Yogesh Avasthi

A new token system has failed to speed up issuance of tickets at Kalupur station because slack rly staff call out numbers of people seated in the waiting area at a leisurely pace By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Thursday, December 24, 2009 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=20091224200912240312292422843e71 ) Under the new system, a person has to submit his reservation form, obtain a token and wait for his number to be either called out or flashed on a screen A new token system introduced by the railways to speed up issuance of tickets at the Kalupur station is working wonders — not for travellers, but for slack ticket attendants, who have found a new way to avoid work. An RTI query has revealed that such attendants have been giving out fewer tickets in a day than they did when the new system, which ironically is aimed at infusing efficiency among railway staff, was not in place. Under the new system, informally known ...

Preeti Patil forgot her purse on her seat in a bid to quickly alight from train at Maninagar By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Tuesday, December 22, 2009  ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2009122220091222025132188a97b3afa ) Preeti Patil cannot stop praising the honesty of Rajiv Mishra, a Travelling Ticket Examiner on Navjeevan Express. He found her bag containing gold jewellery on the train and returned it to the station master at Kalupur railway station on Monday. The train was coming from Chennai to Ahmedabad. Mishra got on the train from Surat. He was checking the ticket of passengers in Act first class coach number A1. The train had just crossed Maninagar when he spotted a small bag in a corner seat. Mishra said, “I asked passengers sitting in nearby seats if the bag belonged to them. They answered in the negative.” The TTE slid open the chain a bit. One glance revealed the bag contained gold jewellery. “Without...

Facility in Vadaj will also house a research centre; the Rs 7-cr project is being funded by corporate houses By Yogesh Avasthi and Vijay Zala Posted On Monday, December 21, 2009 at 02:40:54 AM ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2009122120091221024054424cadf6e8 ) What may the its first in the country, the Indian Red Cross Society (Gujarat) is setting up an old age home in Ahmedabad. Spread over a sprawling area in a prime location in Vadaj, the campus will also have a training and research centre. IRCS officials are calling it the Senior Citizen Home Training and Research Centre and say that the project will cost Rs 7 crore which is being funded by major corporate houses. Officials say that Rs 4 crore has been set aside for the old age home. IS THERE A NEED? “Yes, there is a need for old age homes in Ahmedabad. We decided to build one based on our findings,” said Dr Anilbhai Khatri,a member of the project committe...

By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Wednesday, December 16, 2009 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2009121620091216030006534ebf32450 ) Over ambitious and educated youth are more suicide-prone than poverty-stricken people in India. Reason: Cut-throat competition in professional life. This startling fact came to the fore on Tuesday at a seminar on suicide at Kanoria Centre for Medical Education. It also revealed that tendency of self-annihilation is maximum among professionals and businessmen between 30 and 44 years. Students are most susceptible to suicide between 15 and 24. Making a presentation, Dr Karshan Chothani, a professor of Psychology at CU Shah Arts College in Ahmedabad, said: “The structure of the society and lifestyle have changed with better education. Enlightened people face stiff competition in professional life. They often feel ashamed to share their problems with colleagues or buddies. Neither they can de-stre...

Of the 96 pictures in Gujarat University’s 2010 diary, 73 have VC Parimal Trivedi in the frame By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Tuesday, December 15, 2009 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=20091215200912150328202143c27cab5 ) CONGRATULATIONS, Dr TRIVEDI! That makes YOU this university’s vainest VC ever The vice-chancellor of Gujarat University (GU), Parimal Trivedi, is 47 years old, but it seems he still hasn’t gotten over the fascination, seen mostly among people half his age, for getting photographed. How else can one explain publication of his 73 pictures in the varsity’s annual diary. The GU diary for 2009-10 contains a total of 96 pictures. Majority of these show Trivedi glad-handing dignitaries; giving or receiving awards and certificates; gazing aimlessly and engaged in ceremonial niceties. The most galling thing about the controversial vice-chancellor’s self-lionisation exercise is that it has come at the co...

Claimant can register their plaint online with Railway Claims Tribunal from January 30 By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, December 14, 2009 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2009121420091214195601201bb2c2d62 ) Come 2010, seeking compensation from Railway Claims Tribunal would be a cakewalk. From January 30, complainants will not have to visit any of its 19 centres across the country physically to lodge their complaints. They will be able to do so online. Web CLAIMS, the newly developed computer system for the tribu-nal, will maintain database of all the claims, court and accident cases. It will generate various documents and letters that are currently prepared manually. The new e-system will help do away with the complex file maintenance procedure. Besides, it will give complainants the precise status of their registered cases in chief claims office. The user-friendly system will have five sections — computer...

