Chandigarh, July 4
She was only 29 when her entire world came crashing down in 2007. Sonia Goyal, slain CA Rajesh Goyal's wife who is now 35 years old, has been suffering every minute for the past six years and patiently waiting for the wheels of justice to move. A mother of two (a 14-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl), Sonia broke down after the verdict today and screamed at the four accused asking them why they had ruined her life.

Sonia Goyal, the murdered CA's wife, with her children at their residence in Phase IV, Mohali, on Thursday. Tribune photo: Vicky Gharu

“What have you earned by murdering my husband? Do you have any shame? Kill me too as my life has already been wrecked,” she said while bursting into tears as the four were whisked away by the police after the verdict was pronounced.

Sonia got married to Rajesh at the age of 19 and it was an arranged marriage. Life for her at that point of time seemed perfect. A caring husband and blessed with two children, life was all rosy and sweet until came the news of her husband’s murder.

“I have no feelings today after the verdict, no happiness as my life has already been wrecked. My husband cannot come back to life and the conviction only provides solace that justice prevails,” she said, adding that she wanted the accused to get the death sentence.

With no support from her in-laws, it took some time for Sonia to come out of the trauma of her husband’s murder. She went along with parental support and is now pursuing her MEd at the age of 35 so that she can become independent.

“It has been a trying six years for me during which I moved various applications in the local court as well as the High Court. The accused, too, moved the High Court as a result of which the case was delayed. All four were out on bail and even threatened me during the court proceedings stating that they will walk out free,” she said.

“Initially, I was reluctant to visit the court; it took me a year to finally muster the courage to attend court hearings; it was all too traumatising,” she said.

Sonia had filed plea

In 2009, Sonia Goyal had moved an application in the District Courts alleging that the prosecution was shielding the accused by demanding collection of DNA evidence, which was not included in the chargesheet. The court had accepted that application. She moved the High Court this year asking that two more accused be included in the case, but that application was dismissed.

Panchkula, July 4
With the richest councillor and Congress candidate from Ward No.18 Upender Ahluwalia winning against Krishan Lal Lamba, another Congress councillor from Ward No. 3, by bagging 12 of the 20 votes, it was Congress vs Congress in the first-ever elections for the post of Mayor in Panchkula held today.

The elections that were preceded by the oath-taking ceremony of the councillors not only brought to the fore factionalism in the Congress (the Hooda group and the Selja group), but also saw the INLD and the BJP supporting the two rival factions in the Congress.

While Ahluwalia owes allegiance to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Lamba has the backing of Kumari Selja.

During the victory procession taken out by Ahluwalia and her supporters, slogans of Kalka MLA Pradeep Chaudhary of the INLD were raised, indicating the support of INLD councillors to the newly elected Mayor.

Of the 20 seats, though Congress-backed Independent candidates had won 14 seats in the Panchkula Municipal Corporation elections, differences in the Congress surfaced today after those owing allegiance to Selja fielded their candidate Lamba while those having the backing of Hooda fielded Ahluwalia.

Councillors Lily Bawa, Mamta Mittal and Bhawna Gupta, all belonging to the Selja group, said they wanted Lamba to contest for the post of Mayor. They held discussions with BJP councillors before the elections.

The elections were held through a secret ballot in the presence of Divisional Commissioner YS Khayalia and other officials of the administration.

Vikram Bansal, nephew of former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, said it was the victory of the Congress. "I congratulate the new Mayor and the elections have proved that people have faith in the Congress. The elections also indicate the strong position of the Congress ahead of the Assembly elections due in 2014," said Bansal. 

There are 20,265 houses (five marlas and above as well as kanal houses), 7,979 houses in cooperative societies, 5,597 MIG houses, 10,675 HIG houses, 15,053 houses under the Administration and 22,040 under the Central Government which will have to pay house tax 

Chandigarh, July 4
High drama was witnessed at the help desk of the Panjab University Students' Union (PUSU) today when a girl reportedly had an altercation with the PUSU president alleging that she was teased by him on Wednesday.

The girl, a resident of Phase-VI, Mohali, reached the PU campus today and started levelling allegations against the PUSU leader, Yadwinder Singh. The police officials on duty intervened and asked the girl to give her complaint to them.

The complainant, who is a bouncer by profession, said she had gone to Khuda-Lahora to drop her friend. While on her way to Sector 22, she entered the PU campus and stopped at one of the canteens to drink water.

