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Panchkula lad Ronnie Mondal tops tricity with 97% marks
Chandigarh/Panchkula, May 21 Panchkula lad Ronnie Mondal, student of Little Flower Convent School, Sector 14, topped the tricity with 97 per cent marks in the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) Class X examination, the results of which were declared today. Students from Chandigarh shared the second and third positions with Panchkula. Kishika and Navya of Little Flower Convent School, Panchkula, and Natasha Sachdeva of St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, Chandigarh, bagged the second position by scoring 96.8 per cent marks each. Shubham Mawa, another student from Little Flower Convent School, Panchkula, and Ishita of St Xavier's School, Sector 44, Chandigarh, at the third spot in the tricity by scoring 96.6 per cent marks each. According to the method of calculation of percentage approved by the CISCE for the ICSE, the scores for English plus best of four subjects are considered. The topper surpassed last year’s highest score of 96.4. Accompanied by his classmates, Ronnie Mondal attributed his success to continuous hard work and consistency in studies under the able guidance of his teachers. He also credited his mother Laila Mondal with his success, saying that she left no stone unturned to motivate him to do well after the death of his father JD Mondal to ensure that his
Ronnie aims to be a weapon designer and wants to join the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Son of an industrialist, Ronnie also gave credit to his elder sister Rimpa, who helped him in studies at home. Meanwhile, at the second spot, Navya, who is also the head girl of her school, and teachers' favourite, said, “I belive in excelling in all fields.” She has actively participated in debate, declamation and chess at state-level competitions. She wants to do architecture from one of the IITs. “Regular three to four-hour self-study, apart from the school hours, was enough to fetch 96.8 per cent marks,” she said. A budding volleyball player, Kishika, was on cloud nine after scoring 96.8 per cent marks in the examinations. Daughter of a businessman, Kishika wants to be an engineer from an IIT and will opt for the non-medical stream in Class XI. In a jubilant mood, Natasha Sachdeva, a student of St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, Chandigarh, who scored 96.8 per cent marks, said, “It was regular study of four hours throughout the year that helped me score well in the examinations.” Natasha, who aspires to become a neurologist, scored 100 marks in mathematics and 95 in science. Daughter of a pathologist, she said, “To take a break from studies, I usually paint.” Ishita, a student of St Xavier's School, Sector 44, Chandigarh, clinched the third spot with 96.6 per cent marks. Ishita said, “There are no shortcuts to success. Rigorous hard work and dedication always pays.” Ishita, who scored a perfect 100 in mathematics, aspires to become a doctor. Daughter of a banker, she said, “The environment at home plays a crucial role while one is preparing for the exams.” She said her parents were key motivators and their advise helped her pass out with flying colours in the examinations. On the third spot, Shubham Mawa said, “I want to be an aerospace engineer and pursue my engineering from the IIT, Mumbai.” Son of IT professional Sanjay Mawa, he said, “Regular four-hour study helped me score well. I did not take any tutions.” Twentytwo students from the tricity scored above 95 per cent marks.
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Sachin bats for road safety, distributes helmets
Chandigarh, May 21 The cricketer distributed helmets among women riders in Sector 17 outside Hotel Taj where he is staying as mentor of Mumbai Indians for IPL matches. The event was mismanaged as fans and mediapersons jostled with each other to catch a glimpse of the cricketer and click his pictures. They were pushed away by security personnel. The police found it difficult to control the mediapersons, who were present in large numbers. The women riders who were given helmets were allegedly planted by the police, one of them being a woman constable. Women two-wheeler riders who were supposed to get the helmets were made to stand on one side for 30 minutes by the police. They were waiting for Sachin, who arrived at 5.30 pm. The event lasted not more than five minutes during which Sachin urged the women riders to wear helmets. Due to a heavy deployment of the police around Hotel Taj, traffic was affected in Sector 17. Commuters had to take a long detour during the cricketer's stay at the event. Nitin Jain, a die-hard fan of Sachin, said he came all the way from Ambala to catch a glimpse of the cricketer, but had to return disappointed as there was chaos at the event. After the event, UT IGP RP Upadhyaya presented a memento to Sachin. DSPs Roshan Lal, Ashish Kapoor and Kamaldeep were also present on the occasion.
