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Shruti Chopra tops city in CBSE exam
Ludhiana, May 23 Trailing her in the examination is Veenu Singla of DAV Public School, who secured 94.6 per cent marks in commerce by standing first in her school. Garima Dhingra of Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar, topped the non-medical stream with 94.4 per cent marks. Manpreet Kaur of Sacred Heart School, BRS Nagar, topped the medical stream by securing 93.4 per cent marks. Samreet Sidhu of Sacred Heart Convent topped Humanities group with 90.4 per cent. Feeling on the top of the world after being positioned as city topper, Shruti said that her score was beyond her expectations. An aspirant of MBA from some reputed institute, Shruti would go in for B.Com degree from Lady Sri Ram College, New Delhi. Topping the city has become a tradition of sorts for her siblings. Her elder sister Nidhi Chopra was also a topper some years ago. Daughter of a Deputy Manager in a communication company, Shruti scored 96 marks in economics, 95 in English, 98 in business studies , 96 in accounts and 93 in commercial arts. Her mantra of success is hard work coupled with self study. She likes to burn her midnight oil and come out with flying colours at the end. For Veenu Singla, second topper of the city, her father’s death last year was a big deterrent for her. ‘‘Our family was shaken. Thanks to Mrs Sudesh Patial, my teacher, who really lifted me out of my depression and concentrate on studies. It is all due to her tireless efforts that I have achieved this much score this year,’’ she says. A strong votary of self-study, taking
tuitions is a big no for her. “All you require is labour and concentration. This is the sure shot recipe for success,” she asserts while advising her counterparts to follow this principle. Garima Dhingra, the non-medical topper, got 100 per cent marks in maths. Her score came as a pleasant surprise for her family, which was in a sad mood following falling of sensex. “My father was feeling quite low since yesterday due to sensex. But my marks lifted his spirits. We are celebrating now,” says Garima. An MBA aspirant, Garima wants to get her degree from Lady Sri Ram College. Manpreet Kaur of Sacred Heart, BRS Nagar, the medical topper, travels around 80 km everyday from her residence in Jagraon to reach her school. Aspiring to pursue a bio technology course from British Columbia University, Manpreet would be flying abroad soon. “I had opted for medical stream following the wish of my parents who are in Canada. I do not want to become a doctor,” she says, adding that hard work coupled with labour could enable anybody reach their goals. Samreet Sidhu, the Humanities topper in the city, wanted to do something different from her friends. So she took to Arts. ‘‘Everybody else was doing science or commerce. So I wanted arts. It is very difficult to score so well in this stream. For me achieving 90 per cent is good enough,” she says. Her strong desire is to try her luck in the Civil Services Examination. An ardent admirer of The Tribune, Samreet depends on this newspaper for making herself abreast of the happenings around the world. ‘‘For my Civil Services preparation, I will depend on this newspaper only.” A self-efficient, Samreet does not believe in taking tuitions. In commerce Heena Dhir of Sacred Heart BRS Nagar has trailed behind the toppers Shruti Chadda and Veenu Singla by scoring 93.4 per cent. Ramadeep Singh Arora of Sacred Heart Convent got 93.2 per cent marks bracketed with Anuj Kalra of BCM School, Chandigarh Road. Following them are Neha Thamman of BCM School with 93 per cent, Aakriti Kundra of Sacred Heart Convent with 93 per cent, Amanjinder of same school with 92.8 per cent, Atul Bhatia of BCM with 92.6 percent, Sakshi Garg of KVM School with 92.6, Vansh Garg of KVM School with 92.4, Damanjit Kaur of Sacred Heart Convent with 92.4, Arjun Vir Singh of BRS Similarly, Saurabh Saini of BCM School got 91.6 per cent, Anupriya of KVM got 91.6, Yasmeen Puri of Sacred Heart 91.6, Ankita Dhanda of Convent got 91.4, Param Chawla of BCM got 91.2, Alisha Behl of Convent and Shveta of KVM both got 91 per cent. Vibhor Maini of KVM School scored 91, Jasleen Bindra of GNP school scored 91, Rohit Gupta and Sidharth Jain, both of BCM School got 90 per cent. Amandeep Kaur of GNI secured 90.8, Nancy of GNI got 90.6 per cent, Nitin of Convent scored 90.4 per cent. Tarundeep of the same school scored 90.2 per cent. Danish Bir Tiwana of GNI got 90.2 while Nitish Bhakoo of KVM scored 90.4, Reema Jaggi scored and Avneet Singh of BRS Nagar convent scored 90.2 per cent each. Harmanpreet Singh of GNI scored 90 per cent. Only two students scored above 90 per cent in Humanities group. Samreet Sidhu and Shina Sood, both from Sacred Heart, scored 90. 