Burglars target Big Bazaar, flee with over 75 cellphones

A major theft took place at Big Bazaar on SG Highway in the wee hours of Sunday. Thieves broke into the electronics section on the first floor of the store and carted away cash, cellphones, laptops and other items totalling more than Rs 8 lakh. The Satellite police said that the theft occurred between 12.30 and 9.30 am.

Burglars entered the store from its AC plant. They made their way to the electronics section after breaking the grill of a bathroom window on the first floor. In all, they fled with more than 75 cellphones and two laptops. Strangely, they stole 22 cameras, including those used specially for video recording, but later dumped them at a farmhouse near Big Bazaar. Cops recovered these cameras on Sunday night.

“The store shuts down between 10 pm and 11 pm every day. After that a stock audit and counting of cash takes place. These processes last till 2.30 am. Thieves must have broke into the store after that,” the manager of Big Bazaar, Vishal Parmar, said.

Four security guards — Naresh Rajput, Ram Rajput, Bhagwat Rajput and Raju Mackwan — were on duty when burglars struck. Incidentally, a new private security firm was hired by Big Bazaar only a few weeks ago. A police officer, who didn’t want to be named, said that the robbery appeared to be an insider’s job. “It’s not easy to sneak into a store with CCTV cameras and security personnel. The theft appears to be a work of an insider,” the officer said.

Meanwhile, cops have pulled up the store for not installing a CCTV camera at its main entrance. According to a notification issued by the police commissioner, every mall and major store should install a CCTV camera at key entry and exit points. The notification also says that malls should store surveillance footage.

“A warning will be issued to Big Bazaar to install a CCTV camera at its main gate within a week. If it fails to do so, action will be taken against it,” JCP (sector 1) Satish Sharma said.


Special squads to keep night vigil
Following the theft at Big Bazaar, JCP (sector 1) Satish Sharma on Sunday called an emergency meeting of officers of Satellite, Sola and Vastrapur police stations. A decision of forming special night squads was taken at the meeting. “Sixty police personnel, divided in three teams of 20, will patrol western parts of the city at night,” he said.

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Stung by AMC’s apathy lawyer to seek Rs 10 as ‘compensation’

A 57-year-old lawyer who, along with his family, has been facing bee attacks at his residence plans to send a legal notice to civic body chief and demand Rs 10 as ‘damages’.

The reason: earlier this month, he mailed two letters with stamps costing Rs 10 to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to draw its attention to the bee problem. Both the letters were returned unread.

The lawyer, Dilip M Shah, claims the civic body cannot reject any post. “A government department or a body like the AMC cannot refuse any post. My mails were rejected twice. I fail to fathom why,” he said.

Shah has been urging AMC to get rid of a honeycomb on a tree outside his flat in Shital Sagar Apartment, Navrangpura, for more than a month now.

“I and my family members have been facing bee attacks. I have repeatedly requested civic authorities to remove the honeycomb from the tree in front of our kitchen, but to no avail,” he said.

Shah said that the menace of the inspects had forced his family to avoid stepping into the kitchen balcony after sundown. “I wrote to the AMC twice, on April 1 and April 7. On both the occasions, my letters were returned,” he said. “After the letters were sent back, I phoned AMC’s west zone office. My call was transferred to different departments. No official, however, came on the line.”

Shah’s April 1 letter was sent back to him on April 4, while the other on April 8. “The first letter was returned to me without the      stamp,” he claimed.

The lawyer said that he would serve a notice to Municipal Commissioner I P Gautam over the civic body’s failure to take note of his problem and seek the money he spent on stamps. “I and my family members are fed up with these inspects. We don’t want to live in this constant fear of being stung,” he said.

When Mirror contacted Deputy Municipal Commissioner U C Padia, he said that the issue of Shah’s letters had not been brought to his notice. “I will, however, look into this issue,” Padia, who is in charge of west zone, said.

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ONE YEAR AS WIFE’S HOSTAGE

The wife of a 30-year-old man in Gandhinagar tormented him for a year by allegedly locking him up in a small room, starving him and frequently hitting him. This disturbing case of incarceration came to light when the police rescued the man, Dalbir Singh Gill, from his rented house near InfoCity on Friday.