“As I stopped my scooter, a black car approached me and one of the boys passed comments at me,” she said.

The girl said as she was in a hurry, she left the university without complaining to the police.

“I came back today to make the complaint and came to know that the PUSU leader was the one who was involved in eve-teasing, following which I gave a complaint against him,” she said.

The police has taken the complaint and has initiated an inquiry. “Any action will be taken only after verifying the complaint,” said police sources.

Meanwhile, PUSU leader, refuting all allegations, said: “I had never seen this girl before. It was a conspiracy against me to tarnish my image before the elections.”

Chandigarh, July 4
An inquiry has been ordered by the UT Social Welfare Department against a contractor, after it received a complaint that a lizard was found in the mid-day meal supplied to an Anganwari centre at Mauli Jagran.

The incident was reported by Avdesh Parsad Gupta, father of a five-year-old Parvesh Gupta, who took ‘karhi-chawal’ to his residence. His elder son noticed a lizard in the meal while he was having the food. He took ill and was taken to a doctor. Avdesh said, for the past three years, his younger son had been having his mid-day meal at the same Anganwari centre.

The Director of the UT Social Welfare Department, Rajesh Jogpal, said:” The Health Department has taken the sample of the food after receiving the complaint. A departmental committee has been constituted to probe the matter and till the receipt of the report of the inquiry; the food supplied by contractor has been suspended”.

A thorough inspection of the site where the food is prepared was conducted but nothing objectionable was found.

In spite of the family approaching the police with the complaint of the unhygienic mid-day meal, no complaint has been registered so far.

Chandigarh, July 4
Never missing out on an opportunity to contribute towards the welfare of the victims of a calamity, 96-year-old Army officer, Major Surat Singh (retd), was again at The Tribune office, to donate Rs 1 lakh for the victims of the Uttarakhand floods.

Last time in 2001, Major Sandhu had pedalled his way to The Tribune office to handover a cheque for Rs 90,000 to be deposited in the Gujarat Chief Ministers’ Earthquake Relief Fund.

His family members said Major Sandhu contributed his pension towards such causes. Ever since he retired in 1969, he has been contributing funds to Bhagat Puran Singh’s Pingalwara in Amritsar, to Helpage India and for other social causes. 

Mohali, July 4
High drama was witnessed at Nanu Majra village as two candidates contesting for the post of sarpanch post got equal number of votes in yesterday's election. Akali Dal-backed candidate Surinder Kumar and his rival Bahadur Singh fetched equal number of votes, 198 each, in yesterday's election.

However, Bahadur Singh was declared sarpanch of the village by the authorities, which claimed that the decision was taken through draw of lots under the rule. Surinder Kumar was not present when the procedure (draw of lots) was adopted to declare the winner.

Interestingly, all the panches, who won the election in the village, are from the group of Surnider Kumar.

Raising suspicion over taking the decision in favour of his rival in his absence, Surinder Kumar and his supporters demanded re-election in the village.

"When they (the authorities) called me I told them clearly that I will come after taking advice from my supporters. They did not wait for me and declared Bahadur Singh as the winner. We demand re-election in the village," said Surinder Kumar.

On the other hand, the authorities claimed that Surinder Kumar along with his supporters was standing outside the premises, where the draw of lots was conducted.

"He did not turn up despite being given repeated calls. So we adopted the procedure under the rules which resulted in Bahadur Singh's victory," said the official.

Panchkula, July 4
Veteran Congressman and the strongest contender for the Mayor post SS Nanda suffered a major setback when he came to know at the eleventh hour that he was not being fielded for the post of the Mayor. Nanda gained consciousness after he was offered water.

Councillors hold a discussion at the Mini-Secretariat in Panchkula ahead of the elections on Thursday.

Nanda is the councillor from Ward Number 2, which falls in the Kalka and Pinjore areas. He has been active in the politics and has a stronghold of his ward.

Nanda was one of the strongest contenders for the post of the Mayor along with Upender Ahluwalia, Lily Bawa and Krishan Lal Lamba.When the elections were about to take place, members of the Selja group asked Nanda to come out and discuss for a while. There he received a jolt when he was told by the councillors that instead of him, they had now decided to field Krishan Lal Lamba against Upender Ahluwalia. Even after the elections, Nanda was the first one to stage a walkout.

