Lahan seized: A police party raided the house of Raghubir Singh and caught him making lahan at Kila Tek village and seized 10 bottles of lahan. A case under the Excise Act was registered.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
Lok darbar: At the Lok Darbar organised by the Deputy Commissioner at Baras village on Friday, the villagers complained about the deteriorating state of sanitation, drinking water, streets and schools. They also complained about irregularities in giving pensions to widows and the working of the banks. Mr Surjeet Singh, a resident of Badali Mai Ki village, alleged that bank officials deducted an amount from his old-age pension account to adjust an instalment of loan taken by his son, who was living separately.

FEROZEPORE
Yoga camp: A week-long dhyan yoga shivir under the supervision of Swami Ram Piaraj Chhehratawala concluded here on Saturday at the local Ram Bagh.

School games: A three-day district and primary school games concluded on Saturday at the local Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium. The local MLA and Minister of State for Cooperation and Sainik Welfare, Punjab, Mr Jameja Singh Sekhon, gave away the prizes.

GARHSHANKAR
Free camp: Guru Nanak Mission Hospital, Dhahan Kaleran, organised a free medical camp at Kot Ftuhi with the help of HelpAge India. About 20 patients were given medicines for de-addiction.

Priest killed: Priest Shanti Giri of Chintpurni temple, a resident of Thuana village, has been murdered by miscreants. A case has been registered.

GURDASPUR
Booked: The Dorangala police on Friday booked Sukhwinder Singh, a resident of Ali Nangal in the district, for extracting Rs 30,000 from Ram Pal, a resident of Lole Nangal, for getting Ram Pal's son married to a girl hailing from Jammu. According to Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, Sukhwinder Singh, after 15 days of the marriage, came to Ram Pal and said the mother of the bride was ill and took the bride with him to Jammu. Mr Kumar said till today the bride had not come back. Ram Pal said Sukhwinder Singh had demanded Rs 7,000 more for returning his daughter-in-law. A case under Section 420, IPC, has been registered against Sukhwinder Singh.

JALANDHAR
Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Punjab PWD Public Health Department Subdivisional Engineers Association: President — Mr K.S. Saini (Jalandhar); Vice-President — Mr Khazan Singh(Ajnala); General Secretary — Mr Mohammad Ishfaq (Samrala); Secretary north — Mr A.K. Soni (Pathankot); Secretary central — Mr Harjit Singh (Ludhiana); and Secretary south - Mr A.C. Bansal (Anandpur Sahib).

LUDHIANA
Rally: The PAU Employees Welfare Forum held a rally on the campus of Punjab Agricultural University. The rally was attended by at least 800 employees. Mr Jola Ram Bansal, Chairman of the forum, addressed the rally highlighting the failure of the present executive council of the union, led by its President, Mr D.P. Maur, to get any demand of the employees accepted during the past two years.

Convocation: Education needs to be value based. Home science is a synthesis of the basic and applied sciences. This was stated by Padam Shri Dr (Ms) Rajammal P. Devadas, Chancellor, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, while delivering the convocation address at College of Home Science, Punjab Agricultural University, here on Friday.

NAWANSHAHR
Literacy drive: The local District Literacy Society organised a function here on Thursday at K.C. Palace to mark the successful completion of the total literacy drive in the district and honour those workers. who had made commendable contribution in making the drive a success. The Deputy Commissioner, Dr Roshan Sunkaria, presided.

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the District Tournament Committee (Middle Schools): President - Ms Gurjit Kaur (DEO); Secretary - Mr Hem Raj; Joint Secretary - Ms Savitri Devi; and Organising Secretary - Mr Gurpal Singh (AEO). Mr Hem Raj, Mr Dilbagh Singh, Mr Lashkar Ram, Mr Surjit Singh, Mr Rajesh Kumar, Mr Baljinder Singh and Mr Mohinderpal Singh have been elected zonal secretaries of Nawanshahr, Jadla, Behram, Aur, Banga, Balachaur and Saroya zones, respectively.

