Ludhiana, May 28
The grading system introduced by the CBSE this year for Class X has evoked a mixed response from the city's academic community. While educationists have welcomed the new system, students and their parents are divided in their opinion on the issue.

For many students, especially those who are average and below average, grading has come as a breath of fresh air, giving them relief from peer and parental pressure to perform well to a large extent. These students are happy to have been spared the ordeal of looking at marks on their mark sheets. "I am very happy with my grades," said Anahita who scored grade B1.

The grades have especially brought cheer to those who always missed being the class topper with just a mark or two. Which also means, that the new system has given a heartburn to toppers, for whom, "that one mark" had always made a difference. Despite a slight difference in marks, such students have had to share the topper's slot with the ones who earlier stood second or third in class with as low a difference as 0.5 marks.

l DAV BRS Nagar in 2nd spot l No single city topper l At least 35 score a perfect 10 l Multiple toppers in each school unlike past

While Guratam Singh Ahluwalia, who has scored Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) 10 and topped his school, BCM Arya, the achievement is beyond expectation. "For the simple reason that throughout my school years, I never managed to be number 1.

But the new system has removed that insignificant difference of a mark or even lesser and gave us what we deserved - the toppers' slot," smiled Guratam.On the other hand, Aastha

Bhardwaj, who is BCM Arya's topper along with Guratam with a score of CGPA 10, did not seem too happy with the grades. Or perhaps, for the fact that she has had to share the glory with another topper, a fact she and other toppers, were not used to till now.

As for parents, while many are happy to see unnecessary burden going off their children's backs; there are some who feel the grading system is unfair to the hard worker and blurs the divide between the topper and the rest. "It will kill the will to study and work hard. Children will get complacent about their studies and not work towards earning "that one point" that made them stand apart from the crowd," rued SA Verma, father of a girl student, who had always been her class topper.

Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar

10 points - 15 students Ekampreet Singh, Kanwardeep, Aamir Vohra, Devjot Singh, Siddharth Pratap Bector, Alisha Saxena, Arhantika, Shreya Jain, Vinayak Sood, Sarthak Garg, Harnoor Kaur, Sohrab Singh, Tanya Chhabra, Dhwani and Anubhooti.

Ludhiana, May 28
Once again girls managed to walk away with glory in the CBSE Class X results declared here today by outnumbering boys.The only exception being the boys of Sacred Heart Convent, Sarabha Nagar, who gave the girls a tough fight. Eight out of 15 toppers of the school are boys.

At DAV Public School, BRS Nagar, girls hog the limelight by claiming six out of eight top slot. Similar situation was seen at Guru Nanak Public School, Sarabha Nagar, and Kundan Vidya Mandir, Civil Lines, where top four positions went to girls. Both the schools have just one boy each on top.

At Green Land Senior Secondary Public School, Jalandhar, girls grab three out of four top positions.

In all schools, girls have performed better. "Our girls have once again outnumbered boys," smiled Paramjit Kaur, principal, BCM Arya Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar.

Besides, in the CBSE Class XII results, declared on May 19, girls dominated the toppers' list in the district. Except for three boys, it was girls' brigade that had won the laurels.

Interestingly, even principals, teachers, tutors and parents are now used to girls leaving the boys behind in academics. "Girls are sharper, more intelligent, smarter and hardworking," said Paramjit Kaur.

Ludhiana, May 28
No happy occasion is complete without sweets. So how could the declaration of CBSE Class X results today go without its share of sweetness and calories!However, the occasion stood testimony to a major shift from traditional to modern when it came to exchanging sweets with loved ones to express happiness.

Amid the hullabaloo surrounding the declaration of the Class X results today, chocolates and fancy “imported” toffees managed to steal the show with their massive presence across all city schools. Their poorer Indian cousin, the traditional “mithai”, finding no taker or may be with its measly presence at some places.

Carrying fancy, glistening chocolate boxes, students marched towards their respective schools to share their happiness with their teachers, friends and fellow students in the form of expensive “sweets”. One after the other, students flooded the principals’ rooms across schools with packs of toffees, chocolates and other sweet stuff.

Almost all principals’ tables today looked more like confectionary shops selling sweets and chocolates in varied hues and flavours, thanks to the overwhelmed students who, if given a chance, would have fed the sweets to their happy-at-the-result school heads.

