Amritsar, June 3
Bagging top positions, girls shined in the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) Class X exam results as they were announced early in the day. Continuing the tradition, the girls performed better than the boys in the exams.

Kiranpal Kaur and Simranjit Kaur did the city proud by securing the third and fifth rank, respectively, in the PSEB examination.

Kiranpal Kaur, student of Guru Nanak Senior Secondary School, Mehta, shared the third position with three other students by securing 96.15 per cent.

A resident of Saidpur village on the outskirts of the city, Kiranpal was congratulated by her family and friends as soon as results came out. Joining her in the celebrations was Simranjit Kaur, another student from the same school, who bagged the fifth rank by securing 95.85 per cent. Simranjit shared the rank with one of her classmates Ravinder Singh.

Guru Nanak Senior Secondary School had eight students in the merit list out of the total 184 who appeared in the examination from the school, all securing more than 94 per cent marks. Kuljit Singh, Principal of the school was elated at the feat. “We have done tremendously well, as the results show, out of all the schools in the district. It is inspiring for other students of our school to do better after this year’s results.”

Kiranpal, who despite her humble background and limited means, achieved the feat through studying for extra hours. “I plan to take up medical stream and aspire to become a doctor. My teachers too along with me have put hard work to achieve success for me,” she said.

The overall pass percentage this year went down to 69.32 per cent from last years’ 73.49 per cent. Girls kept their lead with a total pass percentage of 76.58 per cent, whereas boys pass percentage was 63.84.

Amritsar, June 3
The city police has arrested a woman, who was allegedly a part of the gang and a relative of main accused Varun Gupta in the Rs 67.50-lakh robbery case.

The police has already nabbed three persons in this connection, while it is yet to officially announce their arrest.

However, the police officials have maintained their silence in the case. They confirmed that there are some positive developments in the case. Sources pointed out that the woman was arrested from Jalandhar and the police had also recovered a pistol from her house.

Meanwhile, the police is yet to arrest main accused Varun Gupta, who is stated to be the owner of the Mohali-based Kang Global Educational Institute, which had duped two families.

Varun Gupta, the mastermind of the robbery, is learnt to be in possession of the amount of Rs 67.50 lakh, which was allegedly snatched on gunpoint from two families, who were called outside the Sri Guru Ramdass Institute of Medical Sciences and Research by them on the pretext of getting their wards admitted to MBBS in the college.

The two families of medical seat aspirants were robbed near Vallah a couple of days ago.

The city police have registered a case under Sections 420 (cheating), 382 (theft after preparation made for causing death) and 34 of the IPC against Mohali-based Kang Global Education Company and five unidentified persons in this connection.

Paramjit Singh, a resident of Ludhiana and one of the victims, had stated to the police that his son ranked 93rd in the entrance test.

He said they fell in their trap after reading an advertisement in a newspaper got published by the Kang Global Education Company, which had assured the aspirants admission to medical colleges. He said the deal was settled at Rs 72 lakh per seat.

He said the company officials called him and said his son would be admitted to the Sri Guru Ram Dass Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Amritsar. He said he along with his brother reached the designated place with the money. As the company officials had asked, he handed over Rs 7 lakh to the company officials and went inside the medical college. He said the company officials remained in touch on phone with someone and later disappeared from inside the college. He said later he received a call from his brother that the company officials along with several others looted Rs 45 lakh while threatening on gunpoint.

Four families - two from Ludhiana, one from Ambala and one from Kapurthala - had fallen in the net of the fraudsters. They had brought with them lakhs of rupees for the admission of their wards. However, the accused managed to snatch Rs 67.50 lakh from two persons.

Amritsar, June 3
Family members of Sonia Dhawan, a resident of Green Avenue, who was allegedly set on fire by her in-laws on May 9 and later succumbed to her burn injuries on May 31, today staged a protest at Sant Singh Sukha Singh Chowk on Majitha Road.

They were agitating against the alleged police inaction in arresting the accused who has been evading arrest for last 25 days.

The police have booked five members of here in-laws family, including her husband Ashwani Dhawan. The police has already arrested Ashwani, but the remaining accused have been absconding. They are Sunita Dhawan, Ravi Dhawan, Raj Rani, Ram Saroop Dhawan, said Gagan Mehra, brother of the deceased.

The incident occurred on May 9 when a scuffle took place between members of the two families over some property dispute. In her complaint lodged with police, the victim said Sunita Dhawan, a relative of hers, poured kerosene oil on her and tried to set her on fire. She said her husband and children came to her rescue and sprinkled water on her. Earlier, the police had registered a case for attempt to murder, but after the death of Sonia the police converted it to murder case.

The family raised slogans and demanded immediate arrest of the accused. They said Sonia had given her statements before a Magistrate before her death. Then what the police was waiting for? They said police officials were deliberately saving the accused.

The ADCP, City-I, Shailender Shelly, reached the spot to pacify the agitators, who had blocked the traffic for over an hour. The dharna was lifted only after his assurance of arresting the accused soon.

