Shimla/New Delhi, July 16
The Congress today did a perfect balancing act as it gave representation to leaders from all the factions in the list of state office-bearers, which was released by the AICC, almost nine months after Kaul Singh Thakur was given a second innings.

The high command gave due representations to loyalists owing allegiance to senior men, including Union Ministers Virbhadra Singh and Anand Sharma, HPCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur and CLP leader Vidya Stokes.

As compared to a jumbo-sized body earlier, this time the number has been restricted to 31 with five women and several youth being given due importance. This time the team headed by Thakur does not have any secretaries, though a chief spokesperson and two spokespersons have been appointed.

Keeping in mind the fact that the Assembly polls will be due in the state by the end of the next year, the party accommodated leaders from all factions while blending experience in the form of senior leaders with youth.

The body has six vice-presidents, eight general secretaries, one treasurer and 15 executive committee members. There are 10 permanent invitees in the body.

Giving due recognition to the influence that Virbhadra Singh wields in the party and the state, his loyalists, including Chander Kumar, Sujan Singh Pathania and Harsh Mahajan (vice-presidents) and Ram Lal Thakur and Sudhir Sharma (general secretaries) and several others figure prominently in the list.

His loyalist and MLA from Bhattiyat in Chamba, Kuldeep Singh Pathania appears as the chief spokesperson for the party.

The inclusion of a large number of Virbhadra men has come as a shot in the arm for the Union Minister who following a change in his portfolio was being marginalised in the party by his detractors. As such the PCC chief might face challenge from the Virbhadra group with some of the leaders openly challenging Thakur, who has failed to get a lion’s share for his men in the state body.

AICC general secretary and in charge of party affairs in Himachal Birender Singh has taken due care to ensure that everyone is accommodated in the party. 

Himachal Pradesh Office-bearers’ List

Virbhadra’s loyalists

n Chander Kumar, Ram Lal Thakur, Harsh Mahajan, Gangu Ram Musafir, Mukesh Agnihotri, Kuldeep Kumar, Rangila Ram Rao, Sujan Singh Pathania and Sudhir Sharma.

Kaul Singh’s loyalists

n Ajay Mahajan, Satya Parmar and Sohanlal Thakur.

Anand Sharma’s loyalists

n Kuldeep Rathore, Rajesh Dharmani, Dhaniram Shandil and Kailash Prashar

Designations

n HPCC chief- Kaul Singh Thakur

n Vice-presidents - Chander Kumar, Sujan Singh Pathania, Harsh Mahajan, Rakesh Kalia, Biruram Kishore and Satya Parmar.

n General secys - Ram Lal Thakur, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Kuldeep Rathore, Sudhir Sharma, Ajay Mahajan, Sohanlal Thakur, Vinod Sultanpuri and Ram Kumar

n Treasurer - BBL Butail

n Executive panel - Vidya Stokes, GR Musafir, GS Bali, TS Bharmouri, HS Bhajji, Anil Sharma, Mukesh Agnihotri, Rajesh Dharmani, Yograj, BD Chaudhary, Saroj Kumari, Krishna Mohini, KS Pathania, Geeta Negi and Shashi Chaudhary.

n Permanent invitees - Virbhadra Singh, Anand Sharma, Dhaniram Shandil, Sat Mahajan, Viplove Thakur, Kuldeep Kumar, Anita Verma, Asha Kumari, Pt Shiv Kumar and Rangeela Ram Rao.

Dharamsala, July 16
US President Barack Obama has finally decided to meet the Dalai Lama who is on a visit the United States since July 6. Though the meeting was not fixed earlier, the sources available here told The Tribune that Obama would be meeting the Dalai Lama in the White House Map Room tomorrow.

He will not be meeting the Tibetan spiritual leader in his Oval Office that is used generally to welcome heads of states. Earlier also, during the Dalai Lama’s visit to the US in 2010, Obama had met him in the White House Map Room.

Tibetans in exile had been criticising Obama for not meeting the Dalai Lama. They said it would be the first time that during his visit to the US the Dalai Lama would not meet the US President.

However, the sources here said the meeting was fixed after strong lobbying by supporters of the Dalai in the US, including John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi and John Kerry. During his entire visit starting from July 6, the Dalai Lama kept himself busy with religious Kalchakara teachings.

The sources also said the White House in a statement today said the President would highlight his enduring support for dialogue between the Dalai Lama's representatives and the Chinese government to resolve differences. This meeting underscores the President's support for the preservation of Tibet's unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans, the statement said.

The meeting between the Dalai Lama and the US President will last 30 minutes and it has been closed for the media.

China has reacted strongly to the proposed meeting. In a statement, the Chinese authorities have said they firmly oppose any senior foreign government official meeting the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama will be meeting the US President for the first time after relinquishing his political and administrative authority over the Tibetan government in exile. 

Hamirpur, July 16
The project officer of the Hamirpur District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) has detected a fake letter issued by an agency to collect money from rural youth under the garb of providing them training and employment.

The project officer has asked all block development officers (BDOs) of the district to inform all gram panchayats to ignore such letters, as this organisation does not exist and not to send any money to such agencies.

