29-06-05

Army On Alert: Four persons were killed in Baroda and surrounding areas due to heavy rain on Tuesday (28th June). Over the last two days some 15,000 people have been evacuated in and around Baroda. The evacuees are from 17 villages in Karjan taluka, 28 in Padra taluka and five in Naswadi taluka. The rain left four villages marooned - Puniad in Dabhoi taluka, and Sasrod, Nareshwar, and Simdi in Karjan taluka. The district administration has asked the Army and the Air Force to be on high alert. Several colonies on the city's outskirts remained inundated, and roads turned into waterways in places like Alkapuri, Gorwa, Subhanpura and Sayajigunj. Train and bus services have been badly affected. Over 20 trains were either re-scheduled or diverted on Tuesday because of waterlogging on tracks. GSRTC buses were also delayed and re-scheduled. To top it all, there was a strike by autorickshaws in protest against the rise in petrol and diesel prices. The air services, however, were unaffected. The Vishwamitri River was at 24 feet on Wednesday afternoon. The danger level of the river is at 28 feet. The Ajwa reservoir was at 208.3 feet on Tuesday (its danger level is at 214 feet) while the Pratappura reservoir was at 226.7 feet (its danger level is at 229 feet).

27-06-05

Monsoon Arrives: The summer was so scorching and uncomfortable that people were eagerly looking forward to the monsoon. Now that the monsoon has arrived, with a bang rather than a whimper, some of the eagerness seems to have dissipated. Three days of heavy rain has disrupted normal life in the city and everyone is looking forward to a spell of sunshine so that the waterlogged city can dry up a bit.

Dual Citizenship: A simplified, one-page form for members of the Indian diaspora qualifying for dual citizenship will be issued by India's overseas missions and consulates from August 2005. In normal cases the process will take just two weeks. If there are any doubts, the process may take a little longer, but certainly not more than three months. Dual citizenship will be available to members of the diaspora who migrated from India after January 26, 1950, when India became a republic. It will, however, not be extended to persons of Indian origin, their children and grandchildren who migrated to Pakistan or Bangladesh after January 26, 1950. The dual citizenship will be extended to persons of Indian origin who meet these criteria as long as their home countries also allow dual citizenship in some form or the other. Earlier, dual citizenship was open to persons of Indian origin in 16 countries - Australia, Britain, Canada, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Cyprus, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA.

Sexual Harassment Panel: The MS University will form a committee to redress sexual harassment cases on the campus. Following Supreme Court guidelines the committee will have 50 per cent of its members as females. India's apex court has made it mandatory for all government and non-government organisations to have a mechanism to deal with sexual harassment cases. In a recent survey by a university faculty member 68 per cent of the university's girls said that they were sexually harassed.

16-06-05

VMC Tries For World Bank Loan: The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) is trying to get a loan of over Rs. 10 billion from the World Bank (WB). A WB team visited the city on 11th June to discuss the projects to be undertaken. According to the plans, Rs. 3.75 billion will be spent on drinking water projects, Rs. 1.45 billion on sewerage lines, Rs. 4 billion on storm water drains, Rs. 1 billion on laying new roads and Rs. 1.3 billion on the Vishwamitri River Water Front Project (including construction of mini-dams to conserve rainwater).

Fire At Gujarat Refinery: A major accident was averted at the Indian Oil Corporation's Gujarat Refinery on 15th June when the staff managed to isolate a fire that broke out in one of the pipelines connected to the newly rebuilt fluid catalytic converter (FCC) plant. Three fire-fighting units of the refinery, three from the Vadodara Municipal Corporation and two from the IPCL and GSFC plants took three hours to extinguish the fire. One person escaped with minor burns. The fire broke out just eight months after a major accident (on October 29, 2004) in which the FCC plant was totally damaged and two persons were killed.

Cyber Crime Cell: The Baroda police department will set up a separate cyber crime cell, the first of its kind in Gujarat, to tackle criminal activities in e-commerce and e-banking. The group, to be housed in Police Bhavan, will have 12 members and it will be headed by a sub-inspector. The staff is being trained by the CID Crime Branch and the Gujarat Crime Records Bureau.

03-06-05

New District Collector: Vadodara District Collector Bhagyesh Jha has been shifted to Gandhinagar and appointed Commissioner of Entertainment Tax. He will also hold the post of Director of Information Department. Bharuch Collector Rajiv Topno has replaced Jha as Vadodara District Collector. Junagadh District Collector R.K. Pathak has been transferred and appointed Vadodara Municipal Commissioner. He replaces G.P. Joshi, who has been appointed Director (Finance) in SSNNL (Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd.).

