City page for February 3

WEATHER

Forecast (February 3): Weather will remain dry in low, middle and high hills.

Temperatures:

Shimla: 12.2, -0.8 Degrees Celsius Sunrise: 7.13 am, sunset: 5.58 pm

Dharamshala: 10.4, 2.4 Degrees Celsius

Manali: 10.8, -4.6 Degrees Celsius

READERS SAY

Water dispenser non-functional at Una rly station

The lone drinking water vending machine installed at the Una railway station about a year ago has not been functional for even a single day. Passengers are forced to purchase drinking water bottles, which are much higher priced than the RO water supplied by the ATMs at the railway platforms. The authorities said the contractor, who was awarded the vend, had later decided against operating the machine – Sanjeev Kumar, Una

Long wait for buses

Passengers waiting for buses near Tutu were a harried lot as the frequency of buses on the route decreased due to snow while the long-route buses coming from Dhami did not halt for local passengers. During the snow season, special chained buses should ply on snow-bound routes and the frequency should be increased as the number of passengers travelling in buses increases because a large number of people avoid taking their vehicle in bad weather – Seema, Shimla

EDUCATION NOTES

World Wetlands Day celebrated

About 200 students from 15 schools participated in the slogan-writing and painting competitions during the state-level Wetlands Day function organised by the Himachal Pradesh Council for Science, Technology and Environment (HIMCOSTE) in association with the Forest Department and Education Department at Renukaji in Sirmaur today. Chief Conservator of Forest Nahan Bhupinder Singh Rana who was the chief guest on the occasion stressed the need for safeguarding and mainitaing cleanliness in wetlands. Sania Khan of Him Academy Public School, Hiranagar, Hamirpur and Pranjal from King George Public School Nerchowk, Mandi, won the state-level painting and slogan-writing competitions, respectively.

Awareness programme on exams

The Himachal Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (HPSCPCR) in association with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights on Sunday organised a state-level orientation and awareness programme on Pariksha Parv-2 at Himachal Pradesh Institute of Public Administration (HIPA). The HPSCPCR chairman, Vandana Kumari, presided over the programme which was organised to reduce stress among students during examinations. She said the commission organised programmes on various topics concerning students so that awareness regarding child rights could be spread. Specialist of the commission Jyoti Chothiwala highlighted the need and importance of stress management during examinations and said the national commission was spreading awareness about examination stress and remedies among students, teachers and parents.

WHAT’S ON

Himachal Pradesh Master Badminton Championship, Sports Complex, Kumarhatti, Solan, February 2-4

Jan Manch, Panchayat Ghar, Jhakri, Rampur, District Shimla, February 9 at 10 am

Investiture ceremony: Medals for meritorious and distinguished services to police, prison, home guard, civil sefence and fire services personnel to be given at Raj Bhawan on February 11 at 11 am.