Yogesh Avasthi

Despite promising to print question banks for Class 11 science by mid-September, Gujarat State School Textbook Board fails to print them; Angry parents allege that the board is involved in a conspiracy to profit private publishers Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, October 24, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2011102420111024021632391b109836e/Board-fails-to-print-Std-11-question-bank.html ) Gujarat State School Textbook Board (GSSTB) had proudly announced that it was putting together sets of self-assessment papers (swadhyay-pothi) for class XI students to help them prepare for semester exams introduced this year. The officials had assured that the reasonably priced question banks would be available for sale by mid-September. September came and went. Students, too, are done with their first semester exams. Still, the textbook board’s question banks are nowhere in sight. N D Trivedi, sales officer of Gujarat State Textbook Board’s Ahmedabad operations, said, “I don’t

A five-member unit, equipped with high-tech gadgets to detect explosive, formed to counter bomb scare at rly station Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Saturday, October 15, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/20111015201110150236479657b8cf41a/Ahmedabad-RPF-gets-bomb-squad.html ) To effectively tackle bomb scare and help in preventing terror strikes at Ahmedabad railway station, a five-member bomb squad, equipped with the latest gadgets, has been formed by Railway Protection Force (RPF). The full-fledged squad will not only detect threat quickly but also reduce the dependence on the police bomb detection and disposal squad. The initiative is the railways’ attempt to provide security to sensitive and vulnerable stations in the country. “RPF Ahmedabad is now well-equipped to tackle any threat. The squad members have been given three-month rigorous training by National Security Guards (NSG). Whenever there is a bomb scare at the station, it leads to commotion until the bomb squad a

Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Thursday, October 06, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/20111006201110060439557798026328b/All-ticket-collectors-to-use-handheld-terminals.html ) Nearly two years ago, Ahmedabad Railway Division had introduced Hand Held Terminals (HHT) in a few trains on trial basis. In a couple of months, the system will be applied to all the trains in Ahmedabad division. Indian Railways had launched a new HHT system of Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) in the Ahmedabad division in October 2009. The system was aimed to help the railways do away with paper charts as they will be available online. HHT will also enable last minute reservation. Ahmedabad Railway Division officials said, “There are around 450 Travel Ticket Examiners in Ahmedabad division. We have requested the necessary HHTs to be given to us. We will receive them in a few months. After the TTEs are trained to use the system correctly we will implement the same in every train in our div

Ahmedabad Railway Division, taking a cue from Vadodara division, will start SMS-based complaint system within two months for passengers to register their grievances Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Wednesday, October 05, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2011100520111005021816495be378f6b/Soon-you-can-SMS-your-complaints-to-rlys.html ) In a bid to make the journey for passengers safer and more convenient, the Ahmedabad division of the Western Railway will launch an SMS-based complaint system and ‘Say No to Bribe’ campaign following the foot steps of the Vadodara division that started a similar system on Tuesday. The facility which will be operational in Ahmedabad within two months will enable passengers to send their complaints and grievances through SMS to a number which will be announced at a later date. The travellers will also be able to communicate through emails. At present, if travellers face any problem during the journey, they have to write down the complaint availa

Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University’s Deep Aghera’s disability is being probed after he was accused of availing himself the PH category without qualifying for the same. Authorities say if charge is proved, his admission will be cancelled Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Tuesday, October 04, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/20111004201110040325465844f59640c/Student%E2%80%99s-handicap-under-scanner.html ) A student of Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) is under investigation for an alleged malpractice for admission under the physically handicapped (PH) category. The details of this particular case have come to the fore through a series of RTI applications filed by Ajay Mishra. Deep Bharat Aghera, a student of BTech (petroleum engineering), received admission in 2009 against seat reserved for the handicapped. To be eligible for admission in PH category, the applicant had to be medically certified as above 40 per cent handicapped. However, the medical report issued

My story 'WHO CARES ?' the link  - http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/201109212011092102132781263bffba4/WHO-CARES.html regarding the dumping of entire sadbhavna suggestion box in to a dust bin by careless officials of CM, published in AHMEDABAD MIRROR on 21/09/2011. SANDESH  carried an editorial on the story we broke in their issue dated 29/9/11

Modelled on a bullet train, it will have toilets, large windows and air suspension springs for a jerk-free four-hour journey Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Wednesday, September 28, 2011 ( http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2011092820110928023046461b744d248/New-DEMU-train-to-Patan-from-today.html ) A new diesel electric multiple unit (DEMU) train, modelled on a bullet train, will run between Ahmedabad and Patan from today. It will be the first demu train in the western region to have a new design, closed coaches for women and an array of facilities, including toilets. For the past several years, people have been demanding toilets on short-distance trains. The Ahmedabad-Patan demu will run via Gandhinagar, Mehsana and Bahucharaji. The journey time is four hours. Every day close to 4,000 people travel on this route. These include working professionals, contract workers and students. For some time now the railways have been contemplating introduction of a train on this route. The train

After officials at two stations fail to clean pest-infested train, passengers pull chain; clean-up and written apology by officials got them moving 2 hours later   Yogesh Avasthi   Posted On Friday, September 23, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/2011092320110923015322902b035bc0e/Roach-coach.html) Cockroaches (circled) crawled out of sockets, window panes and berths, said passengers Imagine hordes of cockroaches crawling over you. Disgusting? Now, imagine the hairy pests crawling all over you in a closed room. This was the plight of passengers who were forced to share bed and food with roaches and even rats inside the Hapa-Bandra Express. The holiday special train, which had left Hapa at 5 pm on Wednesday, was brought to a halt by agitated passengers at Ahmedabad Railway Station at 11 pm after railway officials en route failed to act on their repeated complaints. The train left the station two hours later after