By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 13 Sep: The Tenth Geo Symposium of the Himalayan Geographical Society was celebrated here at GIS TC Auditorium, Survey of India, yesterday. The event started with Saraswati Vandana sung by the students of Mount Fort Academy. Tripti Chopra, Principal Mount Fort, narrated her experience of stumbling on to a subject like Geography and encouraged meritorious students to take it up as a career. She insisted that Geography teachers must take pride in teaching the subject and build on the subject matter. Jyoti Dhawan, ex-Principal, Him Jyoti School, inspired the students with her presentation on “Balancing the Act”. She said, “We need innovative ideas on sustainable life styles. This is because destruction of the environment is becoming increasingly common everywhere. We have to have eco friendly habits without sacrificing much time or space.” Chief Guest Lt General Girish Kumar talked about how, in earlier times, the subject of Geography was neglected but, now, in the modern times it had gained much relevance. He also explained to the students that new technologies like drones were becoming increasingly useful in land surveying and security. It had a significant impact in the mapping field and even space agencies sent astronomic drones or space probes to the universe. Industrialist Dr S Farooq emphasised on saving Mother Earth. He said it was in the hands of today’s students to protect the earth from environmental degradation; therefore one had to love nature, the earth and live harmoniously. He shared with the audience meaningful couplets are related with the environment. He emphasised that the need of the hour was to heal the wounds of the earth caused due to human intervention in nature. Dr SS Khaira briefed on the objectives of the society and the importance of Geography. He said Geography was related to every subject, as people lived in an interconnected, globally oriented environment. The Chief Guest gave away certificates to meritorious students who took part in the Geography Quiz-19, which was conducted in many schools. On the occasion, the IXth issue of ‘The Himalayan Geographer’, a magazine cum journal, was also released. The vote of thanks was proposed by the Secretary, AP Singh.