After looking at the syllabus and teaching methods of prominent schools in the city, experts will formulate English syllabus for class 2 municipal school students By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, December 14, 2009 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2009121420091214025434416996f2b87 ) As part of its campaign to bring English literacy to municipal schools, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation plans to introduce a customised English syllabus in class 2. The civic body had introduced teaching of the English alphabet and numbers in class 1 last year. Now the civic body is working to formulate English syllabus for the same batch, which will be in class 2 by June 2010. At present, AMC officials with the help of NGOs, are doing a survey of prominent private schools in the city to observe what is taught in English classes. “After gathering information about the syllabus, teaching methods and level of understanding of class 2 s...

Around 100 students of Dr Ambedkar Open University, who enrolled in a one-year diploma course in 2006, are still waiting for the institute to conduct a practical test By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Friday, December 11, 2009 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2009121120091211022333666263bbbd ) Most colleges and educational institutes are always eager to conduct examinations, but Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University, it seems, is an exception. The varsity, located in Sola, has kept several diploma students waiting for a crucial practical exam for more than three years, in the process scuppering their chances of getting good jobs. Nearly 100 students, who enrolled in the institute’s rural health programme in 2006, have reportedly not been able to complete the one-year course and obtain their diplomas because of the pending test. One such student, Minesh Bundel, claimed that the institute was delaying the exam on flimsy gr...

Students and teachers of ID Patel Education Campus cycle or walk to school on Saturdays in a bid to cut carbon emissions By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Thursday, December 10, 2009  ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2009121020091210022111623e552dab1 ) (Pic - Dilip Thaker) More than 250 countries in the world are at Copenhagen to tackle the issue of global warming. While the big guns battle it out at the climate summit, a school in Ghatlodia is trying to save Earth in its own small day. For the past six months, staff and students of ID Patel Education Campus walk or cycle their way to school each Saturday. Around 2,000 students and over 60 teachers observe the day under the ‘Save Energy Campaign’. Managing trustee Vinod Patel said, “This activity makes students aware of global warming and carbon emissions. It encourages them to do something to save nature and energy. The exercise also helps them to be physically fit...

Shows Gujarat University’s support to the gou raksha yatra through banners; officials say that Parimal Trivedi is saffronising the campus by propogating causes of the RSS By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Thursday, December 10, 2009  ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=20091210200912100221094677a07c0d2 ) (Pic-Dilip Thaker) There is a hint of saffron on the Gujarat University campus these days. The varsity is welcoming the Vishwa Mangala Gou Gram Yathra to Ahmedabad on December 20. Banners and hoardings have come up on the university campus on the yatra, which will see Sadhvi Rithambara devi in the city to address a public rally on gou rakhsha. The banners have slogans calling for declaring cow the national animal. The open support GU Vice hancellor Parimal Trivedi is showing to the programme linked to the RSS has not gone down well with many in the university offices. GU syndicate member Manish Doshi said the VC has cro...

GTU logs on to e-assessment Examiners will correct the next semester answer sheets of ME students online By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Wednesday, December 09, 2009 at 02:30:56 AM ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=20091209200912090230563395f012704 ) Setting its sights on transparent and error-free evaluation system, the Gujarat Technological University (GTU) has decided to introduce e-assessment. It will be the maiden varsity in the state to start online correction of papers. GTU will start e-assessment like IITs as early as this month. The papers of Master of Engineering (ME) students’ next semester, slated for later this month, will be corrected online by GTU teachers. From next April, the papers will be mailed to external examiners. Sources said the answer scripts of 500 ME students would be scanned and sent to three different teachers of the university via e-mail. The marks awarded by each teacher would be stored on...

Officers from 900-plus colleges in the state will attend a 2-day training workshop in January; they will in turn teach students effective communication and presentation skills needed to bag good offers By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, December 07, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2009120720091207031818218f8b03d4f ) Unlike MBA, engineering and MCA institutes, graduates in science, arts and commerce often have trouble getting good jobs due to lack of placement support. To address this problem, the higher education department had made it mandatory for all 900-plus colleges in the state to set up their own placement cells under UDISHA (Universal Development of Integrated Employability Skills Through Higher Education Agencies) project. After five months of organising job fairs and counselling to students, UDISHA members feel that the biggest hurdle in students getting good jobs is their lack of c...

By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Saturday, December 05, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror :http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2009120520091205031724235386fade) Ahmedabad Municipal School Board will conduct an efficiency test for the 7000-odd teachers and principals of the municipal school on December 5. The test is being conducted to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the teachers. The analysis of their performance will be used to help them improve their skills, said Municipal School Board chairman Manubhai Raval. “The general perception is that the students do not learn much in municipal schools. This is attributed to the teachers’ lack of skills. We also feel that we are not getting desired results. To plug the loophole, we are organising this exam,” he said. According to Raval, the test will help the board understand the problems the teachers face. “It could be that the teachers are unable to comprehend the syllabus or the cont...