19052025-CT-01.qxd 5/18/2025 11:45 PM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune PEDDLERS ‘TAKE OVER’ VACANT POLICE STATION BUILDING YOUTH CONGRESS PROTESTS FIR AGAINST RAHUL GANDHI ACTOR BABIL KHAN TO EXIT SAI RAJESH'S PROJECT The building, not quite far from Punjab Police headquarters, has become a haven for anti-social elements. P3 The protest was held at the Hallomajra light point under the leadership of district president Vikas Khanna. P3 The Qala actor was supposed to star in Sai Rajesh's Hindi remake of the film Baby. P4 » » FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE UT embarks on mission 100% literacy A first: Initiative to be undertaken in all 111 government schools after summer break 1,46,428 STUDENTS Tribune News Service WHAT’S ON APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 43 & 45 P’kula: MDC, Sec 5 Mohali: Phase V Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com INBRIEF HP YOUTH DIES AS CAR HITS BIKE Chandigarh: A youth was killed when a car hit a motorcycle near the Maloya light point on Saturday night. Himachal Pradesh natives Abhishek Sharma and his friend Abhishek Rao were riding the bike. Both were taken to the GMSH-16, where the doctors declared Sharma dead on arrival. Rao was admitted to the PGI. A case has been registered at the Maloya police station under Sections 281, 125 and 106 of the BNS. Car driver Tajinder Thakur of Mohali was arrested and later released on bail. TNS Chandigarh, May 18 In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the UT Administration has launched an innovative educational project — Mission100. It is aimed at improving performance and accountability in the government schools and achieving a 100% literacy rate in the city by the end of the current academic session. The initiative was launched on the lines of Punjab Governor-cum-Chandigarh Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria’s vision to raise the standard of the government schools and ensure that each and every resident in the joint capital city of Punjab and Haryana becomes literate. At present, the overall literacy rate in Chandigarh is around 94%, which is much higher than the national average. The literacy rate among men and women is around 96% and 91%, respectively, which is based on the population aged 7 and above. The brainchild of UT Education Secretary Prerna Puri, the main objective of the Mission-100 is to achieve 100% performance in various academic and administrative targets at 111 government schools in Chandigarh. The UT Director School GOVT SCHOOLS SENIOR SECONDARY SECONDARY MIDDLE PRIMARY STUDENTS BOYS GIRLS TEACHERS LITERACY RATE MALE LITERACY FEMALE LITERACY 111 42 56 10 3 1,46,428 75,628 70,800 4,689 93.7% 96.4% 90.7% MISSION-100 Students come out of Government School, Sector 25, Chandigarh. FILE PHOTO Education (DSE), Harsuhinder Pal Brar, told The Tribune on Sunday that the mission would ensure 100% student attendance, ?enrolment of eligible students, ??teacher accountability and training, ?coverage in continuous comprehensive evaluation (CCE) and ?100% literacy in UT through teaching the identified adult illiterates. Also, efforts would be made to achieve 100% pass c m y b percentage in board exams. These steps would be taken under the mission so that by the end of the current academic year 2025-26, Chandigarh can be declared 100% literate, he added. OBJECTIVES 100% student attendance, enrolment of eligible students, pass percentage in Board exams, teacher accountability, coverage in continuous comprehensive evaluation and 100% literacy in Ut by holding teaching programmes for the identified adult illiterates. KEY FOCUS AREAS ■ Academic performance ■ Monitoring and evaluation ■ Teacher involvement Brar said the key focus areas of the initiatives will be academic performance, monitoring and evaluation, teacher involvement and parental engagement. “Improving the pass per- MAX 41°C | MIN 30°C YESTERDAY MAX 38.4°C | MIN 29.1°C SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:26 AM /THETRIBUNECHD Nitin Jain PARTLY CLOUDY SUNSET MONDAY 7.12 PM » MONDAY | 19 MAY 2025 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST centage in the Board classes (X and XII) to 100%, providing remedial support to underperforming students and ensuring timely syllabus completion as well as regular assessments will be complied with to enhance academic performance,” he said. Under the monitoring and evaluation programme, the Education Department would ensure regular tracking of almost 1.5-lakh students’ academic progress. It includes monthly reviews and school performance analysis using the national digital platform VSK (Vidya Samiksha Kendra), which is aimed at enhancing school education quality through real-time monitoring and data analysis. Earlier, 8,000 adult learners were identified in the house-to-house survey conducted by the teachers in December 2024. To enhance teacher involvement, the Mission-100 would encourage them to take ownership of student performance and organise training programmes and workshops. On the parental-engagement front, the initiative would strengthen school management committees (SMCs), and improve communication Continued on page 2 550 cases of illegal liquor seized, 2 held Tribune News Service Mohali, May 18 The police have arrested two persons with 550 cases of illegal English liquor at a naka in Dera Bassi. As part of the state-wide “Nasha Mukt Punjab” campaign, the Mohali police are conducting “Operation Seal – VIII” by setting up special checkposts or nakas at inter-state borders. A team from Dera Bassi subdivision intercepted a truck at the inter-state naka laid on the Nagla T-point, Handesra, and arrested two suspects with 550 cases of “English liquor, which was meant for sale in Chandigarh only”. They have been identified as Deda Ram and Bhupa Ram, both natives of Barmer in Rajasthan. The police said strict instructions had been issued to all teams deployed at the inter-state checkpoints to thoroughly inspect vehicles in order to curb the smuggling of drugs and liquor. Acting on these directives, the police have made this large-scale recovery of illegal liquor, said Dera Bassi DSP Bikramjit Singh Brar. A case under Section 61 of the Excise Act has been registered at the Handesra police station. Further investigation to trace the illegal liquor supply chain is ongoing.