City page for December 6

WEATHER

Advertisement

Forecast (December 6): Weather to remain dry in the lower, middle and higher hills

Temperatures:

Shimla: 16.4, 6.2 Degrees Celsius Sunrise: 7:05 am, sunset: 5:19 pm

Dharamsala: 15.8, 6.8 Degrees Celsius

Manali: 14.4, – 0.4 Degrees Celsius

READERS’ SAY

Politics rules the roost in HPU

Partisan politics dominates universities like the HPU. Key posts are given by ascertaining as to which party one belongs to rather than considering his/her merit or academic excellence. The university has become a bastion of mediocrity. Even today, technical courses are given lesser weightage. A case in point is its UIIT department, which even after 14 years is deprived of the hostel facility. Those appointed in 2005 have been waiting for CAS upgrade. Teachers are at the mercy of the administration, requesting for increments and senior scales. Even its heads come from other applied science departments. This model of governing an engineering department has no match. When will the HPU wake up do justice to both students and teachers of the UIIT department? –Ajay Kumar, Shimla

Demand for public toilet in village

The ABVP wing of Thachi College in Mandi district has been demanding a public toilet at Thachi village. In the absence of the facility, people urinate in the open. We had submitted a memorandum to the local panchayat authority on October 24 and are awaiting a reply. We have urged the panchayat to install dustbins in the village and construct a public toilet at the earliest.Ritu Raj, Mandi

EDUCATION NOTES

Students visit printing press

Students of Government Senior Secondary School, Dhalli, visited Sun Graphics Printing Press, Sanjauli, to know its working. They were apprised of screen printing, offset printing, cutting and binding.Principal of the school Ranjeet Singh said such educational tours helped the students get a better understanding of technical work.

Christmas celebrated at school

Students of kindergarten, Saraswati Paradise International School, Sanjauli, celebrated Christmas with fervour. The pre-primary wing wore a festive look with bells, streamers and a beautifully decorated Christmas tree. The spirit of giving and sharing was inculcated among the tiny tots as they exchanged exquisitely packed gifts with each other and played games. Later, class-wise activities and parties were also organised. Director DP Mittal stressed the importance of caring and sharing.

Faculty development programme

The School of Basic & Applied Sciences at Maharaja Agrasen University, Baddi, organised a two-week faculty development programme on the “Use of ICT in Life Sciences”, in collaboration with NIT-Patna.

Dr SK Chakrabarti, director, CPRI, Shimla, shared his views on “Information technologies and its relation with biological sciences”. Dr Sanjay Panwar, director, School of Basic and Applied Sciences, laid emphasis on the role and applications of informatics in the molecular biology, genetics and related subjects. Vice-Chancellor RK Gupta, spoke on the beneficial use of ICT in life sciences in the field of teaching. Keynote speaker Dr S Subramanian, principal scientist, CSIR-IMTECH, spoke on “Protein Structure and its Evolution”.

Conference on literature ends

The two-day national conference on “Culture, Language and Literature” concluded at St Bede’s College on Thursday. Eminent personalities in the field of literature like Prof Khalid Almashikhi from Oman, Prof Pankaj K Singh, Prof ZN Patil, Prof Paritosh Duggar from Udaipur, Rajasthan, Dr Parveen Kumar, Prof Girija Sharma, Dr Anita Sharma, Dr Kamayani Bisht and Prof Meenakshi F Paul were present. The seminar was attended by the students of Kotshera College, GC Kandaghat, RKMV and the students of St Bede’s.

Spring Dale’s annual function

Spring Dale Convent School, Jawali, organised its annual function. The event began with the lighting of the lamp by chairman Dr Rajinder Singh, principal Simran Jeet Kaur and other committee members. A welcome song was presented by students. Children of Class VIII presented Saraswati Vandana and Ganesh Vandana. Nursery kids also presented an item. Students of classes II to VIII came dressed as fairies, butterflies and beetles. Students of classes IV to XII staged plays. Principal Simranjeet Kaur apprised parents of the achievements of the school and future events. President Dr Rajinder Singh motivated the parents to keep students away from excessive use of cellphones.

Una students shine

Students of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Senior Secondary School in Una won cash prizes and trophies at the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Innovation Conclave and Science Outreach Programme organised by Chandigarh University. Students exhibited science models made on various themes. Students from 15 local schools participated in the event.

WHAT’S ON

Armed Forces Flag Day to be observed by the District Sainik Welfare Department, Una, in various parts of the district on December 5

Last day to apply for free LPG connection under the Grahini Suvidha Yojana at the office of District Food and Civil Supplies or the Municipal Committee, Una, December 7

Blood donation camp organised by Press Club of Shimla on The Ridge on December 7, 10 am

State-level Red Cross Fair to be organised at Mela Ground in Sunni in Shimla district postponed for December 16 and 17

Inter-college employees’ badminton championship at Government College, Sanjauli, on December 7 and 8