Nainital, April 2
The High Court Bar Association has seen a change of guard following polls, which were conducted on Thursday, for various posts.DS Patni defeated BD Kandpal for the post of president by a margin of 143 votes. Kandpal had been the president of the association for the past two years.

Commenting on his victory, Patni said, “We had given a call for a change and the electorate supported the call with full enthusiasm”.

Vinod Tewari defeated his nearest rival Suresh Bhatt by a margin of 151 votes for the post of general secretary. Colonel (retd) HS Sharma was elected as the senior vice-president after he got 403 votes, while Puran Bisht and Seema Sirohi were declared vice-presidents.

Vir Kunwar Singh was elected the joint secretary (press) after defeating Lalit Miglani by 102 votes. Kamlesh Tewari was elected unopposed as the joint secretary (administration) and Bhuvnesh Joshi was elected treasurer after he defeated Prem Kaushal.

The persons elected to the senior and junior executive include LK Verma, Nishant Intezar, Harimohan Bhatia, Trilochan Pande, Sudhanshu Srivastava, Virendra Rathore, Amit Kapdi, Rahul Kansal, Tarun Prakash Takuli, Milan Raj and Darshan Bisht. Election officer for the polls, in which more than 600 members had cast their votes, was 
Diwakar Chamoli.

The first major task before the newly elected body would be to tackle the issue pertaining to the ongoing boycott of the court proceedings in the courts of Chief Justice Barin Ghosh and Justice Tarun Aggarwal. The advocates have been boycotting the two judges for the last week over series of issues.

Dehradun, April 2
The Sankalp group from Delhi presented a scintillating performance of Odissi dance ballet on the 76th Utkal Diwas at AMN Ghosh Auditorium here last evening. The artistes enacted “Sita Vilap”, a scene from the Ramayan, which was well received by the audience. The group also performed an original Odissi dance which was directed by Prabhu Dutt Lenka and Sadhna Lenka.

Earlier, children presented the Geet Govind. Later, Indrani Bose, the presenter for the evening, shed light on the Jaganath Temple. President of the Oriya Samaj Col Patnaik presented souvenirs to the artistes and guests.

Pitthoragarh, April 2
Women of Chaurmanya in Berinag town of Pitthoragarh compelled a landlord to dismantle the temporary shed erected to house a liquor shop, as women organisations in various districts of the Kumoan region have intensified their struggle against liquor.

“After the allocation of liquor shops this year, the women mounted so much pressure on the landlord that he himself dismantled the shed and assured the agitating women not to let it be erected again,” said Leela Devi from Chachrat village in Berinag sub-division of the district.

The anti-liquor movement run by women organisations continued in Munsiyari, Lohaghat, Champawat and Berinag towns of the Champawat and Pitthoragarh districts. “The agitating women burnt our shop in Munsiyari after breaking the lock of the shop on Friday, for which we are going to lodge a police complaint,” said owner of the shop in Munsiyari Umesh Chandra Joshi.

“At Chaurasethi village of the Champawat district, the allegation of a woman, who after recovering six bottles of country-made liquor, alleged that the police has been giving protection to illegal liquor traders, are being proved,” said police CO, Champawat, Dhani Ram Arya.

At Bastia village, near Tanakpur, the anti-liquor agitation being run by women since March 25 is still continuing. “We had planned a chakka jam on Friday, but as revenue officials assured us of not opening the shops there, we have temporarily suspended it. If the liquor shop opens, the women will resort to a chakka jam on the Tanakpur-Pitthoragarh Highway and intensify the stir,” said gram pradhan of Bastia Saroj Devi.

Haridwar, April 2
With India emerging as a superpower, be it in the field of IT or related services, much is owed to the nation’s policy of laying emphasis on technical education as well as the immensely talented brain that the country possesses.

This was voiced by IBM India Vice-President Rajiv Sachdev, who was speaking as chief guest at the eighth convocation ceremony of one of the leading education institutions of the state, College of Engineering, Roorkee.

He urged the students to not only perform professional duties, but also contribute in making the foundation of the nation stronger by being ethical, honest and having a sense of nationalism.

With just a decade gone since Uttarakhand was carved out as a separate hill state from erstwhile Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU) Vice-Chancellor DS Chauhan lauded the leap taken by the state in terms of technical education with a host of state-of-the-art institutions contributing to make the state a technical education hub too.

Later, the top performers were accorded medals and certificates by the guests, including General Manager Neeraj Gupta, Information Security, IBM, JC Jain, Chairman, COER, and Gopal Ranjan, Director-General, COER. University toppers Ashish Gupta and Ankit Pandey (computer science), Parul Kalra (engineering branch), Ankita Shrivastava and Disha Gupta and R Shrisha (electronic branch) and Saurabh (mechanical branch) were honoured with gold, silver and bronze medals.

Apart from this, a citation from the college management and a cash award of Rs 5,100 from parents of late IT Singhal, a 2010 college student, in whose memory it was given to the topper of CS Department Ashish Gupta.

In all, 412 Bachelor of Technical degrees were accorded, in addition to 59 degrees of Bachelor of Computer Applications and 60 of Master of Business Administration. Students winning in extra-curricular activities and sports were also commended, highlighting the significance of overall development of students.

Elated students who attained degrees and are now working in multinational companies expressed their happiness to have attained technical education in Uttarakhand as it is being regarded outside as a fine educational hub. Pallavi Suman, a student now working in Delhi, attributed her success to the technical education aided with rich cultural atmosphere the state of Uttarakhand provides.

Dehradun, April 2
Bereft of a roof over her head and income, Priyanka Sethi is going from pillar to post seeking justice. Her problems started after the death of her husband, who had allegedly consumed poison in her absence on March 27. This provided an excuse to her family members, comprising mother-in law, brother-in-law and uncles-in-law.

“I was not allowed to participate in my husband’s last rites. My mother-in-law and other family members prevented me from entering my house in Rishikesh. I have no source of income and have to care for my three-year-old son,” said Priyanka, who lodged an FIR on Thursday against her uncles.

While addressing a press conference yesterday, Priyanka said her husband was forced to commit suicide as her husband’s uncles tortured him mentally.

“Our troubles started after the death of my father-in-law, who traded jointly with my uncles. After his death a few years back, the property was divided, but soon my husband realised that the uncles had usurped his share. This troubled him and to top it all when he started trading independently, they created trouble. As a result my husband starting remaining ill,” she said.

She also charged that as her uncle is president of the Rishikesh Vyapar Mandal, he is using political influence to browbeat the family into submission. “My mother-in-law, too, is backing her youngest son and is keen that he should get the lion’s share in the property, denying my three-year-old son’s and my share,” added Priyanka.