H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

POSTINGS AND TRANSFERS
HP modifies orders of 3 IAS officers
Shimla, May 3
The Himachal Pradesh Government today modified the transfer orders of three IAS officers and appointed Mr R.D.Nazeem as Deputy Commissioner of Chamba. He was last week posted as Director, Urban Development.

Old Cottonians to play goodwill match
Shimla, May 3
A group of old students of the local Bishop Cotton School, who have made their mark in their respective fields abroad, will travel all the way to the “Queen of Hills” to play a “goodwill cricket match” against the present school team on May 12.

Silt choking up Khajjiar lake
Khajjiar (Chamba)
Khajjiar, a saucer-shaped plateau, is a major tourist attraction near Dalhousie, a popular hill station of Himachal Pradesh. It was christened as ‘‘mini-Switzerland’’ by the Swiss Government on July 7, 1992, considering its similarity with that country’s alpine landscapes. Moreover, Khajjiar has the potential to be one of the most important tourist attractions.

Rattan rejoins Congress
Shimla, May 3
In a bid to regroup the anti-Virbhadra Singh force, the PCC chief, Mrs Vidya Stokes, today re-admitted Mr O.P. Rattan, former MLA and president of the Himachal Vikas Party, into the Congress.

BSF martyrs’ kin get Rs 3 lakh each
Shimla, May 3
The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, has sanctioned Rs 3 lakh each as special financial assistance to the families of the two BSF jawans Des Raj of Mandal village, Kangra district, and Dhian Chand of Bijri, Hamirpur district, who were killed by the Bangladesh Forces recently.

POSTINGS AND TRANSFERS
HP modifies orders of 3 IAS officers
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 3
The Himachal Pradesh Government today modified the transfer orders of three IAS officers and appointed Mr R.D.Nazeem as Deputy Commissioner of Chamba. He was last week posted as Director, Urban Development.

Mr Bharat Bhushan, who was last week posted as DC, Chamba, has now been appointed as Director of Urban Development.

Mr Rajneesh, who was under orders of posting as Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, has now been posted as Resident Commissioner, Pangi. Mr Maneesh Garg, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, who was under orders of transfer to Pangi, will now continue to work on the same post.

Mr P.C. Kashyap, Special Secretary, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, has been posted as Special Secretary, Ayurveda and Transport.

The government also transferred 28 officers of the Himachal Administrative Service (HAS) cadre today.

Mr A.S. Rathore, Secretary, State Transport Authority, Shimla, has been posted as Additional Director, Panchayati Raj.

Mr B.R. Jamwal, ADM, Kangra, has been appointed as Executive Director, Housing Board, and will also hold charge of Additional Secretary, Home.

Mr Vinod Kumar, SDM, Bilaspur, goes as SDM, Manali. Mr Rajeev Shankar, ADM, Una, goes as ADC, Hamirpur.

Mr Vikas Labroo, ADM, Nahan, has been posted as Secretary, HP Board of School Education, Dharamsala, in place of Mr Sunil Chaudhary, who goes as Registrar, Agriculture University, Palampur.

Mr N.S. Suman, ADM, Hamirpur, has been shifted to Kangra in the same capacity.

Mr S.S. Guleria, Registrar, Agriculture University, Palampur, has been posted as ADM, Bilaspur, and Mr Rakesh Dhiman, SDM, Solan, has been appointed SDM, Bilaspur.

Mr S.C. Negi, General Manager, District Industries Centre, Solan, goes as ADM, Nahan, and Mr P.D. Chaudhary, SDM, Arki, goes to Ani in Kulu in the same capacity.

Mr Gopal Chand, SDM, Kalpa, has been transferred to Karsog in Mandi as SDM in place of Mr K.K. Khanna who has been sent to the Public Service Commission as Under Secretary.

Mr Padam Singh, Additional Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Shimla, has been posted as General Manager, District Industries Centre, Solan.

Mr L.R. Zamta, SDM, Rajgarh, has been shifted to Solan in the same capacity. The AC to DC, Shimla, has been posted as AC to DC, Chamba. Mr S.P. Rolta, SDM, Jogindernagar, has been shifted to Rajgarh in Sirmaur district.

Mr M.L. Damalu, SDM, Kulu, goes as SDM, Jogindernagar, and Mr B.R. Verma, ADC, Hamirpur, has been posted as Additional Director-cum-Additional Secretary, Health, in place of Mr B.M. Nanta, who goes as Additional Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Shimla.

Mr V.S. Negi, SDM, Ani, has been posted as SDM, Kulu, and Mr J.S. Pathania, SDM, Dalhousie, has been sent as Settlement Officer (Consolidation), Hamirpur.

Mr Rakesh Kanwar, Deputy Director, Hipa, goes as ADM, Bharmour, in place of Mr P.S. Bhardwaj, who has been appointed SDM, Dalhousie.

