Gujarati News: July 2005

Admission rules for IIMs changed
Thursday, July 28, 2005 | JJ

Admission rules for IIMs shall be changed. Director, IIM Ahmedabad, Bakul Dholakia said, "The earlier rule, created in 1993, now stands void. This would open up opportunities from students from non-AIU member institutions to prove their talent." A DAIICT graduate Gaurav Mundra said "Two graduates from DAIICT, one of whom had scored over 99 per cent in CAT, were earlier denied admission in IIM(A) because the institute was not an AIU member."

Unexpected guests for Ahmedabad
Thursday, July 28, 2005 | JJ

Mumbai rain has brought 350 unexpected guests to Ahmedabad. Four flights to Mumbai were diverted to Ahmedabad as flights were suspended from Mumbai airport since 2.30 pm on Tuesday after the Mithi river adjoining the airport overflowed into the airport overflowed and inundated the runway. Bangalore-Mumbai flight of Alliance Air, Delhi-Mumbai flight of Indian Airlines, Bangalore-Mumbai flight of Jet Airways, and Goa-Mumbai flight of Air Sahara were diverted to Ahmedabad from Mumbai.

Hindi album paraphrased into Gujarati
Thursday, July 28, 2005 | JJ

Hindi album sung by Atulkumar Nigam (Sonu Nigam's father) paraphrased into Gujarati. Care has been taken to keep the essence of the songs same as in Hindi. Singer Jaykar Bhojak is doing the paraphrased into Gujarati. Bhojak said "Catchy Hindi tunes with Gujarati lyrics will click with the growing market of Gujarati sugam sangeet fans."

615-MW Power Plant at Saurashtra
Thursday, July 28, 2005 | JJ

615-MW Power Plant estimated to be 1,800 crore shall be constructed by Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Limited at Saurashtra in 30 months. The Gas based Power plant will come in 125-acre land owned GSPCL at Pipavav. The upcoming plant shall meet the growing need of power requirements of Saurashtra region.

Alert as heavy rains forecasted
Thursday, July 28, 2005 | JJ

State has been put on alert after a warning of heavy rains by the met department. Met department said heavy to very heavy rainfall and thundershowers at a few places over Gujarat during the next 24 hours if the clouds over Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh shift towards the state. State flood control alerted district administrations across the state to be prepared to meet any contingency.

Manoj Bajpai and Shilpa Shetty in Fareb
Wednesday, July 27, 2005 | APA

Ahmedabad: Versatile actor Manoj Bajpai and gorgeous Shilpa Shetty were in the city to promote their new film Fareb. Shilpa and Manoj talked about their new film, experience of working with each other, their upcoming movies and much more.
On Fareb
Manoj: The film deals with different relations that we develop throughout our lives. I play the role of a creative director of an ad agency. The message is simple: life starts with family and ends with the family. In short family is everything.
Shilpa: Dipak Tijori, Director, (of Gujarati Cinema) offered me Fareb when I was working with him on Khamosh. Initially, I had refused but later was impressed when I read the script. Fareb is all about complexity of relations

Curfew clamped in Jafrabad port town
Wednesday, July 27, 2005 | JJ

Curfew has been clamped in Jafrabad port town where three persons died and many injured in Koli and Kharwad groups clash. Deputy Superintendent of Police N M Parmar reports ''Eight rounds were fired by the police and the situation had been brought under control.'' Police said today’s incident was due to the tension prevailing in the two Koli and Kharwad communities clash which occurred six months back. District Collector, Superintendent of Police and senior officials have rushed to the port town.

Trains from Mumbai cancelled due to rains
Wednesday, July 27, 2005 | JJ

Several Trains from Mumbai were cancelled due to heavy rains, which poured in Mumbai on Wednesday night. An official release from railway said "Due to incessant rains and water-logging in the Mumbai suburban section, Western Railway's long distance train services have been affected." The cancelled trains are Ahmedabad-bound Gujarat Express and Shatabdi Express, Bandra-Surat Intercity, Firozpur Janta Express, Rajkot-bound Saurashtra Express, Amritsar-bound Paschim Express and the Bandra-Vapi Passenger.