4 and 90.2, respectively. After the topper Manpreet Kaur in the medical stream, who scored 93.4 per cent, Kirat Singh Grewal, Tejaswinin Sidhu and Baljot Kaur, all from Sacred Heart Convent scored 91.8, 91.6 and 91.2, respectively. Rohit Gupta of BCM School, Chandigarh Road, scored 90 per cent marks. In the non-medical stream, Jaideep Singh of Guru Nanak Public School positioned himself behind the topper by scoring 93.4 per cent marks. Following him is Atul Bhatia of BCM with 92.6 per cent, Arjun Vir Singh Sohal of BRS Nagar Convent with 92 per cent and Saurabh Saini of BCM with 91.6 per cent. Shiven Khosla, Abhinav Gupta, Shrutika Gupta and Hemant Saggar, all from Sacred Heart Convent, scored 91.2, 90.6, 90.4, 90.4, respectively, while Sidharth Jain of BCM School scored 90 per cent. |
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Anti-reservation stir gains momentum
Ludhiana, May 23 Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association and the Indian Dental Association have called for medical bandh on May 25 . Addressing the dharna, Mr Pandey, said the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, should personally intervene and protect merit. He should get above his political interests and keep the interests of the country on top. He reiterated that over the years only the creamy layer of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the other backward classes had been benefitted from reservation and the worst sufferers had been the poor. Other leaders, including Mr Navin Kaushal and Mr Vinod Sharma, advocated the total review of the reservation policy as it has gone outdated. Mr Harish Dhanda, former president of the Bar Council Punjab, met agitating medicos and shared his views with them. He categorically criticised the “deaf” attitude of the government, especially the Prime Minister, towards the agitation of the educated youth. He insisted that the demands of the youth for equality should be considered in right perspective. He said there might not be consensus over the reservation policy, but then efforts should be made at the earliest to satisfy one and all. Twenty-two members of the DMC Teachers Association sat on chain fast today as a mark of solidarity with the agitating students. They were joined by employees from the Railways General Category Association. They included Dr Vineeta Malhotra, Dr B.S. Shah, Dr Navjot Bajwa, Dr Sanjeev Uppal, Dr Jasdeep Singh, Dr Harpal Sethi, Dr Vandana Midha, Dr Manish Munjal, Dr Gautam Ahluwalia, Dr Anju Grewal, Dr Shikha, Dr Atul Mishra, Dr Naveen Mittal, Dr Rajinder Mittal, Dr P.L. Gautam, Dr Puneet Pooni, Dr Sandeep Kaushal, Dr Kapil Dua, Dr Ravinder Pal, Dr Deepak Bhat, Dr Deepak Jain, Dr Harish Matta, Dr Dinesh Jain (DMCTA) Joginder Pal, Hoshiar Singh, Ajit Singh, Pradeep Kumar, Rakesh Kumar, Brajesh Kumar, Ranjit Singh, Shakti and Man Chand from Railways The District Bar Association, Sangrur, and the District Chemists and Druggists Association, Sangrur, have also sent in their memorandums supporting the anti-reservation movement. Meanwhile, the Ludhiana chapter of the Indian Medical Association has called for the medical bandh in the city on May 25. The bandh will start at 6 a.m. and will end up at 6 p.m. The Ludhiana IMA president, Dr Gursharan Singh, and secretary Dr Balbir Singh Shah, said the medical community was much disturbed over the adamant attitude of the Government of India towards doctors. The IMA has appealed to the members to come in large numbers and express solidarity with the students.
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2 labourers killed in cave-in
Ludhiana, May 23 Mr Dildar Singh in whose fields the digging work was being done said he wanted to install a tubewell. He expressed deep regret at the incident. The Sadar police station has conducted proceedings under Section 174 of the Cr PC so far. Sources revealed that the village panchayat had intervened in the matter and a monetary compensation was made to the aggrieved families. Kailash Yadav is survived by his wife and three children, while Devi Singh is survived by his wife and a one-year-old son.
