AHMEDABAD: A super hero of our own, zipping through the dark aisle of Manek chowk or Raikhad to fight the evil or help needy. This might soon
become a reality as the animation film making department of the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad prepares for ‘Chitrakatha’ - the three-day animation festival hosted by the institute.
This year the theme for the festival is - Ahmedabad. “Across the world festivals of all sorts are known from the city they are hosted in. We plan to make this animation festival a festival of the city where work from the city and about the city is brought out. Be it illustration, animation films or comic books, artists taking inspirations from the stories of the city can create world class animations,” said Shekhar Mukherjee, the coordinator of the animation film making department.

Chitrakatha, will start from October 29. “The Ahmedabad Heritage Cell and other private and public bodies are being roped in so that the city reaps most from the event. The festival includes exhibitions, workshops, panel discussions and screening of select animation films from across the world,” said Mukherjee.

“This year there will be three categories - national students, international students and teachers’ work and under which various competitions will be held. From what we have seen in the last event, we feel Indian students and international students have different criteria for them. We have also introduced a category for teachers’ work so that this also becomes a part of their self development process,” added Mukherjee.

VADODARA: The developments in Rajasthan over the royal property of Rajmata Gayatri Devi of Jaipur are coming as a bitter reminder of the similar tussle in Vadodara after Rajmata Shanta Devi of Baroda passed away in 2002. As granddaughter of the erstwhile Baroda state’s Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III and Maharani Chimnabai Rajmata Gayatri Devi had a distinct connection with the Gaekwad’s of Baroda. Just like Gayatri Dev’s stepsons and grandchildren are expected to enter into legal battle to make their claim over the royal property running into hundreds of crores that she has left behind, the scions of erstwhile rulers of Baroda great grandsons of Sayajirao, Sangramsinh Gaekwad and Ranjitsinh Gaekwad, are still fighting legal battles over the royal property which is estimated at Rs 10,000 crore.

Gayatri Devi’s mother was Princess Indira Raje of Baroda, the only daughter of Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad III who was engaged at a young age to Madho Rao Scindia, the then Maharaja of Gwalior, but later got married to Maharaja Jitendra of Cooch Behar. As second daughter of the Maharani of Cooch Behar, Gayatri Devi who even as Princess of Cooch Behar had attained celebrity status, got married to Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur as his third wife which in turn made her Rajmata of Jaipur.

When Maharaja Sawai Man Singh in 1970 died, the title of Maharaja was passed on to Bhawani Singh, the son of his eldest wife. Now, after Gayatri Devi passed away at 90, the fate of her legacy including stakes in around 17 palaces, forts, hotels and houses plus a famous jewellery collection (roughly estimated at Rs 4,800 crore) is unclear even as suspense is growing over her will.

“The royal feud of Jaipur is almost similar to that of Baroda. It was in early 1990’s that first signs of dispute over ownership rights between royal scions and grandchildren of Sayajirao Sangramsinh and Ranjitsinh emerged,” said a lawyer, who is well conversant with the royal feud of Baroda scions.

It was after Rajmata Shanta Devi passed away at the age of 88 in May 2002 that the dispute took ugly turns with series of litigations filed over Shanta Devi’s will. Even in the case of Jaipur’s royals, Rajmata Gayatri Devi’s son Jagat Singh had a dispute with the new Maharaja Bhawani Singh over ownership dispute that went to high court and resulted in some royal belongings being placed in care of receivers in 1992. Now even as Jagat Singh has passed away, the ownership issues are set to take ugly turns as Rajmata’s will is yet to be read out, he said.

Many might not know that the last years of both Rajmata Shanta Devi and Rajmata Gayatri Devi’s life were soured by disagreements and legal battles within the family.

Gandhinagar, Aug 11 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has called for an all-party meeting here Wednesday to discuss measures to prevent the further spread of the deadly H1N1 virus that has claimed two lives in the state.

The state government wants all parties to come together and discuss issues to prevent the situation from worsening further, a senior official in the chief minister’s office said.

The state government has asked all government and private schools to immediately report any symptoms of fever, cough or cold among the children to the civil hospitals or the primary health centres.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has decided to send a medical team to all schools in the city to carry out the screening of children.

The swine flue claimed the first victim in the state when Pravin Patel, a non-resident Indian (NRI) from Atlanta, the US, died in the Ahmedabad civil hospital early Sunday.

A seven-year-old girl named Arya died Tuesday in Vadodara, about 150 km from here.

In Vadodara, the Delhi Public School (DPS) was the first school to announce closure as a preventive measure.

There are a total of 14 swine flu positive cases in Gujarat. The latest among them is a 22-year-old man from Vejalpur locality of Ahmedabad who contracted the infection from his Pune-based relatives.

Cases of swine flu are increasing in Gujarat with the total number of those being tested positive rising to 15 today and one person succumbing to the deadly virus in Vadodara city.

