Rs 1.4cr. gold stolen from Jewellery unit

A 36 years old women, mother of school going children has been accused of stealing gold ornaments worth 1.42crore from a jewellery manufacturing unit in Kandivli where she was employed as a manager.as per police she has been working for the last six years at the factory.The factory was owned by Ravindrapal Singh also from Kandivli.Karpe's responsibilities included handing out specific portions of loose gold to workers and later collecting the designed oranaments made by them,which she would keep in the safe,locked.According to Singh's statement to the police there were 2 sets of keys,one was with Karpe and other with the owner.On Saturdaymorning whenshe did not turn up for work,Singh checked the safe with his keys and found the ornaments missing.He then lodged a complaint with the police.

Starbust in London

The roar could have deafened a hundred fighter planes -but then,when you have Shah Rukh Khan performing with Kareena Kapoor,Saif Ali Khan,Vidya Balan and others at the glittering Zee Cine Awards on Saturday at the Excel Centre in London.7000 strong crowds cheered them during the 4 hour long programme.Many stalwarts like M F Hussain,Rakesh Roshan entire Kapoor khandaan and others were present there. Shilpa Shetty made an emotional speech after she won Best Supporting Actress award for Life in a Metro.Kareena's electrifying performance towards the end of the show was a huge hit.The loudest cheers were reserved for Shah Rukh Khan.Besides the regular awards,Lifetime Achievement awards were given to Zeenat Aman and Feroz Khan.

Surgery cure for OCD patient

Washing hands under a running tap was never enough for Jyoti Salunkhe,a 32-years old from a village in Jalgaon taluka. She would follow it up with an arcane ritual-filling her mouth with water,spitting it out at four distinct spots on her left hand and anotherfive on her right hand.It would take 50-at times,90-such rounds of washing hands every day to fears of contamination.Doctors from Sion Hospital's new neuropsychiatric surgery service operated on Salunkhe,free of cost,on April11.The operation was the first for a public hospital as well as in Mumbai health establishment.Neurosurgeon Alok Sharma and psychiatrist Nilesh Shah said that they are pleased with how well she has responded to surgery.

Baalu fire may singe the PMO

For the first time since he became Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's integrity was dragged into the line of political fire with the corruption charges against DMK minister Baalu threatening to burn the prime minister's office.The salvo came from AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa,who pointed an accusing finger at the PMO and demanded that Singh quit for conniving with Baalu to pressure the Petrolium ministry into dispensing out of turn Gas allocations to companies owned by his sons.Jayalalithaa issued her strongly worded statement at the end of a day of dramatic develoments that saw a Television channel flash copies of 10 letters the PMO is supposed to have written on behalf of Baalu and eviction of AIADMK's parliamentary leader V Maitreyan from the Rajya Sabha when he disrupted ouesyion hour to raise the issue.Jayalalithaa said that Manmohan Singh was aware of Baalu's corruption and was conniving with him.He has lost the right to lead the World's largest democracy.

Government to back forest land residents in Supreme Court.

On Wednesdaythestate government said that it would admit its failure to correct land records and plead with the Supreme court to regularise the buildings.The state government has also decided to levy a nominal penalty of 70 paise per square foot to regularised these buildings.Govt. has decided to recommend de-notification of the land and identification of alternative land for afforestation.However,a final decision on the will be taken by the Supreme Court.The matter will come for hearing on 28th April.Forest Minister said that they would be willing to consider applications for development of the vacant land notified as private forest land.A residents' delegation led by Charan Simgh Sapra and president of HRWA Prakash Padikkal called on CM Vilasrao Deshmukh on 23th April to discuss the issue.Forest Minister,chief secretary,land and revenue,BMC commissioner,Thane district collector and Thane's chief conservator.were present for the meeting.

Sex education to be compulsory in Maharashtra from Std Ninth.

After stormy debate on the introduction of sex education in schools.Education MinisterMr.Purke made the announcement in the legislative council that sex education would be introduced from the forthcoming academic year.Mr.Purke said that the Government is ready with the fresh books,as some political parties and activists objected to some protion in the syllabus last year had been deleted.While the Principals see it is as a welcome move,not all parents and students are not prepared for it.

PAL-Peugeot land in Dombvali goes for Rs676crores.