INLD backs Hooda’s candidate

Slogans in favour of INLD leader Kalka MLA Pradeep Chaudhary by the supporters of the winning candidate Upender Ahluwalia (Hooda-backed) indicated the support of three councillors of the INLD to the Mayor during the elections.INLD candidates had bagged three seats out of the 20 in the Panchkula Municipal Corporation elections held on June 2. Even Satinder Singh Tony, INLD councillor from Ward Number 4, was heard raising slogans in favour of Chaudhary and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.It can be termed as an unexpected turn by the INLD that had decided to vote in favour of the candidate owing allegiance to Selja. However, during the elections, the entire scene changed. Such slogans were raised during the procession after Ahluwalia won the Mayoral elections of the Panchkula Municipal Corporation.

Mohali, July 4
Former Union Minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia and noted Punjabi singer Harbhajan Mann are now the victims of cyber crime. Somebody created fake Facebook accounts of Ramoowalia and his son-in-law Harbhajan Singh Mann, a noted Punjabi singer, and posted some objectionable material on those.

Following the development, senior Akali leader Ramoowalia, who is down with viral and putting up at Delhi, has approached the Punjab State Cyber Crime Police Station in this connection.

However, the mischievous element immediately removed the fake accounts as soon as he came to know that his crime has come to the notice of the leader.

Ramoowalia said he was upset when somebody brought to his notice about the development. “On being inquired into the matter, it came to me that a person, who is living in a European country, was behind this. He had created our (Ramoowalia and Mann) accounts and put some objectionable material on those. I have asked my staff to bring the matter to the notice of officials of the cyber crime cell in Mohali,” said Ramoowalia.

Ramoowalia’s private secretary Sandeep Singh said no formal complaint was made in this connection to the cyber cell so far.

“When we warned the mischievous element on Ramoowalia sir’s official Facebook account, he removed the fake accounts immediately from the social networking site. We have talked to the cyber cell regarding the mischief but did not give any formal complaint so far. But if such thing happens again we will surely register an FIR in this regard,” said Sandeep Singh. 

Mohali, July 4
Greater Mohali Area Development Authority is going ahead with a new plan to develop an eco-tourism park on an 800-acre stretch near the Siswan dam.

Sources said today that Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had shown interest in developing such a park, which could become an attraction for tourists and picnickers.

He is reported to have asked Greater Mohali Area Development Authority authorities about two months ago to carry out a topography survey in this regard.

According to sources, a survey on about 250 acres has already been conducted.

Sources said the forest falling in the proposed park area was slowing down the work with the monsoon adding to the hurdles of the survey team members. They were also haunted by the fear of wild animals, snakes and scorpions lurking in the area.

According to reports, some persons living close to the forest area had seen a cheetah in the area recently.

The proposed eco-tourism park will fall on the road leading to Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) and will be 3km or 4km from a T-junction in that area.

The project area, which will fall in Punjab, is about 15 km from Mohali town. It is a sub-mountainous area comprising a jungle except for the dam and the lake that will be part of the proposed project. Small stretches of private land also exist in that area where some government officials are reported to have set up farms.

Sources said there was a hillock surrounded by water in the project area and this could be developed into an island. There was a plan to keep most of the eco-tourism park a green area.

Since, the proposed project would include a forest area, formal permission from the Central Government would have to be taken before Greater Mohali Area Development Authority goes ahead with the development of the park. 

Mohali, July 4
Remedial measures must be taken against centipedes in Mirjapur village in the Kharar sub-division and geologists should also be consulted to find a solution to the problem. These directions were issued by Deputy Commissioner Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu to the Mohali Civil Surgeon and the Kharar SDM.

He also ordered that the village should be inspected and the residents given relief at the earliest.

The Deputy Commissioner,Tejinder Pal Singh , directed the Civil Surgeon to take the necessary steps to control the situation by adopting scientific means. He told the Kharar SDM to submit his action taken report in the matter.

The residents of Mirjapur in Majri block in the kandi region are suffering from the menace of centipedes and have been demanding relief.

Dr Parminder Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer, has inspected the village and the surroundings, where the problem of centipedes has become a big challenge. He said instead of millipedes, centipedes were the main problem in Mirjapur.

The problem of centipedes was only in Mirjapur whereas its nearby villages were free from it.

