Yogesh Avasthi

Ambawadi Post Office will issue railway tickets from June; Postal dept to get Rs 15 for each sleeper class ticket, Rs 20 for AC two/three-tier ticket and Rs 25 for AC first class ticket sold By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Saturday, May 16, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=20090516200905160330032602be349ab ) Come June, visiting railway reservation centres would not be mandatory for booking train tickets. Amdavadis will have the option of buying them from a post office in the city from next month. The city’s maiden railway reservation centre at post office would be inaugurated at Ambawadi Post Office in Manikbag Society in the first week of June. The innovative service is ready for a smooth take-off next month with required infrastructure already in place.The postal department will charge Rs 15 for each sleeper class ticket, Rs 20 for each AC two-tier or AC three-tier ticket and Rs 25 for ...

One of the three mobile study centres is ready since last September, Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Open University is still waiting for ‘an official inauguration’ By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Friday, May 15, 2009 at 02:59:15 AM (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx? Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=200905152009051502591586931758b4c ) Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Open University’s mobile study centres, which were to roll out last year to rural areas to impart education to poor children, are still lying untouche d by the varsity authorities. While one is completely ready, three other vans are yet to be equipped with necessary electronic equipment. The Distance Education Council had given it grant in 2007-08 for three mobile classrooms to be developed by HCL Info Limited. However, till date, only one has been developed. Even that has not been rolled out. The completely developed unit, equipped with 10 computers and projectors, is lying on the ...

Lok Shakti passenger leads rail officials to tout who sold him VIP quota ticket; Girish Cyria was earlier held in 2005 for selling tickets illegally By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Friday, May 15, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2009051520090515025904557e66058c9 ) With the arrest of a ticket tout on Thursday by the railway authorities, the misuse of VIP quota has come to light yet again. Girish Cyria, who has earlier been caught selling tickets illegally, was again caught on Thursday for getting a ticket in the VIP quota of a BJP member issued in the name of one Kaderbhai and selling it to another person named K Sanjiv. Cyria, his brother-in-law Girish Nakoda and Mahendra were earlier nabbed by the Railway vigilance at Gandigram station were caught selling tickets in dummy names on October 2005. Since then they have flourished. Railway Protection Force officials, however, said Cyria was ...

Courtesy their cheat builder, residents of Snehanjali Society in Sola are forced to buy their homes again or face demolition By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Thursday, May 14, 2009 (Ahmedbad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20Latest&sectid=2&contentid=20090514200905141836442540a8e35 ) What was once their retirement dream has turned into a nightmare. Residents of Snehanjali Society on Sola Road have received an AUDA notice that threatens to reduce their homes into a pile of stones, timber and debris. Housing six flats and 19 rowhouses, the society constructed in 1989 stands on illegal land, claims AUDA who has given the residents time till June to evacuate the premises. The civic body plans to raze the society and return the plot to its rightful owner. The only way out of the problem is to pay Rs 7 crore to the right owner. But the society members are retired ONGC employees who are finding it hard to face the spectre of eviction wh...

LJ Institute of Management Studies records 100 per cent placement of students By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Thursday, May 14, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2009051420090514040647256a95b7d04 ) Even as jobs have dried up worldwide following recession, LJ Institute of Management Studies in Ahmedabad has recorded 100 per cent placement this session.Fighting the global downturn with an innovative strategy, the institute’s authorities ensured all their 118 students were placed in reputed firms. The average package offered to the students of the business school on SG Highway was Rs 1.8 lakh per annum. The highest offer made was over Rs 5 lakh. Those with engineering background were spoilt for choice after the campus recruitment. Several of them bagged five job offers.Siddarth Singh Bist, a faculty member, said: “All the students of finance, marketing and human resource management have eithe...

Almost two months after a battered Kamini’s plight was brought to light by her principal, who spotted blood on her uniform, the girl finally gets a better life By Yogesh Avasthi and Dhwani Pathak Posted On Wednesday, May 13, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20Latest&sectid=2&contentid=2009051320090513034030611aeb14fbf ) Kamini, the 11-year-old girl, who was physically and mentally abused by her stepmother, is finally in her uncle Rahul Jain’s custody. The legal process for the girl’s custody concluded on April 29.Pained at the constant thrashing Kamini received at the hands of her stepmother Anita, Jain had told Ahmedabad Mirror that he would spare no efforts to get the girl’s custody (Kamini’s uncle seeks custody, AM, April 2). Now that his wish is fulfilled, Jain said his first priority is to ensure Kamini gets over her past.Kamini’s story was flashed all over newspapers when she attended school with a wound...