Cops are yet to find out why Dalbir’s wife, Rajvinder Kaur, subjected him to such cruelty. His mother, however, claims Rajvinder tortured him to coerce him into demanding a share of family wealth. Dalbir, who cannot move without a walking frame, used to play cricket in domestic leagues before a road mishap left him with head and leg injuries in 2002.

On Friday when the Gandhinagar mahila police — prodded by Dalbir’s mother — entered his home in Meghdhanush Society III near Info City to rescue him, they found him in a horrifying condition. He was alarmingly frail because of days of starvation; his skin was pale; he smelt terrible and had a thick beard. Worse, months of captivity had left him disoriented.

 The room in which he was allegedly held hostage was dark and unkempt. Cobwebs and termites could be seen all over the place, which had an unmistakable odour of fetid air. “The room and the house’s condition was terrible. There was hardly any food in the kitchen. Dalbir could hardly move and his clothes stank,” a sub-inspector with the Gandhinagar mahila police, A M Brahmbhatt, said.

fter being rescued, the 30-year-old — who claims to have once shared a room with Sachin Tendulkar in Pune before the little master was selected to play for India — was admitted to Gandhinagar Civil Hospital. Doctors who examined him told cops that he had sustained a lot of psychological damage.

Cops freed Dalbir, known to some as Bunty, from captivity after his mother, Sukhdayal Kaur, complained about Rajvinder.

‘Daughter-in-law from hell’

“My daughter-in-law had been harassing my son for quite sometime. I and other family members didn’t intervene because we didn’t want to intrude in their lives,” Sukhdayal said. “I approached cops after I learnt that my son had become a hostage in his own house.”

“She used to lock the house and leave. My son’s neighbours have told me that they have rarely seen windows and doors of his house open,” she claimed. “Rajvinder used to frequently fight with him and even used to hit him.”

Dalbir, she said, often complained about domestic abuse to his neighbours. “They (neighbours) had not seen my son for quite sometime and they were worried,” Sukhdayal said.

‘I was always nice to my husband’

Rajvinder, however, claims that she never ill-treated her husband. She blamed her mother-in-law for creating a rift between her and her man. “I always took proper care of my husband,” she said. “Allegations against me are false.”

No FIR in the case yet The Gandhinagar mahila police have not filed an FIR against the 30-year-old’s wife as they don’t have the powers to do so. They, however, will transfer the case to the sector 7 police, who will then initiate action against her.

Sub-inspector Brahmbhatt said that she had taken statements of both Dalbir and his wife. “He no longer wants to live with his wife. He wants to live with his mother,” she said.

2002 crash left Dalbir with multiple injuries
The incarceration victim married Rajvinder seven years ago. In 2002, his cricket career stopped on a dime following a collision between his motorcycle and a tanker. He sustained multiple brain and leg injuries. He, in fact, was in coma for four months. He was treated at hospitals in Ahmedabad, Mumbai and UK, and he underwent at least four surgeries. 

                                          

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City of lakes

Amdavadis will soon be able to stop cribbing about the lack of recreational places in the city. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has come up with a Raam baan idea: More lakes. Not just one, two or 10 — 34 new lakes will dot the cityscape in a few years. And most of it will be modelled on the Kankaria lakefront.

The sight of Amdavadis thronging the Vastrapur and the Kankaria lakes encouraged the AMC to come up with this plan. It has already implemented the plan in Bapunagar, Asarwa and Baug-e-Firdaus. And, it has proposed to create lakes at Saijpur and Lambha. The remaining 29 lakes have been sanctioned under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Recreational spots

Standing committee chairman Asit Vora said, “The rush at Vastrapur and Kankaria lakes on holidays is unbelievable. We decided to plan a lake in every ward. This will increase the number of recreational spots, reduce the rush and help people enjoy themselves more. The five new lakes will have landscaped gardens, walkways, children’s park and snack parlours.”