During the rainy season due to moisture, centipedes came out from their shelter. The occurrence of centipedes might also be due to forest areas near Mirjapur, he said.

Chandigarh, July 4
The power consumers, who have not declared their actual load and using more electricity than the sanctioned load, will now have to pay an additional amount as security to the department.

After earning the wrath of the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (JERC) for not paying interest to the consumers on their security deposits, the UT Electricity Department has started the process of paying interest on the same.

In this process, the department is first collecting an additional amount as security from consumers according to their actual consumption. Thereafter, the department will start paying interest on the security deposits.

The consumers, who are using power less than their declared load, will not have to pay additional security. The department will pay 5 per cent annual interest on the security deposit amount.

The UT Superintending Engineer (Electricity), MP Singh, said they had compiled the data of average consumption of every consumer. They have also identified consumers, who are using more electricity than their sanctioned load. They are issuing notices along with electricity bills to such consumers to pay additional security amount, he added.

If a domestic consumer had declared 5 kW of electricity load, but actually uses 10 kW, then he will have to pay Rs 600 more. The department charges Rs 120 for every single kW for domestic connection, he added. 

Commission pulls up department

Coming down heavily on the Electricity Department, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission, in its latest order, has said: “The commission directs the petitioner to pay interest on the security deposits of consumers for the financial year 2013-14 at the bank rate (8.75 per cent per annum), applicable as on January 29, 2013, with effect from April 1, 2013, to the consumers irrespective of the petitioner's constraints. The petitioner should clearly mention "interest on the security deposit for the financial year 2013-14" on the consumers' bills. Non-compliance of the order will be viewed seriously by the commission.”

More than 2 lakh power consumers

There are 2,09,602 power consumers in the city. Of these, 1,78,883 come under the domestic category, 25,806 under the commercial category, 104 in the large supply category, 1,291 in the small power category, 1,152 in the medium supply category, 122 in the agriculture category, 867 in the public lighting category, 383 in the bulk supply category and 994 in the temporary category.

Undeclared load

The department claims that most consumers do not come forward to declare their actual electricity load. Of 2.09 lakh consumers, last year, only 7,000 consumers declared their actual electricity load, resulting in overloading problem.

Chandigarh, July 4
The local residents are annoyed at the corridors and the parking areas of the Sector 21 market being used by scooter mechanics for servicing two-wheelers.

The Federation of Sector Welfare Associations (FOSWAC), Chandigarh, had on June 25 made a representation to the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation (MC), in this regard.

The residents have said a full-fledged "scooter market" has come up in Sector 21, leading to pollution and disturbance in the peaceful life of the local residents. Mechanics have set up their repair shops by encroaching the corridor and parking area of the market.

“The welfare body of the sector and the residents residing on the rear side of the market had fought this public nuisance for several years at all the levels in the administration and the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in response to which the administration had shifted these auto mechanics to Sector 48 and some other sectors during 2005-2006. However, some auto mechanics are still operating from the Sector 21 market", says the representation.

Manipal Singh Atwal, a resident of Sector 21, stated the MC should get strict against the encroachers and impose heavy fine on them.

Kashmira Singh, Superintendent of the MC Enforcement Wing, said action against four mechanics had been taken in the last two days and the campaign against erring mechanics would continue.

Chandigarh, July 4
Taking no credit for the commencement of a pilot project, throwing open a common play ground for the local children at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 21, Mayor Subhash Chawla has denied any "one-man show" behind the approval for the same.

According to the Mayor, he was in favour of neighbourhood parks but the officials of the UT Administration ended up giving approval for a school ground.

“It’s not a one-man show. During a coordination committee meeting, as a responsible person and being aware of the problem, I asked for some neighbourhood parks for children but the chief architect simply refused to allot any. Later, it was the chief architect’s decision to allot a school premises as a common ground,” said Chawla. “It was during those days when a group of children from Sector 21 was staging a protest, demanding grounds to play. And keeping that in mind, I just asked for the ground at Sector 21. In this process, everybody concerned was involved taken into confidence. I have not initiated any meetings with the Residents Welfare Association (RWA) and not taken that decision on my own. The step has been taken for the welfare of the local youth and residents,” said Chawla.

Earlier, area councillor Mukesh Bassi had alleged that the Mayor was interfering in matters relating to his ward without his knowledge. The matter, however, is believed to have been sorted out with the interference of MP Pawn Kumar Bansal.

