Yogesh Avasthi

They are among 12 corporates, state PSUs and trusts picked to run 12 engineering colleges on public-private partnership Yogesh Avasthi Reliance and GMDC are among 12 corporates, state PSUs and trusts chosen to run engineering colleges in the state. These colleges will be run on the public-private partnership (PPP) model. The government will provide land and infrastructure to these semi-self-financed colleges, while the private parties will look after its management. Principal Secretary (Education) Dr Hasmukh Adhia confirmed the news. The names were finalised at a Thursday meeting of the Education department. Reliance Industries Limited will set up a college in Jamnagar, Gondal-based Jyoti Engineers & Contractors Pvt Ltd in Junagadh and Chennai-based Hebron will build a college in Amreli. Seven PSUs too have been selected to build colleges. Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Ltd will set up an engineering college in Khambhat, Gujarat State Financial Corporation in Padra,

Last year, VC announced setting up a design school at GU for which it roped in IDEAL, a private institute. But it turned out to be damp squib, finds out Mirror Yogesh Avasthi The ‘first-of-its-kind design school’ at Gujarat University, which the Vice Chancellor went gaga about last year, has apparently left the premises without a whimper. Back then, Parimal Trivedi had gloated about getting IDEAL (Institute of Design Expression Art & Learning), a private institute, on GU campus to offer quality career-oriented courses in various design disciplines on the lines of National Institute of Design. Trivedi had said that admission to degree and diploma courses would begin in April 2009. Even that had created a huge controversy since IDEAL is a private institute with a functional centre in Gurukul. The VC was accused of accommodating a private institute on varsity campus by labelling it as GU’s brainchild. Cocking a snook at his critics, Trivedi had gone ahead with getting brochure

For four years now, a man has written letters every day to L D Engineering College (that’s 3,000 letters at last count) pleading that his son, stuck in last year of engineering for 10 years, be granted his degree YOGESH AVASTHI For the past four years, a pushy father from Rajkot has been writing at least two postcards every single day to L D Engineering College principal, urging him to help his son clear his final-year engineering exam. The hassled college authorities, forced to retain the postcards for reference in case of a legal development, have around 3,000 handwritten letters from Anil Makwana. The postcards, written in Gujarati, are scribbled so extensively that it is near impossible to read them. Makwana’s son Manish himself is now 35-year-old, and had first enrolled in the college to study electrical engineering way back in 1992. Till 2004, Manish flunked exams 22 times. For the past six years, he has even stopped appearing for exams, but that has not deterred his fath

In a new move, engineering candidates will now be able to choose a career in pharmacy Yogesh Avasthi The Joint Admission Committee for Professional Courses (JACPC) has readied an action plan for easier submission of online application forms for engineering and pharmacy courses this year. There were glitches over the system last year when it was launched. This year round, with new plans in place, the committee hopes that applications will be smooth sailing for candidates and colleges. Besides an array of new facilities added to the procedure, the JACPC has revised guidelines to address the issue of vacant pharmacy seats. JACPC sources informed that this year there will be a common merit list for Groups A and B, allowing Group A (till last year an exclusive for engineering) candidates to apply for a pharmacy course. However, there will remain a separate Group B merit list for admissions to medical seats, the sources added. This means that engineering candidates can chose a care

WHAT Class IX question papers across CBSE schools are turning out to be identical AND HOW? This year, the CBSE has set class IX papers. But what they’ve forgotten is: Customising papers for each city and giving a common exam schedule NOW WHAT? There’s a mad scramble among parents to get hold of papers from schools where class IX exams have already taken place DON’T TELL ME! Some parents are even sourcing question papers from Delhi, where class IX exams took place in the first week of this month YOGESH AVASTHI (Ahmedabad Mirror_ Class IX CBSE students from across city schools are busy networking with each other instead of revising their chapters, this exam season. Students of a certain school conducting the Social Science exam today had procured the question paper on Wednesday itself from buddies at DPS Gandhinagar which held the exam on March 11. You could blame the ‘paper leak’ on the Central Board of Secondary Education. Or should we call it the Central Benchmark for

Gujarat will be the first state in the country to conduct a common entrance examination for admission to LLB course. The objective is to attract students serious about a career in law By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Tuesday, March 16, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=20100316201003160258166339c1e2e06 ) Admission to LLB course will not be a cakewalk anymore. In order to attract quality talent to legal profession, the state has decided to conduct a common entrance test for LLB course from June this year. Also in the offing is a common syllabus for the course, offered by eight universities in the state. Earlier, while 45 per cent marks in graduation was the eligibility criteria for law aspirants, now it is 40 per cent. The idea is to groom students who are serious about a career in law. According to sources, every year LLB course sees 20-30 per cent dropouts. With an entrance test in place, only those who are really int

By Yogesh Avasthi  and Chandan Chatterjee Posted On Monday, March 15, 2010 Union Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee is known for her whimsical ways of doing things. But Didi’s fanciful thoughts made Gujarat proud on Saturday. Impressed with a traditional Gujarati dance performance of tiny tots at the inaugural function of an auto hub at Shalimar in West Bengal, she named Howrah-Gandhidham-Howrah superfast train Garba Express. Before flagging off the promised train from Howrah on Saturday evening, she went to Shalimar, around 10 km off Howrah, to unveil the auto hub. Impressed by the kids’ dance show before its inauguration, she sought their suggestions on the name of the Gandhidham-Howrah train. When the kids told her to name it Kutch Express, she expressed her inability to do so because a train existed in that name. In no mood to dishearten the tiny tots, Banerjee asked them the name of the dance form they performed. When they told her they performed Garba, a traditional dance form

