The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

CBSE class X toppers on cloud nine
“Tough days ahead but we are ready to face challenge”
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 28
Parents are proud of their achiever kids. So are the schools. Students who have come through the class X CBSE examinations with flying colours continue to wallow in all the glory the result has brought with it. They are on cloud nine and, yet, have their goals clear before them.

While all the rejoicing and celebration is limited to a few days, they claim it is the beginning of a tedious journey, one in which they have their own records to break and set new ones as they progress.

Even as girls have made a clean sweep of the top slots, there is room for boys who are at ease in their company in the top ranks. They are almost at par as far as pass percentages go, the girls at 79.73 and the boys at 79.31.

Clear and categorical about streams they want to pursue, the students are all opting for the medical and non-medical while there are hardly any takers for arts and commerce among those bracketed in the above 85 per cent category.

Their logic is simple, “Once we take arts or commerce, we are stuck with the choice for the rest of our lives. However, with science, we have our basics clear for competitive examinations and have the added advantage of shifting to a new stream later on.”

While the topper, Nishtha Kharbanda, a student of GMSSS-35, wants to do medical and attributes her success to regular class work, Nalini Gulati of Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, with 95.2 per cent is second. She claims, “I studied throughout the year for three to four hours, participated in co-curricular activities and was a member of the school cabinet. Consistency, I think, is the secret of my success.”

With 94 per cent, Anuj Atri, a student of DAV Public School, Sector 8, aims to join the IIT in the branch in electronic engineering. He studied for over 10 hours a day during the examination.

Rohini Bansal of Bhawan Vidyalaya secured 93.8 per cent. “Achieving this feat without tuitions has brought more satisfaction. I am keen on becoming a doctor which means this is just the first rung of the ladder. This session seems lucky for me, especially since I was also chosen as artist of the year,” she says.

From Carmel Convent, Natasha Garg has scored 93.6 per cent and wants to join the medical stream.

Some schools, too, have exceptional performances to their credit. In St John's, Sector 26, 13 students scored above 90 per cent, 80 students who have scored between 80 and 90 per cent. They also have a cent percent result.

In adjoining Sacred Heart, 12 girls have scored above 90 per cent while 58 students others have a score between 85 and 90 per cent. In addition, the girl standing second in the city is also a product of their school.

In Vivek High School, six students have scored above 85 per cent and the school percentage is 75.61. The DAV Public School, Sector 8, which earned the ISO 9001:2000 accreditation this year, has 15 students above the 90 per cent mark while KB DAV, Sector 7, has four students who have scored above 90 per cent.

Shivalik Public School has 25 students in the above 85 per cent category while Guru Nanak Public School has two students above 90 per cent and 12 above 85 per cent.

AMBALA (TNS): The students of class X in schools affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education have done well in their exams.

Hina Dhawan of DAV Public School, Ambala city, secured 93.2 per cent marks. In the same school, Sameer Kapoor got 91.2 per cent marks, Maninder Kaur got 90.6 per cent marks while Ajay Gulati got 90.4 per cent marks. School principal Reena Nagrath said that 63 students have got distinction in aggregate.

Anish Mittal of DAV Public School, Ambala cantonment has scored 91.8 per cent marks.

Students of Convent of Jesus and Mary have also done well in the class X board exams. Ragini Verma has secured 90.2 per cent. Sonali Aggarwal 89.8 per cent, Vasudha Goel 89.4 per cent, Ankita Wadehra 88 per cent, Kitty Kher 88 per cent, Meenu Ann Verghese 88 per cent and Tanu Aggarwal 88 per cent. In class X Sugandha Gupta had got 91.8 per cent and Radhika Chaudhary had got 90.2 per cent. Out of 78 students who took the class X exam, there were 55 distinctions and 20 first divisions.

SA Jain Senior Model School, Ambala city students, have performed well in the class X board exams. Navdeep Kaur has secured 91.2 per cent, Simranjit Singh has secured 90.8 per cent and Mani Aggarwal has secured 90.8 per cent.

The students who secured above 80 per cent marks include Gurpreet Kaur, Disha Goel, Rohit Gupta, Geetanjali Sahni, Akhil Gupta, Shivangi, Vibhuti Aggarwal, Ankita Gupta and Preeti Singla.

Col (Retd) Banarsi Dass, principal of Army School, said that the students of Army School have done well in the board exams. He said that Supriya Aggarwal has stood first in the school by getting 89.4 per cent marks, Prasanna SS was second with 88.6 per cent and Swati Dogra was third with 88 per cent marks.

Ashwani tops among Panchkula students
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, May 28
Ashwani Kumar Verma of Haryana Model School, Sector 10 here, could not have asked for more. Though he has always been one of the intelligent students of the school, the fact that he has topped the Class X CBSE Board examinations in the entire township has been beyond his expectations.

