BAHAWALPUR: The district government has extended the deadline for the farmers to submit applications for the interest-free loan scheme from Dec 15 to Jan 1.

District Officer (DO) Agriculture Muhammad Irfan Cheema told Dawn 3,400 farmers had registered for agriculture loans.

According to him, the applications had exceeded the government`s fixed target in the district. He denied the reports regarding poor response to the scheme, claiming that the number of application would further increase by Jan 1. Under the government`s loan scheme, the eligible farmers having up to 12.5 acres land would get Rs25,000 for Rabi and Rs40,000 for Kharif crops in three installments.

FAKE DRUGS: A health department team, led byAssistant Commissioner Rao Tasleem Ahmed, unearthed a f ake drugs f actory in Mohallah Kajalpur in the Walled City and arrested two persons.

According to the AC, the team smashed the factory manufacturing the fake herbal and allopathic medicines. Muhammad Gulzar and his employee Waqas were arrested along with a huge quantity of tablets worth hundreds of thousands of rupees. Gulzar, in the preliminary statement, claimed that he was doing the illegal business in connivance with the former Drug Inspector Attique who was already arrested last month on charge for running a fake medicine factory in Musa Colony.

JEEP RALLY: The route of the annual Cholistan Jeep Rally has been extended from 200km to about 400km.

The route of the rally organised annually with the local administration and the Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP), has been extended with a view to involve all the three districts of the division. The schedule for the jeep rally has not been announced yet.