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UT sits on power sector reforms
Chandigarh, May 21 At present, there is only one helpline to address power complaints, which is proving ineffective. Under the power sector reforms, which were proposed two years ago, there was a plan to set up a round-the-clock call centre to cater to power complaints. The UT has failed to check the actual load of power consumers in the city, which is resulting in overloading. Under the power sector reforms, there was a proposal to prepare online data of consumers, power connections and the entire power infrastructure in the city, which could have helped the department check the load of each consumer. According to the plan, the UT will put in place the management integrated system (MIS) to speed up day-to-day work procedures in the department. With the introduction of the MIS, the
A senior UT official said initially the work was allotted to M/s SPANCO and the work was initiated, but due to poor performance in Bihar, Punjab and other states, the allotment was put on hold by the UT Administration. Now, the UT has sent the proposal to the Haryana Government to include its territory in the state's programme as well. According to the guidelines, the Ministry of Power will not allow Chandigarh to set up its individual online data centre and it will have to share work with the neigbouring states.
Category-wise number of consumers and connected load (2013-14) Category No. of Connected load consumers (MW) Domestic 1,74,717 771.893 Commercial 21,324 348.987 Large supply 103 68.825 Small power 1,298 191.10 Medium supply 1,174 62.050 Agriculture 124 0.714 Public lighting 873 6.116 Bulk supply 518 41.716 Others — 931 5.729 temporary supply Total 2,01,063 1,325
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Cong leader found murdered
Mohali, May 21 The police have rounded up a woman, Sandeep Kaur, a resident of Sector 69, for questioning in this connection. A photocopy of Sandeep’s identity card and an album containing her and Shergill’s photographs were found from a ladies purse, which was lying on the front seat of the Ertiga (PB 65 U 6066). The victim’s hands were tied with a rope. The murderer(s) had covered the windows of the SUV with black sunshades. There was a deep cut mark on Shergill’s neck and his body was dumped in the middle seat of the SUV in a sitting position. The keys of the SUV, registered in Shergill’s name, were on the ignition switch. The police said the decomposed body indicated that Shergill was murdered around two days ago. Claims of some residents of the area that the car was parked at the site for the past two days corroborated the police theory. The victim’s brother, Kulwant Singh Shergill, an advocate, reached the spot. He said his brother had left home on May 18 afternoon, saying that he was going to Delhi for some work. “We spoke to him once after that. Later, he did not respond any of the calls on his cellphone,” Kulwant said. He said his brother had no enmity with anyone. “He claimed that the family was not aware of his (Shergill’s) association with Sandeep,” said the police. Mohali SSP GS Sandhu, who visited the spot, said prima facie, the deceased
The police recovered a ladies purse, an album, two currency notes of Rs 100 denomination, Shegill’s cellphone, a hairbrush, three water bottles and a pair of kurta-pyjama from the SUV. The murderers deleted all details from Shergill’s cellphone. The site from where the SUV was found is close to Sandeep’s residence. "Earlier, Sandeep claimed that she did not know the victim. When we showed her the photographs in the album, she admitted that she knew him well. However, she claimed that she was not aware of his murder and the purse did not belong to her,” said the police. The matter came to light when some youngsters noticed foul smell emanating from the SUV while playing badminton in the park at 6.30 am. Harpreet Singh, who lives opposite the park, informed the police about the SUV. Harpreet said the car was parked there for the past two days. Mohali SP (City I) Swarndeep Singh and DSP (City II) Navreet Singh Virk reached the spot. “We are trying to find out if there are any CCTV cameras installed in the locality to get a clue to the murder,” said the SP. A case of murder has been registered against unidentified persons at the Phase 8 police station. “We are working on several theories to crack the case. It will be solved soon,” said SSP Sandhu. The post-mortem will be conducted tomorrow. Shergill, also an agriculturist, is survived by his wife and a son (10).