Compulsory Wearing Of Helmets: The Gujarat High Court had made the wearing of helmets compulsory in the state for two-wheeler drivers and pillion riders from June 1. Now the court has granted a temporary reprieve to the government by extending the date for the strict implementation of the order till June 16. The interim order was passed after the government stated that making available standard ISI mark helmets for 5.2 million drivers and pillion riders through vendors was a major task.

18-05-05

Helmets Compulsory: The Gujarat High Court has made the wearing of helmets compulsory in the state for two-wheeler drivers and pillion riders from June 1. The court has also directed that all encroachments on public streets and highways must be removed immediately and has fixed the responsibility on the police inspector or concerned officer of the local authority under whose jurisdiction the encroachments are found. The court’s order extends to traffic regulations like parking in residential and commercial complexes. The court also directed police officers in charge of highway patrolling to see that vehicles which are not ‘motor vehicles’ like bullock carts, camel carts and cycles have reflectors and said that separate traffic lanes for slow-moving and fast-moving vehicles must be marked.

Scooby Dhoom: Food Festival, at Sayaji Hotel. From 6.30 to 11 p.m.

06-05-05

HSC Results: Thirteen students got the top ten ranks in the recentlydeclared HSC Science Stream results. Eight are from Ahmedabad. Only two girls made it to the list. The first two ranks were taken by two students of Surat’s V.M. Desai Madhyamik Shala (the ninth ranked student is also from the same school). The pass rate was 54.96 per cent, four per cent more than last year. The pass rate was actually 30 per cent, but the Gujarat Secondary Education Board granted up to 30 grace marks to every student on the brink so that 8,000 more students passed. The pass rate for English-medium students was 64.25 per cent and for Gujarati-medium students it was 53.28 per cent. 4,715 students got distinction marks, 4,852 got first class, 10,150 got second class, and 12,700 got third class. Of the 42,195 boys who sat for the exam, 22,437 (53.17 per cent) passed, and of the 16,784 girls 9,980 (59.46 per cent) passed.

No student from Vadodara made it to the top ten of the Gujarat merit list. The pass percentage was 59.31. Of the 6,466 students who appeared from Vadodara, 3,836 passed. The top position from Vadodara is shared by two students - Saaransh Desai from Bright English Medium School, Karelibaug, and Sanket Mehta from New Era High School, Makarpura. In the second rank is Bhumi Agarwal from Don Bosco High School, Makarpura. The third place was taken by Jinil Doshi from Jeevan Sadhana (English Medium). Only three girls figure in the list of top ten.

This year there were 18,771 seats available in medical, paramedical and professional colleges, which should accommodate most of the 22,259 students who have secured up to 40 per cent.

The HSC general examination result for 2005 will be declared on May 16 and for SSC examination before May-end.

30-04-05

Wasteland For Corporate Farming: The Gujarat government will throw open 3.9 million hectares of wasteland - 19.89 per cent of the state's total geographical area of 19.6 million hectares - for corporate farming. A government resolution has been finalised to allow business houses and competent farmers to make use of the wasteland for conducting profitable business in agriculture. The maximum land to be allowed to a single entrepreneur will be 2,000 acres for up to 20 years lease. The hope is that the entrepreneur will develop micro-irrigation techniques and use biological waste to grow crops on arid land that is owned by the government but not in use. Most of the waste land is in Kutch and Banaskantha. This is the second step towards developing a free market in the farming sector. The first one was a government resolution issued recently to allow corporates to enter into contracts with individual farmers for producing particular crops.

Sanskrit Speaking Course: The Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthanam will start Sanskrit speaking course from May 10 at Shreyas Vidyalaya, Manjalpur. Details of enrolment are available on phone numbers 2656732 and 2642473.

CSC Summer Activities: The Community Science Centre (CSC) has planned special summer activities for students on subjects like vedic mathematics, calligraphy and science experiments. Details are available on phone number 2389749.

29-04-05

Law Course After HSC: MS University’s Faculty of Law will start a five-year self-financed integrated Law course from 2005-2006. Admission will be straight after HSC. Eligibility is 50 per cent in HSC exam and the aspirants will have to clear an entrance test. The cost per semester will be Rs. 7,500. The syllabus will be similar to that of other national universities. There is provision for 80 seats, 70 % of them for students from Gujarat.

