H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

11 Sessions Judges transferred in HP
Shimla, August 14
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today transferred 11 District and Sessions Judges, two Additional District and Session Judges, and relieved three District and Sessions Judges, appointing them a President of the District Consumer Forum.

Virbhadra loyalists on poll panel
Shimla, August 14
The Congress high command today accommodated some Virbhadra Singh loyalists in the party’s state election committee and the Pradesh Congress Committee. However, the overall balance remained heavily tilted in favour of the Vidya Stokes camp.

Murder mystery solved: 3 held
Bilaspur, August 14
The police claims to have solved the mystery behind the murder of Vishal Panwar, a resident of the Diara Sector, whose body was found near Sungal on July 13.

Pollution: forum seeks HC intervention
Kangra, August 14
The local Senior Citizens Forum has approached the Himachal Pradesh High Court through a public interest petition praying for its intervention as the town was getting polluted.

Bhattiyat-Nurpur merger opposed
Chamba, August 14
Residents of Bhattiyat revenue subdivision in the district have opposed the government move to merge it with Nurpur subdivision of Kangra district, in case Nurpur is made into a new district.

BIT students denied voting rights
Hamirpur, August 14
While students all over the state who took admission in various colleges of the state before August 5 will be eligible to vote in the coming SCA elections, the students of the BIT class of the local Government College will not be eligible for the same. There are 20 students in the BIT class and their second semester examinations ended today.

Residents remove encroachers’ fence
Nurpur, August 14
The sudden rise in encroachments on the pretext of the new encroachment policy of the state government has evoked a sharp reaction here. Residents of Golu locality of ward No. 2 here are up in arms against the encroachers. The government authorities have virtually turned a blind eye to the problem.

• ITBP to recruit 200 constables

11 Sessions Judges transferred in HP
Our Legal Correspondent

Shimla, August 14
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today transferred 11 District and Sessions Judges, two Additional District and Session Judges, and relieved three District and Sessions Judges, appointing them a President of the District Consumer Forum.

As per the notification issued by the high court, Mr T.N. Vaidya, district judge Kulu has been transferred to Kangra, District Judge Mr M.R. Chowdhary President Consumer Forum Kangra has been transferred as District Judge Sirmaur, Mr Rameshwar Sharma Secretary (Law) posted as District Judge Una, Mr J.L. Gupta district judge Sirmaur has been posted secretary (Law).

Mr S.S. Thakur Registrar (vigilance) has been transferred to Solan as District Judge while Mrs Aruna Kapoor district judge (Inspection) will be the new Registrar (vigilance). Mr P.D. Goel President Consumer Forum Shimla has been transferred as District Judge Kulu, Mr P.S. Rana district judge Solan has been posted as District Judge Chamba, Mr D.D. Sharma who was District Judge Chamba will take over the charge of district judge Kinnaur, Mr N.L. Sharma President consumer forum Mandi has been transferred as district Judge (Inspection), Mr M.D. Sharma district judge Bilaspur has been posted district judge (Forest) Shimla.

Besides, this Mr George Additional District Judge Mandi has been transferred to Dharamsala in place of Mr Sureshwar Thakur who will be the new Additional District Judge Mandi.

Mr J.N. Barowalia district judge Kangra, Mr R.L. Raghu District Judge Una, Mr B.R. Chandel District Judge (Forest) have been relieved and appointed Presidents of District Consumer Forums Shimla, Mandi and Kangra respectively.

Virbhadra loyalists on poll panel
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 14
The Congress high command today accommodated some Virbhadra Singh loyalists in the party’s state election committee and the Pradesh Congress Committee. However, the overall balance remained heavily tilted in favour of the Vidya Stokes camp.

The reorganisation of various committees was carried out following persistent complaints from Mr Virbhadra Singh that his supporters were being ignored. Besides, death of some prominent leaders also necessitated the exercise. The high command took the decision after consulting both Mr Virbhadra Singh and Mrs Stokes who have been camping in Delhi for the past two days. Out of the total 17 members in election committee, as many as 10 are from the Stokes faction. Besides, Mrs Viplove Thakur, general secretary in charge of the committee, is also a staunch supporter of Mrs Stokes.

The high command inducted two more members, Mr Kaul Singh and Mr Rangila Ram Rao, in the coordination committee. The other members are Mrs Stokes, Mr Virbhadra Singh, Mr Sat Mahajan, Mr Anand Sharma, Mrs Chandresh Kumari, Mr Chander Kumar and Mr G.R. Musafir.

Besides, Virbhadra Singh loyalists, Mr Singhi Ram and Mr Raghu Raj, were inducted as Vice-President and Secretary, respectively, in the team of office-bearers. The claim of Mrs Asha Kumari was overlooked.