Amritsar, June 3
A 45-year-old woman has accused a chemist of allegedly trying to rape her after injecting her with some drugs, following which she fell semi-unconscious, in Ajnala.

The woman alleged that she had a disc problem and had gone to the chemist shop for taking medicine along with her husband, who left her there and returned to his shop. She alleged that the chemist, identified as Narinder Sharma, took her to his cabin and administered two injections to her, following which she started feeling unconsciousness.

She alleged that taking advantage of this he removed her undergarments. When she opposed his move, the chemist slapped her and threatened her with dire consequences. She said she pushed him and came out of the cabin and saved herself.

Pargat Singh, investigating officer, said a case under Sections 323, 376 and 511 of the IPC was registered against Narinder, who has been arrested and produced before the court. He said investigations were under progress.

Amritsar, June 3
Congress workers staged a protest outside the SSP (Rural) office demanding action against an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) for allegedly misbehaving with a woman, resident of Bandala village, near here.

Vice-president of the Punjab Mahila Congress Nimisha Mehta said on April 17 when Kuljit Kaur along with her minor son went to a police station to meet his husband, who had been arrested in connection with a case, an ASI misbehaved with her and tore her clothes.

Nimisha Mehta said when Kuljit Kaur tried to lodge a complaint against the ASI, she was pressurised to strike a compromise. Mehta alleged that senior police officials were trying to shield the ASI as no FIR was registered in the case.

The Congress leader also circulated an audio recording to prove that police officials were pressurising the Kuljit Kaur. She demanded that a case against the erring police officials should be immediately registered and an inquiry be conducted in the whole incident.

Mehta said a gang-rape victim girl in Patiala had to commit suicide because of police officials’ apathy. She said the incident in Tarn Taran where a girl was publicly thrashed by policemen clearly established the insensitivity of the police.

She accused the SAD of politicising the Police Department and shielding corrupt officials.

Other senior leaders present on the occasion included former minister Sardool Singh Bandala, former MLAs Jasbir Singh Dimpa and Jugal Kishore Sharma and youth leaders Karamjit Singh Rintu and Shalinder Shelly.

Amritsar, June 3
The Government Railway Police (GRP) today seized gold jewellery weighing 585 gm, worth several lakhs of rupees, from two Rajasthan residents - Ankush Singhal and his brother Kapil Singhal - who reached the city through the Frontier train.

According to information, the jewelry was seized during a routine checking after the train arrived at the railway station. Preliminary investigations revealed that the duo were traders and they wanted to evade the sales tax.

Amritsar, June 3
GNDU teachers seem to be divided on the issue of introduction of credit-based evaluation system to gauge the performance of the students.

Pointing at the fissures among the GNDU teaching community, a day after the Guru Nanak Dev University Teachers Association (GNDUTA) criticised this system, while stating that it would put the students in a disadvantageous state, scores of senior faculty members, including principals of the GNDU-affiliated colleges, termed these statements as unwarranted and baseless.

Defying the GNDUTA’s statement, Prof Kuldip Singh, Prof Jagrup Singh Sekhon of political science, Prof Amarjit Singh Sidhu of commerce and business management; Prof Sharanjit Singh Dhillon of Punjab School of Economics and Prof Raminder Kaur of the school of Punjabi studies and other senior professors of Guru Nanak Dev University said contrary to the view of the GNDUTA office bearers, the credit-based evaluation system was debated threadbare by all the teachers of the university and there was a consensus that such a system of evaluation was essential for the university to establish itself at the global level.

Showing solidarity, Principals of GNDU colleges, including Dr Jaspal Singh Randhawa, Prof Mahal Singh, Dr Daljit Singh Khehra, Dr Rakesh Mohan, Dr Mohanjeet Kaur Sethi, Dr Barinder Kaur and Dr GS Virk, strongly demanded that the system be continued and implemented in all university colleges also.

Guru Nanak Dev University had implemented the system in 2010 to assess the performance of the students effectively and continuously throughout the year, so that the standards of examination and evaluation could be raised to meet the global requirements. This system has brought the university acclaim and distinction at the national-level. Under this system, the students are evaluated on the basis of their performance in minor test, quiz, group discussion and major test.

The students are also evaluated on the basis of their attendance in the class, practical work, assignment and viva-voce. They are placed in grades A+, A, B+, B, C+, C, D, E and F on the basis of their score in absolute-marking system. This evaluation system has already been a big success at the international level.

First, it remarkably decreases the pressure on the minds of students, who, in the traditional system, are constantly under pressure to get 100 on 100. Second, this system brings the subjects out of water-tight compartment and makes the study inter-disciplinary that widens the mental horizon of the students and helps them enhance their knowledge and skills in other subjects also. Undoubtedly, this enhances the employability of the students. Third, this system puts an end to the unhealthy culture of coaching classes and cheap study guides, as in this system, a student has to study the whole syllabus thoroughly and cannot pick a few topic at the end of the year to pass the examination. Fourth, in the system, the students are actively involved in the evaluation process. They are shown their answer sheets and their objections and suggestions are entertained.