It was seen as jinxed automobile venture where nothing seemed to go right leading to a closure of operations in late -1997.However it staged one of its most dramatic comeback on Tuesday when its defunct 134-acre plant in Kalyan-Dombivli area was sold for 676 crores.Citra Developers struck one of the most expensive deals in a suburb that is 50 km from Mumbai.Hot on Citra's heels was Metropolitan Infrahousing whose bid was short by merely Rs 1crore.It works out to roughlyRs5crores an acre.All this shows that land with a clear title still attracts big developers.Officials say that this property is ideal for development of an integrated special economic zone. Citra's has already paid Rs30 crores and has been granted ten days to pay the 25% of the balance to court receiver. After they will pay the 25%amount, court receiver will submit a report to the Bombay High Court for sanction of sale.

Viraag Wankhade breaks Guinness record.

Fromer civil engineer turned singer Viraag Wankhade on Monday broke the Guinness record for continuously singing for over 28 hours.Viraag achieved the singathon'feat at vashi's City mall by breaking the existing record of UK based Ian Gilson who sang for 28hours and 27minutes.Sweets were distributed and crackers burst at the mall on Monday evening as Viraag crossed the 28hours and 27minutes mark.His wife Vanana is very happy that Viraag has managed to break the old record.However,the feat is yet to be officially acknowledged by the officials of Guinness book of World Records.Since Guinness officials could not fly down to India to witness Viraag's singing,two video cameras are contuously monitoring the vocalist.These recordings will be later handed over to the Guinness officials in UK. Additional municipal commissioner dr.Sanjay Pattivar also visited the mall to see Viraag,who is in a glass cage in action.

Mother can sue civic corporation says lawyer

The delivery of a child born in a taxi,after a pregnant woman was denied aid at a civic hospital in Bandra on Saturday during a doctors' strike, has put the spotlight back on the legal obligations of doctors and hospitals in India.The MCI stipulates that doctors must treat all patients in need of emergency medical care.Legal exerts say that a full-term pregnancy qualifies as an emergency case which ought to have received immediate attention at the hospital even when the doctors were on strike.Jamshed Mistry a counsel said it was the duty of the poor at charitable hospitals to ensure that ptients were guided properly during a strike.Emergency care cannot be denied in a strike and the hospital should transferred to a private hospital immediately.Legal

Chen Jinoust Lin Dan

World no.4 Chen Jin of Chinamoved into the finals of the Asian badminton championships with upset win over World no.1Lin Dan in only 23 minutes. Chen needed only to reach the final of the ABC to seal a place in the Beijing Olympics. In Sunday's final,Chen will be against 7th seeded Park Sung Hwan of South Korea who defeated 5th seed sony Dwi Kuncoro in a 70 minute thriller.. He recovered from a one set deficit to win 14-21,21-16,21-19. Park said he is ready to face Chen Jin. Prak played Chen once before in the 2006 and lost.

Million dollar boost to English cricketers

Texas billionaire Allen Standfrod has offered crocks of gold to the English cricketers who missed out on the cash rich Indian Premier League.He said the English players would be millionaires by the end of the five 20 matches proposed against his West Indies All-Star team.He has offered to invest $100 million for a proposed series between England and his West Indies All Star team scheduled to begin in Antigua on the island nation's Independence Day Nov 1.The 27th anniversary of Antigua gaining Independence will be a great occasion for the game &add to the hype. He is doing this to have fun,brand the Standfrod name and help West Indies cricket.

Shark skin saves man

It was shark's skin that pulled out a badly burnt 23 year old aspiring doctor from the jaws of death.While he waited seven days for it to arrive from US, his wounds were covered in pig skin. Artificial skin called Integra derived from chemicals extracted from shark skin was used to save Roshan(name changed)who sustained severe burns in an accident last month.Integra,though being labelled as one of the best innovations for burn injury,is also dreadfully expensive.InRoshan case ,grafting his two arms with the artificial skin cost Rs40 lakh.

Hoping For A Splassh

Veerdhaval Khade from Kolhapur will be the youngest Indian athlete taking part at the Beijing Games that set off from August8 in China.The major boost to this wonder boy has been his association with the Mittal Sports Foundation,which came froward to support him.After claiming his berth for 200 metres freestyle,he now heads to Malaysia to take part in the 50 and 100 metres in the Olympics qualifiers,which begin from 1 to 4 May.He was confident of making the grade.He thanks the sponsors and the goverment.Manisha Malhotra,the director of Mittal Foundation said that he is the best swimmer in the country and the most talented athlete in the country.

Brave senior citizens fight off robbers.