On Friday, J C Shah Prakash High School almost turned away 11 girls wearing burkhas even though they had not covered their faces. They later allowed the girls in, asking them not to wear it to school again By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Sunday, March 14, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2010031420100314022749246c249d019 ) A burkha ban during board exams is unheard of. Unless you are in France. And so it came as a shock to 11 Muslim girls when officials at J C Shah Prakash High School told them on Friday that they could appear for class X computer exam only if they took off their burkhas. The girls, students of Jamali English High School in Jamalpur, protested saying they belonged to Dawoodi Bohra community and that wearing burkha was customary. They also told the authorities that they were not covering their faces and therefore should not be stopped from taking the exam. But the officials did not relent. They as

Drive-In to screen first IPL game. And yes, there will no ad breaks By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Friday, March 12, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2010031220100312031027183d442b49b ) Haven’t found a chance to book stadium tickets for an IPL match? Fret not. Be part of the open-air crowd at Sunset Drive-In when the first match between Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders is played on Friday. The match will be digitally beamed through satellite to Asia’s largest theatre screen. The only downside, if you can call it that, is that you will have no time to fetch that popcorn coz it’s an ad-free viewing. The theatre can accommodate 665 cars at a time. More than 6,000 people can cheer for their favourite teams to be telecast live onto the 143 x 68 feet screen in HD quality. Said Navin Patel, the owner of Drive-In: “We have tied up with UFO Moviez, the world’s largest digital satellite cinema network, to show the m

The railways minister had promised to start the Gandhidham-Howrah Express weekly train by March 10, but it is still a non-starter due to shortage of rake By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Thursday, March 11, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2010031120100311023851943cb130bd4 ) Politicians forget their promises more often than not. But Union Minister of Railways Mamata Banerjee has climbed a new “high” on this front. She did not stick to her word made in Parliament. On February 24, Banerjee had promised to flag off 2937/2938 Gandhidham-Howrah Express via Ahmedabad by March 10. But the train is still a non-starter, courtesy shortage of rakes. The railways will take at least another 10 days to start the weekly train from Howrah, said sources in Ahmedabad Railway Division. Assurances made While presenting the 2010-11 Rail Budget in Parliament on February 24, Banerjee had said: “Madam (Speaker), I would further like to assu

HDFC offers Rs 2.15-lakh package for post of sales development officer to students of L D Arts College By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Tuesday, March 09, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2010030920100309022909626a92ce859 ) Even as engineering and MBA students are raking in big bucks during placements, things are looking up for students in Arts colleges. TYBA students of L D Arts College are looking at jobs that are likely to get them Rs 2.15 lakh per annum i.e. around Rs 18,000 per month. L D Arts College had set up a placement cell 3-4 years ago. Last year, it saw a dip due to economic slowdown. But this year, many firms have approached the college. “This year, more than 60 per of TYBA students have got jobs,” said principal Mahipatsinh Chavda. On March 8, headhunters from HDFC bank arrived at the campus to fill up 20-25 posts for sales development officer. They are offering Rs 2.15-lakh package. Of the 42 studen

Police force shopowners selling soda, fruit beer to remove images of Gandhi, Sardar and Vivekanand from their establishments’ hoardings By Yogesh Avasthi and Hemington James Posted On Monday, March 01, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=2010030120100301041306812fa8129 ) Soda, fruit beer, and Gandhi? Flavoured drinks and Sardar Patel or Swami Vivekanand? Ram, Ram! For the past one month, police teams are scouting every alley in the city looking for soda and fruit beer shops bearing images of Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Vivekanand. So far, minders of around 100 such shops have been forced to remove images of these three great personalities from their establishments. This shop in Ghatlodia had Swami Vivekanand on its hoarding. It has now been covered by Lord Ganapati. How ironic... something considered insulting to Vivekanand is not so to God! Ironically, many of these shopowners have covered Gandhi, Patel and V

The state government halts recruitment following changes in Gujarat Education Act By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, March 01, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=201003012010030104043870196ae964 ) The Gujarat Education Department has put hold recruitment of secondary teachers following the passing of the Gujarat Education Law Amendment Act in the Assembly on Friday. Principal secretary, higher education Hasmukh Adhia confirmed this. “Yes, recruitments of secondary school teachers have been halted following Friday’s development.” There are close to 4,500 vacancies for teachers across the state. Sources in the education department said, “With class 8 now being being included in the primary section, teachers who have been recruited will become surplus. Additional recruitments will only add to the surplus numbers.” Adhia said, “The system of recruitment of secondary teachers is also being redesigned.” According t

Fed up of waiting for a VIP to inaugurate an underpass, Nirnaynagar residents do the honours themselves By Yogesh Avasthi and Zahid Qureshi Posted On Friday, February 26, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=2010022620100226031439437a0ef75eb ) Nirnaynagar residents waited in vain for the past three months for a VIP to ease their traffic woes by merely inaugurating an underpass in the area. Finally on Feb 25 evening, their patience ran out. A crowd of 150, which had in its ranks women, children and the elderly apart from young men, pushed away iron barricades blocking the underpass and declared it open. Twenty men acted as cops and stationed themselves at traffic lights around the underpass, urging drivers to use the facility. Who needs ribbon-cutting formalities anymore! Residents of the area were frustrated, because they were fighting for the construction of this underpass for the last 20 years. Area around ar