Punjab School Exam Trends....Ludhiana students on top..Govt and aided schools do better than private schools...

Girls top PSEB Class XII exams
Bag 19 of top 20 positions; overall pass percentage of 78.97% better than last year’s 72.31%
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service

Mohali, May 18
Girls outshone boys in the humanities and commerce streams while the science group witnessed a boy grabbing the top slot in the Class XII Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) examination, the results of which were declared today. Interestingly, 19 girls have made it to the top-20 league of the overall merit list of all streams.

Scoring 96.89 per cent each, Mehak of BCM Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana, and Maninder Kaur of GTB Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Malout (Muktsar), shared the top position in the overall merit list. Both were from the humanities group.

In the science stream, Davinder Pal Singh (95.78 per cent) of DC Collegiate Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar City, secured the top position. He remained at the fifth position in the overall merit list.

In the commerce group, Tammana Sharma of Dashmesh Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana, grabbed the top slot with 94.67 per cent marks. She remained 10th in the overall merit list.

The second and third slots in all the three streams have also gone to girls.

While Charanpreet Kaur (96.44 per cent) and Jyoti Bansal (96.22 per cent), both students of Sanmati Vimal Jain Senior Secondary Public School, Jagroan (Ludhiana district), won the second spot and third spots in the overall merit list as well as the humanities group, Prabhjot Kaur Mangat (95.56 per cent) of Guru Nanak Public Senior Secondary School, Khattmanpur in Fatehgarh Sahib and Nishant (95.33 per cent) of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar, remained second and third in the science group.

In commerce, Rajwinder Kaur of Teja Singh Sutantar Memorial Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana, and Gurpreet Kaur of Shri Harikrishan Sahib Public Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana, secured the second and third positions.

The overall pass percentage of the girls is 87 per cent as compared to 72.72 per cent of the boys. A total of 3,29,805 students appeared in the examinations, of whom 2,60,456 have passed with an overall percentage of 78.97 per cent.

While declaring the results, Education Minister Sikandar Singh Maluka emphasised that there still was a lot of scope for improvement. "Our overall pass percentage this year (78.97 per cent) is better than last year's 72.31 per cent. We will strive towards improving our score," said Maluka.

However, he expressed happiness over students of rural areas and government schools showing better results than that the previous years.

"This year, the overall pass percentage of rural students is 78 per cent, which is slightly lesser than that of urban students (79.66 per cent)," said Maluka. He said the pass percentage stood quite low at 70.28 per cent in 2011. He also said students could apply for rechecking within 10 days.

Ludhiana all the way

With 136 students in the overall merit list, Ludhiana district has fared the best of them all. In humanities, all the top four slots (a Muktsar girl also shared the top position with a Ludhiana girl) have been grabbed by Ludhiana girls. Similar is the case in the commerce stream where all the top four positions have gone to Ludhiana girls. Of the top 25 students in the overall merit list, 15 are from Ludhiana district.

Private schools left behind

The government and aided schools have performed better than private schools. The pass percentage of government and aided schools is 82.22% as compared to 76.21% of private schools.

Population Census 2011

More Quick Facts on Punjab

Population density 550 per sq km

1. Punjab’s population stands at 27.7 million (14.6 male; 13 million female). This is 7.6 million increase in the decade 2001-2011 (13.7 % increase as against 20.1 % during 1991-2001). This is less than the average for India (17.6 %).

2. Highest population growth in Mohali, Patiala and Taran Taran. Ludhiana has the highest population density (975) and Muktsar has the lowest (348).

3. The sex ratio (number of females per thousand males) has risen to 893, as against 876 in the 2001 census.

4. All 20 districts except Mansa and Bhatinda have seen improvements in the sex ratio. For Bathinda, the ratio declined from 870 in 2001 to 865. Mansa registered no change and the sex ratio remained at 880. Taran Taran has the lowest sex ratio at 819. Nawanshehar, Jalandhar, and Kapurthala had the highest improvements with sex ratios of 879, 874 and 872 respectively.

5. The sex ratio for the 0-6 year age group increased from 798 in the last census to 846 no

6. Ludhiana is the most populous district with a population of 34.87 lakhs. Barnala had the lowest population, just over 5 lakhs.

7. Literacy rates improved slightly from 74 % in 2001 to 76.7 % in 2011. Women showed greater improvement (7.9 % against 6.3 for men). Muktsar and Mansa had the lowest literacy rates – 60% and 56 % respectively. Hoshiarpur was No 1 with 85.4 % of its population literate.