BJP President post dearly than Finance Ministry
Wednesday, July 27, 2005 | JJ

BJP state President post is more dearly that Finance Ministry for Vajubhai Vala. Mr. Vala submitted his resignation from cabinet to the Chief Minister Narendra Modi as he was appointed as BJP state President. His resignation comes as per party’s policy of "one man, one post". Mr. Vala was B.J.P. Party President from 1996 to 1998.

HC’s Dengue panel submit report
Wednesday, July 27, 2005 | JJ

Gujarat High Court constituted panel submitted its report on the public sanitary conditions. The four member panel submitted the report to Registrar-General P P Bhatt. Registrar-General said, ‘‘The report will be submitted to the court on Wednesday as necessary compilation work was yet to be done.’’ The panel was constituted by HC due to the rising number of dengue cases in the city.

Police arrested another Godhra accused
Wednesday, July 27, 2005 | JJ

Police arrested another in the Godhra train fire of 2002 taking the total number of arrested to 108 out of the 131 accused. The accused Irfan Tatadiya was arrested from his residence at Signal Faliya area in the central Gujarat town of Godhra. State government has booked the accused under the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and trial will be carried at the city-based POTA special court.

BJP accuse Centre for delaying flood aid
Wednesday, July 27, 2005 | JJ

BJP Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat Jayantilal Barot accused Center for the delay in releasing the flood aid. He said that all such aids from the Centre should reach within 24 to 48 hours of any calamity striking a state. He also requested Centre to apply tsunami relief norms in giving aid to flood-affected Gujarat. He said ''The destruction wrought by the floods in the state was equivalent to the devastation caused by tsunami, so the relief provided by the Centre should be as per the norms applied in case of tsunami-affected areas.''

Dengue cases reported in Rajkot
Sunday, July 24, 2005 | JJ

Dengue cases have been reported in Rajkot also. RMC Commissioner Mukesh Kumar said ‘‘One more dengue case was reported today. Of the total of 8 cases reported so far, four have been reported from Ward No 22. Besides, after finding the adese ageypti larvae in a number of social institutes in this ward, the RMC will be launching a special anti-dengue drive in this area.’’ He added ‘‘So far we have inspected only the social institutes. But given the increasing number of dengue cases from Ward No 22, door-to-door drive will be launched from Saturday.’’

Court awards 6 life sentences for murder
Sunday, July 24, 2005 | JJ

Vadodara court awards 6 life sentences for murder of Gulbahar in April 2003. Baroda session's court judge V.S. Dave gave the judgment after examining 33 witnesses and two eyewitnesses. The six person who got life sentence are the six accused - Ashok Cheri, Dilip Cheri, Vicky Sardar alias Satpal Singh, Jagannath Cheri, Pravin Parmar and Santosh Yadav.

RBI concerned about Guj cooperative banks
Saturday, July 23, 2005 | APA

Ahmedabad, Jul 23 (PTI) The Reserve Bank of India is trying to revive Gujarat's urban cooperative banking sector, in which public confidence has diminished. "We will not allow insolvent banks to accept public deposits. But everything possible will be done to strengthen the urban cooperative banks, most of which are healthy," RBIGovernor Y V Reddy told reporters here. "Only some are having problems and RBI will encourage mergers and acquisitions to revive others," he said. Reddy expressed concern about the "low public confidence" in the state's urban cooperative banks after a multi-crore scam in Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank in Ahmedabad few years ago which deprived many investors of their deposits. The governor addressed the first meeting of the Task Force for Urban Cooperative Banks constituted recently to help the ailing banks in the state. PTI

Millipedes invades Jamnagar District
Friday, July 22, 2005 | JJ

Millipedes have invaded people of Jamnagar district after the incessant rain and have forced villagers to leave their homes. Millipedes normally live outdoors but may become nuisance pests indoors by their presence. Due to excessive rainfall or even drought, a few or hundreds or more leave the soil and crawl into houses, basements, first-floor rooms, up foundation walls, into living rooms, up side walls and drop from the ceilings. Millipedes do not bite humans nor damage structures, household possessions or foods. They can give off a disagreeable odor and if crushed, leave an unsightly mess. Jamnagar district agricultural officer N.K. Kathad said "It is not harmful for agriculture or health. It feeds itself by the decayed material. I think the present enviroment is not too suitable for growth of these millipedes and this problem will be naturally cured."

