November, 2002

29-11-02

A barodian to take part in squash championship: Vadodara’s Yashvardhan Singh Gohil, a first year student of St Stephens College, Delhi, will participate in the 12th Junior World Open Squash Championship to be held at Chennai from December 3 to 12. He has won many important championships in under-19 category. In the forthcoming World Championship, he will play against Kuwaiti player in the first round.

Art Exhibition: An art exhibition will be held at Nazar Art Gallery on December 4 to 7. The art works of three young contemporary artists – Vinod Patel, Alok Bal and Jagannath Mohapatra will be displayed to showcase their ideological similarities.

Book Fair: A book fair of latest collection of English & Gujarati books has been organised at Gunjan, 201, BBC Tower, Above ICICI Bank, Sayajigunj, Baroda. This fair will continue till December 8. Timings: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Children Book Fair: Maneesh Book Shop has organised a Children Book Fair where one can get unique range of foreign books, educational toys, games and puzzles at discounted rates. This fair will continue till December 8. Timings 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Venue: Manubhai Towers, (basement) Opp. MS University, Sayajigunj, Baroda. Ph: 2363270.

29-11-02

Now, Booking Railway Tickets Is Just A Click Way: The residents of Vadodara and Ahmedabad can now book their tickets on the Internet. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is launching online booking system on December 1, where IRCTC’s online service will be made available only on registration at the site www.irctc.co.in. The customer will have to create a login user name and password before undertaking transactions. This facility will make booking easier for the citizens. However the tickets will have to be reserved at least 3 days in advance. The mode of payment is through credit card. The officers of IRCTC claim that the system is very safe as the site is VeriSign secured and the credit card information, (which is to be entered in the registration form), will pass through an electronic payment gateway of ICICI Bank for confirmation of the payment. They also confirm that the service is full proof and credit card numbers would not be saved in their database and all the information will be sent to the ICICI bank who will take care of all the financial transactions. Confirmed tickets will be home delivered through courier, as there is no provision for personal collection. The courier service is presently available at Chennai, Mumbai, Banglore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad and Vadodara. In addition to the Railway fare, the customer will have to bear a service charge of Rs. 30 per ticket for sleeper/ordinary chair car classes and Rs. 50 per ticket for upper classes (regardless of number of passengers on the ticket). They will levy an additional cost of 1.8% on the value of transaction for Credit Card transactions. In cases of cancellation, the customer will have to approach any Passenger Reservation System (PRS) where cancellation ticket shall be issued while cash refund will be made thorough payment gateway to the customer’s credit card bill.

How To Book Your Ticket Online:

• Log on to www.irctc.co.in.
• Create user name and password.
• Go to "Plan my travel and book tickets" page.
• Click on "Book ticket".
• Refer to various options in "Show route", "Show availability" "Boarding point" and "Get fare".
• Fill in personal details like passenger name, age, sex and berth preference.
• Select credit card type and enter details.
• Click on "Buy option"
• Make note of transaction ID and PNR number displayed.
• Quote ID and PNR while collecting tickets by courier.

Exhibition-Cum-Sale: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan School will hold an exhibition-cum-sale of Bhavan’s Publications (covering history, culture, philosophy, Bhagwad Gita, epics, classics, biographies, autographies, children books, etc.) in the school auditorium from December 1-5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Peace Festival: Sadbhavna has organised a peace festival for Barodians. Following programmes will be conducted under these festivals:

• Live Concert by Indian Ocean
  Venue: Patel Estate, VIP Road, Near L&T Circle, Baroda
  Date & Time: 1st December 2002, 7 p.m. onwards.
• A play ‘Par Hame Khelna Hai’ directed by Dr. Mohan Agashe
  Venue: C.C. Mehta Auditorium, MS University, Baroda
  Date & Time: 3rd December 2002, 7 p.m.- 9 p.m.
• A play ‘Dost Chokkas Ahin Ek Nagar Vastu Hatu’ by Saumya Joshi
  Venue: C.C. Mehta Auditorium, MS University, Baroda
  Date & Time: 6th December 2002, 7 p.m.- 9 p.m.

The entry is free for all and entry is allowed on first-come, first-serve basis.

Sitar Recital: Swar Vilas has organised a sitar recital by Ustad Shahid Parvez at the Darbar Hall from 8.30 p.m. onwards on December 4.

Gujarati Comedy Play: Gujarati Comedy ’Parnu To Enej Parnu’ written by Bakul Tripathi will be staged at C.C. Mehta auditorium, 7.00 p.m. onwards on December 19. This play is based on French Comedy by Molliere.

Bird Watching: Gujarat Adventure Club has organised a two 2-day bird-watching camps for children at Nal Sarovar on December 11-12 & 21-22. Almost 250 varieties of migratory birds visit this location during winters. Campers will also get an opportunity to observe bio-diversity, including 72 types of herbs. Those interested may please contact Hasmukh Pathak at Gujarat Adventure Club, Patanjali Apartment, behind Foods and Drugs laboratory, Nizampura. Phone: +91-265-2789613.