“I knew that I would secure above 90 per cent marks, as I had been very consistent with my studies. But the fact that I have topped in Panchkula is yet to sink in, “ he says. Ashwani says that he had made his target of aiming for above 90 per cent marks last year, when two of his seniors had done very well in the Board examinations.

Other than being academically inclined, he is also a good painter. He has also received the Governor’s Award for his painting abilities. He says that he had been consistent in his studies throughout the year and was putting in five to six hours of study each day. “ During examinations, I had put in more than seven hours of study each day. But it is basically the guidance of my teachers and the support of my family that helped in my success, “ he says.

Other notable features of the CBSE results in the township are the two siblings of Bhawan Vidyalaya — Vanita Garg and Varun Garg — who have both done well. While Vanita has topped her school and secured 92.2 per cent marks , her sibling has also gained distinction by securing 85.4 per cent marks.

Another student of Jainendra Public School, Richa Goel, daughter of a plumber , has managed to get cent per cent marks in mathematics and 94 in Sanskrit, without availing any tuitions. Similarly, Kavita Gupta, daughter of a peon, in Water Pollution Control Board, has done her school and family proud by securing 84 per cent marks.

Meanwhile, the results in the township have been very promising, as against the dismal performance of various schools in the township. Bhawan Vidyalaya, Sector 15, has done very well with as many as 29 students securing above 85 per cent marks, followed by Hansraj Public School, Sector 6, with 19 children securing above 85 per cent marks and DC Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 7, having 17 students securing above 85 per cent marks.

In all 24 students in the township secured above 90 per cent marks, including 40 other students who secured above 85 per cent marks. Even the two Kendriya Vidyalayas in Chandi Mandir have done very well and the pass percentage in these schools has been over 98.

‘Change number plate colour till June 30’
Tribune News Service

In a separate development, the transport authorities have said that the residents using vehicles with more than eight-seat capacity for personal use, need not get the vehicle passed each year for road-worthiness. They will still have to pay road tax on yearly basis as amendments are still to be made which will enable payment of one-time road tax on one-time basis like other vehicles. Earlier eight-seat vehicles had to be passed by motor vehicle inspectors for road-worthiness.

Chandigarh, May 28
The colour scheme for registration numbers for all vehicles plying in the city needs to be changed before June 30. Those not complying with it will be challaned. This was stated here by UT Home Secretary R.S. Gujral.

The new scheme for displaying registration numbers of private vehicles will be black numericals over a white background. The same will apply for government vehicles also. For commercial vehicles, the colour scheme will be black numericals over a yellow background. The size of the numericals and plates will remain the same as before.

Challans will be issued to all vehicles which do not comply with these directions. Any vehicle coming from outside Chandigarh will also not be spared. This means people living in Panchkula and S.A.S. Nagar will also have to make the necessary changes in the number plates of their vehicles.

It maybe noted that almost all new vehicles purchased during the past two years have white number plates with black numericals.

Mr Gujral said the deadline to change the colour scheme would not be extended at any cost, as this was a decision of the Union Ministry of Surface Transport. Clarifying about extension in dates, he said the date for fixing a high-security number plate has been extended, as no company manufacturing the plates has been shortlisted by the Government of India.

It may be recollected that the Chandigarh Administration while seeking a clarification on high-security number plates had asked the Government of India on how to proceed with the matter as there was no manufacturer of the plates.

Lawyers submit memo to Governors
Tribune News Service

It was, perhaps, a nice change for the Judges. Instead of hearing the men-in-black argue their cases, the Judges, in most of the Courts, were addressed to by the litigants themselves as the advocates stayed away from the courts in protest against the alleged inaction in the PPSC scam.

Though they were not aware “of the latest in the legal field”, they confidently argued their cases on the basis of “common sense”. In the process, some of them did manage “to waste the precious time of the Court by narrating irrelevant history”.

To deal with the situation, the Advocate-Generals of the two states had asked the District Attorneys and Deputy District Attorneys to appear in the Court which they did without much problem.

Chandigarh, May 28
Up in arms against alleged corruption in the judiciary, members of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, along with members of the District Bar Associations of the two states, today marched up to the residences of the Punjab and Haryana Governors for submitting a memorandum seeking the transfer of the Punjab Public Service Commission recruitment scam to an “independent agency”, besides transfer of local Judges, along with Judges having kith and kin practising in the High Court.

Significantly, though the lawyers raised slogans for the withdrawal of work from “tainted Judges” outside the Raj Bhavans of the two states, no such demand was made directly in the memorandum. It merely quoted a previous resolution requesting the Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice “to inquire into the allegations against the Judges pertaining to the graft scam” and to disclose their names “if any material was found against them”, besides immediate withdrawal of judicial work from such Judges.