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BJP dharna against killing of Hindus in J&K
Ludhiana, May 23 The activists, who also included women, were led by party leaders, including The BJP leaders alleged that when the Hindus were killed, the state government tried to play it down. But when militants attacked the Congress rally, which was to be addressed by the Chief Minister to mark the death anniversary of late Rajiv Gandhi, at Srinagar recently, they cried hoarse. “The state government was adopting double standards when it came to providing security to Hindus there,” the memorandum alleged. Meanwhile, activists of the District Youth Congress, led by the vice-president Meenu Malhotra, staged a protest demonstration at Jawahar Nagar camp to protest the terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. The Youth Congress activists also burnt an effigy of the terrorism and urged the government to take strong measures so that innocent people do not get killed too frequently.
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Leader withdraws from
agitation against liquor vend
Ludhiana, May 23 Allegations and counter-allegations flowed in the area throughout the day when Mr Shammi was accused of accepting kickbacks from the contractor for dissociating himself from the agitators. Mr Shammi claimed that other leaders were ‘‘bought’’ by another contractor. Addressing a press conference at his residence here today, Mr Shammi said he was booked by the police for trying to help the residents but they were not taking the protest seriously. ‘‘I have been booked, have received a number of threatening calls and now they are stating that I have accepted money from the contractor. I had vowed to get the vend shifted from the residential area, but now I leave it to the district administration to decide. If the Excise Department has no problem with the location of this wine shop, what is my trouble?’’ he asked. Showing a video recording of the protest on day one when the liquor vend was attacked by area residents and liquor bottles were broken, Mr Shammi said he was not a part of the hooligans that day. ‘‘They had taken the law into their hands. I was just up to a peaceful agitation. Now they are on chain fast. Nobody knows what they are doing. There are no health experts to check whether they are stating the truth,” he alleged. Meanwhile, as the protest entered the 26th day, residents continued with their chain fast. SGPC chief Avtar Singh visited the agitators. Mr Kulwinder Singh,a leader of the protesters said they would continue to sit on a dharna outside the vend till it was shifted from there. ‘‘We are not bothered about the registration of cases against us. We do not want the peace of the area affected and hence we continue to protest,’’ he said. Levelling allegations against Mr Shammi, he said he was isolated in the area. He was left alone by backing out, he alleged.
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2 missing in well collapse
Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 23 Despite joint rescue operation by the administration the residents of the area, they could not be extricated and remained buried. Aladatta (28) and Santokh Singh (40) along with other persons were digging earth from a tubewell belonging to a farmer, Jagdish Singh, of Gopalpur village in the morning after going into the well. At around 10.30, a wall of the well caved in and both were buried under earth. Mr Harjit Singh Brar, DSP, Dakha, who supervised the rescue operation, said the owner of the field had not taken permission for starting digging operation that had reportedly been restricted by the administration. He directed Mr Rachhpal Singh Dhindsa, SHO, Dehlon, to avoid unnecessary crowding near the site. The police and the civil administration launched a rescue operation in the well with the help of residents of the area. Two JCB machines a number of tractors were used for the purpose. Though a lot of earth had been excavated, none of the buried could be rescued till evening. |
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Thousands attend Cong rally
Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 23 Ms Razia Sultana, Parliamentary Secretary and MLA of the constituency claimed that the response on behalf of delegates from various sections of society showed that they appreciated policies of the state government. Activists and office-bearers of the Hagar Raids Dharamsala Committee, Ram Bagh Committee, Aartia Association, Beopar Mandal, Jagera Road Welfare Society, CB Welfare Society and Guru Nanak Nagar Society perticipated in the rally.
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Cong to contest on development plank
Ludhiana, May 23 Claiming that the Congress government had granted maximum relief to all sections of the people and fulfilled most of the poll promises, Mr Joshi maintained that the government had strived hard for all-round development of both rural and urban areas without any bias or discrimination. In the wake of proliferation of population in the urban areas, the government had created a special municipal development fund, involving an expenditure of Rs 991 crore, which aimed at accelerating urban development with special focus on supply of safe drinking water and sewerage facility in all major towns by the end of March 2007. Further, 162 mega projects with an investment of Rs 60,000 had been approved to generate 10 lakh additional jobs.
