The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Farmers get measly a/c payee relief cheques
The crop damage cheques offered by the government to Anian village farmers offer meagre sums and are all ‘account payee’
Bhushan Sood

A photo copy of an account payee relief cheque of Rs 95.83 paise. — Photo by Bhushan Sood

Amloh, May 25
How does the government view the plight of farmers whose crops get damaged by hailstorms? It seems like it keeps marginal farmers at the margin and generally treats their problems lightly. This became apparent when some farmers of Anian village told mediapersons about the government cheques they have received. The cheques offer only meagre compensation for the damage. What’s more, the cheques received have only added to the woes of the farmers.

Harbans Kaur, Harjinder Kaur, Rajinder Kaur and Ranjit Singh of Anian village spoke to mediapersons about the problems they faced. They said the five cheques they received were for the amounts ranging from Rs 95.83 to Rs 953.52. These were all account payee cheques. The photo copies of the cheques were given to the mediapersons today. Commenting on the relief, a social worker, Baljeet Singh Anian, said, the peasants had to spend time to get the damage assessed.

But, he said, the government had offered only a small amount of money to the farmers after all this effort. The cheques were issued by SDO Punjab State Electricity Board, Amloh.

He said the farmers had received account payee cheques for amounts less than Rs 100. He said that the farmers had to open bank accounts to get the cheques of such small amounts encashed. To open a bank account one needs at least Rs 500, while in some banks the minimum balance requirement can be Rs 2,500. The farmers have to take two witnesses ot the bank to get the account started. And all this work needs to be done for such small amounts cheques.

When SDO PSEB, Amloh, Saleem Mahumad, was contacted for his comments on the issue he said he had instructions from the revenue department that the cheques should be account payee only.

Bar raise
90 pc is just not enough
Kanchan Vasdev
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 25
Ninety per cent is just not enough these days. Gone are the days when students would burn their midnight oil to score a percentage above 80 per cent, most of the times without succeeding. The days of feeling elated at scoring first division (60 per cent) and be the only one in village or a school to do so seem even tales from the middle-ages.

Every year more and more students are making it happen. They feel they can touch and cross the 90 per cent bar but they vie for more and more to figure in the list of toppers and come close to the 100 per cent mark.

So many students have started securing more than 90 per cent that even the newspaper offices find it hard to print so many pictures. Forced by the rush, the newspapers offices were forced to set a limit of printing pictures of students scoring only 90 per cent or above but it seems the limit has to go up now.

And the credit goes to the changed examination system, scoring pattern, increased competitiveness, hard work put in by students as well as their teachers. Not to be left without giving credit are their parents who dont want to leave any stone unturned to make their children score maximum.

This year more than 100 students have crossed 90 per cent marks in the city alone with the city topper, Komal Kiran Kaur of Guru Nanak International School scoring a big 96.4 per cent in Commerce stream. Her predecessor, Shruti Chopra, last year’s city topper had scored 95.6 per cent in Commerce stream. Komal has left her behind by scoring more marks. Last year, the figure was less than this years though final data would be available in the next few days only.

Though the issue has been a matter of debate during the last couple of years, many teachers feel that the students were doing well because of the changed examination pattern that had witnessed a change from comprehensive to objective.

On the other hand the parents feel that compared to their generation the children were smarter and had more grasping power that their parents, who only dreamt of scoring 90 per cent but could never achieve their goal.

‘‘We would sit for hours together to get listed in the merit. We had to work for every single mark. But in our children’s case it is not so. They do not have to cram but just understand a concept. And here they do very well in exams.

Moreover they are provided with multiple choices for answers and it surely helps them, ’’ said a teacher of a local school.

On the other hand, Usha Singla, a parent felt that her children had better capacity to retain what they had studied. Moreover they had better books in hand that would help them. To cap it all were various other aids that helped them understand a concept better. And the parents would not mind spending any money to get their wards coaching from best centers.

CBSE — XII toppers
Consistency, hard work mantra
Shivani Bhakoo
Tribune News Service

Kanika Rai Dhanda (93.2% Humanities)

Ludhiana, May 25
The district toppers of all streams of the CBSE class XII, the results of which were declared today, feel that consistency and hard work pays at the end.

They maintained that regular studies helped them achieve their goal. At the same time, they feel that students must adopt some recreational activities to de-stress themselves and must not become bookworms.

Komalkiran, a student of Guru Nanak International Public School, has topped in the district (commerce stream) by securing 96.4 per cent marks. Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Komalkiran said she wanted to become a business entrepreneur. "I love to freak out. But once I am studying, no one disturbs me. Though I took tuitions for accounts and economics, but self-study is the key to success. My parents and teachers have given me all the support," she added.

The topper in the medical stream with 96 per cent marks, Navjeet Kaur, a resident of Phillaur and a student of KVM, said she wanted to specialise in neurosurgery. "Since there was very limited choice in Phillaur, I used to come to KVM daily to attend the classes. I feel that self-study is the mantra of success. It is a competitive world and I feel that students must be consistent and work hard to achieve their goals in life. I owe my success to the almighty, my parents and teachers," she added.

