Latest news with #GujaratVidyapith
Indian Express
06-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Gujarat Vidyapith registers 27% increase in admissions within a year
Gujarat Vidyapith, a 104-year-old institution founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920, is adapting to changing demands while eying an increase in enrolment. For the upcoming academic session starting July 10, the university has seen a 27% increase in admissions, from 850 last year to nearly 1,080, driven by new programmes and flexible offerings. A few dynamic decisions by the institution include opening an on-the-spot postgraduate (PG) programme in MSc IT (Master of Science in Information Technology) within a single day, accommodating the waiting list of already running MCA (Master of Computer Applications) programme and launching undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in commerce. The MSc IT programme for which against an intake of 60 students, 50 seats are already filled barring the reserved seats that are vacant, on the spot statutory permissions were sought within a single day leading to a waiting list for the course. University sources said that special meetings of Academic Council and Executive Council were held and required notification was issued for launching the MSc IT programme. 'Following the entrance test, against the 66 seats for the MCA programme, nearly 250 candidates qualified. When enquired if they are willing to enrol in MSc IT, most of them agreed. This was also possible because while the MCA programme is permitted by All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) while the MSc IT programme is under the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines,' Gujarat Vidyapith Vice-Chancellor Harshad Patel told The Indian Express. There was a rise in MCA applications from around 150 to 250, this year. Sharing the reason, the authorities said as the first batch of BCA passed out this year, nearly 15 students from the same batch applied for the postgraduate programme. 'Looking at the demand, we doubled the seats for BCA from 30 to 60 for the new academic session,' Head of Department, Computer Science, Prof Ajay Parikh told this paper. The other new programmes launched this year are B Com and M Com. The institution also started commerce programmes from this year, authorities revealed. During the three-day Chintan Shivir, held on December 24 last year, one of the most discussed topics included how to increase the intake in Gujarat Vidyapith. Authorities stated that the Vidyapith is aiming at an enrolment of 3000 by 2030, a criteria the university needs to fulfil to stay deemed as per the new National Education Policy rules. So, launching the commerce programmes, increasing the entrance examination centres both in numbers and geographically along with other measures were decided upon during this Chintan Shivir, said sources. 'However, launching the MSc IT course was decided on-the-spot after a surge in MCA applications,' officials revealed. The number of admissions is also expected to rise as the admission deadline has been extended by a month, from June 30 to July 31. One of the measures to increase the enrolment was a simplified admission process, conducted online, leading to a reduced cancellation rate. 'From nearly 400 cancellations recorded last year, so far less than 60 have been registered,' Prof Parikh added. Looking at the demand, another postgraduate programme started in the academic session 2024-25 was MSc Food and Nutrition. 'Within a year, the number of admissions increased from 4-5 to nearly 26,' he added. Among the 34 total UG and PG degree and diploma programmes offered at Gujarat Vidyapith, the top five popular ones are MCA followed by BEd, BCA, BSc and MSc in Microbiology and MSc IT. *Total applications registered 2147; 1077 male and 1070 female Students who took entrance: 1683 Fee paid for courses: 1077 MCA: 250 applications against 66 seats BEd:187 applications against 110 seats BCA:160 applications against 66 seats MSW:107 applications against 66 seats MSc IT: 85 applications against 66 seats
Indian Express
12-06-2025
- General
- Indian Express
Ahmedabad plane crash: when an Indian Airlines flight erupted into a fireball in 1988
The deadly crash of the Air India flight in Ahmedabad on Thursday has revived memories of a major air disaster that took place in the Gujarat city in 1988. On a foggy morning in October that year, Indian Airlines Flight 113, a Boeing 737, met with catastrophe as it attempted to land at Ahmedabad airport. The plane, which had been in service since its delivery to Indian Airlines (now defunct) in December 1970, crashed just 2.5 km from the runway, claiming the lives of 133 of the 135 people on board. The flight had taken off from Mumbai, bound for Ahmedabad, when it encountered treacherous weather. Haze had reduced visibility to a mere 1.2 miles, a condition challenging even for seasoned pilots. To navigate this, the crew chose a localiser-DME approach—a technique that uses radio signals to guide the aircraft to the runway when the pilots can't rely on their eyes alone. At 6.41 am, they radioed their position over the Ahmedabad VOR (very-high frequency omni-directional range) a navigation beacon, confirming they were following descent instructions. That call was their last. Moments later, disaster unfolded. The aircraft grazed trees and smashed into