Truth Prevails...

Kankaria zoo officials laid a trap and captured the animal that had attacked nearly 25 people in a fortnight By Hemington James Posted On Wednesday, November 26, 2008 at 02:41:18 AM The officials of Kamala Nehru zoo nabbed a monkey from Navrangpura area on Tuesday. It had become a menace for societies in the area. The monkey had attacked around 25 people in a fortnight and a few of them suffered severe injuries. It had targeted residents and damaged vehicles and property. Following residents’ complaint, the veterinary officials of the zoo kept a watch in the area. On Tuesday, the officials laid a trap and caught the monkey before taking it to Kankaria Zoo. Dr Jayant Kacha Veterinary officer of Kankaria zoo Dr Jayant Kacha said, “Generally, monkeys stay in groups. But when they get separated from the group, they carry out frenzied attacks. That is what happened with this monkey. The residents had complained about the menace a few days ago. We kept a watch and managed to catch it today....

From disaster sites, victims need not go to hospitals any more. Hospitals will go to disaster sites instead By Hemington James Posted On Friday, December 05, 2008 at 02:35:32 AM The need of an organised relief operation was felt during the Shakunt Hotel collapse in Feb ‘08 Armed with five mass medical casualty containers from a Turkey-based firm, the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA) is now better equipped to fight natural calamities. The containers, reaching the warehouse of GSDMA at Adalaj few days ago, are full of medical equipment, including first aid kits and heart pumping equipment. According to sources, 100 patients can be treated by 25 doctors simultaneously with the help of the gadgets and kits in the containers, which would be finally based at Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Baroda, Surat and Gandhidham. According to Mahernus Dastur, the chief fire officer of Ahmedabad Fire Brigade, the containers would be of great use to fight natural calamities. The Urban Search and...

Armed with a bagful of tricks, class VIII student of DPS challenges old hands in the business By Hemington James Posted On Monday, November 24, 2008 at 04:16:11 AM Amir Chezara, 13, has mastered more than 40 tricks. He learnt magic from his sister last year He has what it takes to be a stage performer — a bagful of tricks and the grit to stand up to a challenge. Amir Chezara, 13, is a magician and a serious competition for big guns like Ugesh Sarkar, India’s first street magician. Amir, a class VIII student in Delhi Public School and resident of Juhapura, has mastered more than 40 magic tricks from playing cards and coins to cans and mobiles phones. Small wonder then that Amir is a hit among his school mates. He has bunch of friends crowding around him during recess. And he doesn’t fail to delight them with an impromptu show of skills. “I learnt magic from my sister during my trip to UK during vacation last year,” says Amir. “In the following months, I picked up dozens of tricks. I hav...

Corporation, which is planning to illuminate 11 darwajas in the walled city, will go ahead with its plan after ASI nod By Hemington James Posted On Friday, November 21, 2008 at 02:34:10 AM Amdavadis will be treated to a stunning spectacle as 11 gates, built by medieval ruler Ahmed Shah, across the walled city are lit up with floodlights. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is planning to illuminate 11 gates, of which nine are declared as the protected monuments and are being maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). AMC is also planning to complete the project by December 25. “We are planning to illuminate all the darwajas in the walled city. Our aim is to bring these precious assets back in the spotlight. Not many cities have such a heritage and we want people to notice such things about our city,” said municipal commissioner I P Gautam adding that, “AMC will also light up Bhadra Fort under this project.” However, the AMC is awaiting the ASI’s nod before it goes in...

Yogesh Avasthi, Hemington James By Yogesh Avasthi and Hemington James Posted On Friday, November 14, 2008 at 02:45:42 AM After training around 7,600 teachers in primary eye examination of school children in 2006-07, the State Education Department will once again train teachers under its Blindness Control Programme for 2008-09. Under the programme, a teacher from each primary school, preferably a lady teacher wearing glasses, will be trained for conducting primary eye examination on a student. The day-long training programme will be conducted on November 15 at Scout Bhavan, NP Thakkar College in Paldi. A circular by the Ahmedabad district education officer, detailing the training programme, was sent to all schools on November 10. According to data available with the government, approximately 7 per cent of the children in the age group 6 to 14 suffer from vision problem and around 5 per cent drop out of school due to this. The state government is celebrating 2008 as “Nirogi Baal Varsh” ...