Sunny Dewan, topper in the non-medical stream with 95.2 per cent marks, wants to become a computer or electronics engineer.

A student of Sacred Heart Convent Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar, Sunny takes life as it comes. Apart from tuitions of physics, chemistry and maths, Sunny used to study on his own for three-four hours daily. "Relaxation is a must, music helped me a lot to de-stress myself. A student must be answerable to himself or herself and not to parents about studies. My parents never pressurised me to study, but I can well understand what is in my interest," said Sunny.

In humanities, Kanika Rai Dhanda of Sacred Heart Convent Senior Secondary School topped with 93.2 per cent marks. Kanika wants to get a degree in law just like her father, Harish Rai Dhanda, chief parliamentary secretary. She said she used to study sincerely for at least four-five hours. "I want to become an IAS officer and would love to work for the downtrodden," she added.

Schoolwise toppers

KVM: The streamwise toppers of KVM include Navjeet Kaur 96 per cent (medical), Mukul Kalra, 90.2 per cent in non-medical, Nitika Singhal 93.2 per cent in commerce stream and Parikshit Goel, 91.4 percent in humanities. Other students who scored above 90 per cent marks include Saurav Jindal 92.8 per cent, Geetika Gupta 92 per cent, Sakshi Kharbanda 92 per cent, Raghav Aggarwal 91.8 per cent, Chandan Jain 91.2 per cent, Ritika Chabra 91 per cent, Purva Bhatia 90.8 per cent and Ankit Aggarwal 90.2 per cent.

Greenland Senior Secondary School: The toppers include Yachna Jain (non-medical) 92 per cent, Yogita Grover (commerce) 91.6 per cent, Kanika Jain (commerce) 91 per cent and Sukhpreet Grewal (medical) 90 per cent.

DAV Public School: Akriti Bhandari of DAV Public School topped in the school with 94.4 per cent marks in the medical stream. Karmandeep Singh Batra topped in non-medical, scoring 93.8 per cent marks, while Abhay Bansal topped in the commerce stream with 93 per cent marks. Thirty students scored above 90 per cent marks.

BCM Senior Secondary School: Nine students of BCM Secior Secondary School, Chandigarh Road, scored more than 90 per cent marks in different streams. Sonam Taneja got 91.8 per cent marks, Nikita Arora scored 91.6 per cent, Chandni Gaba 91.4 per cent, Amanjot Kaur 91.6 per cent, Shikha Nauria 91.6 per cent, Shailinder Thakur 90 per cent, Honey Sharma 90.8 per cent, Ankit Garg 90 per cent and Gurpreet Kaur scored 90 per cent marks.

BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School: Saurabh Arora (commerce) of BCM Arya Model School topped in the school, scoring 95 per cent marks, followed by Roohi Goel with 94.6 per cent and Aman Sharma with 94.4 per cent (both commerce stream). Other students scoring more than 90 per cent marks include Ritika Thapar (93.2%), Japleen Kaur (93%), Amanjot Kaur( 92.6 %), Ankita Sharma (92.4 %), Ridhima (92%), Nidhi (92.2%), Ritika Sareen (91.4 %), Indu Shukla (91%), Yatin Kansal (91 %), Anchal Gupta (90.6 %), Abhey Kalra (90.6%), Deepika (90.6 %), Ankur Aggrwal (90.4 %), Vikrant Jain (90.4 %), Jaspreet Kaur (90.2%), Fruity (90%), Alisha (90%), Avneet Kaur (90 %), Mehak Arora, Pragati Dixit, Shikha Sood, Veni and Ranjana scored 90 per cent each in various streams.

Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School: The students who scored above 90 per cent marks include Franey Sood (94.8 %), Tushar Ballabh (93.2 %), Shruti Kochar (93.2%), Akanksha Arora (91.6 %), Navjot Bhandari (90.6 %) and Sugandha Gupta (90 %).

Springdale Senior Secondary Public School: Darshan Singh of the non-medical stream of Spring Dale Senior Secondary Public School scored 90.4 per cent marks in the CBSE class XII Examination.

Gujranwala Guru Nanak Public School: Jasmeen Kaur and Manpreet Kaur of Gujranwala Guru Nanak Public School here have topped in the school scoring 92.8 per cent (non-medical) and 91.2 per cent (arts) marks, respectively.

Sacred Heart Convent Senior Secondary School: A total of 310 students of the school had appeared in the class XII examinations, out of which 22 students scored above 90 per cent marks.

The meritorious students include Sunny Dewan (95.2 per cent), Kanika Rai Dhanda (93.4 per cent), Karandeep Dawar (93.2 per cent), Harpreet Singh Kakkar (92.4 per cent), Aanchal Solanki (92.2 per cent), Arshia (92 per cent), Swati Jain (91.8 per cent), Vagisha Goel (91.8 per cent), Roopam (91.6 per cent), Ekjyot Kaur (91.2 per cent), Himanshu Aggarwal (91.2 per cent), Avi Aggarwal (91 per cent), Aanchal Jain (91 per cent), Harvijay Singh Gagneja ( 91 per cent), Chahat Sahni and Arpit Badaisha (90.8 per cent each), Vanika Jain, Aanchal Arora, Reeshika Verma and Vani Oswal scored 90.6 per cent each while both Ishdeep Singh Arora and Zinnia Dhody scored 90.2 per cent each.