8. Religious composition of Punjab’s population: Sikhs -63.6 %; Hindus - 34.00%; Muslims - 2%; Christians - 1.20%; Jains - 0.16%

CENSUS 2012: Overview of Literacy in Punjab 70.23% Punjabis in rural areas still illiterate The literacy rate has increased from 69.65 in the last Census to 76.68 in 2011. Of the total number of illiterates, 70.23 per cent are in rural areas. Nearly one-third of the illiterate rural population is concentrated in the border districts of Ferozepur, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran. Ludhiana has the highest number of illiterates in urban areas (almost one in every five persons).

CENSUS 2012: Punjab Gender Ratios- why are ratios in urban areas worse than rural areas? The gender ratio (893) in the state has increased by 48 points as compared to the last Census (845). It is 906 in rural areas and 872 among the urban population. Hoshiarpur has the highest gender ratio of 974 in the rural settings, followed by Mohali (962) and Jalandhar (951). In urban areas, Mohali has the highest sex ratio of 924. At 837, Fatehgarh Sahib has the lowest gender ratio in urban areas, with Gurdaspur one position up at 848.

Punjab ranks 1st in Primary Education!

FROM INDIAEDU website http://blogs.indiaedu.com/?p=1416

Punjab ranks 1st in terms of primary education
June 30, 2009
Category: education institutes, thoughts on education


It is Punjab who is ranked 1st as far as primary education is concerned. Punjab education board has set up exemplary standards of education especially in the primary section. The infrastructure that the Punjab education board has set for the primary section is extremely student friendly and boasts an index of 0.917.This index is higher than that od Delhi which is 0.909.



Education minister of Punjab Mr. Upinderjit Kaur proudly claims hat this figure of the education infrastructure index is prepared by the National University Education Planning and Administration which is also abbreviated as NUEPA. The conditions of classrooms, quality of teaching staffs, hygiene in toilets and other facilities in the primary schools of Punjab are in better condition than the other states of India. NUEPA is an organization recognized by the Ministry of Human Resources. This organization is dealing with the overall development and growth of education standards in the entire region of South Asia.



In the survey done by NUEPA on the primary education standards of Punjab placed it in high esteems. The survey revealed that many government aided primary schools of Punjab are well equipped with playgrounds, ramps on campus, girl’s toilet etc that place the schools of Punjab at the forefront as far as the condition and education standards at the primary level are concerned.

Punjab agriculture and development

Punjab and Gujarat
From V.Isvarmurti’s Political Blog (Posted on Monday, February 19th, 2007 and is filed under Politics.

The news of Punjab farmer’s suicides came as a rude shock! The heart-breaking scenes, the tears and misery of the women who lost their husbands were too much to bear viewing for long. Yet, the feature did a great national service for highlighting what is held back from the public view the many contradictions and distortions that have come to characterize Punjab agriculture.
What was often highlighted, made great public displays in the newspapers and TV channels is the Bharti Mittal’s Wal-Mart foray or Pepsi Company’s entry into the agri sector. The Green Revolution creates a false image and that false image had stuck in public memory, thanks to the over-zealous publicity-seeking agri scientists turned propagandists and apologists for the Central Government.
The old Punjab that went on to make the Green Revolution such a grand success is now gone. Forever, it seems. The new Punjab is altogether a different story, a difficult story. Did anyone tell you that Punjab tops the chart in per capita farmers’ debt? No. Did anyone tell you that Punjab’s social sector indicators, maternal mortality, infanticide and other social ills far outpaces other less “developed” states? No, not likely.
Yes, there are serious issues in the new Punjab’s agri sector. There is this new phenomenon of farmers suicides, uneconomic land holdings, farmers-turned migrants, in search of livelihood and honour by the poor farmers who have been totally left behind by the new generation of politicians, who are all now crorepatis and they have now come out with a vengeance, as in the latest Assembly elections to win power, by using all the highhanded methods! It is also dynastic rule in Punjab, taking acute from New Delhi; it is Badal vs Amarinder Singh, two of the richest families of Punjab, all in the name of development vs religious, ethnic identity!
Punjab and Gujarat are always considered top states in terms of critical development indicators. Punjab is the granary of India, along with Haryana and Western UP. Its agricultural performance was always considered world class until recently when the problems of soil salinity and water logging and declining productivity and all India per capita farm debts created many doubts about the future of Punjab agriculture.
Gujarat is always outwitting other states in terms of drawing record investments. Punjab was always the agricultural pioneer, thanks to the Bhakra-Nangal dam and the management of inter-state river waters. So too now Gujarat with its record hitting Narmada dam that serves so many states and also seeing such persistent protests over the rehabilitation of the displaced people. May be this is a new phenomenon in the post-Nehru era of managing the inter-state river waters on such large scale. Times change and we have to welcome changes and as far as agriculture’s future is concerned we can’t be dogmatic when it comes to sharing the inter-state waters or utilising the precious natural resources for the maximum benefit to the entire country. In this context the recent Cauvery River waters award too has to be seen in the national context, the few persisting issues have to be negotiated in a spirit of give and take and there can’t be any more politics of the narrow king in such matters that has direct bearing on the poverty and prosperity of the common man.