He added, “The projects are part of AMC’s effort to create and preserve waterbodies in the city. The lakes will have inlets to recharge the groundwater table. As rainwater will flow into the lakes, it will solve the problem of waterlogging. Several trees will be planted here. This will green up the area and bring down the temperature. The city will become more beautiful.”


Developing environment

AMC chief I P Gautam said, “The lakes will help develop the micro environment. Trees planted at the lake will clean up the air in its one-kilometre radius. These spots will develop as a parallel eco-system. Most of the lakes had dried up. The lake beds were choked. Dregging the bottom will not only help groundwater to percolate easily, it will also increase the lake’s water-holding capacity. This helps in recharging the groundwater table successfully.”

Under construction

“The Lal Bahadur Shastri lake in Bapunagar is coming up on an area of 1.36 lakh sq metres. The 15-m deep lake will have water capacity of 83.2 crore litres. Currently, the bottom of the lake is being levelled. Just the earthwork will cost about Rs 4.25 crore,” said an AMC official.

Spread on an area of 68,000 sq m, the lake in Asarwa will be ready by December. It will cost the AMC Rs 11 crores. The AMC spent Rs 70 lakh on the lake in Baug-e-Firdaus. The construction will be over soon.

The lake in Lambha will be built for Rs 30 lakh. The Saijpur lake in the planning stage. It will be constructed on 41,700 sq metre and the estimated expenditure is Rs 12.12 crore.

Lakes under JNNURM

Meanwhile, the AMC and the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) will develop 29 lakes under JNNURM. They will build lakes in Gota, Ambli, Prahladnagar, Makarba, Motera, Chandkheda, Chharodi , Chenpur, Ognaj, Hebatpur, Shilaj, Mohmadpura, Okaf, Sarkhej, Tragad, Jagatpur, Nikol, Vastral, Ramol, Hanspur and TP no 63 61/2 . Two lakes will come up in Sola, Thaltej, Bodakdev and Khoraj.

Name	Area in sq m	Name	Area in sq m
Gota	50,771	Chenpur	24,083
Sola	41 11,187	Ognaj	56,262
Sola	43 69,375	Hebatpur	36,630
Thaltej	22,745	Shilaj	1,81,806
(Swastik School)
Thaltej	144/2 44,137	Mohmadpura	10,345
Bodakdev 26	9,479	Okaf	51,327
Bodakdev-FP- 202	20,906	Sarkhej	27,297
Ambli	20,835	Tragad	34,195
Prahladnagar	23,099	Khoraj (highway)	45,080
Makarba	1,04,099	Jagatpur	52,355
Motera	20,746	TP63 61/2	66,416
Chandkheda	45,055	Nikol-103	30,192
Khoraj village	69,051	Vastral	53,709
Chharodi	42,439	Ramol	99,897
Hanspur	11,619

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Woman forgives ex-colleague who defamed her on Orkut

24-year-old withdraws complaint against man who created her fake profile on Orkut and posted an obscene note along with her landline number

A 25-year-old man, who was arrested on Tuesday for defaming his former colleague by creating a fake profile of her on a social networking site, was released after the woman withdrew her complaint in court.

Vejalpur police had arrested Chinmay Dalal on Tuesday night after the 24-year-old woman filed an application of harassment against him with the Crime Branch.

Dalal was presented in the metropolitan court on Wednesday. As soon as the court convened, the woman filed a pursis (stating she doesn’t want to pursue the matter further). Following which, urgent Metropolitan Magistrate B A Dave gave bail to the accused.


Past comes to haunt

The woman, an M Com degree holder, in her application to the Crime Branch stated that in 2008-09, as a marketing executive with Planman Marketing Pvt Ltd in Satellite she was a frequent visitor to social networking sites such as Orkut and Facebook. She regularly kept in touch with friends through these sites and shared pictures. Life was hunky-dory.

However, things changed one fine morning of December 2009, when she started getting obscene calls on her landline. Troubled by the calls, she went into depression.