Members charge trustees with nominating their own men in the Rs 200-crore Navrangpura Gam Dharmada Milkat Trust and selling its property worth crores surreptitiously By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Tuesday, May 12, 2009 ( Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2009051220090512021737173b1536c73 ) A Rs 200-crore Trust has run into a legal tangle over who represents it as trustees. The dispute in the Navrangpura Gam Dharmada Milkat Trust is being heard by the Deputy Charity Commissioner who found three current trustees guilty of malpractice and fined them Rs 2000 each in four cases. The dispute in the Trust is primarily between Patels and other sections of the community. Set up way back in early 1910s, the Trust for the large part was controlled by Patels. It owned valuable properties, including Navrang School and a few famous temples, in Navrangpura, Naranpura, Memnagar etc. The Patel hegemony was con...

The search committee for vice chancellor has received 16 names, some of them from outside Gujarat, to succeed Parimal Trivedi By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Saturday, May 09, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=20090509200905090307114236800177c ) The search committee for the vice chancellor of Gujarat University has a problem of plenty. The panel has with it a former vice chancellor, college principals and IIM dons to choose from the successor of Vice Chancellor Parimal Trivedi. Trivedi himself is one of the probables as he is eligible for a second three-year term. His first term, a chequered one, term gets over on June 26.According to a source in the university, the three members search committee of former Union minister Y K Alagh, —Gitesh Shah and Veer Narmad South Gujarat University Vice Chancellor B A Prajapati has as many as 16 names, some of them from outside the state, before them....

The common entrance test for admission to MBA and MCA courses and its evaluation will be done online By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Friday, May 08, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2009050820090508030353517a107fcf6 ) The Gujarat Common Entrance Test (GCET) this year will be conducted online. The decision was taken by Gujarat Technological University (GTU), which will conduct the common exam for admission to MBA and MCA courses in June-July. Sources said besides the test, even the evaluation be done online, enabling the candidate to know the result the moment they finish the test. The difficulty, tough, is that students in the state are not accustomed to taking GCET online. Students, hitherto, ticked marked right options to questions on paper, and the evaluation was done by the optical marking method. Students will have to practice taking the test anew. To help them out, Gujarat Law Soci...

Submits Rs 80-lakh project proposal to UGC, plans to instal solar panels, blinds to trap energy By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Thursday, May 07, 2009 at 03:26:19 AM (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2009050720090507032618904e0f014fb ) Gujarat University is planning to introduce a post graduate course in renewable energy from this academic session. The four-semester Master of Science (Msc) programme will focus on types renewable and clean energy such as solar and wind energy and the best methods to tap them, to counter the depletion of energy sources. The Rs 80 lakh project proposal submitted under University Grants Commission’s (UGC)Innovative Programmes is awaiting the commission’s approval. Lucknow University had also submitted a similar proposal before the UGC recently. GU is planning to construct an ‘energy sufficient’ building where the course will be taught. It also plans to install mic...

Travelling by train may not be expensive, but ordering food during the journey, it seems, is. Despite standardisation of food rates by the railway catering agency, attendants on trains overcharge passengers for meals By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Wednesday, May 06, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2009050620090506035305214d16cbf92 ) Yogesh Avasthi spoke to several passengers at the Ahmedabad station on Tuesday, and found that almost all of them had been overcharged for meals. Some of the passengers, in fact, were not even given bills for the food they had ordered What is the rule ? The Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has standardised rates of meals on all trains to staunch the practice of overcharging. Attendants on trains cannot charge more for a meal than the amount listed in the standardised menu. What is the ground reality ? Attendants on some trains charge...

Hundreds of MEd students will now have to compete for teaching posts in remaining BEd colleges with around 400 experienced teachers By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Tuesday, May 05, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2009050520090505035204730e43dcb72 ) In times of economic slowdown, when well-paying jobs are hard to get,the closure of BEd colleges has further whittled down the number of job opportunities available to Master of Education (MEd) students. The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has cancelled the accreditation of 70 BEd colleges across the state due to inadequate staff and facilities offered by the institutions. Of the 70 colleges, 20 are affiliated to Gujarat University. This move will not only affect the more than 400 teachers who are suddenly out of jobs, but also around 300 MEd students who were employed by these colleges. Due to the mushrooming of BEd colleges in ...