Police to distribute cancer awareness booklets among people during garba By Hemington James Posted On Saturday, October 04, 2008 at 02:11:28 AM Pankaj Shah Fight against cancer just got a shot in the arm. The state police has joined the drive against the disease and will go about distributing a pamphlet ‘Cancer Samachar’ to people during Navratri. The literature on the dreaded disease was prepared by Cancer Hospital. The booklet, focused on raas and garba, was conceptualised by father of a cancer patient and doctor at Cancer Hospital Dr Bharat Parikh. Hospital director Pankaj Shah said, “The efforts undertaken to spread awareness about the causes of cancer will get a boost with the police contributing to the drive. We talked to state DGP P C Pande about our plans, and he readily agreed to allow his men to participate in the pamphlet distribution.” As per the plan, the pamphlets would be sent to every district of the state. Police deputed for security at the major Navratri mahotsavs wil...

Vitthaldas Vaghela’s popular garba songs play at all major venues in state By Hemington James Posted On Thursday, October 09, 2008 at 02:50:41 AM Vithalda Vaghela is in search of a publisher who could print his bhajans and Garbas he has written till now With 1,426 bhajans and 1,668 garba lyrics, 78-year-old Vitthaldas Vaghela has no match far and wide when it comes to penning songs. Vaghela can write on anything under the sun, instantly. He has been so prolific and popular that at least one of his songs are played at least once in the night at major venues during Navratri. Born on September 2, 1930 in Lakhtar taluka of Saurashtra, Vaghela started off as a watch repairer who was deeply interested in the region’s popular folk art ‘Dayra’. With time, his passion gained intensity and he took to writing ‘lok geets’ and garbas full time. Vaghela songs are based on the social milieu, on community issues and causes like the fight against cancer and on politics and politicians. His recent lyric...

49 Dutch tombs are under the care of State Archaeological Survey department, which seemingly has not been able to do much towards its upkeep By Hemington James Posted On Friday, September 26, 2008 at 02:27:08 AM A portrait of Ahmedabad of 1672 which was made by Philip Baldeaus, a Dutchman It’s a legacy of the Dutch we’ve failed to preserve. Dutch tombs at the One Tree Hill Garden in Kankaria are in a state of neglect, and just not in keeping with the high standards of artistry and building prowess the European community possessed. The cemetery consists of 49 Dutch tombs and some Armenian graves, all of which date back to the period between 1615 and 1700. The structures are under the care of State Archaeological Survey department (SAD), which though has not been able to do much towards its upkeep. The cluster of tombs was declared a heritage site in 1972 when the land was taken over by the archaeology department from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. Since then, AMC plays no role in ...

A corporate revolution cooking behind jail gates By Jignesh Barot and Hemington James Posted On Wednesday, July 01, 2009 at 03:40:02 Ahmedabad Mirror A corporatisation revolution is sweeping the Sabarmati Jail of late. Inmates have been making an assortment of consumer durables and food items for some time now, but jail authorities now want to get products made under ‘Prison Inc’ brand registered under Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). Some of these goods are exceptional, and the fear is their imitations can surface in the market. So no more running the risk.If their ‘jail bhajias’ are goodies to die for, wait till you see the latest addition in their repertoire — the made-to-order furniture. With enhanced skill-sets, inmates can make top-notch woodwork to match your exact specifications. They’re value for money. Stuff you will want to kill for.The one shortcoming Prison Inc products faced was disorganised and erratic distribution. The plan now is to market them better. This entail...

Sabarmati Jail’s ‘Mobile Bhajiya’ van venture inaugurated with much ‘fanfare’ at Sachivalaya on Wednesday By Hemington James and Jignesh Barot Posted On Thursday, July 02, 2009 at 02:54:14 Ahmedabad Mirror Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Balwant Singh (left) and DGP S S Khandwawala (centre) bite into some crispy jail bhajiyasThe word doing the rounds in Sachivalaya these days is neither transfers nor the fresh targets set after state Budget, it is the availability of ‘jail bhajiya’ next-door. Sabarmati Jail’s ‘Mobile Bhajiya’ van made its first stop at Sachivalaya after being inaugurated by Additional Chief Secretary (ACS Home) Balwant Singh on Wednesday.On popular demand, the fried food made by jailbirds will now be sold at various places in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad from mobile vans every alternate day. On the first day, the van distributed about 50 kg of the stuff, apart from 500 veg puffs and 800 ladoos, to at least 600 people, from top cops, bureaucrats to the common man. And...