“So far, 84 suspected cases have been registered in the state, out of which 15 have been confirmed with swine flu while 45 have tested negative,” State Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas told PTI.

One patient tested positive in Ahmedabad today, Vyas said.

He added that results of 24 persons are awaited while 10 patients are hospitalised currently.

According to him, admitted patients are in government hospitals in Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara.

“The condition of all the admitted patient is stable and nobody is on ventilator,” the minister said.

Two people who have died in Gujarat due to the H1N1 virus include an NRI Pravin Patel and a girl Arya Borde from Vadodara.

Meanwhile, State Chief Minister Narendra Modi has called an all-party meeting tomorrow to discuss the action plan for tackling the disease, which is rapidly spreading in the country.

JAIPUR: A day after the body of a girl was found on the Jaipur-Beawar bypass near Ajmer, the police believe it to be a case of rape-cum-murder.The victim, identified as 22-year-old Ritu Agarwal, was a student of fashion designing and a native of Ahmedabad.

According to the police, she was a second-year student of fashion designing at Pearl Academy of Fashion Designing in RIICO industrial area in Jaipur. A resident of Raghukul Colony at Sahibag area in Ahmedabad, she was staying in a rented accommodation at Moti Doongri area of Jaipur for the past one-and-a-half years.

The girl had left her room on Saturday evening, telling her roommates that she was expecting some visitors from Ahmedabad and would return in few hours. “When she didn’t return, her maternal uncle Subhash Lohiya, a resident of Bani Park in Jaipur, was informed. He lodged a missing complaint with the police on Sunday morning,” said Narayan
Lal, incharge of Moti Doongri police station in Jaipur.

The doctors, who conducted the post-mortem, have confirmed rape and murder. Meanwhile, the victim’s family members told police about her closeness to a boy in Ahmedabad before she came to Jaipur for study. The police, however, have refused to divulge the identity of the boy.

Ahmedabad: The speciality of the Ahmedabad Janmarg is that the best marketing strategy has been chosen, that of introducing free trials. The people of Ahmedabad get to see the bus operations and provide feedback well before the launch of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS).

The best awareness campaign should have three elements — the abilities to enable, educate and enforce. And this should not be the other way round. The convention method of raising awareness, by raising hoardings in order to educate people about something, may not work as it may not explain the infrastructure of the system. The best way to make people understand something like this is by making them part of the infrastructure.

There is a need to improve the Ahmedabad BRTS on some points. Among these are the waiting space at intersections, safety of pedestrians while crossing the road, traffic engineering etc. But I believe the Ahmedabad Janmarg Ltd (AJL) has already been working on these. I hope these matters will be remedied soon.

Unlike the experiences in Delhi and Pune, the drivers in Ahmedabad have been properly trained. During my visit, I saw them docking the BRTS buses at the platforms and stopping at the stations properly and there was no jerk when they started the buses — which means they are trained properly.

Globally, the BRTS has a distinct image of having better buses than other bus services. The buses that are currently used to travel in are built on truck chassis and their standard is not up to the mark. We need to change the image of public transport, through the BRTS, which has been funded by the central government under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

And there is no controversy regarding the BRTS buses bearing the JNNURM logo as they were not purchased using JNNURM funds. We had provided funds to buy 580 buses and 100 others, but these are yet to arrive. When they do arrive, the officials will place the JNNURM logo on the buses and BRTS stations.

I would give the Ahmedabad BRTSseven or eight on a scale of 10 points, as observed the operations while the work was till on.

Ahmedabad is the commercial capital of Gujarat. It is the sixth largest city in India. It was even the capital of the state for some years, before Gandhinagar assumed the title. With time, fast paced developments have transformed the city into a center of various activities. It is explored by a significant number of tourists every year. For the convenience of the travelers, there are a number of accommodation options available in Ahmedabad. You can choose from amongst these options according to your needs and budget. Numerous hotels in the city cater to the requirements of tourists, both affluent as well as budget.

Luxurious Hotels

Hotel Taj Residency
It is located at a distance of few minutes from the Airport.

Hotel Inder Residency
It is located in the western suburbs of the city near C.G & Ashram road. Both airport and the railway station are easily accessible from here.

Hotel Le Meridien
The hotel is located in the heart of the city. It provides a beautiful view of the River Sabarmati and is one of its kinds in Ahmedabad.

Hotel Pride
It is located in the Judge’s Bungalows area, near the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway.

Hotel Chicago
It is located at Pritamnagar area, near Ellish Bridge. It is a great place to pamper your taste buds as the food served here is delectable.

Hotel Quality Inn
It is a business class hotel and provides an excellent view of River Sabarmati.

Budget Hotels

Hotel Cama Park Plaza
It is located centrally in the heart of business and shopping areas and is suitable for both business and leisure travelers.

Hotel Comfort Inn Sunset
It lies very near to the Ahmedabad Airport and is easily accessible from there. You can avail world class services here, at an affordable price.