‘Project implementation to take a year’

When asked about confirming the schedule for the implementation of the project, the Mayor said: “It will take a year to start this project. The Municipal Corporation will only provide two security guards for which the corporation needs to float tenders. The maintenance record will remain with the UT Administration.”

Sources in the office of the DPI said the project could start with immediate effect. “Everything is in the hands of the top officials (Education Secretary and Adviser to the UT Administrator) and the project can be started with immediate effect. Grounds are there and all we need is to trim the grass,” an official said.

“I don’t think, it will take so long. The approval is already with the DPI office,” said VK Singh, Finance-cum-Education Secretary, UT Administration. 

Chandigarh, July 4
Condemning the non-inclusion of former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal in the CBI charge sheet filed in the railgate scam, the Chandigarh unit of the BJP today announced that it would observe a “black week”, starting tomorrow. During this week, the BJP workers will show black flags to Bansal wherever he goes.

The president of the local BJP unit, Sanjay Tandon, said the party had prepared a “citizens chargesheet” that would reach every household of the constituency. He said the CBI had admitted and charged that a bribe was paid, but the only person who could do the job for which the bribe was paid, the then Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal had not even been charged.

Former Chandigarh MP Satya Pal Jain questioned that if the CBI felt that the bribe was not for Pawan Kumar Bansal then who was it for? Was it for the Prime Minister, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi or some other ministers? Nobody below the stature of these persons could have influenced the promotion process for which the money was paid.

Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Harmohan Dhawan said the Bansal would have to face the court of the people who were in no mood to give him clean chit.

The meeting was attended by state BJP chief Sanjay Tandon, Harmohan Dhawan, Satya Pal Jain, senior leader Jai Ram Joshi, Arun Sood, vice-president Raghuvir Lal Arora and party spokesperson Dharinder Tayal. 

Chandigarh, July 4
Ignoring inconvenience faced by residents due to the delay in the completion of railway projects here, the UT Administration is not taking any interest in speeding up these projects. The recarpeting of the roads along the railway yard, near Daria, has been pending for the last one year.

A number of meetings had been held among the railway and administration officials over the recarpeting work. A team from the administration had visited the site twice in the last one year and assured the local residents that the recarpeting work would commence soon.

Manjeet Singh, a taxi driver and resident of the village, said for the past few months, the residents had been doing rounds of the government offices to get the roads recarpeted before the rainy season, as they faced a lot inconvenience while driving on these roads.

Many other projects of the Railways are also in doldrums. The administration has not provided revised road widening projects to the Railways so that it could allot the required land. Sources said the administration would have to request the Railways to spare some land for the project, against which it would allot alternative site to the Railways.

The administration is also facing the problem of land in the execution of a six-lane road project. The construction of a road under bridge at Mani Majra level crossing No. 126 has been hanging fire for a long time.

In another such case, the administration has failed to commence work to lay an approach road for the road under bridge near Darua, which is almost complete.

Chandigarh, July 4
Nearly two months after 34-year-old accident victim Sharmila died allegedly due to negligence on the part of the Chandigarh police, the Punjab and Haryana High Court was today moved for the grant of financial assistance and job for her children.

Taking up the application filed by amicus curiae or the friend of the court Onkar Singh Batalvi, the High Court sought a reply from the Chandigarh Administration and the State of Haryana. The High Court also expressed its disapproval and surprise over the delay in the preparation of a policy for providing medical aid to accident victims.

Batalvi, appointed amicus curiae by the High Court, submitted that Sharmila's husband had also died in an accident. Thus, both the state governments were liable to pay compensation or secure job for their orphan children.

Sharmila was run over by a CTU bus in Sector 10 on May 7. The police allegedly failed to rush the injured woman to the hospital just about 100 metres away, as the SHO reached the spot two hour late.

The notice to the UT Administration and the State of Haryana was issued by the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih after taking up the application.

Batalvi said Sharmila’s husband died in October 2012 due to alleged negligence of Panchkula police, which delayed timely medical assistance. After her husband’s death, Sharmila was taking care of both the children. She had also taken up the issue of compensation for the death of her husband. “Now, both the children have become orphan on account of negligence on the part of the Chandigarh and Panchkula authorities, the concerned governments should not only provide them monetary assistance but should also secure some job for them for their survival,” he submitted.

