Yogesh Avasthi

In a first step towards making Ahmedabad station a world-class facility, the western rly invites tenders for the project’s master plan, feasibility report Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, September 13, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20Latest&sectid=2&contentid=20100913201009130355133372767cb2d ) The plan to turn the Ahmedabad railway station into a world-class facility finally chugged out of the boardroom on Sunday, with western rail authorities inviting tenders for preparation of project’s feasibility report and design. This is a significant first step as the passenger and rail traffic at the cramped station, which lacks many public amenities, is expected to rise sharply. In fact, according to an official estimate, the number of people arriving or boarding trains from here annually will shoot up from 5.53 crore to 7.81 crore by 2020. A source in the western railways said that architectural firms and technical consulta...

Around 3,000 bureaucrats will visit around 13,000 secondary and higher secondary schools in state to assess quality of education and infrastructure Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Saturday, September 11, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2010091120100911031448363f9f01b92 ) Teaching and facilities at secondary and higher secondary schools in the state will soon be brought under the government scanner. The Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board has initiated an exercise whereby high schools will undergo checks on their functioning, infrastructure and their faculty. Gunotsav 2010 aims to bring about a qualitative change for classes 8 to 12. A 3-day exercise, beginning December, will see around 3,000 bureaucrats visit around 13,000 secondary and higher secondary schools in the state to assess the quality of these schools and give a report. All these officials, including IAS, IPS officers an...

Just before the start of academic year, VC had announced with much fanfare that science colleges will only teach in English Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Friday, September 10, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2010091020100910034344622f5b3fe74 ) Soon after announcing that English will be the medium of instruction for first year BSc students from the new academic session, the Gujarat University made a complete U-turn, allowing science colleges to take classes in Gujarati. In April this year, principals of science college had a meeting with the Gujarat University vice chancellor, where they unanimously decided to take first year science classes in English. However, the vice chancellor changed his stance as soon as the new academic session commenced. Citing problems faced by students from rural areas in coping with English, colleges were instructed to allow teaching in Gujarati in first year BSc. B K Jain...

Cleaning staff will be a phone call away in A’bad-Delhi-A’bad Ashram Express, Ahmedabad-Haridwar-Ahmedabad Mail and A’bad-Patna Azimabad Express. The cleaners will be compensated depending on feedback from passengers Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Wednesday, September 08, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=201009082010090803235357895320485 ) After successful pilot testing of onboard housekeeping services in the trains, the western railway will be introducing the services on three new trains next week — Ahmedabad-Delhi-Ahmedabad Ashram Express, Ahmedabad-Haridwar-Ahmedabad Mail and Ahmedabad-Patna-Ahmedabad Azimabad Express. The cleaning staff dressed in navy blue uniforms will remove trash, wash toilets and other amenities periodically during the entire trip. The assistance will be a call away. Soon, brass plates displaying the phone numbers of the service will be installed in every compartment so that th...

The educational group, which runs 16 campuses in the city, has now decided to apply for university status; it has already begun search for land on SG Highway Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Saturday, September 04, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20Latest&sectid=2&contentid=20100904201009040335484709785e71 ) Amdavadi students are going to be spoilt for choice. After Ahmedabad Education Society (AES) and Gujarat Law Society (GLS), another group has decided to turn into a full-fledged university. JG Group of Colleges, which is currently affiliated with Gujarat University (GU), has plunged into paperwork to apply for varsity status. The group’s officials told Mirror that their proposal would be forwarded to the state government by December. They also said that they were scouting for land to set up the proposed university’s headquarters. “We are looking for space on SG Highway,” the director of the educational group, Saurabh Choksi...

Udisha, a placement initiative by the state higher education dept, will send the database to job providers Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Saturday, September 04, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=201009042010090403281268223a1210c ) A new placement initiative launched by the higher education department last year has taken the e-route. It has now begun online enrolment of students studying in arts, science and commerce colleges into its central job network. This is to increase the rate of employability of graduates in non-professional courses. Earlier, Universal Development of Integrated Employability Skills Through Higher Education Agencies (Udisha) had trained placement officers in 900 colleges in the state in evaluating the interests and aptitude of students. These officers in turn helped students in polishing their communication and presentation skills. As many as 500 fresh graduates were offered job...

Passengers of the non-stop train were given free water bottles on Thursday Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Saturday, September 04, 2010 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2010090420100904032808510d6af2085 ) The railways has started providing free water bottles to passengers of Ahmedabad-Mumbai Duronto Express, a non-stop train. The move has been welcomed by passengers, who had been demanding this facility ever since the train was launched in December last year. People who travel by Duronto often face shortage of drinking water because the train does not have a pantry car. Moreover, it does not stop at any station during its eight-hour journey, forcing passengers to hoard water bottles before the train departs from the Kalupur station. “We started supplying water bottles to passengers on Thursday. We didn’t demand any additional charge,” Divisional Railway Manager (Ahmedabad) Ashok Garud said. More than 480 bo...