The matter came to light when a few gram panchayat representatives came to seek the advice of the project officer regarding the offer of this agency to provide training and employment by paying Rs 500 per head.

The letter was, issued by the Gramin Yuva Prashikshan Avam Sewa Viniyojan Karyakram, by Sarvesh Kumar of Ayara Basrehar, Uttar Pradesh, directly to presidents of panchayats.

Through this letter, the organisation had promised to provide training to four youth from each panchayat inviting their applications along with a demand draft of Rs 500 in the name of Modern Sales Corporation, New Delhi.

After the completion of the training the organisation had promised to employ them in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh with salaries starting from Rs 4,450 to 8,550.

Meanwhile, on verification, the organisation was found to be fake.

Ajeet Bhardwaj, project officer, DRDA Hamirpur, said: “After detecting this letter, we immediately sent SMS to all gram panchayat presidents not to respond to such letters, besides giving instructions through BDOs”.

Paonta Sahib, July 16
With a case of spurious drug manufacturing coming to the fore in Paonta Sahib, Drug Controller Navneet Marwaha today issued an alert notice against Himalayan Laboratories and sent it to the Drug Controller General of India to be circulated across the country.

Marwaha told The Tribune that the notice would help inform the authorities about the spurious drugs manufactured by this unit and the information could be circulated for further action.

He added that an FIR under Section 27 (C) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, had been registered against owner Atul Gupta for producing spurious drugs.

This is the first such case that has come to light in the state after amendment in the Act and it carries an imprisonment of not less than seven years, which can also be extended to life imprisonment. It also carries a fine of not less than Rs 3 lakh. In addition to this, custody orders have been procured from a local court to seize the drugs found on the unit premises. Marwaha said, “The unit has also been sealed and no permission will be granted to operate it”.

The authorities had initiated the procedure to cancel the manufacturing licence and a show-cause notice had also been served to the unit with directions to explain its act within 15 days, said Kapil Dhiman, licensing authority.

Investigations said the unit was manufacturing drugs bearing the label of a unit, NLP Organics, which had been closed on July 30, 2010, in Bhiwari following directions of the Rajasthan Drug Controller. As many as 19 different types of drugs were being manufactured bearing the label of two other units, including its neighbour MC Pharmaceuticals, Surajpur, and Soliance Pharma with the latter not being a registered unit. Loose tablets and various drugs, including alprezolam, a stress-buster, were among the drugs seized.

Paonta Sahib DSP Nishchint Negi said a case under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act had been registered against Atul Gupta and investigations were underway to establish the role of Saurav Behl, who was supposed to have taken the unit on lease.

Thalot (Mandi), July 16
Two windmills, the state government’s role model for tapping “green energy”, set up at the cost of Rs 25 lakh each at Thalot and Fagu in Shimla, have turned out to be a white elephant. The windmills, set up about two decades ago, conked out within six months.

The state electricity board and Him Urja are blaming each other as an amount of Rs 50 lakh has gone down the drain. Both have disowned the windmills, which were set up on the National Highway No. 21 here and the National Highway-22 at Fagu.

The government had set up the model windmills with assistance from the Netherlands. A private company from South India, which was part of this venture, disappeared long ago.

Sources said the government had set up the windmills about two decades ago under Him Urja as a role model to tap “green energy” in the state.

The windmill staff is as clueless about the mills as top board engineers and Him Urja experts are since they have never seen the mills functioning. “We have no idea as to when the Thalot mill last functioned and produced green energy,” they add.

HPSEB Chief Engineer RS Rana says the sick units were transferred to the board a few years ago. However, spare parts and batteries were not available as the whereabouts of the company, which was to supply the parts, were not known, he added.

Chief Executive Officer, Him Urja, Harsh Mittar says windmills of around 11 kV capacity are set up under Him Urja. “These mills were transferred to the board. We learnt that the windmills had developed some faults. However, we are told the spare parts needed to run these are not available,” he adds, passing the buck on to the board for their maintenance and function.

Kangra, July 16
The Students Federation of India (SFI) held a protest demonstration on the MCM DAV College premises here today and raised slogans against the college authorities for their failure to redress problems of students.

Dinesh Bharti, president, SFI local unit, said for the past one month they had been demanding the redressal of their genuine demands. The students today handed over their memorandum to the college Principal. However, a college official allegedly misbehaved with them in presence of the Principal, Bharti added.

Protesting against this, the SFI supporters held a demonstration and raised slogans. Bharti threatened that if the college management failed to accept their demands within seven days, the SFI would be forced to launch an agitation. The SFI was critical of the BJP government which was allegedly responsible for the privatisation of educational institutions.

Chamba, July 16
With a view to promoting bird-watching tourism, the Chamba Welfare Association has put up a proposal to the government for developing a bird-watching site at the nearby woody hillock where a century-old Suhi Mata shrine is located.

In a statement here today, association president RK Mahajan said the development of an eco-friendly site would go a long way in attracting tourists, researchers and students as well.

The development of the bird-watching site will promote eco tourism and support the protection and conservation of the town’s environment and the avian heritage.

Owning to the proximity of the site to the town, the area covered under a clump of the woods can be rewarding for birdwatchers.

Local residents who go out for a stroll will be able to see what is around them.