28-11-02

Children’s Play: Manish Tekrawala’s play, ‘Tarzan In Town’. Gandhinagar Gruh, 3.00 p.m., 1st December.

26-11-02

Public Holiday On Election Day: As many as 1,682 candidates have filed their nominations for the 182 seats for the 12th December Gujarat assembly elections. The BJP fielded its candidates for all the 182 seats, while the Congress has left one seat each for the CPI (Jamnagar) and the CPI-M (Bhavnagar). To ensure that the elections are conducted in a free and fair manner, the Election Commission has appointed election observers for the various districts. For the 13 seats in the Vadodara district, five observers have been appointed. They will be in the city till November 29, and again between December 5 and15. Three of the observers will be staying at the Circuit House (telephone numbers: 2320291, 2321248, 2320463) and two will be staying at the GSFC Guest House (telephone number: 2272451, extension 2977). The state government has declared a public holiday on December 12.

SSC & HSC Exam Schedule: The examination committee of the Gujarat Secondary Education Board (GSEB) has announced that the SSC and HSC board exams for 2003 will begin from March 25. An estimated 1.075 million students will appear for the class 10 and 12 board exams.

Seminar On Home Remedies: Retired Officers’ Forum will organise a two-day national seminar-cum-workshop on ’Be Your Own Doctor’ in February. The thrust of the seminar will be on home remedies, in addition to various natural remedies like yoga, naturopathy, intake of wheat-grass, etc. Interested senior citizens should contact the seminar co-ordinator, M.D. Sharman (telephone: +91-265-2713444) for further details.

25-11-02

Election Briefs: The last day for filing nominations for elections to the 182-member Gujarat assembly is November 25, followed by scrutiny of papers on November 26. The last day for withdrawal of candidatures will be November 28 and the counting of votes cast through electronic voting machines will take place on December 15. The nine-hour polling on December 12 will begin at 8 a.m. The number of voters will be 32.8 million, the number of polling booths will be 38,000, and 200,000 officials will be on poll duty. The security personnel: 60,000 policemen and 400 companies of paramilitary forces. The election expenditure: Rs. 400 million.

New Apollo Tyres Plant: Apollo Tyres Limited is coming up with an ultramodern truck radial-tyre facility at its Waghodia plant. The foundation stone for the new plant was laid on 23rd November. The investment on this plant will be Rs. 2000 million. Apollo has entered into a technical alliance with the German tyre maker Continental AG, which will relocate its plant and machinery from its facilities worldwide to the Waghodia plant. The plant will have the capacity to produce 400 tyres a day, and this will be scaled up to 1500 tyres a day in the second phase. Production is expected to begin in April 2004.

21-11-02

Ayurvedic Bidis: At the Aryakanya Ayurvedic College in Baroda there is talk of an ayurvedic bidi that may cure respiratory ailments. It is claimed that smoking these bidis (which do not carry the statutory warning) is not injurious to health. After the recent experiments elsewhere with coffee gutkha, bidis without tobacco may give the tobacco market an interesting new product. Over 35 medicinal herbs are used to make the bidi. The smoking therapy is scientifically termed Prayogic Dhum Varti. The herbs are rolled into Timru or Asotar leaves to make them look like bidis. The price: Re. 1 each. The bidis are claimed to be useful to patients suffering from cough, cold, asthma, mouth ulcers, toothache, bleeding gums, foul breath or a respiratory problem. The method of treatment is important and needs supervision. It is also recommended to women and children, but not pregnant women, diabetic patients and people with cardiac disorders. It is claimed that it does not harm the passive smoker. Doctors do not claim that the therapy has a complete cure because much depends on the immunity level of the individual.

Swami Dayanandaji’s Discourses: Shruti Mandir, Vadodara, has organised discourses in English by Pujya Swami Dayanandaji at Gandhinagargruh from November 24 to 30, from 6.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.

20-11-02

Gujarat Elections: The Election Commission has issued the notification for elections to the 182-member Gujarat assembly. The last day for filing nominations will be November 25, followed by scrutiny of papers the next day. The last day for withdrawal of candidatures will be November 28 and the counting of votes cast through electronic voting machines will take place on December 15. The nine-hour polling on December 12 will begin at 8 a.m.

SAAJ Exhibition & Sale: Sienna Gallery, Near HDFC Bank, Alkapuri, 6th & 7th December, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Traditional artefacts and handicrafts in wood, brass and metal. A range of exquisitely carved home decor items and a wide array of silks. For details, contact Hema Shah.

Workshop On Warli Paintings: The workshop will be held on 24th and 25th November, to increase awareness about the folk art of Maharashtra. Venue: 203, Signature-1, Urmi Char Rasta, Productivity Road, Baroda. Ph: +91-265-2517322. Contact: Sunil Jigyasu <suniljigyasu@yahoo.com>

19-11-02

Gas Leakage At Gujarat Refinery: One person died and seven others became ill after a leak of hydrogen sulphide gas at a Gujarat Refinery plant in Baroda around midnight on Sunday. Two contract labourers, whose condition is believed to be serious, are being treated at Bhailal Amin Hospital, while the others were treated at the Gujarat Refinery itself.