It took 3 alert senior citizens to thwart a robbery at Bazarpeth in Kalyan on Tuesday around 4.45am.Sakaram Kane,78,a resident of Bhagwati apartment,heard a noise coming from his son's flat on the 3rd floor of the building.Kane lives on 2nd floor of the building.his son was out of station,the flat was locked.Kane alerted his nephew Prasaad who went to the 3rd floor,he heard people inside the flat.When he knocked on the door, two men barged out of the flat,attacked him with a knife and fled.Kanewent upstair on hearing commotion tried to stop them they hit him on his head and downstairs.On 1st floor his younger brother Prabhakar 73years old confronted them. They assauted him.On ground floor Limaye,80,managed to catch hold of one of the men's leg.The other man hit Limaye with a stick on his fingers and freed his accomplice.Police Inspector said that he will recommend theirs names to the Thane Commissioner for bravery awards.

Honset cop returns missing handbag

Vishnu Daji Pimple was on patrolling duty when found a ladies bag unattended on platform no.2.He took it to his seniors.From its contents,they found that the bag belonged to Raji Panniker.He on checking the mobile book immediately called her papa who told him that it belonged to his daughter and gave the mobile no.of his son in law.He contacted them who were on the way to Vashi. They came to Thane and collected the bag after verifying the contents from Thane Railway police station.They gave him Rs500 as reward.OnApril 13,he ensured that costly wedding sarees worth Rs60,000 and jewellery were returned to Meena Sonawane who were on their way to Nashik for wedding.

L&T,Bombay Dyeing ink Rs2k-cr deal

Larsen & Toubro will develope bombay Dyeing two real estate assets in Wadala,Mumbai. L&T will receive Rs2000 crore to develope these projects. The project involves about 4million sq.ft. at Worli and 5million sq.ft. at Wadala.The development at Wadala is to be completed by the end of December 2011.Bombay Dyeing had formed a joimt venture with L&T to bid for redevelopment projects in Mumbai. L&T & Tamil Nadu Industrial development Corporation(Tidco)have signed joint venture agreement to set up an integrated shipyard complex with a port facility at a total investment of about Rs3000 crore at Kattupalli village near Ennore in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvallur district.

ICL India lift ICL World Series

ICL India lifted ICL World Series after ICL World fell ten runs short of India'st total of 148 despite D.Martyn's blitzkrieag at the L.S.Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad.ICL India batted first scored 148 runs for loss of 8 Wickets main scorers were I.Khaleel & G.Vignesh.The wicket takers were A.Hall &U.Chandana.ICL World scored 138 runs for loss of 5 wickets in 20 overs,main scorers D.Martyn &L.Vincent.G.Vignesh took 2wkts,Syed Mohammed was most economical bowler for ICL India.G.Vignesh was the man of the match & I.Khaleel was the man of the series.

ICLIndia lift ICL World Series.

Women hold lion's share of Big Business

Some prominent companies and family-led businesses reveals that the women of the house are the largest individual shareholders in the group's listed firms.These leading ladies are Pia Singh(DLF),Kokilaben Ambani(RIL),Indu Punj(PunjLloyd)Sudha Gopalakrishnan(Infosys)Rajashree Birlla(Grasim),Vidya Subramanian(IndiaCements).Beside companies run by women Anu Aga/ Meher Pudumjee(Thermax),Kiran MazumdarShaw(Biccon),