Passengers’ complaints of over-charging and poor service by the Railways’ catering service are on rise By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, May 04, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=200905042009050402572911b36f82a1 ) Once a boon for passengers, the Railways catering experiment is just beginning to sour. Increasing complaints of over-charging and poor service from Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation may perhaps force passengers to get back to carrying food packets from home. Numerous passengers have lodged complaints with IRCTC about being charged more than what’s shown on the menu card. A lunch which is priced at Rs 32 costs passengers Rs 40. The catering staff routinely insist on the inflated figure and don’t present a bill. The lunch itself is pruned. The plate consisting of dal-rice, four chapatis and sabzi, papad and water, reaches passengers with two measly rotis and a ...

It was just a simulator, a machine used to train drivers, but Tapan Joshi still came out shaken and stirred By Tapan Joshi Posted On Sunday, May 03, 2009 The April 29 train collision in Chennai, which killed four people and injured 11, was yet another addition to the lengthy list of train mishaps in India. To comprehend the stress faced by train drivers, I decided to get a first-hand experience of life inside a railway engine.I landed up at the engine drivers’ training centre in Sabarmati, along with colleague Yogesh Avasthi and photographer Dilip Thaker , to drive a train. Yes, I drove a train, ‘killed’ stray cattle on the tracks, jumped red lights, blew away a motorist near the signal and ‘crashed’ the train near Ahmedabad railway station. I have survived to narrate my story. Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=Columnists%20-%20Sunday%20Read&sectid=26&contentid=20090503200905030230177928fd0ecd8

DPS, Bopal student Jasmin Gulyani hasn’t missed a day of school in her life; nine others awarded for 100 per cent attendance in the last session By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Saturday, May 02, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=20090502200905020259486205eabe5f ) One might smirk after watching the TV commercial of a popular health drink hinting kids gulping it do not miss classes, but 10 students of a school in Ahmedabad achieved the feat of 100 per cent attendance in the last academic session in reality. Baffled? Hang on. Jasmin Gulyani, one of the 10 sincere students of Delhi Public School (DPS), Bopal, maintaining a clean slate, has not missed a class for the past 11 years i n a row — eight years in DPS and three years in her former institution Sri Maharaja Agrasen School. DPS, Bopal, gave away Satatam award to Jasmin and nine other students for 100 per cent attendance at a function las...

The Ahmedabad Railway Division has decided to install the machines at nine stations in May By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Thursday, April 30, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2009043020090430032357267d2719324 ) In a bid to create AIDS awareness among commuters, the Ahmedabad Railway Division has decided to install condom vending machines at important railway stations under its jurisdiction. In the first phase, the gizmos would be set up at nine stations, including Ahmedabad, in May. Besides Ahmedabad, the condom vending machines will be installed at Maninagar, Sabarmati, Bhuj, Gandhidham, Viramgam, Mehsana, Palanpur and Kalol. Each platform at these stations would be fitted with two machines.The waiting halls at these stations will also have the gizmos. The Hindusthan Latex Limited will maintain the vending machines. Some people are still sheepish to buy contraceptives from shops. “After...

Indicators at Kalupur station flash a drab ‘welcome’; when they do work, the number displayed and the place where the coaches stop never match By Yogesh Avasthi and Jignesh Vora Posted On Wednesday, April 22, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=20090422200904220250045684da1889d ) Electronic indicators on platforms are intended to provide information on train arrivals, delay if any and coach position etc. But if you go by these and stand below one that indicates your coach, you will be worse off than somebody who’s arrived late and is scampering to get to his coach. You’ll have more running to do, perhaps in all directions, before you get there.Indicators at Ahmedabad railway station usually don’t work, and if some do they are likely to misguide passengers more than anything else. When the board is expected to flash the train name, number and arrival time, what passengers get to sees is a...

A student of Chimanbhai Patel Institute of Management & Research borrowed Rs 20,000 from a classmate to pay fees, and then accused her of harassment to avoid paying back the money By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, April 20, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=20090420200904200303084744203c43 ) A student of a self-financed institute, Manan, who borrowed Rs 20,000 from a female classmate to pay the college’s fees later accused her of harassing him to avoid repaying the amount.His ploy, however, went belly-up when the girl, Pooja (name changed), appeared before the institute’s management, and laid bare the truth.Manan and Pooja, who study in Shri Chimanbhai Patel Institute of Management & Research, became friends last year when they were in the first semester of a business management programme. Manan began borrowing money from her earlier this year. Initially, he borrowed paltry ...