Dr Atul Thakre who died in Istanbul was cremated on Saturday; he was the only surgeon in the country to use robots in the field of paediatric urology By Hemington James and Jignesh Barot Posted On Sunday, July 05, 2009 at 02:36:42 Ahmedabad Mirror Atul Thakre is survived by his wife Nita, a gynaecologist with SAL hospital, and children Anuj (15) and Udit (18)Dr Atul Thakre, a 44-year-old paediatric urologist from the city who died in Turkey on Thursday, was cremated in Ahmedabad on Saturday afternoon. The medical fraternity mourned the death of their colleague, who was the only surgeon in the country to perform robotic surgery in the field of paediatric urology.Dr Thakre’s body was flown from Istanbul and arrived at the Ahmedabad airport at 8 am. Throughout the day, people streamed into his house at Kalash Apartment on Stadium Road to offer their condolences. The doctor — who ran Welcare Hospital in Navrangpura — is survived by his wife Nita, a gynaecologist with SAL hospital, and chil...

Jilted Raikhad lover distributes fake engagement invites to avenge rejection By Hemington James Posted On Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 03:07:45 Ahmedabad Mirror A Raikhad man spurned by the girl of his dreams distributed fake engagement invites in the names of the girl’s parents, claiming she was getting engaged to him on July 26.A complaint has been filed by the girl’s family at Satellite police station against the jilted lover, Sesil Christian, 33, a resident of Christian Colony.The complaint claims Christian had proposed marriage to the girl, residing in Satellite, almost a month ago. When the girl rejected his proposal, he got the engagement invites printed and distributed.The invites mentioned the girl’s parents as hosts of a ring ceremony between Sesil and their daughter, and were sent to the pastors of various churches in the city. This was done about a week ago.When one of the pastors known to the girl’s family enquired about the ring ceremony, the girl’s parents were shocked. T...

Travel company Cox & Kings will promote Sabarmati jail bhajiyas By Dhwani Pathak & Hemington James Posted On Thursday, July 16, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror) The firm organised a corporate food fest at the bhajiya van on Wednesday. It also invited officials of several other companies, including a few airlinesIt’s not just foodies who are thronging to the snacks van run by inmates of the Sabarmati Central Jail. Corporates, too, are lining up. After State Bank of India (SBI), another company has offered to help prison officials to popularise traditional delicacies, especially bhajiyas, prepared by prisoners. Cox & Kings India Ltd, a global travel company, on Wednesday said that it would help prison officials build — and promote — brand ‘Jail Bhajiya’. “As part of our corporate social responsibility (CSR), we want to support snacks van initiative of the Sabarmati jail,” the vice-president of Cox & Kings, Sanjeev Chhajer, said. “We want to create the brand ‘Jail Bhajiya’. sabar...

Subscribers in 48 areas of the city affected; BSNL suffers Rs 4 crore revenue loss By Hemington James and Krutika Pillarisett (Ahmedabad Mirror) Posted On Saturday, July 18, 2009 at 03:04:52 AM In many areas, roads have been dug up to lay cablesOver 8,300 BSNL phone lines have gone dead owing to digging of roads at various places in the city for various reasons. But the good part is that BSNL authorities have taken it upon themselves to take up damage control and restore the snapped cables fast.Phone cables have been damaged at 48 places in the city affecting as many as 8,362 phone lines. Of these, 3,000 lines have been damaged in the central zone, 2,100 in the east zone, 2,500 in the north zone and 500 in the west zone. The worst-affected is the Geeta Mandir area where there has been a lot of digging activity by the AMC and the pits have not been filled up.Subscribers have not been the only losers with the lines going dead, BSNL too has had to forgo Rs 4 crore in the form of revenue...

Encroachment along BRTS corridor plays havoc in trial run; Mayor Thakore calls for urgent measures By Hemington James Posted On Saturday, July 04, 2009 (Courtesy: Ahmedabad Mirror) On Friday, BRTS conducted a day-long trial run. Its buses covered...Time AMTS buses take to cover the same distance: 20 mins The first day-long trial run of Ahmedabad Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) was anything but rapid. The trial run, involving six buses and 34 drivers, was divided into three phases (6 am to 8 am, 1 pm to 4 pm, 8 pm to 9.30 pm).In each phase, the buses plied between Chandranagar in Paldi and GMDC, GujaratUniversity. It took the BRTS buses almost 40 minutes to cover the 7-km distance on all three occasions. This performance would make a snail look faster. An AMTS bus would cover this distance in less than 20 minutes.This correspondent rode a BRTS bus between 1 pm and 4 pm along with Mayor Kanaji Thakore. After the journey, a highly dissatisfied Mayor was seen grumbling away before BRTS ...