PATIALA
Folk dances: The local North Zone Cultural Centre presented a show on Indian folk dances on Friday at Government Ripudaman College, Nabha. Dance troupes from Rajasthan, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu participated in the programme. Mr Zora Singh Thind, SDM, Nabha, presided.

Declamation contest: An inter-school declamation contest was organised by Children Memorial Public School here on Friday in memory of the 22 children of a local school who died in a boat accident in the Sutlej in 1982. Mr Ved Parkash Gupta, DCC (Urban) President, gave prizes to the winners.

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Public Health Sub-Division Engineers Association: President - Mr Sohan Lal Jindal; Secretary - Mr Balwant Singh; and Joint Secretary - Mr Subhash Gupta.

SAMRALA
Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Balmik Sabha, Machhiwara: President — Mr Prem Sagar, Vice-President — Mr Hans Raj; and Secretary — Mr Paramveer.

Kala sangam: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Kalgidhar Kala Sangam: President — Bhai Himmat Singh (Mangat Ghulal); Vice-President — Bibi Manjit Kaur Sandhu (Machhiwara); General Secretary — Mr Parkash Singh Mehta (Bijlipur); and Treasurer — Mr Gurdev Singh Komal (Sandhuan).

SANGRUR
Best bank award: Malwa Gramin Bank sponsored by the State Bank of Patiala organised a function here on Saturday to honour its best performing branches for 1998-99. Mr R.S Nanda, General Manager, State Bank of Patiala, was the chief guest.

TARN TARAN
Body found: The body of an aged Sikh was found by the police near the local railway lines on Thursday. The police has also registered a case regarding the death of Sarwan Singh of Kallaha village, who died while spraying insecticides in his fields.

Contests: Baba Productions and Western Star Group will organise Mr and Miss India North West '99 contests in the first week of October, according to Mr Sandeep Bawa, a choreographer. The contests have shortlisted 25 women and 20 men from the north-west region of the country.

PANCHKULA
Residents' body: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Resident Welfare Association, Sector 8, Panchkula: Patron — Mr Vinod Kapoor; President — Mr G.S. Rekhi; Senior Vice-President — Mr K.L. Sawhney; Vice-Presidents — Mr L.R. Aggarwal and Mr S.S. Dhillon; General Secretary — Mr Narinder Singh; and Finance Secretary — Mr P.D. Rampal.

Traffic blocked: Traffic on the National Highway No 1 remained stranded for four hours on Sunday morning near the Ghaggar river bridge, 5 km from here, following a head-on collision between a tractor and a car. The highway was cleared around 11.30 a.m.

REWARI
Lok Adalat: A Lok Adalat was organised here on Saturday in which 121 cases were decided. Mr J.S. Dahiya, Chief Judicial Magistrate, presided.

Hailed: The business community here has hailed the Haryana Government's decision regarding the abolition of octroi. The traders have expressed relief over it.

SONEPAT
Leakage: A stretch of the road near Subhash Chowk in Model Town has been inundated for the past one week because of a leakage in the main water pipe. People complained that they had to wade through the water for reaching their homes.

Arrested: The city police has arrested Ajay, a proclaimed offender involved in a series of loot, dacoity, and theft cases in Haryana and Delhi, and recovered a pistol from him. The culprit belonged to Kulasi village of Jhajjar district in Haryana. He was produced before judicial magistrate who remanded him in police custody.

YAMUNANAGAR
Water shortage: Residents of the district have lodged a complaint against inadequate supply of water. In a letter, addressed to senior officers of the Public Health Department, they have alleged that in old Hamida in the district there is an acute shortage of drinking water. According to them, there is low pressure of water because several people have attached motors directly on the main line of water supply.

Mushroom cultivation camp: A four-day mushroom cultivation training camp, organised jointly by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Damla, and Horticulture Department, Haryana, concluded at Damla on Thursday. As many as 90 progressive farmers and unemployed youth participated in the camp. Presiding over the concluding function, the SDM, Jagadhri, Mr Narender Singh, appealed to the trainees to adopt the mushroom cultivation programme as mushroom was a profitable crop.