Mr Man Singh Verma, Under Secretary, Public Service Commission, has been posted as Assistant Commissioner to DC, Shimla, and Mr Rakesh Sharma, Joint Secretary, Home, goes as ADM, Una. Mr Rameshwar Sharma, AC, Consolidation, Hamirpur, goes as RTO, Kulu, and Mr P.S. Draik, Additional Director, Panchayats, has been transferred as Secretary, State Transport Authority, Shimla.

The state government also ordered the transfer of 10 Deputy Superintendents of Police and gave regular postings to 10 Himachal Pradesh police officers on the completion of two-year probation.

Mr Anupam Sharma has been posted as Subdivisional Police Officer (SDPO), Rajgarh, vice Mr Visher Singh who takes over as SDPO, Ani, in place of Mr Ahmed Sayeed who goes as DSP, India Reserve Battalion, Una.

Ms Subhadra Tiwari, has been posted as DSP (Headquarters), Mandi, vice Mr Ravinder Singh who has been transferred as DSP, Third Battalion, Pandoh. Mr Birender Kumar has been posted as SDPO, Rampur, against a vacant post. Ms Ranjana Chauhan takes over as DSP (Headquarters), Chamba, vice Mr D.K. Chaudhary who has been transferred as DSP, India Reserve Battalion, Una, against a vacant post.

Mr Om Pati has been posted as SPPO, Dehra, vice Mr Santosh Patial who goes as DSP, Second Battalion, Dharamsala. Mr Arvind Digvijay Vijay Negi takes over as DSP (Headquarters), Shimla, vice Mr Chandershekhar who has been transferred as DSP (Enforcement), Shimla.

Mr Khushal Sharma, has been posted as SPPO, Rohry, vice Mr Rajinder Singh who goes as DSP, Rohru, Nahan. Mr Sanjiv Gandhi takes over as SPPO, Nurpur, vice Mr Jaipal who has been transferred as DSP (CID), Mandi, in place of Mr Heera Singh who goes as DSP, Third Battalion, Pandoh. Mr Ramesh Chhajta has been posted as SPPO, Sarkaghat, against vacant posts, while Mr Diwakar Sharma takes over as SPPO, Kaza, vice Mr Rikba Gayche who goes as DSP, India Reserve Battalion, Una.

Old Cottonians to play goodwill match
Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 3
A group of old students of the local Bishop Cotton School, who have made their mark in their respective fields abroad, will travel all the way to the “Queen of Hills” to play a “goodwill cricket match” against the present school team on May 12.

The match being organised by students, who passed out from the school in 1972, is intended to be a walk down the memory lane for the Old Cottonians who attribute their success in life to the institution where they were groomed during their formative years. The group, primarily consisting of old students settled in New York, have aptly decided to name their team as Old Cottonians US XI.

However, it will be not an ordinary cricket match but an event symbolising the resolve of the alumni to enable the elite school to provide quality education to the underprivileged so that they could also achieve success in life like them. In fact, the group has already started contributing Rs 3 lakh annually to the school to give scholarships to the needy deserving students.

The idea to form a group to start a meaningful association with the school was mooted by Mr Arun Bhumitra and Mr Vijay Dewan, who control the cellular phone business in the USA along with other NRIs.

“Bishop Cotton is by no means a poor institution to require monetary assistance, but we wanted to pay back in one way or the other to the school which has given us so much”, says Mr Dewan, who was in town to make arrangements for the match.

It is for this reason that we decided to contribute something for helping the needy and the underprivileged students.

The Old Cottonians Association of the NRI would like to do more for the school which has of late started undertaking social welfare schemes. The school Headmaster, Mr Kabir Mustafi, had been gracious enough to extend cooperation to them in their endeavour and a detailed programme would be worked out during their five-day stay in Shimla, from May 9 to 13.

Mr Mustafi has promised to recreate a typical sports day at the school for the Old Cottonians, besides organising a special chapel service on the big day to rekindle the memories from days past. The NRIs will bring along T-shirts and candies for students.

Mr Mustafi has been appreciative of the gesture of the Old Cottonians who have been generous in setting up an endowment to help the underprivileged. It would enable the school to take up social welfare activities in a big way. The school was already running a centre for mentally challenged children, besides an adoption scheme under which 16 poor children of Naura Dhar had been adopted. In addition, it had also set up a centre to look after children of migrant labourers, he revealed.

The school is in the process of shedding its elite character and providing scholarships to one-fifth of the total strength of students from its own resources.

Silt choking up Khajjiar lake
Balkrishan Prashar

Khajjiar (Chamba)
Khajjiar, a saucer-shaped plateau, is a major tourist attraction near Dalhousie, a popular hill station of Himachal Pradesh. It was christened as ‘‘mini-Switzerland’’ by the Swiss Government on July 7, 1992, considering its similarity with that country’s alpine landscapes. Moreover, Khajjiar has the potential to be one of the most important tourist attractions.

