Yogesh Avasthi

The Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad MEMU is back on track even though it fails to generate even one-thousandth of the daily expenditure of Rs 1.2 lakh required to run it By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, August 24, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2009082420090824030752281ccc23a8a ) The ghost train is back on track after the Railway Board did a flip-flop on its decision to withdraw the local train plying between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. In an order dated August 10, the Board ordered the train, which failed to generate even one-thousandth of the daily expenditure of Rs 1.2 lakh required to run it, off the tracks from August 12. However, on the morning of August 12, railway authorities here received another Board notification revoking the earlier order. The latest missive stated the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad MEMU will run till further orders are issued. Asked why the train was...

Ahmedabad railway station authorities prefer to abandon wheelchairs with minor defects than getting them repaired By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Monday, August 24, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=200908242009082403075031d7c03079 ) Ahmedabad railway station authorities on Saturday received three wheelchairs from Dhiren T Shah Charitable Trust, but that doesn’t guarantee hassle-free movement to physically challenged persons on the station premises. For, they might vanish after de veloping minor defects. Sounds strange, but Ahmedabad station authorities prefer to abandon wheelchairs after detecting defects instead of repairing them. At least 25 wheelchairs requiring minor repair have been discarded by railway authorities. All of them have been dumped in the station superintendent’s storeroom (see picture). The picture points out that there is no dearth of wheelchairs at the station. Yet, s...

Booked to capacity, the special train of IRCTC promises hassle-free journey to passengers By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Sunday, August 23, 2009 Bharat Darshan train will give people a chance to travel in comfort on a limited budgetDivisional Railway Manager Ashok Garud on Saturday flagged off the Bharat Darshan Special Tourist Train of IRCTC. The train having “no room” started its journey from platform number one of Ahmedabad railway station at 1 pm sharp.Overcoming the swine flu scare, around 300 passengers boarded the train from Ahmedabad. Around 170 more would join them from Vadodara and Surat. More : (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=200908232009082318505270368acdcb1 )

By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Saturday, August 22, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20Latest&sectid=2&contentid=20090822200908220342415154f56e249 ) This is one tour offer that only the Railways can afford. For tourists, there can’t be anything better. Railways’ IRCTC is inaugurating a 10-day ‘Bharat Darshan’ tour covering 10 cities across the length and breadth of the country for Rs 500 a day from Ahmedabad today. It comes with a little rider — the trips begin bang in the midst of the swine flu epidemic, not the best time to travel. The first tour. The flu scare notwithstanding, the Bharat Darshan tour has been a hit with tourists, what with the low fares, accommodation and sight-seeing provided by the railways for a ticket worth Rs 5,160. All 470 berths were lapped up in the first few days of the offer opening. The special eight-bogie train will be sleeper class. Pravin Parmar, regional director IRCTC Gujarat s...

GRP, RPF conducting separate probes into the case By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Friday, August 21, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=20090821200908210303437654def9adf ) In a shocking incident, a lady RPF constable was allegedly molested at Ahmedabad railway station by a porter last week. The RPF and GRP are investigating into the case. According to sources, the lady constable was on duty on platform No. 12 of the station on August 12 from 5 am. She was deployed there to scan passengers and their luggage. When she intercepted a porter to check the luggage he was carrying, the latter refused to stop. A verbal duel ensued and the porter, Rashid Khan, misbehaved with the lady constable and allegedly molested her. Soon after the incident, the lady constable approached her duty officer and police inspector DS Patel to complain against the porter, but neither allegedly showed interest to take a...

The last bell rings and students rush out of their school gates straight onto busy city roads. Yogesh Avasthi checks out some institutes where traffic bottlenecks are common and fatal accidents are just waiting to happen Posted On Thursday, August 20, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2009082020090820024421593f5f32537 )

Deceased Matafar Yadav’s kin allege that he was not getting salary for the past 36 months By Yogesh Avasthi Posted On Wednesday, August 19, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=3&contentid=2009081920090819032306203ef73e212 ) Pass the buck tactics of the district education officer (DEO) and authorities of Utkarsh Higher Secondary School in Hatkeshwar over disbursement of salary of an English teacher of the institution allegedly led to his death on Tuesday morning. The teacher, 46-year-old Matafar Yadav, was leading a life of penury since DEO had stopped disbursement of his salary after he was nabbed on the charge of peddling brown sugar five years ago. Though he was given clean chit by a court two years later and resumed duty, his salary remained suspended. He allegedly developed several ailments, including diabetis and cardiology problems, owing to financial hardship. After suffering two heart-attack...