CARMEL JUNIOR COLLEGE JAMSHEDPUR WINS CBSE CRYPTIC CROSSWORD COMPETITION

NEW DELHI,AKASH DWIVEDI,Carmel Junior Collegeof Jamshedpurwon the first ever CBSE Cryptic Crossword Contest 2014 (CCCC 2014) held in the city today.ShaliniSrinivasanand BiswarupBurmansteered their school to victory in a closely fought contest. SES Gurukul school of Pune represented by Tanya Kheraand AdityaVasudevantook the second place among the six finalists.The Joint third winners were Jayashree V and Ramya Narayanan of Padma SeshadriBalBhavan School Chennai and AnanyaGangadhar and RohitSahasrabuddhe of DAV Public School, Pune.

With record participation of over 850 schools from 32 cities,CBSE Cryptic Crossword Contest 2014 is the world’s biggest and nation’s premier crossword testing platform for high school students and seeks to promote excellence by encouraging students to undertake the habit of solving crossword puzzles.

[The finalist included Amity International School, Vasundhara-1, Ghaziabad, Udgam School, Ahmedabad, Carmel Junior College, Jamshedpur, SES Gurukul School, Pune, DAV Public School, Pune and Padma SeshadriBalBhavan Secondary School, Chennai]

Chief Guests Mr. D.K. Sarraf, CMD, ONGC and Dr. (Ms.) Satbir Silas Bedi, IAS, Chairman, CBSE gave away the prizes in the presence of guests of honourMr. A.K. Ambhastha, IFS, CVO, ONGC, Mr. Sunil Barthawal, IAS, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel, Mr. K. N. Jha, IPNTFAS, DG NICF, Dr. S. Venkatesh, Director NCDC, Mr. ManojShrivastava, IRTS, ED, Indian Railways, Mr. Pramath Raj Sinha, First Dean of IBS, Hyderabad and founder Ashoka University and Mr. Vivek Kumar Singh, IAS, Principal Secretary, Environment and Forest, Government of Bihar.

“Crossword puzzles help students improve their vocabulary, reasoning, lateral thinking and analytical abilities. Deciphering solutions from the given clues help young minds develop other cognitive skills, like making inferences, evaluating alternatives and drawing conclusion. Learning becomes so much more enjoyable as different mental faculties are challenged,” said Mr. Vivek Kumar Singh, IAS, chief mentor, CCCC 2014. “Most importantly, solving a crossword puzzle results in a sense of personal achievement, which is so vital for personality development. Crossword is also an interesting and effective educational tool, for students and teachers alike,” he added.

CCCC 2014 was guided by an eminent Expert Committee comprising Col. (Retd) Deepak Gopinath, India’s renowned Crossword Blogger and winner of the Indian Crossword League 2013, India first Crossword Championship, ShuchismitaUpadhyay, author of www.crosswordunclued.com, a site for cryptic crossword enthusiasts, ShachiiManik, a renowned name in the crossword fraternity of India,C.G Rishikesh, well known crossword setter of India whose crosswords are published in the Hindu and the Indian Express newspapers.

The Contest 2014 was inaugurated by Chief Minister of Jharkhand Mr. HemantSoren on the July 16, 2014 at the Delhi Public School, Sail Township, Ranchi.The Central Broad of Secondary Education in collaboration with EXTRA-C, established the CBSE Cryptic Crossword Contest in the year 2014. This contest was open for students of Class IX to XII, of CBSE, CISCE and State Board schools.

EXTRA C is a civil society organization founded to provide a platform to such extra-curricular activities across the country. Established on the 26th of June 2013, it has paved an altogether new path in providing such non-curricular platforms, which are necessary for the over-all development of a human being.Extra C’s mission to promote and popularize Crossword Puzzles amongst the Indian globally has been widely appreciated by one and all.