It was during this time, a friend, Viren, told her that somebody had put up her fake profile on both these sites, with her actual photo and landline number. The profile stated, “I’m not chilly, call me to taste on.”

The girl immediately checked the sites and was aghast. It was then that she remembered sharing her pictures with a former colleague, Chinmay Dalal.

She subsequently filed a complaint with the cyber cell of Crime Branch suspecting Dalal of misdemeanour.

Vejalpur police arrested him on Tuesday. Dalal’s interrogation revealed he had created the woman’s profile on June 11, 2009. When asked, why he did it, Dalal said, the woman had rebuffed his marriage proposal. This angered him and he decided to avenge it.

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‘Motif should outlive its founders’

too had a predictable action plan for his career: An MS, an MBA, a cushy job in a reputed firm and a six-figure salary. “Way back in 1988, an MBA was very important for an engineering grad. My father too had done the same after he completed his engineering from LD.”

Mehta got married to his sweetheart Parul, whom he had met at LD Engineering College, and the couple settled down happily in the US. Life was bright and sunny, just as they wanted it to be. It was only when his son grew up to go to school did the couple feel he should be educated the Indian way. Coming home was a decision “taken by the heart”.

ENTERPRISING IDEA
After spending 10 years working for Silicon Valley companies like Sun Microsystems, Intel, LSI Logic and Vadem, the couple decided to bid goodbye to US and came to Ahmedabad in 1997.

Mehta had a “job offer” worth dying for, from a Bangalore tech firm. “They were offering me a place to stay and a car besides a great salary. But then, I thought, working in Bangalore was like working in Boston. I would have to fly down to meet my family. That is the time Parul and I thought of setting up our own venture using the expertise and experience we had,” said Mehta.

And that is how they started a software company named Confluence. “My wife developed software and I sold it. For two-and-a-half years, we worked that way. In 2000, the internet got deregulated. Outsourcing was a fairly new concept and we found that to be challenging. A BPO could employ a large number of people and provide services to US firms. We had a clear-cut business plan in mind. But a 2Mbps bandwidth would cost us $50,000 (Rs 22.25lakh approx) a month. How to get people to fund us, was the big question,” he said.

CHALLENGES
In the summer of 2000, the Mehtas went back to US and met colleagues and consultants to get them interested in funding their dream. Here is where Mehta learnt the most important lesson of his life: People do not invest in a business plan, they invest in you. “They first look at how trustworthy you are. You have to live with highest sense of professionalism and integrity. Next, they want to know whether the macro condition is right enough for investment. For example, I can’t get someone to make typewriters for me today.”

“We were asked: Which one will we run — software company or the BPO? We then decided make the software company a division of the BPO.”

In August 2000, they started Motif, cocking a snook at naysayers who thought it was some esoteric idea. “We were not afraid of failures. Nothing is worse than losing a loved one. And in business you only lose money,” he said.

STARTING TROUBLE
His fundamental belief was that if Silicon Valley could be transformed from orange orchards into a global technological hotbed, why can’t a BPO run successfully in Ahmedabad? “You can deliver best quality from any place. And Ahmedabad is the seventh most populous city. We can easily hire people. Also, infrastructure is very cheap compared to Mumbai,” he said.

Convincing people — not just company’s employees, but even caterers and cab drivers — to work in a 24x7 environment was the most challenging part of running the BPO. “The father of our first female employee interviewed us to understand how interesting was the job and how safe was his daughter working odd hours,” said Mehta.

In these 10 years, Motif has seen many ups and downs. But that has never dampened the morale of the employees. “In the first year of Motif, our client’s company shut down. It came as a shock to us. But through motivational exercises, we kept everyone’s spirit up. It is adversity that tests a company’s true character,” he said.

VALUE CREATION
Today Motif is present in seven countries and offers customer support and fraud prevention services to its clients. From 25 employees, it has now grown to 1500 people, who own 22.5 pc of Motif. “Our vision is to create continuous value creation for customers, employees, investors and society. We want our employees to treat the company as their own. We want the company to outlive the founders. That is possible only through value creation. In these 10 years, Motif has not lost a single client,” he said.