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Better corporate governance leads to success
Ludhiana, May 23 This has been established by a study jointly conducted by Prof. Ashwani Bhalla of P.G. Department of Commerce, SCD Government College, Ludhiana, and Dr. Parvinder Arora, Senior Reader, University Business School, Panjab University, Chandigarh, on corporate governance in the housing finance institutions (A study of selected HFC's). The study has shown that the housing finance sector in India needs to grow at faster rate to fulfil the housing needs of the poor and lower strata of population which demand high level of integrity, transparency and fairness to win the confidence of global firms and investors faith. It was found that because of the poor corporate governance the number of housing finance companies registered with National Housing Bank had been reduced to 343 in 2004-05 from 387 in 1996-97 and similarly, HFC's having net owned funds of Rs 50 lakh and above has also reduced to Rs 22 lakh in 2004-05 as compared to Rs 38 lakh in 1996-97. It has also been discovered that housing finance companies are losing the battle to the banks in terms of market share. In 1996-97, the market share of the HFC's was 68.58 per cent, which has reduced to 38.41 per cent in 2005-05, and banks share has grown to 60.43 per cent (2004-05) as compared to 26.76 per cent in 1996-97. The study underlines the growth mantra of successful housing finance companies by observing their corporate governance practices from four aspects; philosophy towards corporate governance, composition of board of directors, governance system through committees and disclosure practices and reporting. Regarding the philosophy of corporate governance all companies urge to have a self-regulated code for creating better corporate governance and documents of all the companies shows fancy words regarding their will to implement corporate governance practices but it depends on the real practices and implementation of legal rules in true spirit, which will reveals the real intention of the companies. Companies' data were analyzed to observe the implementation of the clause 49 of the listing agreement as prescribed by the SEBI. Analysis shows that the HDFC can be rated as number 1 regarding the compliance status because its CG reports shows full disclosure and clauses of Section 49 has been implemented in letter and spirit. Regarding the board meetings and attendance the HDFC has shown 100 per cent attendance of directors in the board meetings and full disclosure regarding sitting fee paid to Non-executive directors. In other cases attendance rate varies from 25-75 percent. Even in one case one of the director did not attend even a single meeting which creates doubts in the minds of the investors and other stakeholders. Regarding the Audit Committee, the HDFC has all the independent directors as the member of the audit committees and its terms of reference found to be wider than the other. Others have mixture of independent and other directors on the audit committees. Regarding the shareholders investors Grievances Committee, the HDFC has lesser number of complaints against the company only 11 in 2004-05 which were duly met. The LIC Housing Finance CG report shows that their number of complaints has come down to 737 in 2004-05 as compared to 1815 in 2004-05 but all the complaints attended with full satisfaction of the shareholders. The GIC Home Finance has 377 complaints in 2004-05 which were duly met. In terms of disclosure again, the HDFC can be rated as number 1 in terms of lesser number of complaints and terms of reference to shareholders investors grievances committee. Regarding the disclosure practices and reporting the HDFC can be rated as number in corporate governance practices. The study also outlined some concluding observations likethe need to have a standardise performa for writing CG report, the need of In-depth analysis of position of Independent Non-executive directors, in terms of their attendance in meetings and their real independence in guiding the company affairs, making audit committees more powerful, need for more disclosure regarding material transactions with directors and promoters besides efficient communication channel to report CG practices to stake holders.
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‘‘Best way to deal with stress is to manage it’’
Ludhiana, May 23 These observations were made by Dr G.S. Wander, chief cardiologist at Hero DMC Heart Institute (HDHI) while inaugurating a two-day free cardiac check-up camp at Daudhar village in Jagraon sub division yesterday. In addition to general check up, laboratory tests and ECG , free echocardiography was also conducted with a portable 'Echo Machine' at the camp, which otherwise cost nearly Rs 1200. According to Dr Wander, it was found that more than 60 percent of the patients with cardiac conditions, were suffering from stress, that further led to problems like hypertension, diabetes, and other complications of the heart. Interacting with the villagers, Dr Wander observed that the increasing number of suicides among farmers was also a sign of increasing stress among this particular section of society . ‘‘A simple way to cope up with stress is to live a balanced life. Techniques of time management, yoga, meditation, massage, acupuncture, controlled breathing pattern, games, laughter and positive thinking are some of the stress-busters. Modern lifestyle, lack of security in the times of fluctuating weather conditions, coupled with and uncertain socio-political environment are some of the factors responsible for stress in life.’’ In all, 700 patients were screened at the camp for various ailments. Free medicines were also distributed. Sant Arjun Singh of Dera Ram Singh Ji, Daudhar, who was closely associated with the camp, lauded the effort of HDHI in holding such free medical camps. Speaking at the occasion, he said that in the present times, medical treatment had become unaffordable for weaker sections of society. In the prevailing situation, such free medical check up and investigation camps not only provided an opportunity to the villagers to get consultation from super specialist in different fields but enabled them to have a number of expensive diagnostic tests free of cost, which, otherwise, were beyond their reach. At another medical check-up camp, organised by HDHI at Hanuman Mandir, Malerkotla, Dr Naved Aslam, cardiologist examined nearly 400 patients. Free blood tests and ECG were also conducted on the spot and free medicines were distributed at the camp.