Murder mystery solved: 3 held
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, August 14
The police claims to have solved the mystery behind the murder of Vishal Panwar, a resident of the Diara Sector, whose body was found near Sungal on July 13.

The SP, Dr Atul Varma, said here yesterday that the police had arrested Imran, Parvez and Manoj in this connection and Imran had confessed his involvement in the crime.

Imran belongs to Sundernagar while the other two youths are from Bamta village.

Imran told newspersons, in the presence of the SP, that on the night of July 12 all of them, including Vishal Panwar, had their dinner and consumed liquor at a relative’s place and slept in the same house. He said when Vishal was sleeping, Manoj struck Vishal repeatedly with a stick on his head. He protested against this and left the house. Later he learnt that the body of Vishal was found dumped near the road.

Imran said Manoj and Pervez came to Sundernagar and threatened him that he would also meet the same fate if he told to anybody about the incident. The police did not present the other youths to mediapersons.

It may be recalled that earlier the police had arrested Bhupender and Praveen, charging them with the murder and had kept them in 12 days’ police custody. They were released on bail by the District and Sessions Judge last week.

Pollution: forum seeks HC intervention
Our Correspondent

Kangra, August 14
The local Senior Citizens Forum has approached the Himachal Pradesh High Court through a public interest petition praying for its intervention as the town was getting polluted.

Mr B. Samuel, President of the forum, in a petition has said during the past few years drainage outlets had either been totally closed or water flow restricted by laying water supply pipes at the mouth of the culverts. Mr B. Samuel in his petition said there were some nullahs, which carry not only the rain water but the human waste as well which inhabitants dispose directly in these nullahs creating pollution of worst nature.

Citing an example, he said a nullah originating from the Jheerkari mohalla pass through the highly populated area of the town create havoc on the Suraj Kund road as its outlet near the road was blocked. The water of this nullah had changed its course forcing pedestrians, including pilgrims, to walk knee-deep polluted water full of human waste.

Mr Samuel alleged: “It is learnt that this polluted water entered the water supply tank at Suraj Kund from where the water is supplied for drinking purposes”. The affected are not only the residents of this town alone but thousands of the tourists and pilgrims who visit this town to pay obeisance at the famous shrine of Mata Bajjreshwari, the petition added.

The senior citizens had approached the Secretary, H.P. State Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board at Shimla in this regard, Mr Suresh Kaistha, former Joint Director of ONGC, spokesman for the Forum divulged. He said they also approached local authorities time and again but to no avail.

Bhattiyat-Nurpur merger opposed
Our Correspondent

Chamba, August 14
Residents of Bhattiyat revenue subdivision in the district have opposed the government move to merge it with Nurpur subdivision of Kangra district, in case Nurpur is made into a new district.

Expressing resentment over the issue of new districts, Mr K.K. Suri, a veteran Congress leader and industrialist of the Bhattiyat area, said here yesterday that the cultural heritage of Bhattiyat was identical to that of Chamba and it had always been a part of Chamba. He described the demand for merging with Nurpur, raised by certain leaders of Nurpur, as ‘illogical and politically motivated’.

He, however, urged the government to put through a long pending proposal for the creation of a new sub-tehsil for Bakloh Kakira township in Bhattiyat subdivision.

BIT students denied voting rights
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, August 14
While students all over the state who took admission in various colleges of the state before August 5 will be eligible to vote in the coming SCA elections, the students of the BIT class of the local Government College will not be eligible for the same. There are 20 students in the BIT class and their second semester examinations ended today.

Since they are not admitted to the college, they will not be able to take part in the college SCA elections.

A spokesman for the BIT students today demanded that they should also be given voting right as they were on the rolls of the college till today and would get admission in the third semester shortly.

When contacted, a spokesman for the college said since these students were not enrolled in the next semester, they would not be allowed to cast their votes in the coming elections.

Residents remove encroachers’ fence
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, August 14
The sudden rise in encroachments on the pretext of the new encroachment policy of the state government has evoked a sharp reaction here. Residents of Golu locality of ward No. 2 here are up in arms against the encroachers. The government authorities have virtually turned a blind eye to the problem.

The residents even removed the fencing raised by the encroachers at two places yesterday. They lamented that the land grabbers had started encroaching public places like gardens etc.

The government agencies busy in the process of regularisation of encroachments have failed to check new encroachments, they alleged. The residents are also contemplating to approach the Himachal Pradesh High Court in this connection.

ITBP to recruit 200 constables

Shimla, August 14
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) has proposed to recruit 200 constables from Himachal Pradesh next month, an official spokesman said here today.

According to a press note, recruitment tests will be held at ITBP Camp, Kulu, and Police Lines, Bilaspur. UNI