FATEHGARH SAHIB
Suspended: Mr Bahadur Singh Halka, Patwari of Rupal Heri, was suspended by the Deputy Commissioner on Thursday on a complaint lodged by Bhupinder Singh, Ajit Singh and Avtar Singh. The three alleged the patvari had been demanding money from them for sanctioning a mutation. According to Mr V.K. Janjua, Deputy Commissioner, the complainants came to him alleging that the Patwari was demanding Rs 60,000 from them for sanctioning a mutation in their favour.

GURDASPUR
Arrested: Pankaj Kumar of Shukarpura village in Saharanpur district in UP has been arrested for his alleged involvement in cheating people by extracting gold and silver from ornaments that came to him for cleaning. A case under Section 420 of the IPC has been registered against the suspect. The police has recovered half a tola of gold, acid and powder used by the suspect.

Proclaimed offenders: The police has arrested three proclaimed offenders — Khata of Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, Tarlochan Singh of Pathankot and Dhara Singh of Sulafi village in Chamba district.

Seized: The Sujanpur police seized 4,000 unfinished willow bats worth Rs 10 lakh on Thursday. The bats were being smuggled from Jammu and Kashmir to Jalandhar under some fruit boxes along with a consignment of fruits. According to Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, Ved Raj, a resident of Ranbir Singh Pura in Jammu and Kashmir had been arrested in this connection. Mr Kumar said the accused had been arrested earlier also for smuggling unfinished willow bats. The truck (No JKC-2291) was also impounded. A case under Section 420 of the IPC has been registered against the accused.

KAPURTHALA
Farmers' camp: Mr V.K. Singh, Deputy Commissioner, has said wheat would be sown in 1.2 lakh hectares in the district during this rabi season. Presiding over a district-level farmers’ training camp organised at the local Jagatjit Club on Thursday, Mr Singh urged the farmers to sow cash crops to earn more. More than 1,000 farmers participated in the camp.

LUDHIANA
Saplings planted: The Model Town branch of Punjab National Bank organised a sapling plantation camp at R.S. Model Senior Secondary School here on Thursday. Mr V.K. Sood, AGM, was the chief guest. Bank officials, staff and students of the school planted saplings. Students also presented a cultural show.

MALERKOTLA
Eye camp: The 53rd free eye operation camp will be organised at Kali Mata Mandir here on Sunday. Dr Mohd Shahbir, Secretary of the Rotary Club, said the SDM, Malerkotla, will be the chief guest. Dr Dhanwant Singh, an eye specialist from Patiala, will examine the patients.

Pulse polio: As many as 16,000 children were given pulse polio drops in a three-day pulse polio programme organised by the Health Department. Dr V.P. Goyal, SMO, Malerkotla Civil Hospital, said two mobile vans and 43 teams covered the entire city.

NAWANSHAHR
Challaned: The SSP, Mr Raj Pal Meena, in a press note here on Wednesday informed that as part of a special drive launched on Monday to enforce traffic rules in the district as many as 907 persons had been challaned.

PHAGWARA
PCCTU protest: The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union has decided to launch a three-phased protest to support of its demands. In the first phase two-period strike will be observed on November 3 in colleges affiliated to Panjab University on November 5 in Punjabi University affiliated colleges and on November 11 in Guru Nanak Dev University affiliated colleges. In the second phase a state-level protest dharna will be held outside DPI office in Chandigarh on November 25 and in third phase a protest march will be organised to Punjab Assembly during its forthcoming session.

Booked: Gurwinder Singh, alias Deepa, has been booked under the Arms Act. A press note on Thursday said a countrymade 12-bore pistol and a cartridge were seized from him. The seizure was made when Deepa, who was riding a motor cycle, was searched near Gaunspur village by a police party.

Trekking: The Chandigarh Adventure Association will organise a trekking expedition to Subathu on Saturday for 50 boys and girls from various computer institutes of the city. The trekkers would also participate in quiz and other contests to be organised by the association.

Workers' union: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Meters and Instruments Workers Union: President — Mr Ram Avtar; Vice-President — Mr Om Parkash; General Secretary — Mr Gurmel Singh; Joint Secretary — Mr Amrit Pal Malik; and cashier — Mr Karnail Singh.

DERA BASSI
Conference: The Rotary Club Dera Bassi City will host a conference of post-district Rotract representatives of Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab to motivate them to serve more effectively for the betterment of the community. The conference would be held at Barog on October 31.