The memorandum also stated that “the investigation agencies of the Punjab state were not working to full satisfaction of the public because the statements of the witnesses were being tampered with as clear from the newspaper reports”.

The 14-page memorandum submitted to Haryana Governor Babu Parmanand and Punjab Governor Lt. Gen (retd) J.F.R. Jacob further stated that the “transfer policy of the High Court Judges should be made more transparent”. Giving details, the President and the executive members stated that the transfer policy in the recent past was not being followed though its implementation in letter and spirit was the need of the hour. The same, they asserted, should be transparent as “in the absence of transparency neither the Bar nor any other authority could supply the required material essential for taking prompt decision by the competent authority under the Constitution”.

They added that some of the Judges transferred just after their elevation to the higher judiciary were re-transferred to their own High Court. The reasons for their re-transfer were not made public. “Under the circumstances, it would be in the interest of maintaining the integrity and independence of judiciary that the transfer policy should be made transparent so that it could be applied equally and objectively in every case and not create an impression in the minds of the public that they were being transferred as a punishment”.

Regarding the appointment of Judges, they quoted Supreme Court judgements stating that the government had no right to send their proposal in this regard after by-passing the Chief Justice concerned. “The government, which is accountable to the people, should have the right of suggesting candidates for consideration, but the government had no right to directly send the proposal. The suggestions made by the government, whether central or state, should be routed through the Chief Justice of India.... Though the appointment of Judges to the superior judiciary should be purely on merit, it must be ensured that all the sections of the people are duly represented so that there may not be any grievance of neglect from any section or class of the society”.

They added that the “appointments in the recent past were being made without following any transparent policy which had generated lot of discussion and criticism in the Bar and in the public”.

Today’s rally was attended by over 400 advocates. They marched from the High Court premises to the Raj Bhavans of the two states raising slogans for the “impeachment of tainted judges”.

Pushing their way through the “human-wall” created by a strong posse of policemen, they entered the Haryana Raj Bhavan before making themselves comfortable on the chairs in an impressive hall. As the Governor entered, they all rushed to surround him. After being briefed about the memorandum, the Governor stated that Judges, as per the tradition, used to avoid functioning at places where kith and kin were practising.

The advocates, however, had some difficulty in entering the Punjab Raj Bhavan. As the cops tried to stop all of them from entering, they pushed aside the security guards. Inside, they stood around the massive table as the Governor politely accepted the memorandum.

Garbage-collection drive begins
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 28
People’s movement for door-to-door garbage collection to save environment started today in the city with five residents’ welfare associations handing over pledges of their residents to the Administrator, Mr. J.F.R. Jacob, to segregate the bio-degradable and non-biodegradable waste.

The Administrator handed over keys of specially designed cycle-rickshaws and hand carts to the residents’ welfare association of Sector 15 to collect garbage from house to house in two separate containers for bio-degradable and non-biodegradable waste. The launch of the people’s movement ‘’Sahyog’’ came as a boost to the Chandigarh Administration and environmentalist Payal Sodhi who are working for building garbage collection centres and vermi-compost centres across the city. Ms Sodhi conducted today’s programme.

The Mayor, Ms Lalit Joshi, inaugurated a vermi-culture compost centre in Sector 15, built in association with the Jeevan Bima Welfare and Cultural Society. The centre will convert waste into compost.

The running of these centres will require private initiative for house-to-house garbage collection and delivery at the ultra-modern centres.

The projects would take Chandigarh further ahead in the race for superiority among Indian cities, which had already been won by the City Beautiful standing first in the Human Development Index, Mr Jacob told the gathering.

The Administrator said his government was bringing out two more notifications to remove the “inspector raj” and promote comfort for residents. The government was constantly working for upgrading medical, education and transportation facilities. He said pollution-free bus trollies would be introduced in the city soon.

Ms Joshi and the Adviser to the Administrator, Ms Neeru Nanda, said the programme would make housewives backbones of environment movement with awareness reaching each house as women would be given two bins each to segregate waste into two categories.

Mr A. K. Sood from the Sector-15 Residents’ Welfare Association, Mr. P. C. Sanghi from the Sector-21 Citizens’ Association, Mr Devinder Singh Babla and Ms. Harpreet Kaur Babla from the Sector-27 Residents Welfare Association, Ms Sukhdev Singh from Sector-33 took pledge after presenting signatures from residents.

Sahyog is being supported by the Chandigarh Animal Welfare and Eco-Development Society and the Chandigarh Administration.

A vermi-culture centre consists of three underground and as many overground pits besides the space for cow dung and organic waste.

About 75 kg of organic waste will be brought to the centre through cycle-rickshaw carts in closed containers. The waste will be collected in four heaps. Cow dung blurry will be applied to the waste to keep off mosquitoes and flies and to stop smell. After 15 days, 2 kg of worms will be left in the waste to turn it into a bio-fertilizer.