With no takers for the traditional “mithai” a mother of a school topper, who walked into the principal’s with one in hand was embarrassed to have got “desi” sweets to wish madam.

Immediately on realizing how popular chocolates were among students, parents and teachers alike, the woman grinned, “I was keen on getting chocolates but he (pointing towards her embarrassed son), pushed me real hard to buy “mithai” for you ma’am.”

No matter what the form, anything sweet at such moments signifies happiness and joy but there were many today who missed having their favourite “laddoo” or “gulab jamun” to celebrate the success. As, going with the trend, they had to eat chocolates.

Ludhiana, May 28
Day after robbery at the franchisee of Western Union Money Transfer, the cops got hold of CCTV footages of the robbers. According to police sources, the cops have received some vital clues, which would lead to the early arrest of the accused.

Special teams have been constituted, major manhunt launched and possible hideouts raided to nab the robbers.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Raj Kumar said the police was working on all possible angles and the accused would soon be nabbed. Meanwhile, Blwinder Verma, owner of Verma Money exchange, who owns the franchisee of Western Union Money Transfer, where the robbers struck last evening, said the robbers decamped with Rs 1.71 lakh, which include 100 Canadian, and 120 US dollars and 100 UAE dirams. “My employees were terrified following the robbery and that might have been the reason that they had stated a wrong amount. Later when we counted the cash we came to know that the robbers fled with Rs 1. 71 lakh,” said Balwinder Verma.

Ludhiana, May 28
Today’s auction of 28 commercial properties in the city - 8 SCOs and 20 single storied shops on Old Jail Road by the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA), turned out to be an anticlimax as only one shop was sold, fetching only Rs 21.76 lakh. The auction was being seen as an exercise to gauge the mood of both genuine buyers and investors in the city’s depressed real estate sector in the wake of the global economic slowdown.

PUDA had put commercial sites worth about Rs 15 crore on the block with a feedback that the auction would evoke a reasonably good response as there were several indicators that the property market had revived. Even otherwise, offers of both commercial and residential properties developed by PUDA and the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) usually had many takers in the past, the recessionary trends in real estate notwithstanding.

PUDA officials were busy making an assessment of the poor turnout at the auction - just half a dozen bidders for the SCOs and shops located in one of the old city’s prime commercial areas.

They attributed the lukewarm response to traffic congestion and difficult access to the market, as also lack of infrastructure development and beautification of the area.

The auction proceedings were conducted by a team of senior PUDA officials comprising additional chief administrator Indu Malhotra, estate officer Jeet Ram, superintending engineer RK Sharma and an official from PUDA headquarters.

Ludhiana, May 28
In yet another instance of an e-mail ID being hacked, a leading cardiac surgeon in the city, Dr HS Bedi, was subjected to harassment and discomfiture after hoax mails were sent to his friends and colleagues from his e-mail account.

The doctor was in for a big shock when his cellphone began buzzing with frantic calls from his friends living in India and abroad offering him financial help and giving him addresses of their family members and friends to stay at their homes.

Thereafter, Bedi who was in Delhi for some important work, tried to access his e-mail account (drhsbedi@hotmail.com) but was unable to open it.

"The hacker had changed the password and I found myself in a Catch-22 situation, not being able to contact my associates even for professional queries. However, what is bothering me is the fact that the hacker might have succeeded in duping some of my overseas associates who correspond with me through e-mail only," he rued.

Immediately after returning to the city, Bedi filed a case with the local police’s cyber crime cell requesting it to locate the IP address of the sender of the hoax mails. "I have also forwarded a complaint to Hotmail and Google to nab the hacker followed by appropriate action against the culprit," said Bedi.

The hoax mail sent to one of Bedi's friends read: " Sorry I didn't inform you about my trip to London for a program.

I received the greatest shock of my life when I was robbed by a taxi driver who took away my bag containing money and other valuable items. I hate to bother you but I’m stranded here and really need your help. Please, can you loan me $2,400 to sort out my problem and return back home?" the e-mail read.

The hoax mail also stated: “It’s impossible for me to access my bank account here, which is why I need the safest and fastest way of money transfer - through Western Union”.

Ludhiana, May 28
Objecting to the arbitrary demolition of the main gate and sewerage at the electroplating unit owned by Joginder Kumar, the president of the Federation of Tiny and Small Industries of India, industrialists have demanded immediate suspension of erring officials of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation.