Tagore Public School: Two students of Tagore Public School-- Varun Gupta and Vinay Garg -- have topped in the school, scoring more than 90 per cent marks. Varun Gupta of commerce scored 93.6 per cent marks while Viney Garg of the non-medical stream got 91 per cent marks.

Bhartiya Vidya Mandir: The students of Bhartiya Vidya Mandir have done proud to school this year too. Six students of the school topped with above 90 per cent marks. They include Shailja Vashisht with 95 per cent, Shubham Jain 93.8 per cent, Vishesh Jain 93.6 per cent and Sahil Kukreja with 90.6 per cent marks. All these toppers are from the commerce stream.

In non-medical stream, Kishy Kumar scored 92.2 per cent marks while Jitin Vasudeva scored 91.6 per cent marks.

Guru Nanak Public School: Six students of Guru Nanak Public School here have scored more than 90 per cent marks in various streams in the class XII CBSE exams. Bableen Kaur scored 94 per cent marks, Jashan Preet Singh scored 92.6 per cent marks, Sukeerat Baweja scored 92.2 per cent and Jasleen Kaur scored 90.4 per cent marks. Both Gurleen K.Chawla and Harnoor Singh scored 90 per cent marks in the examinations.

Industrialist dead, wife critical
Mysteriously poisoned
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 25
Mystery surrounds the death of Surjit Singh, aged over 70. The cycle parts manufacturer died after poisoning last night, at DMCH. His middle-aged wife was also in critical condition and admitted at the DMCH. She too had symptoms of poison consumption. It is unclear whether it is a suicide or if someone poisoned Surjit Singh. The poisoning took place at the couple’s residence in Sant Fateh Singh Nagar, Model Town.

His wife Simranpal Kaur, aged 40, was also in a serious condition with doctors trying hard to save her. The couple was spotted lying unconscious by a visitor to the house this morning.

The Model Town police was treating the case as a suicide pact even though no suicide note had been found. SSP R K Jaiswal said the preliminary investigation suggests that both took poison but further investigations were on. The police did not find any clue from the house to suggest someone forcibly poisoned them.

Surjit Singh is survived by four sons, all prominent industrialists of the city. The deceased was married twice but had no children from his second wife, Simran.

SSP R K Jaiswal said it was too early to comment on the reasons of suicide but it seemed like their being childless from the second marriage could have been a reason.

The police was investigating if they had some financial problems(though he was said to be financially sound), family dispute or property tussle between their children. SSP Jaiswal said there was no evidence to follow any theory of property tussle but thorough investigation would be carried out.

The family members and relatives are maintaining a studied silence and not divulging any information to the media. Even clicking of photographs was prohibited.

The post-mortem examination of the deceased industrialist has recommended that the viscera to be sent for chemical examination to ascertain the exact cause of death.

COMMUNITY

50 donate blood at camp
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 25
The Focal Point branch of State Bank of India (SBI) organised a blood donation camp on its premises here today. In all, 50 volunteers, including bank employees and customers, came forward to donate blood.

Inaugurating the camp SBI’s assistant general manager, Region-I, J.K. Thakkar, reiterated the commitment of the bank towards the community, in addition to providing innovative banking in the region. Speaking on the extension and expansion programmes of the SBI, he said the bank had launched an ambitious modernisation drive and all the branches in the city stood connected through core banking.

Branch manager Rajesh Gupta expressed his gratitude to the donors and other distinguished guests. He also presented mementos to the blood donors.

The camp was supported by Rotary Club of Ludhiana while staff and facilities for collection of blood were provided by medical director of Mohan Dai Oswal Cancer Hospital, Dr Satish Jain.

City Centre Scam: Manmohan in jail despite bail
Rajneesh Lakhanpal

Ludhiana, May 25
Despite getting bail from a local court in City Centre Scam, suspended chief engineer of the Improvement Trust Ludhiana Manmohan Singh could not be released from the jail.

He was granted bail by the Special Judge-Gurbir Singh here today. The Judge has ordered to release him on bail, subject to furnishing surety bond to the tune of Rs 1 lakh. Apart from it he was also ordered to surrender his passport.

Lawyers pursuing his bail application --Tarlok Singh Sood and Jaswinder Singh Sibal --said they could not furnish the surety bonds. The court had pronounced the order granting bail at 4 pm. Due to paucity of time, they could not complete the legal formalities. They would furnish the surety bonds and surrender the passport tomorrow in the court.

Accused was arrested in this case on April 21. After remaining in police custody for a week, he was remanded to judicial custody. Since then, he has been lodged in the local Central Jail.

Stressing for grant of his bail, the defence lawyers had argued that he was a 'whistleblower' not an accused. Instead of making him a prosecution witness, he was falsely implicated in the case. The Vigilance Bureau had claimed that accused accepted huge amount as illegal gratification but even not a single penny was recovered from him. Because actually he had not accepting any money in the alleged City Centre scam.