City page for February 10

WEATHER

Forecast (February 10): Weather will remain dry in low, middle and high hills.

Temperatures:

Shimla: 15.2, 1.0 Degrees Celsius Sunrise: 7:08 am, sunset: 6:04 pm

Dharamshala: 11.8, 4.2 Degrees Celsius

Manali: 13.8, 10.6, minus 2.8 Degrees Celsius

READERS SAY

Heritage rly station calls for attention

The Kandrori railway station, which is the single railway station in the state on the Pathankot-Jalandhar double gauge, also known as the heritage railway station, is in a state of neglect. No toilet or drinking water facility is available for passengers at this railway station. The Jammu mail train plying between Delhi and Jammu has stopped its halt at this station, causing inconvenience to commuters, especially students and Army personnel. The railway authorities are requested to provide basic amenities and re-start the stopover of the Jammu mail train at this railway station –Sudhir Katoch, Indora

Una-Bangana road in bad shape

The Una to Bangana state highway is in a bad shape with the metalled layer peeling off at several places. The road bearing strata has also sunk in at various places, posing risk of accidents to vehicles, particularly two-wheelers. Repeated repairs for the last 10 years have failed to yield results as damages keep appearing at new spots. The authorities need to take earnest steps in this regard –Avinash Thakur, Bangana

EDUCATION NOTES

School welcomes national bravery awardee

Anuradha School, Maranda, welcomed Alaika after she received the national bravery award from the President of India on Republic Day in Delhi. Alaika saved three lives in 2018 when she was in a car, and which fell 500 m down in the Khera valley. She was also awarded by the school for her courage. Her name was forwarded to the Chief Minister and she was also awarded a cash prize of Rs 51,000. The school management, students and staff welcomed Alaika when she rejoined the school. She has received education sponsorship from the Government of India. She will appear for CBSE Class X board exams this year.

Famous art teacher passes away

A famous artist and art teacher, Mirza Asghar Beg (79), of Chamba passed away on Thursday due to cardiac arrest. Mirza Asghar Beg had studied the art of painting from Shimla Art College. At a very young age, he was appointed as an art teacher and he served for a long time in the local schools of Chamba. The murals painted by him on the walls of the school are testimony to his artistic skill. He made watercolour and oil paintings. He was also an accomplished portrait painter. During his career as a teacher, he imparted art education to scores of young students. Eminent painter Vijay Sharma, Padma Shri awardee, is among his pupils.

Shoolini University joins AWS Academy

Shoolini University has announced participation in the AWS Academy, a new Amazon Web Services (AWS) programme that provides higher education institutions with a ready-to-teach cloud computing curriculum. Beginning next semester, students can enrol in courses that will prepare them for careers in the rapidly-growing cloud computing space and help them pursue industry-recognised AWS Certifications. The courses would be available free of cost to students, from the engineering and management departments initially. Later, students from other departments will also be offered these courses. Vice Chancellor Prof PK Khosla said technical skills that students would develop through this programme would position them well for their careers.

CUHP starts BA Honours in economics

The Central University of Himachal Pradesh has approved BA Hons programme in economics which will commence from the 2020-21 academic session. Sanjay Kumar Singh, spokesman for

the CUHP, said the intake capacity for the BA Honours programme would be 20 seats. He said the CUHP was offering PhD and MA in Economics since 2010-11 with 33 seats for the MA programme. The admission to BA Honours will be made on the basis percentage score in matriculation, Class XII and the score in mathematics in Class XII. The admission to the MA programme is done through a common entrance test conducted at the university level. He said there were six permanent faculty members. The department had 50 MA, five PhD scholars while four students had completed their PhDs. The course structure of MA and BA Hons programme aims at providing a complete blend of theoretical and empirical knowledge to the students for a better understanding of the complexities of the subject and real life situations.

Annual prize distribution function

The annual prize distribution function of DAV, Nagrota Surian, in Jawali subdivision was organised which was presided over by local MLA Arjun Thakur. Principal Ekta Attri read the annual report. Students presented a colorful programme. The chief guest announced Rs 3 lakh for the construction of the school stage and a prize money of Rs 11,000 for participants who took part in the cultural programme. In his speech, the chief guest asked students to work hard to achieve their academic goal. He also advised them to take part in sports and other extra-curricular activities.

WHAT’S ON

Jan Manch, Panchayat Ghar, Jhakri, Rampur, District Shimla, February 12 at 10 am

Investiture ceremony to be held at Raj Bhawan on February 11 at 11 am

Budget session of Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha from February 25, 11 am

ENDS