. It was decided that a membership drive would be undertaken to increase the strength of the society. It also decided that May 21 would be celebrated as the martyrdom day of former Prime Minister of India, Mr Rajiv Gandhi.

Function: The local committee of the Chief Khalsa Dewan held a function at Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Sector 40. It felicitated Mr Kirpal Singh, President of the Chief Khalsa Dewan of Amritsar, on his being conferred with Nishan-e-Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib on the occasion of tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa.

Annual function: The Punjab Government College Retired Teachers' Welfare Association held its annual function today at Government College for Men, Sector 11. Mr G.P.S. Sahi, Principal Secretary for Higher Education, presided over the function. Mrs K. Atma Ram, ex-DPI (colleges) of Punjab delivered a talk on 'Education Then and Now'.

Office-bearers: The following have been elected the office-bearers of the CPWD Junior Engineers Association: President — Mr V.K. Sharma; Vice-President — Mr L.D. Ghera; Secretary — Mr Rakesh Bhambi; and Joint Secretaries — Mr C.M. Vaid and Mr Shree Pal.

Medical camp: The Chandigarh Central Rotary Club will organise a free medical check-up camp at Life Line Care & Diagnostics Centre in Industrial Area, Phase II on Sunday. According to Mr Deepak Mehan, President of the club, a number of other community projects have also been taken up by the club, including adoption of Kishengarh village, where a fully-equipped health centre in a double-storeyed building is being run by it. The club is also running a stitching school for women, a typing school and a book bank in the village.

Students: The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), regarding the case of honours school students’ reappear examination, for which the result of previous examinations held in January-February have not been declared yet, met the Controller of Examination and the Coordinator, Mr H.M. Dani. The examinations are scheduled to begin from May 15.

SAS NAGAR
Consumer Forum: The local Consumer Protection Forum will organise a consumer camp at the Phase 3B1 Government Senior Secondary School here on Thursday. During the camp, complaints relating to gas connections, power supply, telecommunication, weights and measures and food and supplies will be redressed on the spot. Senior officers of the departments concerned will be present on the occasion.

Elected: The following have been elected the office-bearers of the local Consumer Protection Forum, Phase 3B1: President — Mr Balwant Singh; Vice-President — Mrs Balbir Kaur Bains; and Secretary — Mr Surjit Singh Marwaha.

PANCHKULA
Literacy rally: A rally was organised by the local unit of the NSS to spread the message of literacy on Thursday. Girl students of the 10+2 class of Government Senior Secondary School in Sector 7 participated in the rally.

Nominated: Mr Man Singh, former sarpanch of Nimriwali village, and Mr Ram Avtar Gupta have been nominated Chairman and Vice-Chairman, respectively, of the Market Committee here. The following have been nominated members of the committee: Mr Krishan Kumar; Mr Ran Singh Fauji; Mr Dev Raj, Mr Hawa Singh; Mr Satbir Singh; Mr Sarjeet Singh; Mr Om Prakash; Mr Gulab Chand; Mr Birbal Captain; Mr Narayan Singh; and Mr Sudarshan Singh.

Hailed: Mr M.M. Sehgal, President of the Haryana Rajkiya College Pradhiyapak Welfare Association, has congratulated the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, for releasing UGC grades for college and university teachers. He also thanked Mr Surendra Singh, former MP from here, for his role in getting these grades released.

SIRSA
Body found: The decomposed body of Sukhpal Singh, alias Lovely, of Gadri Barasinghi village in Punjab was recovered from an irrigation channel near Rajpura village in this district on Monday. The body was identified by Jeet Singh, brother of the deceased. He told the police that his brother was a photographer and had been missing since April 29, when he had left to meet his friend, Surmeet, of Lalewala village.

Khula durbar: As many as 110 complaints were received and decided at a weekly open durbar held at Patwar Bhavan here on Tuesday. A large number of followers of the Namdhari Mission of villages in Ellenabad subdivision, headed by Maharaj Bir Singh, in a complaint to the authorities alleged that they were being forced to convert by supporters of Satguru Jagjit Singh of another Namdhari sect.

Arrested: Paramjeet Singh, alias Pammi, of Panniwala Morikan village in this district was arrested under Sections 323 and 354 of the IPC on Tuesday. Mr B.S. Sandhu, SSP, said here on Wednesday that he had been arrested on the complaint of a woman of the same village, who alleged that she was molested by Pammi on April 20 when she was collecting fodder in the fields.

Couple burnt: Baby Rani and her husband, Azad Singh, a truck driver of mohalla Inderpuri, were admitted to the local Civil Hospital after sustaining serious burns on Tuesday. Baby Rani sustained the burns while cooking food for her husband, who was also injured when he tried to save her.

Father, son held: Raj Pal and his son, Jagdish, of Mandi Ellenabad in this district were arrested on Tuesday under Sections 306, 324, 325 and 34 of the IPC for allegedly attacking Maniram Artora, a PWD employee, with sharp-edged weapons on May 8.

Probe ordered: Dr Avtar Singh, Deputy Commissioner, on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the death of 104 sheep in Mattuwala village in this district due to a mysterious disease. Residents of this village alleged that a complaint regarding the deaths had been made at a khula darbar, but the surgeon concerned had taken no steps in this regard.

One killed: One person died and six persons were injured in a road accident near Madhosingana village in this district on Tuesday. A jeep carrying passengers collided with a tractor-trailer about 10 km from here. Balbir Singh (35) succumbed to his injuries, while his wife, Kaladevi (30), and son, Deepak (7), were among, those seriously injured.

Stolen: Gold ornaments and household goods worth thousands were reportedly stolen by four persons from the house of Bihari Lal of Mandi Dabwali, about 60 km from here, on Tuesday night. The robbers also attacked and seriously injured Bihari Lal. The police has registered a criminal case.

Case registered: Sunita Devi of Chattergarh Patti here, her mother, Indira, and brothers Kala Singh and Bhim Singh, were on Tuesday booked on the charges of cheating, breach of trust and concealment of "Sunita's former marriage. Mr B.S. Sandhu, SSP, said on Wednesday that the four were booked on the complaint of Surinder Kumar of Kalvan Nagar here, who was married to Sunita Devi in 1998.

SONEPAT
Gang busted: With the arrest of two persons, the city police on Wednesday busted a gang of auto thieves and robbers operating in this region for the past few months. The SSP, Mr K. Selvraj, said on Wednesday that those arrested were Devinder of Asawarpur village and Suresh, alias Satish, of Kilorad village.

HVP convention: The district unit of the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) is holding a one-day convention here on May 14 as part of its mass contact campaign and to highlight the achievements of the HVP-BJP government in the past three years. Mr Rajiv Jain, Political Press Adviser to the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal , and other party leaders will address the convention.

Dharna held: Employees of the Forest Department held a dharna in front of their office here on Thursday to press the withdrawal of a 'false' report of Mr Ram Kishan, a forest guard, and to demand their salary for April. Mr Rajpal Singh, President of the district unit of the Forest Mazdoor Union, criticised the department authorities for their 'failure' to accept the genuine demands of the employees.

YAMUNANAGAR
Attacked: Three armed youths shot one Amjad Khan on the Saharanpur-Yamunanagar highway on Wednesday, injuring him seriously. The three also took away his tractor. The police has arrested two of the suspects under Sections 392, 397, 307, 25,54,49 of the Arms Act and recovered a pistol from their possession.