Shergill was a close associate of several Cong leaders
The victim was close to Punjab Congress spokesperson Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu. He had also participated in Ambika Soni’s election campaign actively. Shergill was also the state chairman of the Mahatma Gandhi Welfare Organisation.
His security was withdrawn 10 days ago
A police officer said Shergill was provided a Punjab Police gunman for his security. His security was withdrawn around 10 days ago. Had his security not been withdrawn, his life might have been saved. Shergill was attacked by some persons at Chamkaur Sahib in March last year. The attackers had opened fire on him. He had sustained serious injuries and was admitted to the PGI, Chandigarh. Shergill was again in the news when his gunman had opened fire on an SP-rank officer following a minor scuffle at a wedding at Kharar a few months ago. The court had sentenced the gunman to three years in jail.
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Stray dog menace: Residents protest against MC
Chandigarh, May 21 Residents complained that dog bite cases have gone up with the growing number of stray dogs. They visited Commissioner Vivek Pratap Singh’s office today to meet him in this regard but since he was not there, they squatted outside the office and raised slogans against the MC authorities. RWA president Sunil Chopra said it was surprising that even as the MC had been spending a huge amount in the name of awarding contracts to sterilise stray dogs, the population of canines had increased manifold over the past few years. “Despite repeated promises since 2002, no dog pound has been set up. The MC has even failed to set up a dog control cell to receive complaints pertaining to dog nuisance and dog bites and information about rabid dogs,” he stated. Later, the delegation met Mayor HC Kalyan. After the meeting, they claimed that except for hollow promises, the Mayor could not provide them with any comprehensive plan to control the population of dogs in the city.
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RIMH incident: Victim’s mother trashes probe findings
Chandigarh, May 21 Manmohan Kaur, the victim’s mother, said, “It was in no way a minor injury.” Pointing out a “change of statement by the RIMH”, she said she only wanted to ensure safety of all inmates, including her son. In a comprehensive report, the inquiry officer wrote that the victim was unintentionally pushed, staff was present in the class at the time of incident and the victim was offered adequate medical help. Also, the report stated that the injuries were not deep or grievous. “The degloving/avulsion injury is a forced injury in which an extensive section of skin is completely torn off the underlying tissue, severing its blood supply. It is not a minor injury and cannot be sustained by pushing/falling down,” Manmohan Kaur said. “It has been seen that the RIMH had been changing statements frequently to cover up the negligence that resulted in the tragic episode. The society knew that a boy with a psychiatric disorder caused the injury. He has not been removed from the RIMH in spite of repeated requests of the staff,” she claimed. The victim had sustained the injury on May 13 and was discharged today after being operated upon at the Command Hospital in Panchkula.
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Pass percentage of govt schools sees slight
decline
Chandigarh, May 21 The pass percentage was 99.87 in 2013 and this year, it has come down to 99.14. Due to this, the performance-level gap has increased manifold. The total number of re-appear cases from 82 government schools across the city is 93 this year, while the figure was 14 in 2013. Government Senior Secondary School, Kaimbwala, which had achieved a pass percentage of 98.7 in 2013, could manage only 89.23 per cent this year. The performance of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 27, was also no better compared to its previous two years’ record of achieving 100 pass percentage. This year, the school managed to get a pass percentage of 93.94. Meanwhile, District Education Officer Ram Kumar said, “There are multiple factors for the decline in the performance of the students. The primary one being the introduction of the problem solving assessment (PSA), which had 10 per cent weightage. The exam was conducted by CBSE and it involved application-based questions which the students failed to solve.” Kumar said due to staff shortage and uneven ratio between the teachers and students, the result had got affected. “With CBSE rationalising the evaluation process in the next academic session, students will have to start performing better in their academics,” he added.