The industrialists alleged that the Municipal officials had targeted Joginder Kumar, who raised his voice against the “pick and choose” policy adopted by them for removing encroachments from the city.

Joginder Kumar stated that the Municipal officials came on May 26 without any prior notice and pulled down the sliding door of his unit. “My unit was among the built up sheds A, B and C type, which were allotted by the government in 1960 with the provision of 10hp, 7.5hp and 5 hp connections, respectively. The Municipal officials demolished the main entrance gate which was within the housing line and demolished the sewerage tank made of bricks for which the corporation is taking charges,” said Joginder Kumar. Nineteen manufacturing associations from various industrial sectors came out in support of Joginder Kumar while condemning the officials for acting with vengeance.

The federation members also said senior town planner of the corporation Balkar Singh Brar after visiting the site had confirmed that wasn’t any encroachment. However, Balkar Singh said he was yet to finalise his report on the issue.

DS Chawla, president, United Cycle Parts and Manufacturers Association, came down heavily on the corporation and accused the officials of “corrupt and dishonest” practices under the garb of the Punjab and Haryana High Court directions for the removal of encroachments.

The federation members said they had already given a representation to Municipal Commissioner AK Sinha and added that they would take up the matter with the chief secretary, Punjab, and principal secretary Local Bodies to suspend the erring officials. If the officials concerned were not suspended, we would file a case in the court.

Ludhiana, May 28
A woman was injured when the roof of a house collapsed after a giant hoarding, installed on an adjacent building, got uprooted and fell on the house this morning hours before the city was hit by rain and a hailstrom.The incident took place following a dust-storm, which threw normal life in city out of gear.

The victim was identified as Shashi (21). She was rushed to the DMC Hospital, where her condition was stated to be critical.

Shashi, a resident of Amritsar, was visiting her relatives in Ghumar Mandi to spend her summer vacations.

He said the giant hoarding, which was installed by a cloth showroom owner on its boundary wall, collapsed following a major dust-storm.

It is learnt that the hoarding was not supported properly. Soon after receiving the information, the police sprung into action and reached the spot.

DSP Raj Kumar said if the victim lodges complaint, they would initiate action against the showroom management.

In another incident, a major tragedy was averted when a tree feel on an electric wire at Ghulati Chowk this morning.

Similarly, minor accidents due to the storm were also reported in several parts of the city.

Ludhiana, May 28
In yet another incident of road rage, a milkman beat up a rickshaw puller so badly that the latter defecated in his shorts. The incident took place at about 5 pm when a young man ferrying milk canisters collided with the rickshaw puller who came in his way near the cassette market at Bahdaur House.

According to Gurjant Singh, the rickshaw puller, the milkman who was driving his vehicle recklessly hit his rickshaw. "He pulled out a wooden stick from his vehicle and started thrashing me. He beat me black and blue due to which I defecated in my shorts," he stated while showing his wounds.

The drama continued for nearly ten minutes but no one could gather the strength to stop the youth from beating up the rickshaw puller. Finally, a private security guard showed exemplary courage and gave the youngster a chase, catching hold of him at Mata Rani Chowk.

The Division No 1 police also sprung into action and apprehended the youth. He was taken to a police station.

Later in the evening the security guard, who apprehended the youth, arrived at The Tribune office and said relatives of the youth had threatened him of “dire consequences”.

"I request you not to publish my name and photograph in the newspaper, otherwise relatives of the youth will thrash me as they did the rickshaw puller," said the guard.

Meanwhile, SHO Manjinder Singh said, “Strict action would be taken against the youth and hooliganism would not be tolerated”.

Ludhiana, May 28
The semifinal matches in the inaugural edition of the Olympian Prithipal Singh Six-a-Side Hockey League being organised jointly by Jarkhar Hockey Academy and Ludhiana Sportsmen Welfare Association at Mata Sahib Kaur Stadium, Jarkhar, will be played tomorrow. 

In junior section, the first semifinal is slated to be held between Jarkhar and Grewal Hockey Academies, Kila Raipur, while the second final will be played between Sports Excellence Centre, Ludhiana, and Malwa Hockey Academy, Ludhiana. Similarly, in veteran's section, the semifinal is scheduled to be conducted between Friends Club of Doraha and Lakhbir Grewal Club of Jarkhar at 6.30 am and between Sunday Morning Club of Ludhiana and Army Club, Ludhiana. — TNS