an electricity pylon near Chiloda Kotarpur, a village close to the airport. It then plunged into a paddy field, erupting into a fireball that consumed the plane. Amid the wreckage, only two survivors emerged: Ashok Agarwal, a textile businessman, and Vinod Tripathi, a former vice-chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith. Both suffered severe injuries. For Agarwal, the loss was even deeper, his wife and infant daughter died in the crash. He spent years grappling with trauma and memory loss, retreating from the world until his death in 2020, which police attributed to a likely cardiac arrest. The investigation Investigators quickly turned to the cockpit voice recorder for answers. The recordings painted a troubling picture: the pilots were straining to spot the runway through the haze, distracted from monitoring the plane's altitude. They skipped critical steps including failing to request landing clearance from the tower or announce their altitude as required during the descent. These oversights pointed to a loss of situational awareness in the flight's final moments. The official inquiry pinned the crash on pilot error. Both the captain and co-pilot had strayed from standard procedures for landing in such poor visibility. But the blame didn't stop there. The report also criticised air traffic control for not clearly communicating how bad the visibility had become and for failing to update the pilots on the runway visual range (RVR)—a key measure of how far a pilot can see down the runway, vital for safe landings in murky conditions. A deeper probe by the Justice Mathur Commission uncovered broader failures. It concluded that both Indian Airlines and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) bore responsibility—a case of 'composite negligence'. This finding fuelled legal action from survivors and victims' families, who sought accountability and compensation. In 2003, a civil court awarded payments with interest to those affected. Years later, the Gujarat High Court stepped in, boosting the interest rate and assigning 90 per cent of the financial liability to Indian Airlines, with the AAI covering the remaining 10 per cent.
Indian Express
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Gujarat Confidential: Keeping it clean
As the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited are jointly carrying out a campaign to clean Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad city, the initiative was joined by Governor Acharya Devvrat, on Saturday. On the occasion, the Governor emphasised that citizens who enjoy the beauty of the Sabarmati riverfront must also take responsibility for keeping it clean. The Governor was also joined by students of Gujarat Vidyapith, among others. So far, over 408 metric tonnes of waste have been removed from the river under the ongoing campaign that started on May 15, as per an official statement. Message from Japan Vadodara BJP Lok Sabha MP, Hemang Joshi, who is part of one of the seven All- Party Delegations travelling abroad to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism after the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam and the subsequent Operation Sindoor, on Saturday, put out a video to apprise the citizens of Gujarat on the discussions held at the first stop in Japan. In the video, in Gujarati, Joshi said, 'As part of the global outreach mission, our delegation led by Sanjay Kumar Jha is on a visit to South East Asia and Japan… In Marathon meetings for three days, the all-party delegation explained in detail how Pakistan supports terrorism at a time when the world is helping Pakistan financially, and how it is diverting the finances to sponsor terror. We discussed Operation Sindoor, which was an attack to demolish terror infrastructure.' The delegation is now headed to Korea, Joshi said, adding, 'In Japan, we had one-to-one meetings with former Prime Ministers, Speaker of House of Representatives, Former Defence Ministers and Foreign Ministers of Japan as well as Japanese media and social media influencers. We also involved the Indian diaspora in the conversations in order to ensure that our message reaches everyone.'
Time of India
12-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Seats vacant, Vidyapith plans more entrance tests
Ahmedabad: Gujarat Vidyapith recently conducted entrance tests for admissions to its various courses across Gujarat, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The entrance exam, known as GEETA, was held for 1,630 seats across 14 undergraduate, three postgraduate, 20 PhD and five postgraduate diploma programmes. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A total of 1,464 students applied, but only 1,181 candidates took the test. The results have been declared, and admissions will be granted based on merit by May 20. However, the university noted a concerning trend — the number of candidates who took the tests was lower than the number of available seats. In fact, the number of seats exceeded the number of applicants. As a result, Vidyapith has planned additional entrance test rounds on May 25, June 8 and June 22 at its Ahmedabad campus. These exams will also be open to students applying after the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) results are declared, allowing them another opportunity to secure admission. The new academic session is set to begin on July 1.
