Days after Lalita Shivarkar (18) — a resident of Alandi Mhatobachi ended her life after finding it difficult to cope with the exam pressure, counsellors in the city have stressed that a congenial environment should be created by educational institutions and parents to mentally prepare their children for the exams.

Shivarkar, who was appearing for the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams, consumed poison on February 2 at her residence, after failing to cope with the pressure.

How can parents help the child after an examination? A parent from Ahmedabad Praise your child for doing his or her best on the test. Talk about what was asked in the test and how to manage the performance in the next one. Try to avoid your analytical thinking about the children on that day and encourage your child for the next subject paper.

What should parents do on the night before and the day of an examination? A parent from Anand

Be encouraging. Let your child know you think he or she will do well on the test. Avoid difficult family issues before the test to prevent unnecessary anxiety. Make sure your child gets plenty of sleep the night before the test. Have him or her wake up early, eat a nutritious breakfast and wear comfortable clothes.

The Supreme Court rejected a man's divorce plea on Wednesday, as the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, does not recognise "irretrievable breakdown" as a ground for divorce.

A bench of justices Markandey Katju and VS Sirpurkar rejected the husband's divorce plea saying, no court, including SC, is empowered to issue a decree for divorce on this ground, as it would amount to amending the Hindu Marriage Act, a job that is vested with the legislature alone.

A law can be amended only by legislature and not by judicial verdict, judges said. Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act provides several grounds for granting divorce such as cruelty, adultery, desertion, but irretrievable breakdown of marriage is not one, the judges noted.

Ajay Makhrija alias Lucky, 24, the son of an Ahmedabad transporter, allegedly stole motorcycles — only Bajaj Pulsars — as they fetched a good price.

"Ajay's luck ran out when he was intercepted by policemen during nakabandi on Dr Ambedkar Road at Parel on Tuesday afternoon. When the cops asked for the bike's documents, he couldn't produce them and was evasive. The police later arrested him in a bike theft case," said a police officer from Bhoiwada police station. He added that Ajay was remanded to police custody till March 7 by the Metropolitan Magistrate's court at Bhoiwada on Wednesday.

In a major relief for Bombay Dyeing, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that the stop-work notices issued to the textile firm, which is redeveloping two mills, are premature. The HC disposed of the petition filed by Bombay Dyeing after BMC lawyer assured the court that the two notices would be withdrawn by the state-appointed monitoring committee in its next meeting on March 16.

As per Development Control Rules (DCR), when a mill is redeveloped, proportionate areas of land have to be handed over to BMC and Mhada.

The Gujarat Khedut Samaj has decided to approach the Supreme Court after Gujarat High Court dismissed its plea opposing sale of a large tract of land used for cotton research for a commercial project.

The land in question is a vast tract of land, measuring around 65,000 sq mt, in the heart of the city near Ghoddod Road. The land, belonging to Navsari Agricultural University, is in the possession of Cotton Agricultural Research Centre, and has been used for research for decades.