Yogesh Avasthi

Beginning September 5, arts, commerce and science colleges will start their day with a prayer in the assembly hall. It will be followed by news highlights, GK quiz and debate on current affairs Yogesh.Avasthi Posted On Wednesday, August 31, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/20110831201108310238352452fb7976d/By-God-theres-more-to-College-than-lectures.html ) Call it divine intervention. Beginning September 5, city colleges that are busy round the year with ectures and examinations will start their day with a prayer session in the assembly hall. The higher education department has asked arts, science and commerce colleges to hold ‘sarva dharma’ prayers every day. Students will be asked to compulsorily attend the session. The idea is to inculcate a spirit of togetherness and begin the day on a positive note. After the 3 to10 minute prayer, students will read out news headlines in English and Gujarati. This will be followed by general knowledge quiz and discussion/debate...

GTU will convert 100 best student prototypes designed to meet needs of industries in Gujarat into commercially viable products. It will also seek patents for 1,000 cost-effective models created by engineering students, faculty Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, August 29, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/2011082920110829020543362984c30f2/100-student-ideas-to-help-industries-grow.html ) Gujarat Technological University (GTU) plans to incubate 100 best research prototypes created by final year students of engineering and pharmacy after mapping industry requirements over six months. It will also file for 1,000 patents to protect their intellectual property rights. As part of a project initiated by GTU and Techpedia – a brainchild of IIMA professor Anil Gupta – more than 50,000 students had visited micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the state to identify their problems and understand their needs in the technical domain. They even carried out the technology,...

No more annual exam as CCE will check students’ performance in scholastic areas as well as their thinking ability, emotional skills, behaviour and understanding of values Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, August 22, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/20110822201108220258346654552038c/2013-to-usher-in--new-evaluation-for-primary-kids.html ) Soon, ratta marna will no longer get your kids good grades in school. After higher secondary school and colleges, primary schools in the state are facing an overhaul of the existing education system. Under the Model Rules of the Right to Education Act, rote learning will be replaced by a system of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) that will take into account the talents of children in fields such as music, dance, art, writing and oratory along with their analytical ability and intelligence. Semester system will be introduced in classes 6, 7 and 8 in 2012. It will be implemented in classes 1 to 5 in 2013. Total learning pac...

With GTU asking institutes to fill up seats by September 5, professional institutes are going all out to woo students Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Sunday, August 21, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/201108212011082102594261e6593b62/Join-MBA-or-MCA-get-laptop-EMI-option-discounts.html ) The rising number of vacant seats in MBA and MCA courses every year has left professional institutes in the state worried. They are now trying hard to woo students with attractive offers. The management authorities, who till a few years ago, looked hard-pressed to accommodate your ward in these courses, are now keen to welcome you along with freebies and discounts. Newspapers are replete with advertisements offering you a laptop or discount in the admission fee, while giving you an option of different colleges to choose from. “If you are a graduate with Gujarat Common Entrance Test (GCET)/Management Aptitude Test(MAT)/Common Aptitude Test (CAT) or any other valid entrance score, join our c...

Gujarat State School Textbook Board will be publishing question banks for reference and to help students grasp textbook material better Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Thursday, August 18, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/201108182011081803495858731f01bca/Question-banks-for-first-sem-Class-XI-to-be-released-.html ) Question banks for students of Class XI (science) of all four subjects will be published by Gujarat State School Textbook Board by mid-September. Semester system has been introduced in the state in the academic year 2011- 2012. In the year after, the semester system will be carried forward. Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Higher Education Board had declared that the first and third semester exams would be entirely objective type, whereas the second and fourth semester exams will be a mix of subjective and objective type questions. “The question banks were made by experts in the respective subjects. A question was picked from every line in the text book to e...

The university has initiated a project that requires students to come up with 10 low-cost innovations in 10 months for economically weaker section Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Wednesday, August 17, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2011081720110817023522305d6e0c1b6/Innovation-drives-GTU-into-action.html ) With an aim of promoting low-cost innovations, Gujarat Technological University (GTU) has tasked final year engineering students with a unique project – 10 innovations in 10 months. Students and faculty members will also be analysing the trend of expired patents to target futuristic needs of the bottom-of-pyramid market. Focus will also be on improving the product quality and minimising the production cost. In order to develop a user-centric model of innovation, the students will measure the need of the industries as well as that of the end users. Users’ choice and affordability have been kept as two of the key parameters in each module. GTU innovation council has estab...

Tuesday’s incident in which a fresher was reportedly slapped by a drunk senior has created panic among other students. They fear the worst is not over yet as outsiders continue to frequent the engineering hostel without anyone checking them Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Thursday, August 11, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2011081120110811021952786c3312d8c/Authorities-turn-blind-eye-as-L-D-hostel-students-suffer-.html ) Tuesday night’s alleged ragging of a fresher by senior students after reportedly consuming alcohol at the L D engineering college hostel has not only created a sense of fear among hostel inmates, but is also indicative that the worst might still be waiting to happen if the authorities continue to turn a blind eye to the problem. A day after the incident, the matter was handed over to the anti-ragging committee, a student was ousted from the hostel and the police were trying to trace the ‘guilty’ students. But this has done little to create a sense of securi...