Undoubtedly, this not only ends the exploitation of the time and money of students, but also provides them with valuable feedback regarding their faults. This was not possible in the traditional evaluation system. In this system, a teacher is given more responsibilities regarding evaluation of the students. This helps not only in increasing the attendance of the students, but also in maintaining discipline.

The novel feature of this system is that all students are offered two interdisciplinary courses. It helps in the personality development of the students. This kind of system of evaluation has been adopted by all the leading academic institutions of the country such as IITs and IIMs.

They Principals said thanks to such measures undertaken by the university, with the initiative of Prof AS Brar, Vice-Chancellor, that the UGC has conferred upon it the status of the university with the potential for excellence. “As the result to this status conferred on the university, hundreds of M.Phil students and research scholars are to get Rs. 5000/- and Rs. 8000/- per month, respectively. “It is a matter of pride that GNDU has established itself as one of the top six universities of the country and it is being tipped by the UGC as the university with the potential for establishing itself at the global level,” said a Principal.

Remarkably decreases pressure on students Brings the subjects out of water-tight compartment and makes the study inter-disciplinary that widens the mental horizon of the students. Enhances the employability of the students Puts an end to the unhealthy culture of coaching classes and cheap study guides Actively involves students in the evaluation process

Amritsar, June 3
The agitating teachers, under the banner of the Guru Nanak Dev University Teachers’ Association (GNDUTA), are scheduled to meet CM Parkash Singh Badal in Chandigarh today.

This was stated by GNDUTA president Davinder Singh at the venue where the teachers have been observing a chain-hunger strike in support of their demands, chiefly the clearance of their dues under the Sixth Pay Commission.

Today, the treasurer of the GNDUTA, Dr RSS Kaler, and executive member of the association Surinder Pal Singh sat on a hunger strike, which entered in 12th day today.

“We will be meeting the CM tomorrow. Our main demand will be to get our arrears accrued under the Sixth Pay revision. We will also apprise the Chief Minister of certain irregularities prevailing in the the university,” he added. 

Amritsar, June 3
The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights organised a seminar at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Mall Road, to create awareness about the rights of children. The seminar was attended by heads of various departments, school teachers, traffic cops and schoolchildren.

Chairperson of the commission Sawarn Singh Salaria said they had organised seminars in 10 districts of the state so far. He said the government was committed to provide such opportunities and facilities to children, so that their constitutional and legal rights were safeguarded.

He said any person who violated children’s rights could be sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment, besides a fine of up to Rs 50,000. Salaria said a proposal had been sent to the state government to issue separate identity cards to children aged between 0 and 18 years, so that they could avail necessary health and education services.

Salaria asked the district transport office and traffic police department to keep an eye on the vehicles ferrying school children. He said it had been noticed that these vehicles were often overloaded. Additional Deputy Commissioner Jasbir Singh also spoke on the occasion.

Amritsar, June 3
The summer break is the most awaited time of the year for school-going children. It is also a perfect time for them to enhance their art skills. Keeping this in mind, many art galleries, dance academies and theatre schools are conducting workshops to help children utilise their time.

The Exords Culture Initiative has the kids busy with theatre. With their theatre-oriented programmes that aim to teach some life skills through dramatics, its founder director Navdeep Sandhu is grooming future actors from the city. “We run multiple programmes and classes in theatre, creative writing and drama for children between the age of six and 18. Through theatre, we aim to identify weak areas of children and using theatre techniques to improve their life skills. For our older students, we use theatre-oriented and professional approach to groom them for future career,” said Sandhu.

The programme started in the city in the mid-April and is now ready with its first production, ‘The Little Prince’, an English play that will be staged on June 14 at Virsa Vihar. “The kids are taught every aspect of theatre, stage management, costumes, scriptwriting and staging a production on their own. Every six months, we start a new programme and every two months we stage a show,” shared Sandhu.

Another socio-cultural initiative this summer comes with Project O3. A US-based foundation, Project O3 has been working to bridge socio and political gaps between India and Pakistan. It has extensively involved students from border villages and city in a cultural exchange. It recently conducted a workshop by US-based choreographer Joti Singh. Students from Chheharta Girls High School, Chheharta, Janta Girls High School, Chheharta, Khalsa College Public School and Sri Ram Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Amritsar, took part in the eight-day dance workshop. The focus of the workshop was to encourage children to choreograph.

Joti Singh is a US-based choreographer, performer, and an instructor of bhangra and Bollywood dances from India and Guinea, West Africa. The Artistic Director and founder of Duniya Dance and Drum Company, Joti is one of two inaugural grantees of the Arts Innovation Fund, created to catalyse cultural enquiry and diversity and to create new approaches to problem solving. Many programmes by the AIF involve digital and multimedia tools to involve younger generation in social responsibility.