Smart Cards In MSU Libraries: MS University will soon have 'Library Smart Cards' for students, teachers and researchers. To be introduced from August 12 (the birth anniversary of the father of library science S.R. Ranganathan), the barcoded, laminated, plastic smart card will have details like name, age, faculty, email ID and photograph of the student. Students will be able to use this facility at Sir Sayajirao Memorial Trust Library and Hansa Mehta Library. The Hansa Mehta Library has also launched its Web OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) where one can check out the books available in the library and also search for a book by author name, book title or subject. The IP address of the site is http://172.21.11.2.

HSC Results: The Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) will declare the results of the HSC exams, held in March, on May 5 at 10 a.m.

Industrial Safety Course: A 9-month vocational training course on Industrial Safety & Fire Services has been started at the Baroda-based National Fire Academy. The course is recognised by the Union Ministry of Human Resources. Admissions will start from May 1.

Rajasthani Food Festival: Till May 12, 2005. 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. At Taj Residency. Also, live folk dances.

22-04-05

Course For Detectives: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University has announced a one-year diploma course to train potential detectives. The course will start from June 2005. Only graduates will be eligible for the course. The university will run five centres in Gujarat - two in Ahmedabad and one each in Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot. Each centre will have 20 students. For practical training, the students will intern with police department, forensic science laboratories and private detective agencies.

Teacher Exchange Programme: Baroda High School (BHS) has entered into a teacher exchange programme with Mail Hill School, a UK-based chain of public schools. Under this tie-up, BHS Biology teacher T. Srinivas will go to teach in UK schools, and a teacher of Mill Hill will come to BHS to teach Economics and Business Studies.

18-04-05

Manoj Soni Is MSU V-C: Manoj Soni, a 39-year-old reader in Sardar Patel University (SPU) at Vallabh Vidyanagar, has been appointed vice-chancellor of MS University of Baroda. He succeeds K.C. Upadhyaya and took charge on 17th April. The youngest vice-chancellor ever appointed at MSU, he completed his degree and masters in political science from MSU's Arts Faculty in the 1980s. He did his Ph.D. from SPU, Vallabh Vidyanagar.

Vivekanand Memorial: A memorial is being set up for Swami Vivekanand at Dilaram Bungalow on R.C. Dutt Road. The spiritual leader had stayed at this bungalow in April 1892 as a guest of the Diwan of Baroda state. The bungalow has been handed over to the Ramakrishna Mission by the Gujarat government.

Acrylic Paintings: ‘Echo’ - an exhibition of acrylic paintings by Mumbai-based artistes Birendra Pani and Rajiba Lochan Pani. At Kaleidoscope Gallery of Contemporary Art, Subhanpura. Till April 30. 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

09-04-05

Model Sewage Treatment Plant: Did you know that the sewage treatment unit at Gajrawadi in Baroda is the only plant in the world that is based on nuclear radiation. The Sludge Hygenisation Research Irradiator (SHRI) of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) will soon attain its optimum treatment capacity of 110 cubic metres per day and produce 1,000 tonnes of organic manure annually. The field trials have been satisfactory and BARC may collaborate with private entrepreneurs to market the organic manure. Commissioned in 1992, the facility uses radioactive ‘Cobalt 60’ to irradiate and hygenise sewage. The technology involves irradiating sewage from across the city with Cobalt 60, a radioactive material. The process results in killing of al pathogenic bacteria in the waste. The resulting sludge is sun-dried and acts as organic manure. The Gajrawadi sewage treatment plant has been recognised by international agencies as a model project. It is considered to be a model plant because it not only makes the sludge pathogen free but also because the sludge can be used as manure. BARC had established the SHRI plant with the help of Vadodara Municipal Corporation and the Gujarat government. Vadodara has 100 per cent sewage treatment facility. Though organic fertilisers are available many of them are not pathogen-free. If farmers use conventional sludge without irradiating it, it has the same side effects as that of any chemical fertiliser. The irradiated sludge produced through the Baroda project can increase crop yield if used along with bio-fertilisers like rhizobium and azetobacter.

Parking Spaces: The Gujarat High Court recently directed the state government to instruct all local authorities, including municipal corporations, to ensure that applications for change of parking spaces to any other use are not entertained. The order applies to all future applications as well as to all pending applications regarding changing or regularising the use of parking spaces.

Adventure Camps: Gujarat Nature Conservation Society will organise adventure camps in the Nature Park at Sindhrot every Thursday to Sunday with effect from April 21. For details contact 93272-33176.

08-04-05

Art & Craft Festival: Till 11th April. 10.30 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. Parsi Agiyari Ground, Sayajigunj.

Goan Carnival: Till 10th April. 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Taj Residency, Akota.