THE THREE ‘I’s
Mehta makes sure his team follows the rule of 3 ‘I’ s: integrity (never to indulge in anything wrong), intensity (help colleagues and clients) and intellect (challenge the status quo).

“The agents (BPO executives) are our frontline touch points. They are encouraged to not just fulfil the client requirements, but also better their processes. Deadlines are sacrosanct for them. I always tell them to handle every customer interaction with the same support and care they would provide to their mother if she calls them,” he said, adding, “that way we earn the trust of the clients who give us other businesses as well.” The company also sponsors MBA programmes for the employees.

Today, Motif has Fortune 500 clients which include the world’s top three online travel companies, the top three payment processing firms and a popular online auction company. Professional managers who have served at companies like Infosys, McKinsey and KPMG are helping take Motif forward.

Giving to society
“Our company has the lowest attrition rate when you compare BPOs in the country. The employees have developed expertise in client business because of that. We have more than sufficient cash reserves, zero debt and are running a profitable business,” he said.

Now, Motif is looking at value creation for society. “The Motif Charity Walk is all about that. We want to raise health awareness among people and also do our bit to help the underprivileged,” said Mehta.

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iProf: iPad of personal education launched

IMA alumnus launches world’s first personal education tablet that will change the way students prepare for entrance tests.







Is it possible to cram piles of books, hours of lectures and thousands of test

papers in a small portable device? Well, here comes iProf, the world’s first personal education tablet that will revolutionise the way students prepare for entrance tests. Conceptualised by former IIM-A alumnus Sanjay Purohit, the device was launched by Principal Secretary (Science and Technology) Ravi Saxena in the city on Wednesday.

Purohit, founder of iProf Learning Solutions, India, designed it keeping in mind the study needs of Gen-Y.

With a 7-inch touchscreen tablet, iProf has built-in, high quality operating system Android (from Google) and a Learning Management System installed on it.
Bundled with content from premier educational institutes, it is priced at Rs 14,900. This excludes taxes.

iProf will initially cater to the test-preparation education segment, the market of which is estimated at about Rs 10,000 crore. iProf will start with IIT-JEE preparation and has tied-up with Brilliant Tutorials. iProf would foray into MBA test preparation by end of May, followed by PMT, CPT, CA among others.

iProf has 8 GB memory and comes with elaborate content like interactive video lectures, test papers and practice questions with solutions.



Chart your course
E-learning is highly effective, as proven by extensive research. It not only increases retention but also gives complete flexibility to students reading e-books, revising video lectures, animations, taking tests and setting their schedules on their own pace. iProf is positioned as a self-study tool, that would mitigate pressure on students, enabling them to perform much better.

It comes with an assessment facility where a user can test his/her speed, identify areas that need improvement and check your results instantly without waiting for weeks. Saxena said, “The device will enhance competency level of students in the state.”

iStudy zones
The company plans to set-up of a chain of e-learning centres called the iStudy Zones, across 30 cities including Delhi, Kota, Pune, Nagpur, Jaipur, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Patiala, Nasik and Kolkata. These centres will enable e-learning delivery mechanism for its students.

““Technology has changed the way people communicate. But the educational delivery system has not changed,” said Purohit, who took 16 months to devise the gadget.

“We see a huge scope for growth in e-learning, especially in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities where quality education is in great demand but supply is an issue. There is an acute shortage of good quality professors. The iProf takes care of this problem,” He added, Through the iProf, Purohit aims to address three major problems that plague e-learning from spreading far and wide — low computer penetration, content piracy and broadband connectivity.

The company will have high performance servers deployed in iStudy zones with high-speed broadband and Wi-Fi capabilities, so that content can be downloaded on the iProf in a secure environment. The centres will also have video-conferencing capabilities for doubt-clearing sessions between faculty and students. The first Value-Add iStudy zone in the city will come up at Akshar Arcade near the Memnagar Fire Station.

The company is also expecting to mobilise investments of over Rs 100 crore via the iProf ecosystem and aims to spread its operations across 250 cities across India in the next 18 months.

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