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Martyrdom kirtan darbar
Ludhiana, May 23 Moderate estimates place the number nearly one lakh. The managers of the kirtan darbar tactfully used the occasion to place their view point before the people via Shiromani Akali Dal and the SGPC. Mr Manjit Singh Calcutta, a senior leader of the SAD and a respected name among the Sikh intellectuals, delivered a short but impressive speech on the achievements of Guru Arjan Dev and his martyrdom in Sikh history. But he did not forget to emphasise that the quadri- centenary observance was essentially an event of religions importance for the Sikhs from which they could get inspiration to set their house in order to bring back their youth who had gone
stray. Mr Manjit Singh Calcutta also asserted that the huge congregation at Tarn taran was not in response to any call given by a single leader or in response to any individual invitation. It was a spontaneous upsurge to pay respect to the great guru. Mr Paramjit Singh Sarna, President, Delhi state Akali Dal and former president, DSGMC, was present on this occasion. Mr Sarna in his address expressed concern over the trend in Sikh youth towards apostasy. He said ,‘‘our generation has failed to give a proper information about the contribution of the Sikh gurus towards the human civilization and the unique sacrifices made by them towards the cause of religion and unrighteous living.’’ Mr Sarna repeatedly said that the Majha region was the cradle of Sikhism and the youth of the area must be saved for Sikhism. Prominent ragi jathas of the Panth were present on the dais to recite the kirtan which was listened with rapt attention by the multitude. By holding the impressive kirtan darbar, the DSGMC has at least been able to silence the criticism that they were trying to hold function in Punjab with a spirit of upmanship against the SGPC. As a matter of fact the SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar and Mr Harvinder Singh Sarna, President, DSGMC-both offered to cooperate and organise a joint nagar kirtan to Lahore to dispel the fears of Pakistan authorities and present common face to the sikhs. There is no doubt that the function held at Tarn Taran was religious in its tenor except remarks by Mr Paramjit Singh Sarna that Chief Minister Punjab Amarinder Singh had promised to make announcement on June 16 giving the status of district headquarters to Tarn Taran. But still the success of the Sarnas and the support lent by Mr Manjit Singh Calcutta does have political overtones. Mr Manjit Singh Calcutta seems to have done ground work to ensure the presence of some Majha stalwarts like Mr Prem Singh Lalpura and Major Singh Uboke, handful of members of the SGPC and quite a good number of kar seva banas. This should give a moment of anxiety to Mr Parkash Singh Badal.
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Singla takes charge at Phillaur
Phillaur, May 23 The president of the Phillaur Bar Association, Mr Raj Kumar,
secretary, Mr Satnam Singh and other lawyers extended warm welcome to Mr Singla.
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Toor is SSP (Vigilance)
Ludhiana, May 23
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Exempt bicycle industry from excise duty: federation
Ludhiana, May 23 Urging the Joint Secretary to continue with exemption on bicycle parts and accessories, the federation said the exemption should continue as the industry was price sensitive. “A majority of cyclists belong to economically weaker sections of society. On one hand the government has introduced the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and on the other it is planning measures that would hamper economically weaker sections. Levying excise duty would increase the price of bicycles which would have a direct bearing on consumers,” said Mr Joginder Kumar. Considering the benefits of bicycles like saving petrol and environment friendly, it is important to encourage its use instead of adopting measures that led to increase in its prices, he said.
TNS
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