Hamirpur: The academic council of Himachal Pradesh Technical University here has approved its proposal to start dual degree programmes under the National Education Policy, 2020 for its students, a spokesperson of the varsity said.  The decision was taken during the 33rd meeting of the academic council of the university held under the chairmanship of Vice Chancellor Prof. Shashi Kumar Dhiman.Students can now pursue dual degree programmes  -- Bachelor of Technology and Master of Technology (Btech-Mtech), and Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration (BBA-BBA) -- in colleges affiliated to the university, the spokesperson said.The academic council also gave its nod to start research centres at Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College, Sundernagar and Hydro Engineering College, Bilaspur.The university decided to start PhD programmes in engineering colleges to promote research in the field of engineering, the spokesperson said. For this, the academic council formed a committee and gave instructions to decide the rules.