Yogesh Avasthi

The state govt brought 3.86 lakh GU students under the umbrella of accident insurance scheme of New India Insurance Company last year By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Tuesday, December 30, 2008 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2008123020081230031753922879ad1f9 ) Students of the Gujarat University, it seems, face an uninsured future once againThe Gujarat University (GU) students would miss out on the benefits of the insurance cover this fiscal if they meet with an accident as the laggard state government and varsity authorities failed to take initiatives to renew the scheme, which expired on March 31, 2008. The state government brought 3,86,000 GU students under the umbrella of accident insurance scheme of New India Insurance Company last fiscal. But a year on, neither the varsity officials nor the state government authorities recalled that it had to be renewed.The slip has disappointed the var...

Rose Day and Chocolate Day are passe. Students of Sahjanand College enjoy a hatke experience on Sundarkand Day By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Sunday, December 28, 2008 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2008122820081228023012703fd5615b1 ) Ram dhuns and bhajans marked Sundarkand Day for collegians, who wore their uniform — the jeans — but with rudrakshThis is one day which even the Gujarat University vice-chancellor cannot object to. For when Sahjanand College decided to celebrate a day with a difference, they gave it a touch of the spiritual. Ram dhuns and bhajans marked Sundarkand Day for collegians, who wore their uniform — the jeans — but with rudraksh adorning their necks and wrists. Traditionally, it is considered auspicious to hold a recital of Sundarkand, a chapter in the Ram-Charit-Maanas penned by Goswami Tulsidas, on Saturday. So, college students were joined by faculty members on Sa...

St Kabir Institute has built a discotheque to ensure that students party without getting into trouble By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Saturday, December 27, 2008 at 03:17:07 AM (Ahmedabad mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2008122720081227031707845c28295b2 ) The discotheque at St Kabir Institute of Professional Studies has light and sound systems that are seen in popular dance venues in the cityFreshers’ parties — one of the few events that students look forward to — are often a source of headache for colleges, with reports of brawls and harassment being a regular feature. However, an educational institute in the city has found a way to keep trouble-makers at bay, and ensure that students are on their best behaviour even while dancing.The St Kabir Institute of Professional Studies (SKIPS) has opened a ‘discotheque’ in the basement of its campus on Drive-in Road. It is perhaps the first institute in the co...

Why a country of over 100 crore can’t produce Olympic champions? This pic gives you the answer By Charu Pant and Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Thursday, December 25, 2008 at 06:40:28 PM ( Ahmedabad Mirror Cover Story : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20Cover%20Story&sectid=2&contentid=2008122520081225184028658d8c99ec5 ) This boy is no street urchin. He is a kho-kho player representing Gujarat in the National School Games and taking a bath in Delhi on Wednesday when the lowest temp was 9oC. To put things in perspective, the minimum temp in Ahmedabad on Wed was 15oCA day after Ahmedabad Mirror exposed how the Gujarat contingent of 126 students and 12 officials for the on-going National School Games was put up in just four filthy and dilapidated rooms of an under-construction school in Delhi (Shame Games, December 24), more horror stories of our kids’ suffering have come to the fore.While the Gujarat tennis squad of 30 players managed to sh...

Stall owner Vishnu Godpode interacts with customers on SMS, maintains a website and keeps track of bookings through customer identification numbers By Yogesh Avasthi And Dhwani Pathak Posted On Thursday, December 25, 2008 at 03:05:10 AM (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2008122520081225030510376b63f589e ) Vishnu regularly updates his 500-odd customers about his servicesYears ago when his other ventures failed, Vishnu Godpode tried out the ‘pani puri’ business. He soon struck roots, refined the product, added value and took it to a new level. Today, Godpode takes orders on phone and keeps track of bookings through customer identification numbers.Located near HL commerce college, the outlet is called ‘IIM Mineralwater panipuri’. And Godpode’s product and business practices too live up to the hallowed name he has adopted. Like a trendy fast-food outlet, Godpode’s shop also boasts of a website...

Telecom company earns Rs 10 lakh in revenue from sale of 337 ‘VIP’ numbers By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Wednesday, December 24, 2008 at 03:09:38 AM (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=200812242008122403093817dc9591bd ) The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) seems to have killed two birds with one stone with its auction of ‘VIP’ mobile phone numbers. One, the plan to auction special numbers has stopped the blackmarket of such numbers. Second, it has helped BSNL earn some good cash without investing anything.The company auctioned 6,636 ‘VIP’ numbers in the Gujarat Telecom Circle in the recently introduced series: 94292 and 94293, on its website. Those interested in the numbers had to send an SMS, mentioning the number they wanted and the bid they were putting up for it. The auction that started on December 16 ended at 10 am on Tuesday. The company received 2200 SMSes, with 337 numbers bid b...

Wi-fi networks of city’s elite educational institutes are unsecured and vulnerable to hacking by terror groups, find out AM reporters By Yogesh Avasthi and Deepti Singh Posted On Monday, December 22, 2008 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=20081222200812220232535646949dd22 ) At LD, AM reporter Yogesh Avasthi & Neelam Doctor sit outside one of the faculties and browse through its dial-up box (Bottom)These are city’s premier institutes. They churn out top class IT professionals. They have the brightest in the business, people who know the ins and outs of information technology, working for them. They know how to make networks impregnable and that is what students here learn. But these same organisations display exemplary laxity in securing their own wi-fi networks, making them open to abuse.Startling lapses in internet security were discovered at three elite institutes, LD Engineering Col...