KAITHAL
Resentment: Resentment prevails here among teachers about the announcement made by the Haryana Education Minister, Mr O.P. Mahajan, that while recruiting teachers no preference will be given to teachers employed on ad hoc and contract basis. In a signed statement issued here on Thursday, the district secretary of the Haryana Rajkiya Adhyapak Sangh demanded that before recruiting teachers the services of teachers employed on ad hoc and contract basis should be regularised.

PANIPAT
Convicted: The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr V.K. Jaiswal, has sentenced two persons accused of attempt to murder to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. According to information, on February 4, 1992, when Jagdish and his son-in-law Om Prakash were going to Panipat, the two were waylaid by Inder and Om Prakash of their village, Khotpur, near Mansoorpur village. Inder and Om Prakash then fired at them and seriously injured Om Prakash.

SIRSA
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Bar Association, Mandi Ellenabad: President — Mr Sohan Lal Arora; Vice-President — Mr Pawan Kumar Khatri; and General Secretary — Mr Raj Kumar Khatri.

Camp: A three-day bee farming training camp organised at the local Krishi Gyan Kendra concluded on Wednesday. Dr H.D Kaushik and Dr Om Vir from Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar, educated the participants.

SONEPAT
Four held: The police has arrested four miscreants during nakabandi at the Sonepat-Kakori road and found two stolen Maruti cars from their possession, Mr K.P. Singh, SP, said here on Friday. The arrested persons have been identified as Sandeep, Manjit, Jai Kishan and Sharmil.

Man robbed: Mr Raj Kumar Singla, an employee of Hindu Institute of Technology, was robbed of Rs 43,000 by two miscreants at Bharatpuri Colony, near the city police station, here on Thursday.

Welfare society: The following have been elected office-bearers of the HP Housing Board Colony Welfare Society: President — Mr Sheel Kumar Gupta; Vice-Presidents — Mr Amar Singh Dhatwalia and Mr H.D. Shukla; General Secretary — Mr Jaggan Nath Sharma; and treasurer — Mr Vidya Sagar Bhardwaj.

Quiz contest: The teams of Kush Kashyap and Ankita Chandel of DAV School, Bilaspur, and Priyanka and Rishiraj of DAV School, Ghumarwin, were declared first in the quiz competition for junior and senior sections, respectively, at the district children's science congress organised at Jhandutta by the Education Department, 45 km from here, on Wednesday.

Herbal garden: A herbal garden will be set up in Bilaspur district. Inaugurating the 62nd ayurvedic health centre at Manhan, about 35 km from here, on Thursday, the Minister of State for Cooperatives Rikhi Ram Kondal, said, in Himachal two ayurveda pharmacies were already functioning at Jogindernagar and Majra.

Grievances’ redressal: Eightyone grievances out of 95 presented by villagers were settled on the spot at the subdivisional-level "shikayat nivaran shivir" presided by the SDM, Mr B.L. Raghava, at Galian, 42 km from here, on Wednesday. Mr Raghava said 48 certificates and four copies of records were issued while Rs 7,600 was distributed as relief among 40 poor persons.

SC's uplift: The Himachal Government will spend Rs 8 crore for the uplift of Scheduled Castes under the special component plan in Bilaspur district during the current financial year. Presiding over a district-level review committee meeting, the Additional District Magistrate Mr R.D. Panwar said here on Thursday, till now various departments had already spent Rs 4.04 crore. Against the target of helping 675 Scheduled Caste families, 666 such families had already been rendered help.

NAHAN
Kisan credit card: While presiding over the district consultation committee meeting here on Friday the Deputy Commissioner, Sirmour, Mr Rakesh Kaushal, said the kisan credit card scheme had been successfully launched in the Rajgarh area with a view to benefit farmers by providing them with much needed cash. He said with the active involvement of bankers the scheme would be started in all areas in the district.

Bijli adalat: Mr S.C. Prabhakar, Superintendent Engineer, Himachal Pradesh Electricity Board, Nahan, said here on Friday that a district level bijli adalat would be organised on November 16 at Training Hall in DC Office here to redress the grievances of consumers.

UNA
Office-bearer: The following have been elected office-bearers of the District Himlok Sampark Non-Gazetted Employees Federation: Advisor — Mr Sukhdev Chand; President — Mr Arjun Das Rajpoot; General Secretary — Mr Purshottam Lal; Senior Vice-President — Mr Roshan Lal; Press Secretary — Mr M.M. Gopal; Organising Secretary — Ms Neelam Bhardwaj; and Finance Secretary — Mr Balbir Singh.