Gujarat and Punjab have so many lessons in development and also in terms of the quality of state politics. Punjab CM, Capt.Amarinder Singh has given out his thoughts on the eve of the Assembly elections and the sort of candidates, fielded by various parties, also give an indication of the sort of politics the state is to have for some more years to come. Most of the candidates are found wanting when it comes to probity in public life. Some of the richest men and women candidates are in the field. The cursory look at their declaration of personal wealth shows that it is all rich men and women’s game, this democratic politics at the beginning of the new century. Some of the prominent politicians, some 10 among them, have declared a personal wealth of Rs.39 crore (CM) to 30 crores to way down to 1.44 crores.
Luckily most of them have no criminal records, though a few do. As for the Akali Dal, it is again a rich men and women’s club. The top candidate is rich by 89 crores and also faces murder charges! The next rich starts with Rs.54 crores to Prakash Singh Badal, the former CM and a powerful figure declaring Rs.13 crores as his wealth, though many dispute this figure. His son, another Badal is rich by 9.4 crore, a Bar-at-law, is said to be the richest among the lot in the party.
Criminal records low but corruption charges high among the candidates. There are more crorepatis in the Akali party, though Congress candidates don’t lag behind when it comes to crorepatis. Even the Dalit candidates are wealthy, the wealthiest declaring an asset of Rs.6 crores. Land mafia, dynastic candidates, crorepati politicians, landlords, barons, big-ticket NRIs, transport tycoons, liquor giants and traders are the common descriptions for the candidates. Among the 26 reserved seats for Dalits, there are 27 crorepatis. Women candidates make for interesting reading. The richest is worth 90 crores. Another top five crorepatis among the women candidates. Badal is alleged to possess wealth to the tune of Rs. 3,500 crores, alleged by the CM whose palace is valued only at Rs. 35 crores spread over 32 acres at the heart of Patiala. Yet, Badal, the senior has declared that the only vehicle he owns is a second hand tractor!
Says the CM:”70 per cent of Punjabis are under 40 years; they look to the future with much fear, as there is no worthwhile development, as seen under the Aakali rule. Development has become the most central issue in this election, thanks to the Congress rule putting development as the main issue before the people of Punjab”. The CM alleges that “the Akalis had never gone beyond Aurangazeb in their speeches”.
Chandigarh, the newly built capital must belong to Punjab and Haryana must build its own capital, says the CM, the Chandigarh issue is a hot emotional issue. Questions of Sikh identity are another contentious issue, who can deliver it? Congress or the Akalis?
The new agenda of development is the one route to regain the Punjabi identity, through more development and the promise of realising the aspirations of the younger generation. The religious symbols are again a current issue, the Heritage Memorial, free access to Nankana Sahib and other holy sites. The CM promised to tackle unemployment, bring in one lakh crores worth of new investment, to generate 20 lakh new jobs. “Unemployment will not be an issue for several coming generations”! This in itself is a Punjabi style grand gesture! Politics in Punjab has always been a grand gesture of sorts, in all extremes, the Punjab milancy itself is an outcome of such grand standing and vague emotions creating so much tensions and upheavals.
Punjab has many border districts and wars and the peace are the constant themes. Now, with war receding from public domian, there is talk of peace and opening of the routes towards more trade with Pakistan.