CAT goes online - II

In view of increasing number of candidates IIMs are considering various alternatives for modifying the process of conducting CAT, if necessary. Online testing is one of those alternatives. The proposals are at the preliminary stage of discussion.
So whether it will happen in November 2009, or 2010, or even happen at all is still very open.
I spoke to John Gabriel, CMO, of IMS Learning resources to get a sense of how going online could affect students and their test prep. This is the gist of what he had to say:
CAT going online has several advantages but a few disadvantages as well.
It is a huge logistical exercise. When XAT tried an online test a few years ago it failed because they had no generator back up (electricity failure being a common problem in India!). But then CAT will not be a simultaneous but a staggered test.
Benefits:- If they adopt the computer adaptive model (which I think they will), it will be a better way of assessing students. You can’t do well just by chance or ‘tukka’.- The current D-day system creates a lot of stress for students. Some students fall sick or simply have a bad day.- Greater flexibility for students is always welcome, they can schedule test according to exams or any other contingencies
Of course we don’t know several things:- Will the CAT score be provided right after the test, as in GMAT? That would be a major advantage because you know where you stand. If you score 98 percentile you need not give many other exams and apply to more colleged ‘just in case’. The student would save quite a lot of money.
- Are you allowed to repeat the exam, say one month later? This would give those who have not done so well a second chance.
Challenges:- The number of students taking CAT is growing year on year by about 30%. Most of the growth is coming from small towns.
Currently CAT is held in 23-24 centres. Will the online CAT also be held across that many centres? If not, the cost of test goes up for small town students. They will have to travel to the exam centre.
- Also, would everyone have access to practising on a computer? If not they will have to pay and use cybercafes.
The question is: how many students, even in metros are really computer savvy. Adapting to change will take time.
eg There are long (and boring) reading comprehension passages. Right now you can underline some portions, flip the page back and forth. That is what we are used to. Reading long passages on screen and scrolling up and down is difficult
Impact on coaching classesIMS will still get students to their classroom courses because:1) Discipline - students wish to come to a class, where there are peers and have a study pattern of some kind to motivate them2) Conceptual clarity - they wish to clarify basics from peers and a live teacher.3) Readiness: Application of interlinked concepts within a problem and improved test preparedness4) Testing - IMS already does extensive SIMCATs and trains 50% of the market for GMAT (which is an online test)
So there should not be a problem in providing online modules which students can take at home and get instant feedback, performance tracking etc.
I would add: The biggest challenge is in tackling numbers. Currently the only other online management exam is NMAT. But they I just discovered have/ had 2 versions: a written test and acomputer based one. Students seem to feel they have a better chance of admissions with the written version.
Am not even sure if there is an online version anymore as it is not mentioned anywhere on the NMIMS website A call to the institute confirms that the NMAT for full time MBA is a written test. And they did not seem to know what happened to the online option.
That leaves us with BITSAT. In 2007 BITSAT was taken by close to 1 lakh students as an online test, in a staggered manner. This was 30% more than the 68, 466 who took BITSAT in 2006.
The test was conducted in 16 centres across 35 days. Not clear who is the technical partner.
And really, NUMBERS is what makes this entire exercise so staggering. In 2007 655, 506 GMAT scores were reported (no of test takers is less as many take it more than once). The nos taking GMAT from India is close to 14,000 and rising.
In India, GMAT is administered by Prometric across 9 centres.
As per wikipedia, GMAT also administers written tests in ‘international locations where an extensive network of computers has not yet been established’.But I don’t think it’s practical to have a hybrid model for CAT…
I do think this is a difficult to implement idea. But if done correctly, it will ultimately benefit students.
Anyways, you are safe if giving CAT this year. Aage dekhte hain hota hai kya!

Welcome to Reservistan

Unable to fall asleep, I switched on the TV and found the SC judgement on OBC reservations dominating the news. The strange part was two different channels had two different versions of the same news.
CNN IBN claims IIMs are delaying admission letters by a week. And IIM Lucknow will implement the quota after 3 years.
Times Now says that Supreme Court is split on the question of whether quotas apply to post grad institutes. 3 out of 5 have ruled against, and hence the reservations do not apply to IIMs and AIIMS. The same view is reflected on rediff.com by lawyer K Venugopal.
But there’s more confusion.
The creamy layer is excluded but it is unclear who will define this layer and ensure the provision is implemented. There is also no clarity on important issues like:
- Does 27% reservation mean reservation of existing seats or will seats be increased as per declarations made by the government when this row first broke out in 2006.
- What will be the relaxation of entry criteria for OBCs? Will it be MANDATORY to fill these 27% seats even if an IIT is unable to get enough candidates who fulfil the relaxed criteria?
- Reservations should not be ‘in perpetuity’. So how about at least reviewing SC/ ST reservations, to see the impact they have made so far. And also the OBC reservations implemented by some states?
Personally I do not believe reservation for OBCs is justified - if creamy layer is excluded then may as well make reservations for ALL on economic criteria alone. If we are to go the reservation route in the first place.
But if the Supreme Court has made its ruling, we have to accept it. And we have to figure out how to implement the quota in the spirit of the verdict, which is to uplift the underprivileged.
This would mean remedial measures and extra all round attention. Some would say it can’t be done, that intervention is required at primary school level and not at age 16. 17. But let’s say because of this verdict we have to try to compensate at college instead.
I think some % of the students will rise to the challenge. And they will become part of the mainstream as far as jobs and peers go. The rest will be absorbed by the government sector where OBC reservation is already in place…
Will the quality of the institutions suffer? Well, it might but I just can’t get worked up about it anymore. Market forces will decide.
If quality suffers a great deal, students and recruiters will migrate elsewhere. Private institutions will blossom to fill the vaccum. The government might then say, private institutes also have to reserve seats. And also private companies. That may or may not be upheld by the courts.
The merry go round will continue. Whether ’social justice’ can be engineered thus I don’t think we will know - in our lifetime.