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Defying odds, city lads score high
Chandigarh, May 21 Aryan, suffering from leukemia, fought against all odds and his ailment to score a perfect 10 CGPA. On the other hand, Amit, son of a tea vendor, also left no stone unturned to score 9.6 CGPA. Destiny’s child, Aryan, student of Chandigarh Baptist School, was first diagnosed with the ailment at the age of nine years, and had a relapse in 2012. Though the doctors at PGI gave up on his recovery, Aryan never lost hope. The young lad said, “I aspire to become a pilot. I did not take any tuition. The credit for my success goes to my family. They have always supported me.” Amit, a student of Government Model High School, Vikas Nagar, Mauli Jagran, said, “I want to become a scientist as I enjoy making science projects.” The eldest of four siblings, Amit said, “I want to support my family. My father has worked round-the-clock to ensure that our studies never get affected.” Both the young achievers, who are an inspiration for others, said, “The only key to success is hard work and dedication.”
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Prospectus for undergrad courses at govt colleges to be a click away
Chandigarh, May 21 For the first time, the UT Administration is going to introduce the online facility for five government colleges of the city. The trial runs for the online submission of forms have been started by the Department of Higher Education after working out modalities. The department has decided to charge Rs 50 to Rs 100 as application fee from students. Sources said last year for each prospectus, students had to shell out between Rs 200 and Rs 250 depending upon the stream or the course. As per the records of the administration, there are six government colleges in the city - Government College for Girls, Sector 11; Post Graduate Government College, Sector 11; Government College for Girls, Sector 42; Government College of Sector 46; Government College of Commerce and Business Administration, Sector 42; and Government Home Science College, Sector 10. Reports of the administration revealed that there are around 15,000 seats in all six government colleges of the city. Sources said last year around 15,000 prospectuses were printed for all colleges, which will increase to 20,000 by this year. Sandeep Hans, director, Department of Higher Education, UT, said they had decided to begin online form facility for undergraduate students. He said the department had also decided to set up helpdesks in all colleges for the students who were not able to get the forms downloaded at their places. He said except Government College for Home Science, this facility would be provided to all government colleges in the city. The authorities would introduce this facility in the home science college from the next academic session. One of the wardens of the government college said this facility would benefit outstation students who had to go to each college to collect admission prospectuses and revisit the campus to deposit them. Admission schedule
Official said the tentative date for the availability of online forms was June 8. The admissions would start on July 7 in all city colleges. Fact file
* The Department of Higher Education has decided to charge ~50 to ~100 as application fee from students. *
Sources said last year for each prospectus, students had to shell out anything between ~200 and ~250 depending upon the stream or the course.
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Girls bag top three slots in Mohali
Mohali, May 21 While the topper was Malvi Paul, student of St Xavier’s, Mohali, with 96.4 per cent marks, the second slot was bagged by Avantika of Yadavindra Public School (YPS), Mohali, with 96.20 per cent. Komal Singh of YPS stood third by getting 95.40 per cent marks. Avinash Singh Sidhu, also from YPS, scored 94.80 per cent. The deputy headmistress of YPS, Anita Kashyap, said, “The method of calculation of percentage at YPS was as authorised by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) for the ICSE —the scores for English plus best of four subjects.” As many as 120 students from YPS appeared for the exam. Of these, 115 secured the first division and 20 got more than 90 per cent marks. At St. Xavier’s, Mohali, 39 students got the first division and 13 scored 80 per cent and above marks. Four students got above 90 per cent marks. The students who got more than 90 per cent marks at St. Xavier’s are Malvi Paul (96.4 per cent) Khushkomal Kang (92.4), Sannat Jassal (91.4) and Parampreet Singh (90.8). Other achievers
The second slot was bagged by Avantika of YPS, Mohali, with 96.20 per cent. Komal Singh of YPS stood third by getting 95.40 per cent marks. Avinash Singh Sidhu, also from YPS, scored 94.80 per cent.
