Yogesh Avasthi

Some student leaders take money to coerce GU VC into giving less meritorious students seats in reputed colleges. VC obliges to keep leaders from creating controversies for him Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Tuesday, June 28, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/201106282011062803092489431dc9bf1/Admission-of--Corruption.html ) Student wing of political parties at Gujarat University are keen on exposing what they allege is VC Parimal Trivedi’s “illegal and corrupt practice”. BJP’s Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad declared Trivedi among the 25 “most corrupt” serving and retired vice-chancellors in the country while Congress’s National Students Union of India launched an anti-corruption campaign to oust him. However, it is like the pot calling the kettle black, say academicians. For, during admission time, some of these very student leaders coerce the VC into giving seats in reputed colleges to less meritorious students, they explain. Sudhir Nanavati, Managing Director of GLS ...

Paresh Khanesa, who has cerebral palsy, was not allowed to take GPSC exam at Odhav centre as he did not submit postal order for Rs 100. Officials did not know that physically challenged candidates are exempted from paying the fee Yogesh Avasthi  and Dhwani Pathak Dave Posted On Monday, June 27, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/201106272011062702404397026decd41/Disabled-GSPC-Aspirant-turned-away-for-not-submitting-fee.html ) As many as 2.32 lakh students from across the state appeared for the Gujarat Public Service Commission examination (GPSC) on Sunday. The exam is conducted to select eligible candidates for state government jobs. But gross mismanagement by the GPSC dashed the dreams of several aspirants including physically challenged candidates who had come to the city from far and wide. As per rule, candidates are required to submit a Rs 100 Indian Postal Order (IPO) to the officials at the designated centres on the day of exam. But those applying in the ‘re...

Starts Indian Institute of Teacher Education that will offer four-year BA/BSc-BEd, six-year MA/MSc-MEd courses Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Friday, June 24, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/20110624201106240244332067918413a/State-govt-launches-integrated-courses-for-%E2%80%98class%E2%80%99-teaching-.html ) School teaching is set to undergo a much-needed makeover as the state government gears up to start integrated BA/BSc-BEd and MA/MSc-MEd courses. The education department has set up the Indian Institute of Teacher Education (IITE) to train young teachers in “skills, values and character”. HSC-pass students aspiring to take up the integrated course will be required to send in their applications by July 7. Selected students will have to take an entrance exam on July 17 for admission to the course. A student can opt for either a four-year graduation course comprising eight semesters or a six-year postgraduation course consisting of 12 semesters. The fee of the residentia...

The syllabus is being tested in 566 schools in Bhavnagar, Surat, Sabarkatha and Panchmahals Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Thursday, June 23, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/201106232011062302494834764b72ed1/GCERT-exercises-new-syllabus.html ) The Gujarat Council of Educational Research and Training (GCERT) is running a pilot project on new syllabus for Class 1 and 8 in 566 schools of the state. According to Syllabus Reform Committee Chairman Dr Ravindra Dave, “We have been trying to identify changes that can be made in the syllabus to help give better education to children for the past two years. The new syllabus will be interactive and is a two-way communication system. Earlier, mugging was given the importance, but with the new syllabus in place, the focus will be more on learning.” He further added that the new syllabus has been designed keeping in consideration four points — Experience, Reflection, Application and Constellation. However, as of now the new syllabus...

A pharmacy college in Surat is shutting shop because it has no takers. Eight colleges have discontinued diploma courses. Thirty colleges without PCI approval have been kept out of admission mock-rounds Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, June 20, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/2011062020110620010454364af1d047a/Shutdown-Syndrome.html ) What once used to be the most preferred course after medicine and engineering, has hardly any takers today. The waning popularity of B Pharm can be gauged from the fact that several colleges admitted not more than 10-12 students for the course last year while some did not have even a single student apply for admission. The situation is going to be worse this year, say sources. One such college, Vidhyadeep College of Pharmacy at Kim in Surat has written to the state government stating it wants to shut shop. Eight colleges have decided to discontinue their diploma courses. This is just the beginning of the shutdown syndrome for pharmacy c...

Yogesh Avasthi and Shraddha Singh Posted On Monday, June 20, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/20110620201106200102369602acff992/DLA-Academy-fires-its-entire-teaching-staff.html ) The principal and staff members of DLA Academy for Little People, a CBSE-affiliated school in Bodakdev, have come down heavily on the school management for unceremoniously firing them after irregular salary payment for three months. The school has already appointed a new principal. Protesting against the arbitrary action, the former principal of the school, on behalf of the teaching staff, wrote a letter to the state education minister on June 17 complaining of ‘atrocity and human exploitation’ by school chairman Jatin Jani. The letter with the signatures of the all the teachers has also been sent to Jani. According to the letter, on June 15, Jani allegedly fired all 23 teachers, including the principle, and asked them to reappear at job interviews. When contacted, DLA Academy Chairman Jati...

To be operational in three months, Jan Ahar, a 24-hour restaurant will offer food like khaman, dhokla, thepla and khandvi for anything from Rs 10 to Rs 35 Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, June 20, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2011062020110620010219617a84554f2/Soon-grab-Gujarati-thali-at-Kalupur-railway-station.html ) Visitors to the railway station will soon be able to relish authentic Gujarati thali at Indian Railways’ Jan Ahar restaurant. An initiative by the Railway Passenger Services Committee, the outlet will be operational in three months. The price of food will range from Rs 10 to Rs 35. A senior official of Ahmedabad Railway Division said, “People coming to Ahmedabad railway station will get to eat quality Gujarati food at a reasonable cost. The 24-hour Gujarati restaurant will not just serve thali but also other traditional Gujarati delicacies like khaman, dhokla, thepla and khandvi. These outlets will not be outsourced to private contractors. It will b...

TT alerts authorities after finding that passenger travelling on VIP ticket was not MLA Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Sunday, June 19, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/201106192011061902432411a0af9310/FIR-against-rly-tout-posing-as-MLA.html ) Ahmedabad Railway Division on Tuesday filed FIRs against six people for their alleged involvement in a fraud which took place on May 25. The railway division received a call on May 25 from a person who demanded confirmed VIP tickets for Sirohi (Rajasthan) MLA Vinod Jain and his family on Jodhpur-Bangalore Express. The senior divisional railway manager’s personal secretary, who answered this call, noticed the incoming mobile number was a local one. He confirmed only one of the three tickets and briefed senior ticket teller Radhakrishna Rajpurohit of the situation. Rajpurohit inquired with the passenger, Vinod Jain, how he had received a ticket that was reserved for MLAs. Vinod promptly responded that the ticket was given to him by K...