Engineering's the hot career option this summer

AHMEDABAD :  There is a paradigm shift in the mindset of Gujarati students. Shunning their age-old orientation towards business and medical careers, students are now making a beeline for competitive exams for careers in engineering.

This, say educationists, is a trend brought about by globalisation. Not only are more students appearing for exams like Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) for IITs and All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE), but they are scoring well too.

Vice chancellor of Nirma University, NV Vasani said, "Gujarati students are globalisation-oriented. This phenomenon is expected to bring a boom in the engineering sector. Students and parents are now more goal-oriented and focused. Middle class families are now pushing their children towards these careers."

Earlier, in the event of getting low percentage, class XII (science) Gujarati students would secure admission by paying hefty donations and migrating to other states. This trend has been reversed. The IIT-JEE has seen a marked increase in the number of students. In the last three years the number of examinees has jumped by 2,500. In 2010, there is a rise of over 500 students appearing for IIT JEE.

Earlier, only English medium students would dominate the exams. But, more Gujarati medium students are appearing now. "The increase can be attributed to the fact that Gujarat has got its own IIT now," said Sudhir Jain, director of IIT, Gandhinagar.

The jump is huge in AIEEE. In the last three years, there has been an increase of 20,000 students appearing for AIEEE. Sunil Trivedi, principal of the Delhi Public School and co-ordinator of AIEEE-Gujarat, said, "In Ahmedabad alone, there is an increase of more than 5,000 students. We had to make provision for additional 10 exam centres. In Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, a total of 26,000 students appeared for the exam in 42 exam centres."

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Goods worth Rs 10 lakh stolen from city mall

AHMEDABAD :  Thieves went shopping at Big Bazaar mall on SG Highway on Saturday night as 22 digital cameras, two video cameras, 75 mobile phones and two laptops — worth Rs 10.13 lakh—were stolen from the digital goods section of the store.

Investigating officials believe the thieves had a good knowledge of the store layout. According to Satellite police station officials, Big Bazaar officials reported a theft at the store at 12 noon on Sunday. The theft came to light at 9.30 am when the beat guards went to the first floor of the store.

A twist in the tale came later in the day when cops located a gunny bag containing 22 of the 24 stolen digital cameras and three high-end Nokia mobile phones at a deserted spot behind the mall.

“The digital goods section was targeted primarily. The burglars seemed to know this section does not have a CCTV camera for surveillance, nor does it have any illumination at night. The thieves entered the building by removing the wooden frame of a toilet window on the first floor,” said MR Gupta, inspector of Satellite police station. The mall has two guards in its front and back. The thieves, however, targeted the right side of the store surrounded by thorny bushes and a water-logged section, making it inaccessible for the guards. The adjoining plot is empty.

“It is likely that the thieves might have come in a group. We suspect they used a two-wheeler to carry the stolen goods. This will explain why they had dumped the sack containing the cameras and three high-end phones, worth Rs 1.40 lakh,” said HB Jamod, inspector of Satellite police station.

Cops have asked for footage of CCTVs to know more about suspicious visitors to the mall. “This is a well-planned operation and theburglars had done their homework. It is possible that the burglars had visited the mall posing as customers,” said police officials.

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Students happy with easy' AIEEE paper

AHMEDABAD : Around 26,000 XII science students appeared for All-India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) at 42 centres in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar on Sunday.

Barring three-four questions of mathematics, which students reportedly found quite lengthy, the paper was by and large easy. "I did not attempt questions related to maths, as I found them too tedious. I had to leave them unanswered as wrong answers would have resulted in negative marking for me," said Varun Vyas, who appeared for AIEEE at a centre in Gandhinagar.

Himali Shah of Ahmedabad said, "Many of my friends complained of mathematics questions, which they found too difficult to solve. However, I did not find the paper tough. I appeared for the exam to secure admission in premier engineering institutes of Gujarat."

Sunil Trivedi, exam co-ordinator and principal of DPS school, also termed the paper very easy. "We have so far received no complaints from students regarding the paper being tough. On the contrary, as per our observation, the paper has been perceived as an easy one by students," Trivedi said.

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Three thefts in Ghatlodia, Thaltej houses

AHMEDABAD :  Three households were targeted by thieves on Saturday afternoon from where goods worth Rs 1.96 lakh were stolen. Officials believe it to be a handiwork of one gang.

According to Sola police station officials, Viral Patel, a resident of Raviraj Park Apartment, Ghatlodia, has lodged a complaint with officials that somebody entered his house between 2.15 pm and 2.30 pm after breaking the lock on the door. According to Patel's complaint, the thief stole gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 1.03 lakh from the house. He managed to get a glimpse of the thief - aged around 30 years, wearing blue shirt and black trousers.

Gold jewellery worth Rs 63,500 was stolen from a residence in Vishwas City, Ghatlodia, on Saturday. According to a complaint by Parul Patel, somebody entered her house between 10 am and 6 pm on Saturday after breaking the latch on door and stole jewellery from a safe. She has filed a complaint for theft with Sola police station officials.

In the third incident, a flat in Thaltej was targeted by thieves in an hour. According to a complaint by Nikshita Hemant, a resident of Om Chamunda Apartment, Thaltej, somebody entered her house between 10.30 am and 11.45 am after breaking the door lock and stole Rs 23,000 cash and gold jewellery worth Rs 6,000 from a safe.

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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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