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‘If you think, you can achieve it’
Chandigarh, May 21 Vaishnavi dreams of pursuing higher studies in the commerce stream. Her father, a government employee, also suffers from the same medical condition. Elated at her feat, Vaishnavi, said, “I never let my physical condition come in the way of my studies. My parents always stood by me and motivated me to work hard.” Gleaming with joy, Vaishnavi’s mother said, “It’s our dream that our daughter should pursue her studies from the best university in the country.” She said at the tender age of nine years, Vaishnavi was diagnosed with a muscular disorder. “A fighter from the very beginning, Vaishnavi never asked me for any support. Rather she has fought all odds and has started showing signs of improvement in her health,” added her mother. Inspired by her father, Vaishnavi likes to play carrom board when she is not studying. “It was just two hours of study daily that helped me sail through easily in my examination,” she said. An early riser, the young achiever said, “If you can think, you can achieve it. There are only obstacles in life but never dead ends. One should never give up.” She gave the credit for her success to her parents and school authorities.
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Little Flower Convent School students excel
Panchkula, May 21 Out of 113 students, who appeared in the exam, 10 scored 95 per cent and above marks while 48 got 90 per cent and above. The boys and girls ratio remained 2:2 among the top three positions in the school. Ronnie Mondal, who topped the tricity by securing 97 per cent marks, also broke the previous school topper, Aastha Rajan’s record of 95.83 per cent. Four students of Saupin’s School, Sector 9, Panchkula, scored 90 per cent and above marks in the CISCE examinations. In St. Xavier’s High School, Sector 20, Panchkula, out of 79 students who appeared in the exams, only one scored above 90 per cent marks.
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Overcoming life’s hurdles with zeal
Mohali, May 21 Hailing from a humble background — her father is a peon in a school — Kajal scored 80 per cent marks in the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) exam. Her entire education has been sponsored by the school management. The Principal, Georgina Roy, and the teachers motivated her at each step. Kajal, who was in Uttarakhand to attend a wedding, told this correspondent on the phone that she devoted five to six hours to studies daily and was helped by her sister. Kajal said she would go in for commerce with maths in Class XI as she aims to become a chartered accountant. An elated Anup Singh, Kajal’s father, said, “I’m very happy to know that my daughter had performed well. I was expecting a good result as she had worked very hard. I always told her that hard work was the only mantra for progress in life.”
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She skates away to glory
Chandigarh, May 21 Sirjana has represented the state in national events nine times and bagged seven medals, including two gold and two silver, and three bronze. Taking pride in her achievement, she said, “I have won over 171 medals. But I always ensured that my studies did not suffer. During the examinations, I practiced for only one hour compared to four hours in a day.” Sirjana, whose parents are government employees, added, “My parents have always supported and motivated me to give my best.” The city girl boasts of a long list of credentials, including a national-level honour from former president Pratibha Patil in 2010. She was also awarded the National Child Award for Excellence.
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YPS students fare well
Patiala, May 21 Sanil Garg and Sifatjot Singh topped the rung by scoring 97.6 per cent marks each. A total of 132 students appeared in the examination. As many as 27 students scored above 90 per cent, while 35 scored above 80 per cent. Gurleen Cheema scored 96.6 per cent, Anayat Walia, scored 95.8 per cent.
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A clarification
In the news item, “For her, where there's a will, there’s a way”, which appeared in these columns, it was inadvertently mentioned that Parveen is a
student of Mount Carmel School. Parveen is a student of Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, Sector 26. The error is regretted.
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Around 828 students from the tricity had appeared for the exams.
The performance-level of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector-26 (TM), has also decreased as the school managed to get a pass percentage of only 93.4 as compared 98.97 last year.