City page for March 11

WEATHER

Forecast (March 11): Rain/thunderstorm at a few places in plains and low hills, rain/snow at many places in middle and high hills

Temperatures

Shimla: 19.4 (max) 10.8 (min) Degrees Celsius Sunrise: 06:36 am, sunset: 06:26 pm

Dharamshala: 20.2(max), 10.4 (min) Degrees Celsius

Manali: 13.8 (max), 5.8 (min) Degrees Celsius

Readers say

Ensure smooth flow of traffic

It has become difficult to travel from the old bus stand to Chotta Shimla in the past few days. The road is choked most of the times, and at times, the 20-minute travel takes two hours. The situation has worsened since the Assembly Session started. The police need to be more active to ensure a smooth flow of traffic – Meghna Verma, Shimla

HRTC should resume routes to rural areas

Despite the fact that Covid restrictions have been lifted, the HRTC has not resumed all buses to rural routes. Students and people are facing problems in travelling from rural areas. The HRTC buses plying in rural areas were lifeline for people residing in the rural areas of Kangra district. The government should immediately re-start buses to rural areas of Kangra district. People had got those routes sanctioned after a long struggle — Naresh Chaudhary, Baroh

Education Notes

Online training for district-level trainers

The Department of Food Science and Technology (FST), Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, organised an online training for district-level trainers of Solan and Sirmaur district on “One District One Crop” concept under the PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme. Dr Rakesh Sharma, Associate Professor, imparted information on fruit and vegetable processing with an emphasis on mushroom, ginger and garlic processing. The trainers were educated about the scheme and the processing technologies, value-addition in fruits and vegetables in general. Other aspects like machinery, processing plant layout, food laws, food quality and safety, packaging, entrepreneurial skills etc, were also dwelt upon, besides giving practical demonstrations.

Hostel facility sought

The ABVP has demanded that tribal hostels be opened and old ones be repaired at colleges in Sanjauli, Palampur, Sundernagar and Dharamsala, where the strength of tribal students is significant. Stating that students from tribal areas have to face a lot of problems, the ABVP said the warden in these hostels, too, should be from tribal areas. The ABVP gave a memorandum to Tribal Development Minister Ram Lal Markanda.

Play highlights problems of women

Shoolini University’s Creative Studio staged a play ‘Can Survive- A ray of Hope’ based on the intimate journey of two women after being diagnosed with breast cancer. The two women, belonging to different backgrounds, were depicted fighting for their lives, both physically and mentally, and showcasing complications of not just cancer but that of human relationships as well. Written by Asif Ali Haider Khan, it was directed by Ankur Bashar, Assistant Professor Performing Arts, Shoolini University. Bashar said the play touches upon the problems of women which are considered a taboo. It also talks about routine problems of women, how they fight these and emerge as heroes. It was inaugurated by the Chancellor Prof. PK Khosla and Vice-Chancellor Prof. Atul Khosla. The team has planned to stage the play at Gaiety Theatre, Shimla.

Increase library timings: SFI

The SFI today submitted a memorandum to the HPU librarian, demanding increase in the timings of the library. The SFI said since the exams were starting next week, the library should be kept open from 9 am to 9 pm. The SFI also urged the librarian to increase the seating capacity as well.

Dhruv excels in JEE mains

Dhruv Chandel, a student of DAV School, has topped the district in JEE mains with 98.31 percent marks. Anshul Sharma, Sourav Sagar, Abhay Sharma Vanshika, Shagun Sargam and Lakshya Chauhan of the school have also qualified JEE Mains. Chairman Anand Swarup and principal Vishwas Sharma said it was the result of the efforts of students, teachers and parents.