Yogesh Avasthi

Yogesh Avasthi | Ahmedabad Mirror | Jan 23, 2017,(Ahmedabad Mirror pg one : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/no-teachers-no-libraries-no-labs-no-blackboards-no-toilets-no-buildings/articleshow/56727283.cms Students of the government college in Gambhoi shiver as they try to pay attention to their teacher while the chilly breeze of a winter noon blows. Though a large tree stands nearby, they prefer to be seated on a thin plastic sheet in the open ground so that the sun's rays can warm their cold bodies. With one ear, they listen to the teacher, the other cocked for the bell of Gambhoi High School to ring farewell to the kids. The bell means warmth in winter and shade in scorching summer as even two years after being set up, the college does not have a building of its own and these students wait for the school to get over to occupy the empty classrooms. Despite all these hassles, students at this 'college' are better off than many other governm

By Yogesh Avasthi | Jan 9, 2017, (Ahmedabad Mirror pg one :  http://ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/cover-story/on-vggs-website-you-better-know-your-english/articleshow/56408448.cms   Welcome to Jeevant Gujarat Vishwa Sikhar Varta. Baffled? Well, something always gets lost in translation. And if you are one of the hundreds of foreign delegates visiting the eighth edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit who have clicked the official website, you will be left more confused than usual. The portal that boasts of supporting 103 national and international languages is rife with translation goofs. The site which is in English uses an online software to translate the text, and the result is a comedy of errors. Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit turns into Jeevant Gujarat Vishwa Sikhar Varta in Nepali. When translated in Gujarati, the page lists partner country as ‘jivansaathi desh’. A jivansaathi is a partner, but every partner cannot be a jivansaathi (or life partner, to be precis

By Yogesh Avasthi & Zahid Qureshi | Dec 21, 2016,  http://ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/cover-story/to-hell-with-safety-on-school-buses/articleshow/56090514.cms Last Friday 30 students of Tapovan School had a narrow escape when their school bus suddenly caught fire. A fire official found short-circuit as the primary cause of the fire. A major tragedy was averted, but the incident caused panic among parents and raised questions about safety of students in school buses. The Supreme Court has clearly set guidelines for safety of students in school buses. However, a Mirror check of 11 school buses along with traffic officials across the city revealed shocking details. Of the 11 drivers, only two had licences with them, while one was driving on a Learner’s Licence that was created just three days ago. Nine buses did not have fire extinguishers, one of the remaining two had expired four days ago and the other was totally rusted. Nine buses had no first aid boxes, while

By Yogesh Avasthi | Nov 6, 2016, (Ahmedabad Mirror pg one)  http://ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/cover-story/End-of-road-for-57-BE-students/articleshow/55267589.cms Gujarat University’s last ditch effort to allow 82 Bachelor of Engineering (BE) students to clear their backlog for the nth time seems to have met with little success. Only 25 of the 82 students cleared the examination. This after being granted 15 grace marks and a question bank uploaded on the varsity’s website for their benefit. But the perennial defaulters, most of whom are in jobs now, haven’t learnt their lesson. Year after year, these students have been attempting to clear the final BE examination for the past nine years, but with no success. After 12 to 15 attempts, GU allowed the never-say-die students one last attempt to appear for the examination in June. Sources in the Education department said that the 25 students who cleared the examination were granted 15 marks, the maximum possible. Besi