Painter MF Husain is "irrelevant" in Himachal Pradesh and "does not inspire" its schoolchildren. So, the BJP government in the state has decided to do away with a chapter on the painter in the class XI Hindi book prescribed by the NCERT.

The decision was taken on the recommendation of a committee constituted by the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education to study the contents of the NCERT book.

Board chairman Chaman Lal Gupta said the chapter on Husain would be replaced with one on painter Sobha Singh. He said Singh would make more sense to students in Himachal Pradesh because he was based in the state and incorporated Himachali culture in his paintings.

Manali, Mar 2 : The Border Road Organization (BRO) on Monday has begun to clear the snow on the Leh-Manali Highway.

The 475-kilometer highway connecting Manali to Leh, was closed during the winter due to snowfall at the Rohtang Pass and Baralacha Pass in Lahaul-Spiti.

Three teams, armed with the latest snow-clearing machinery and bulldozers, have started clearing the snow at three different places.

Dharamsala, Feb 27 : Tibetan exiles living in Dharamsala hurled shoes at Chinese President Hu Jintao''s effigy on Friday as a mark of protest against alleged Chinese atrocities on Tibetans in Lhasa.

Inspired by the Iraqi television journalist who hurled shoes at former US President, Bush, the young exiles publicly expressed their anger against the Chinese leader.

Tenzin Cheoying, the President of the Students for a Free Tibet, said that hurling shoes was one of the most non-violent ways of protes.

In the presence of a large gathering of dignitaries and local citizens, Union Minister of State for External Affairs & Information & Broadcasting Anand Sharma laid the foundation stone of the state’s first Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Mandi. The town of Mandi is known for its temples.

While speaking on this occasion, Anand Sharma said, “The central government last year decided to increase the number of IITs in the country to 15 from the existing seven. Six (IITs) started functioning last year and this (IIT-Mandi) and IIT-Indore would start admission process from this year.”

Mandi (Himachal Pradesh), Feb 23 : Labour and Employment Minister Oscar Fernandes laid the foundation stone of Himachal Pradesh''''s first Employees State Insurance
Corporation Medical College at Nerchowk in Mandi District''''s Balh area on Monday.

The Employees Insurance Scheme (ESI) medical college, a one thousand crore rupees project, is also nation''''s first such college. It will have state of the art design and
facilities.

Speaking on the occasion, Fernandes said the first academic session of the college would start in 2011-2012. He also said that 14 per cent of the seats would be reserved

Dharamshala, Feb 21 : Despite a federal ban, illegal mining on a riverbed in Dharamsala is posing serious threat to a 13th century temple.

The ''Baijnath'' temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, was built in 1204 A. D.

The water level in the River Binwa has gone down drastically which is weakening the temple''s structure. Experts fear that continuous soil erosion caused by quarrying on the riverbed could damage the heritage monument.

"The temple is resting on only one rock and the mining activities are threatening the very existence of the temple. The government should take care of it. Even the locals should make sure that the temple is preserved," said Sanjay Sharma, a temple priest.