But unfortunately, this so-called mini-Switzerland is going downhill. The lake is threatened by silt and weeds. The magical charm of Khajjiar’s landscape is on the wane, albeit it is becoming an eyesore.

The lake glitters no more as it is choked with weeds, and a good part of it has silted up, reducing the volume of water in the process. As a consequence, water overflows from the lake.

Mounds of silt can be seen at many points. The flow of silt into the lake has multiplied because cattle keep on grazing uninterrupted on the slopes as local people regard grazing their right. Hoof-marks of livestock loosen the soil, hastening the siltation process and dirtying the lake.

The Khajjiar tourist complex is known for its valleys, meadows, rivulets, springs and streams. Situated in the Dhauladhar range at a height of 1951 metres, 24 km from Dalhousie, Khajjiar has a lake of 5,200 sq metres in the middle of the 2.27 lakh metre.

For local residents, the lake is sacred and legend dates it to the 11th century associating it with Khajjinag, a deity in the golden-domed Khajji temple in the vicinity.

Historically, it is also associated with the Mahabharata period when Naga warriors were sent by the Kauravas to the north-western Himalayas in search of the Pandavas living in exile, and with the passage of time, the people started worshipping the Nagas as deities.

Being surrounded in the dense Khajjiar-Kalatop wildlife sanctuary, there are a number of wild animals like musk deer, black bear, leopard, barking deer, goral and birds like kokilas, monal, kaleej and chakor.

There is a nine hole golf course in the glade of the lake, but it is no longer in use.

On a recent visit to Khajjiar, the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs Mr Shanta Kumar, expressed concern over the declining charm of Khajjiar lake and directed the district administration to draw up a plan for the upkeep and beautification of the lake.

Meanwhile, it is officially learnt that in order to revive the beauty of the lake, at least Rs 1 crore is needed to drain out the silt and weeds deposited in the lake.

Rattan rejoins Congress
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 3
In a bid to regroup the anti-Virbhadra Singh force, the PCC chief, Mrs Vidya Stokes, today re-admitted Mr O.P. Rattan, former MLA and president of the Himachal Vikas Party (HVP), into the Congress.

Mr Rattan, who was expelled from the Congress a few years ago for his alleged anti-party activities when he was an MLA, told mediapersons that he had merged the HVP with the Congress without preconditions. Some other office bearers of the HVP also went with him. Prominent among them are Mr Kewal Ram Chauhan, Mr Bhagat Ram Chauhan, Mr Bachitter Singh, Mr Ranjit Singh Verma and Mr Sada Ram Thakur.

Mr Rattan said that he had returned to the Congress to strengthen the hands of Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Mrs Vidya Stokes at a time when the country was passing through a period of political and economic instability, besides facing challenges of anti-national forces.

After his expulsion from the Congress, Mr Rattan had joined the HVC of Mr Sukh Ram and, thereafter, he went to the HVP following the breaking up of the HVC by Mr Mohinder Singh.

Mrs Stokes said that the AICC had already made it clear that all those who had left the Congress because of any reason would be welcomed back.

She said that the return of Mr Sukh Ram in the Congress would also be considered if he wanted to come back. However, neither Mr Sukh Ram has sought admission in the Congress and nor has the Congress discussed the issue.

Referring to the hooliganism at the Congress rally in Nagrota, Kangra district, Mrs Stokes said that the matter was being enquired into and the report will be sent to the AICC.

Jeevan Raksha medals for 3
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 3
The President has approved Jeevan Raksha medals for Mr Dhian Singh of Hathen village in Solan district, Mr Manohar Lal of Shagarwan village in Bilaspur district and Mr Ram Prakash of Dharpto village in this district.

The recipients of these awards will get a cash reward of Rs 10,000 each.

Mr Dhian Singh has been awarded for exemplary courage shown by him last year when he saved the lives of four girls of Government High School, Guggahat, who were trapped under a landslide. Later he took the girls to hospital.

Mr Manohar Lal saved the life of a girl who has crossing the Rohal khud with her brother and sister and slipped into it. Mr Manohar Lal jumped into the khud to save the girl without caring for his own life. Despite a fast current, he was able to rescue the girl in his third attempt.

Mr Ram Prakash saved the life of those injured seriously when the bridge on Sarendali khud was washed away due to heavy rain in 1999. Subhash, who was going to school, came into the grip of the flash flood but Mr Ram Prakash jumped into the river and saved the boy.

BSF martyrs’ kin get Rs 3 lakh each
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 3
The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, has sanctioned Rs 3 lakh each as special financial assistance to the families of the two BSF jawans Des Raj of Mandal village, Kangra district, and Dhian Chand of Bijri, Hamirpur district, who were killed by the Bangladesh Forces recently.

Mr Dhumal said the state and its people were proud of the supreme sacrifice of the brave sons.

He said Himachal Pradesh had been contributing significantly to the Indian armed forces and its brave sons had also shown exemplary courage during the Kargil aggression and all other operations while defending the frontiers of the country.