MSc students will be first to take exams that offer flexible timings. Varsity will fix a week in which candidates can choose the day and time they will appear for the test Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Wednesday, August 10, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/20110810201108100222085459aa6c9e9/Switch-pen-for-mouse-to-take-PG-exams-at-GU-.html ) Gujarat University is planning to abandon the traditional pen-and paper-format in favour of an online exam system for post-graduate courses. The system, to be in place by November, will ensure a transparent and efficient exam process. It will also reduce burden on examiners. On an experimental basis, the online exam will be restricted to science stream initially. Later, it will be extended to commerce and arts courses conducted at the varsity. Vice-Chancellor Parimal Trivedi said, “MSc students will appear for the online exam first. We are preparing a question bank for the 50-mark paper. The online exam database will be uploaded on the...

Swami Vivekanand Institute pilfers electricity from two light poles to power 400-V halogen lamps to illuminate its facade. What is AMC’s loss? Rs 24,000 a month Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Tuesday, August 09, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/2011080920110809021615307ad2ba50d/Why-this-theft-is-a-shocker.html ) At a time when power theft has become a major challenge for the civic body, an educational institute is blatantly rustling electricity to brighten its future. For the past one month, the building of Swami Vivekanand Institute near Akhbarnagar Circle in Nava Vadaj is being left illuminated for 12 hours — from 6.30 pm to 6.30 am. Though unfortunate, wasting electricity is still not a crime in our country, but stealing definitely is. Two 400-volt halogen lamps throw light on the facade of the institute that was set up a year ago. The lamps are tied to two electricity poles across the street. Two white wires snake around the poles (numbered 7786 and 7787) and into mou...

A two-member committee which was asked to investigate allegations against Parimal Trivedi has submitted its findings to the higher education commissioner Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, August 08, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2011080820110808022050250e61ca229/Panel-indicts-VC-Trivedi-for-flouting-norms.html ) Controversies do not seem to leave Gujarat University Vice Chancellor Parimal Trivedi. A two-member committee accompanied by a senior accounts officer that was ordered to look into the allegations of corruption and irregularities has found him prima facie guilty of flouting several norms while awarding tenders. The committee comprised S U Vora, principal of M P Shah Arts and Science College, Surendranagar, and Dr A S Rathod, principal of Gujarat Arts, Science College, Ahmedabad. They were sent to quiz Trivedi and in-charge registrar on June 22. The committee submitted a report of the findings to Higher Education Commissioner Jayanti Ravi on June 23. Jayanti f...

Unlike GU and St Xavier’s boys hostels which do not provide pre-dawn meal to Muslim students fasting during Ramzan, IIMA and NID canteens start at 3.30 am and even offer special menu for sehri and iftar Yogesh Avasthi & Tanushree Bhatia Posted On Saturday, August 06, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/2011080620110806024031973e49c76e7/Fasting-mess.html ) Muslims across the city, including college students, are observing the roza in this holy month of Ramzan. Considered to be a period of spiritual refinement and enlightenment, each fasting day begins with suhur or sehri (pre-dawn meal) and the morning prayer. The breaking of the fast takes place at sundown with water and dates. After the evening prayer, the students savour the iftar (post-dusk meal). While food is not an issue for Muslim day scholars, as many as 35 outstation students residing in Gujarat University hostels have to stock up snacks for suhur. This, because the mess does not make special arrangements f...

To add six more students in the final list for essay test and interviews to make sure that candidates do not feel cheated; exam papers now will be set by four experts Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Wednesday, August 03, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2011080320110803022501231aff3a2e8/SPIPA-admits-to-failure-to-make-changes-in-paper.html ) A day after Mirror reported how the exam paper for a SPIPA entrance test was similar to the entrance exam paper of Shri Rajput IAS Study Centre (SRISC) in Gandhinagar, the institute has decided to change the manner in which the papers are set. Authorities at Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration have initiated a probe into the matter. SPIPA Director Arvind Agrawal accepted that the incident exposed loopholes in the system. “We are creating a policy to rectify this problem. We have decided that exam papers will be set by four or five experts. Either one of these papers will be chosen secretly for the examination or questions fr...

SPIPA’s selection process for IAS coaching under a cloud after 100-marks questions in its entrance exam is ‘copied’ from question paper of Shri Rajput IAS Study Centre which held its test first Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Tuesday, August 02, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/20110802201108020228263629a4a733f/Copy-Cat.html ) In what has brought the integrity of Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (SPIPA) under scanner, as many as 41 of the 80 questions in its entrance examination for IAS coaching also figured in entrance exam paper of Shri Rajput IAS Study Centre (SRISC), Gandhinagar. The Gandhinagar institute had conducted its entrance exam a week before SPIPA conducted the exam for 72 coveted seats. A record 4,579 students had appeared for SPIPA test held on July 17. Civil services is gaining popularity in the state as is evident from the fact that the number of students clearing the exams has been steadily increasing – this year, six students from Gujarat m...

The building which cost Rs 25 lakh lies unused even as passengers continue facing problem with only two windows available that take more than 900 reservation per day Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Tuesday, August 02, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2011080220110802022214603c77be3e4/A-year-on-PRS-centre-at-Sabarmati-rly-station-awaits-inauguration.html ) The new Passengers Reservation System (PRS) building at Sabarmati railway station has been awaiting a VIP for its inauguration for more than a year now. The new building, which was renovated and converted to PRS centre with a cost of 25 lakh, last September has been lying unused and the passengers continue to face problems with only two windows available for the passengers at the station. The centre was developed to cope with the increasing number of passengers in view of development around the area. Already there is a proposal to make the station a halting point for more number of trains and make another terminal at Sabarma...