Furious at Harbhajan’s absence from the Padma function, Sudhir Nanavati regrets a lighter sentence for Bhajji in Slapgate By Tapan Joshi and Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Sunday, April 19, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20Latest&sectid=2&contentid=20090419200904190308062083336e56d ) Controversy’s favourite child Harbhajan Singh is in trouble again. The judge who had heard his case in the Sreesanth Slapgate incident in the first edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) has now admitted he made a mistake in letting the off-spinner off the hook lightly.The judge, Sudhir Nanavati, told Ahmedabad Mirror that the incident was “a lot more ugly” than people think. In a video footage that Nanavati saw but never revealed before, Harbhajan was seen slapping Sreesanth more than once and had also lunged towards him. Nanavati’s conscience was pricked by the fact that Harbhajan didn’t bother to attend the rece nt Padma awards fun...

By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Sunday, April 19, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2009041920090419030731599d1f3565c ) Interested in computer engineering but got admission in civil engineering ? Cheer up. Gujarat Technological University (GTU) plans to introduce dual-degree system for engineering courses from new academic year. As per the new policy, a student can also acquire a minor degree along with his major subject, by opting for the specialisation of his choice in the third semester. For example, if a civil engineering student is interested in computer engineering, he can also have, along with the major subject, a minor degree in computer engineering by clearing six papers at the end of the four-year term. The minor-degree subject can be chosen in the third semester (second year) of engineering. “This system is being introduced for the first time in Gujarat. Beginning third semeste...

Gujarat Technological University has issued a showcause notice to Saraswati School of Pharmacy after a raid conducted by the varsity committee revealed that two of the management quota students were declared failed despite having cleared internal examination By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Saturday, April 18, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=20090418200904180259363659ec48211 ) Technological University has served a showcause notice to Saraswati School of Pharmacy in Mehsana for failing two of its management quota students in internal exams, despite they having cleared it. The students had written to the admission committee of GTU that they were being pressurised by the college management to cough up Rs 1 lakh as donation. They said the management had earlier even threatened to fail them in their exams if they did not do so. Of the 15 seats in the management quota, eight of the students wh...

Decision taken after railway officials realised they will receive heavy traffic in corridor route touching Tata Nano project location in Sanand By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Saturday, April 18, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2009041820090418025923396ff433278 ) There’s nothing Nano a bout this decision. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation working on the Delhi-Mumbai freight corridor has increased its budget from Rs 150 crore to Rs 300 crore for its project in Gujarat. The freight corridor touches the Tata nano project location in Sanand. The decision was taken after DFCC officials realised they will receive heavy traffic in this area. “SMART CITY-Integrated Townships are coming up at Godhavi and Garodia villages in Sanand. Sanand is also set to become a hub for container movement. Goods meant for the Nano plant and its ancillary industries will land here, so this line will see g...

After Supreme Court gives schools in country six months to become fire safe, Mirror checks the state of schools in city. The result is appalling. Of 1,500 schools here, only 27 are FIRE SAFE By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Thursday, April 16, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2009041620090416040708303a3a25641 ) It is time to pull the alarm on fire safety in schools. There are 1,500 schools in the city. But only 27 of them can offer protection to children in case of a fire. This is what Ahmedabad Mirror found out when it decided to check the number of city schools violating fire safety code. Mirror decided to check the issue after the Supreme Court, on Monday, ordered installation of fire-extinguishing equipment and adoption of other safety measures in all government and private schools across the country within six months. Shockingly, the list of 27 schools (see box) excludes the names of...

GREEN SWITCHEROO z LD Engineering student Hardik Lakhlani rides on a new wave of power by tweaking his petrol-fuelled Scooty to run on battery at the switch of a button By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Tuesday, April 14, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=20090414200904140226482861f8ed095 ) Go green and save money, too. These were the objectives Hardik Lakhlani had in mind when he decided on a do-it-yourself project and started splicing circuits to create the first petrol-electric Scooty hyb rid. The final year student of automobile engineering from L D Engineering College tweaked his two-wheeler to run on battery power when the speed was low. That doesn’t make the hybrid wimpy. The need for speed is powered by fuel at the switch of a button. Its top speed touches 110 kilometre per hour (kmph). Hardik says, “I often wondered what two-wheeler riders would do if their battery ran out or if the...