City page for August 26

WEATHER

Forecast(August 26): Rain with thunderstorms/lightning at most places in low and middle hills, rain and snow at a few places in high hills

Temperatures

Shimla: 22.0 (max) 17.1 (min) Degrees Celsius Sunrise: 5:54am, sunset: 6:52 pm

Dharamshala: 27.4 (max), 18.2 (min) Degrees Celsius

Manali: 26.0 (max), 16.0 (min) Degrees Celsius

Reader Say

Non-functional streetlights at Chambaghat in Solan

Streetlights installed at Chambaghat in Solan have been non-functional for a while now. Residents and motorists face problems while crossing that area in the evening as a lot of construction activity is underway. The area plunges into darkness after sunset despite being a major intersection point of several roads. Immediate attention should be given for repair of the streetlights. — Chaman, Solan

Leaky pipes cause for concern

Leakage from water pipes of the Irrigation and Public Health Department near Arunodaya School on the jail road is becoming a cause for concern for people living in the Tungal colony area of Mandi town. Due to the leakage, the pedestrian path leading to the Tungal colony from the main road has turned slippery, which may prove dangerous to commuters. The IPH authorities should plug the leakage to check water wastage to avoid any untoward incident in the area. — Shubam Thakur, Mandi

Education Notes

SFI protests fee hike

The Students Federation of India (SFI) on Tuesday staged a demonstration in the Himachal Pradesh University against the fee hike in the University of Technology. SFI activists said it was not justified to hike fees at a time when every section of society had been hit hard by the outbreak of Covid-19. They demanded immediate rollback of the hike, saying students had hardly attended any classes as educational institutions were closed.

ABVP flays govt over fee hike

Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Tuesday demanded withdrawal of the fee hike ordered by the Himachal Pradesh University for students of University Institute Legal Studies and University Institute of Information Technology (UIIT). ABVP leader Vishal Verma alleged that the fee hike had exposed the double standards of the state government. “On the one hand, the government is claiming to rein in private educational institutions who are charging more than the tuition fee and on the other hand, it is ordering a fee hike in the HPU-run institutes,” said Verma. He said students of UIIT were already charged the complete fee of Rs 60,000 for the earlier semester and now, the fee hike had been ordered when no regular classes were being held.

e-seminar on human rights and Covid

The Center for Human Rights, Himachal Pradesh National Law University, organised an e-colloquium on “Human Rights and COVID-19” on August 24. Attended by teachers, students and social activists, the the event’s chief guest was Justice CB Barowalia of the High Court. He deliberated upon the issues that the common man was facing and the complexities involved in matters of delivery of justice. Professor Nishtha Jaswal, Vice-Chancellor, HPNLU, touched upon the humanitarian and legal aspects of the theme. Keynote speaker Prof TV Subbarao deliberated upon critical analysis of recent legal and political developments.

Teachers, parents flag issues

The Himachal Government Teachers’ Union has written to the Education Minister regarding the reservations of teachers and parents over the first and second terminal exams of schoolchildren. The association said the State Project Director had released the datesheet of exams for various classes on the basis of syllabus covered through ‘Har Ghar Pathshala’ programme, a 10-15 minute daily video. The association said since teachers had taught in their own way, keeping the syllabus and time in mind, they should be given a free hand in conducting these exams. The parents, on the other hand, said since they had more than one child, it would be tough to provide smartphones to them simultaneously.