Chandigarh, July 4
A city-based theatre group, Samarpit Rangmanch, staged a satirical street play at Sector 17 today. The play, ‘National Institute of Corruption’, highlights the story of an ambitious young boy, who wants to join the Indian Army.

Chandigarh, July 4
High drama was witnessed at the road separating sectors 17 and 18 this evening after a CTU bus driver parked the bus in the middle of the road, following allegations of misbehaviour with a young girl.

The police said a student was travelling in the CTU bus and had kept her feet on a rod just behind the driver's seat.

The driver, Ranbir Singh allegedly shouted at the girl and asked her to remove her feet from the rod. When the girl asked the driver to behave, he allegedly hurled abuses at the girl. The girl alighted from the bus and called up the police. She alleged she was misbehaved and abused by the driver.

The police intercepted the bus a few meters away on road separating Sector 17 and 18. Ranbir Singh parked his bus in the middle of the road, which led to a traffic jam for about half an hour. The police intervened and asked the driver to apologise to the girl.

The entire matter was sorted out after the driver apologised to the girl and she took back her complaint. No case was registered in the matter as a compromise was entered between both the parties.

Panjab varsity declares admission schedule for MCom (Hons)
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 4
Panjab University has declared the schedule for admission to MCom (Honours). The students who have qualified the Other Common Entrance Test (PG) can submit their admission forms for MCom till July 6 in the Department of University Business School (UBS).

PU officials said the list of candidates who had applied for would be displayed on July 8 at 4 PM. The tentative list and the final list of the eligible candidates would be displayed on July 9 at 4 PM. Candidates could file their discrepancies, if any, on July 10 till 2 PM.

The list of candidates for group-wise personal interview and group discussion would be displayed on July 10 at 5 PM. The interview and group discussion for admission to MCom (Hons) would be held at the Department of UBS on July 12, July 13 and July 15.

The officials said category-wise eight candidates would be invited for each seat for the interview and group discussion.

“The final list of the selected candidates will be displayed on the UBS Department at 4 pm on July 17. The admission-cum-counselling will be held on July 18 from 9 am onwards. The classes will start from July 19,” the officials said.

Chandigarh, July 4
The final rank list of the JEE (Main), released on Tuesday, took several city students by surprise as the introduction of Class XII score as a component of the final JEE (Main) results affected their overall ranks. The final rank list was prepared after adding the score of the JEE (Main) entrance exam, the results of which were declared on May 7, and further adding the 40 per cent weightage of the Class XII marks.

Experts in the city said it was this 40 per cent weightage which majorly influenced the final ranks of the students.

For instance, Abhijit Lavania was the city topper in the JEE (Main) entrance exam with 331 out of 360 marks. However, in the final ranking, he slipped to the second spot in the city and another city student, Arnav Kansal, with 310 score in the JEE (Main) topped the city in the final JEE (Main) state list.

“The final rank list of the JEE (Main) clearly indicates that it is not only the better score in the entrance exams that the students need to obtain. Chances are more bright to get admission to their coveted engineering colleges if the students perform better in Class XII board exams as the final rank list is complied after adding 40 per cent weightage of the board exams,” said Anu Sharma, head of a city-based coaching centre.

She said one of their students, Shubham Sharma, had 275 marks in the JEE (Main) entrance exam. But, another student, Abhjat Mittal, who scored 232 marks in the JEE (Main) managed to get the better ranking than Shubham because he had 97 per cent marks in Class XII.

Suchit Verma, another city-based expert, said the students had to not only perform well in the entrance exams, but also put in much more efforts in Class XII board exams since the results of the latter were set to play a vital role in deciding the fate of these students.

Echoing similar sentiments, Ashish, a student, said now students could not falter at any stage. “Since the new system is expected to stay, we will have to learn how to absorb the pressure of performing well in the board exams as well as the entrance exams. Though it is difficult, we are left with no other option now,” he said.

Chandigarh, July 4
The new session for Class XI began in the government senior secondary schools here today. Over 10,000 students joined various stream in 39 government senior secondary school.

The first day saw the students being made aware of their syllabus and introduced with their teachers.

Officials said the second counselling of Class XI would begin from July 13 and the rest of the seats would be filled through the counselling.

“Those who want to change their stream and school can also place their request in the second counselling. The process will be over on July 25,” said the officials.