Zeenat Aman In Baroda: Zeenat Aman, the heartthrob of the 1970s, turns 50 on 19th November. She is now stepping onto the stage for the first time, in the Hindi play Chupke-Chupke directed by Ramesh Talwar. The play’s world premiere will be held in Vadodara on November 23, at Gandhinagar Gruh. After travelling to Kolkata and the US, the play will reach Mumbai in May 2003.

16-11-02

1500 Cops For A Cricket Match: With around 1,500 police personnel to be deployed at the IPCL Stadium for the fifth one-day cricket match between India and the West Indies on 18th November, the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) is taking no chances as far as security is concerned. Some of the ‘arrangements’:

• Police have urged people to turn up at the venue two hours before the match.
• Spectators will have to pass through metal detectors twice at the stadium. Metal detectors have been installed at all the 11 gates.
• The police team: 1 Police Commissioner, 4 Deputy Commissioners of Police, 8 Assistant Commissioners of Police, 23 Police Inspectors, 80 Police Sub-Inspectors, 900 policemen, 5 companies of State Reserve Police Force (SRP), Plus policemen in plain clothes among the spectators, Plus a ring of policemen near the boundary line who will face the spectators.
• Private security guards of the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) will also be at the gates.
• Police have installed low-intensity electricity wires around a small section of the stadium adjacent to Undhera village to check illegal entry.
• There will be a ban on taking food packets and water bottles into the stadium.
• Nets have been fixed from the roof down to the metal wire mesh, creating a shield around the field.
• The stadium will have a large number of closed circuit television cameras to monitor crowd behaviour.
• Video photography will be done, both as a deterrent and as a means to book troublemakers.

A Different Kind Of School: Inaugurated recently at Navrachana Higher Secondary School by the Navrachana Education Society, the Nav Prerna Shiksha Kendra is a new centre of education for underprivileged children. Trustee Tejal Amin says that the project’s objective is to take education at the doorstep of children who cannot afford going to schools. Children will be divided into three groups – Abodh (ignorant), Probodh (aware) and Subodh (proficient). The school will provide textbooks, notebooks, pencils and meals everyday to the students for a token amount of Rs. 50 per month and Rs. 100 as an annual payment. Admission will be open to children in the age group of 5-16 years. The school has so far enrolled 50 students from in and around Sama village.

14-11-02

Precautions For One-Day Match: With memories of Jamshedpur, Nagpur and Rajkot fresh in their minds, Baroda Cricket Association officials are taking extra care to ensure that the Indian versus West Indies one-day cricket match here on 18th November takes place peacefully. Among the security measures are a large number of CCTVs installed in all the galleries to keep a close watch on all the spectators at the IPCL stadium. Nets will be put up so that excited spectators cannot throw anything on to the ground. All policemen on duty have been strictly instructed to face the crowd and not the ground.

12-11-02

Ticket Sales For One-Day Match: Tickets for the 5th one-day International cricket match between India and West Indies on November 18 at Baroda will be sold on Friday (15th November) at Shreyas School between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Ticket prices: Rs. 2,500, Rs. 1,500, Rs. 800, Rs. 600, Rs. 500, Rs. 300 and Rs. 150.

11-11-02

Ayurved Centre Conducts Research On HIV-AIDS: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has given the go-ahead to Baroda’s RNP Ayurved Hospital in Karelibaug to treat HIV-AIDS patients as well as undertake further research in developing a long-term treatment for HIV-AIDS. This centre works in collaboration with Surat based Sant Shree Mahakal Puri, an Ayurved centre which has the support of WHO and NACO for the treatment of HIV and research on it.

Divya Milan: Vyakti Vikas Kendra has organised a special ‘Divya Milan’ evening for all ‘The Art of Living’ members at Navlakhi Compound, Rajmahal Road from 7 p.m. onwards on November 20. Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar will address the meet, which is open for all. On November 21 he will meet students at the MS University campus.

09-11-02

Phone Numbers Change From November 10: Telephone numbers in 14 revenue districts of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in Gujarat will change from November 10. BSNL has decided to change the fixed phone numbers by pre-fixing ‘2’ to the old number. In the first phase, the phone numbers will change in Jamnagar, Amreli, Junagadh, Porbandar, Anand, Nadiad, Baroda, Bhavnagar, Godhra, Dahod, Bharuch, Rajpipla, Valsad and Navsari. In Nadiad taluka, ‘25’ has to be pre-fixed to the old phone number. There will be no change of numbers for services available on 100, 101, 197 and 180. Changed number information will be available on ‘197’ as well as ‘1951’, ‘1952’ and ‘1953’ wherever the service is available. For some rural exchanges, the number changed may not follow the above pattern. For knowing the changed numbers in such cases, BSNL has requested subscribers to contact ‘197’ of the district concerned. The telephone numbers of Mumbai are also being changed on November 10 with ‘2’ being pre-fixed to all old numbers.

08-11-02