Narendra Modi, on the other hand, has claimed a record investment and he says his state scores over other states in all development parameters. The Godhra arson is very much in the background, though those horrible days remain in public memory to give the state a negative image. Lately, he was in the news when his name was dropped from the BJP executive committee. Modi nursed the Prime ministerial ambitions and the latest move has come as a shock to his many admirers. It was widely expected that Modi, along with Arun Jaitley would lead the 2009 Lok Sabha election campaign. He drew the loudest applause during the party’s Lucknow national executive last December.
Mr.Narendra Modi, the incumbent Chief Minister of Gujarat, by all accounts, is the most powerful politician in the BJP party, though now his wings are sought to be clipped. Even after the approval of the RSS and the senior leaders, Vajpayee and Advani who suspect that Modi might outplay them when the time comes in Delhi, he still remains the most powerful man in Gujarat, his hold on the political and the administrative machinery is unchallenged. It is widely felt that he is the only one BJP, or suffron, leader who can win a record number of MPs from the state, very similar to what Kalyan Singh did in his best days in Lucknow. When Singh won 50 MP seats in two consecutive elections. This ropetrick, Modi only can do now, if at all. In that case, his role in the “selection” of the next Prime Minister would be crucial. Vajpayee and Advani still entertain prime ministerial ambitions. But among the next line of leaders, it is only Modi who has the mass base, despite the debacle of the party in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.
So, how to judge Modi? An asset or a liability?
Certainly, Modi is a doer. His track record on the economic front is impressive. He asserts that Gujarat can achieve an 11 per cent rate of growth. The Centre is aiming a rate of 9.2 per cent. Says the CM: “Gujarat needs to generate unprecedented growth. In agriculture, manufacturing and services, human resources. We are ready for that“. Is this the CM who indulged in such communal flareup that the outside world condemned, India earned such a bad name?
The state has organized “Vibrant Gujarat” biennial summit thrice and attracted an astounding 140 b dollar in investment proposals. Creating infrastructure with global benchmarks, create a level playing field for global players. Even the investors speak of the professional approach, no politics, no bureaucratic delays etc. Rs.4, and 61,835 crores investment represents 1.3 million jobs! Over 80 per cent of the proposals, investments in the last two years have been implemented, says the CM.
Gujarat agriculture and coastline based industries, salt and chemical industries are all well-known and so too the entrepreneurial culture of the public.
So, we have to weigh the plus and minus points. Farmers’ suicides have come from Punjab and Gujarat too! The social evils like infanticide, women’s oppression in Punjab and Gujarat’s communal track record is simply abysmal. But given the total neglect and insensitivity of the politicians in other states, for the agri sector’s depressing scenario, Punjab and Gujarat, at least should give us hope for more innovative agri sector initiatives.
Punjab’s water scarce cotton belt had seen farmers’ suicides and farmers migration to Rajasthan and Gujarat. Yes, there is also the story that owing to good monsoon there is the higher yield of indigenous BT cotton seeds brought in from Gujarat. The CM’s role in terminating the inter-state agreement on the sharing of the waters of the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej among Punjab, Haryana, HP and Rajasthan saved water for the Malwa cotton belt. The growing unemployment, consumption of smuggling liquor and opium is also a social problem.
Punjab and Haryana always played a critical role in arm-twisting the Centre to get the best deal for farmers, MSP etc and thus Punjab and also Gujarat have a critical role to play in the new century’s agricultural strategies and policies.

Is the breadbasket of India becoming its cancer basket?

There is increasing evidence that the pesticide fueled agricultural growth has had a serious impact on the health of the farmers, especially the incidence of cancer, the Government is taking action by starting a program for registering cancer patients. Several studies have shown the damage to the DNA caused by exposure to pesticides. Bathinda district seems to be the worst affected. Bathinda, the worst affected district, is a major cotton growing area and the cotton crop requires heavy pesticide use.
The studies that point to this include:
A 2005 study by the Center for Science and Environment, a well reputed Delhi-based environment advocacy group, found high levels of pesticides in the blood samples taken from farmers' from villages Bathinda and Muktsar districts.
A study titled "Assessment of genetic damage in workers occupationally exposed to pesticides in various districts of Punjab' conducted by Punjabi University, Patiala, points to the high rate of DNA damage among farmers due to pesticide use.

This study was conducted by Raminderjeet Kaur of the Department of Human Biology under the guidance of Prof. Satbir Kaur. The study found significant DNA damage in the blood samples of 36 % of farmers tested. In addition to cotton, farmers growing paddy and wheat were also badly affected. According to Prof Satbir Kaur, "Pesticides cause damage to the DNA and eventually its fragmentation. This increases the chances of cancer and chromosome mutation.' "Banned pesticides are also in use and the worst affected were those who used herbicides and organophosphates,' Satbir Kaur added. (Incidentally, organophosphates are supposedly the new generation safe chemicals).
According to another study, funded by the Government and conducted by a committee headed by J S Bajaj, vice-chairperson of the Punjab State Planning Board found that heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers had contaminated the drinking water with pesticides and heavy metals. It also found that that drinking water was one of the major causes of death in Punjab. The study was conducted in 17 villages in south-west Punjab's Bathinda, Faridkot, Mansa and Muktsar districts, all of them in the cotton-growing belt known for high pesticide use with Bathinda and Muktsar being the worst affected. According to the study, contaminated water had led to a rise in the cases of cancer, asthma, joint pain, premature graying of hair, skin diseases and mental impairment.

In acknowledgment of the above, the Government has started a cancer registration program, initially starting with Muktsar district.