Ahmedabad airport to be renovated
Friday, July 22, 2005 | JJ

Ahmedabad airport will be renovated in two years. Renovation of Ahmedabad airport will be spread across 930 acres to handle about 10 lakh passengers every year. The renovation will include Wide three-lane approach road will lead to electronically operated gates, a sleek departure concourse, a massive and gleaming check-in hall, huge departure immigration area, swanky departure lounge and high-quality duty-free shopping area. The renovation is being carried out to take care of passenger load for the next 15-20 years.

Cabinet expansion and appointment of chairman
Friday, July 22, 2005 | JJ

Cabinet expansion and appointment of chairman of state boards and corporations likely to be heldthis month end. Modi government is expanding the cabinet for the first time after it came back to power in December 2002. BJP in charge Om Mathur is conducting a series of meetings with BJP ministers and party functionaries in the state capital. Speculation is high as to who all will feature in the expanded cabinet and if it will have any of Keshubhai's loyalists in either the ministry or various state Boards where the heads are to be appointed.

Gujarat flood management studied by Lankan
Friday, July 22, 2005 | JJ

Gujarat flood management was studied by the visiting team of Sri Lankan. 19-member delegation, led by Mr Samantha Abewickrama and members of High-power Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Srilankan met Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and discussed on how the Gujarat Government tackled the natural calamity. The delegation is studying the flood management to replicate the project to rehabilitate the tsunami-affected people in Sri Lanka were ten districts were affected and caused a loss of around 1.5 million dollars.

Dengue and leptospirosis cases reported
Friday, July 22, 2005 | JJ

Dengue and leptospirosis cases have been reported from different parts of the state. Health minister I.K. Jadeja said in Gandhinagar that there are only four confirmed cases and 25 suspected cases of dengue in Ahmedabad. Mr. Jadeja said four persons have died in the three districts and there are 26 cases of leptospirosis detected in flood-hit areas in Surat, Valsad and Navsari districts. Dengue fever is an infectious disease carried by mosquitoes and caused by any of four related dengue viruses. This disease used to be called break-bone fever because it sometimes causes severe joint and muscle pain that feels like bones are breaking. Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals. It is caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira. In humans it causes a wide range of symptoms, and some infected persons may have no symptoms at all. Symptoms of leptospirosis include high fever, severe headache, chills, muscle aches, and vomiting, and may include jaundice (yellow skin and eyes), red eyes, abdominal pain, diarrhea, or a rash.

AMC, Auda gets notices from High court
Friday, July 22, 2005 | JJ

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority received suo motu notices from Division bench of Justice K.R. Vyas and Justice Akshay Mehta of Gujarat high court for "careless and callous approach" towards prevention of dengue in the city. Notices were issued as number of dengue cases in the city was on rise. Court directed registrar-general of the high court P.V. Bhatt, along with the representatives of the AMC and Auda visit various parts of the city, monitor the developments prepare a detailed report and submit it before the next hearing on July 26.

Modi demands new Railway projects
Friday, July 22, 2005 | JJ

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi demanded new Railway Projects and expansion in Gujarat. He submitted the detail to Union Minister of State for Railways Naranbhai Rathwa who also belongs to the state. New Railway Projects and expansions include Rs 1,100-crore integrated urban circular railway project for Greater Ahmedabad, exclusive 'railway freight corridor' along the Mehsana-Ahmedabad -Vadodara industrial belt, railway container factory in Kutch, upgrading the Kandla-Bhatinda line into double track and laying a new line between Gandhinagar and Kalol to connect the state capital with Ahmedabad-Jaipur-Delhi trunk route. CM urged the Railway Minister to take up the State's other pending projects on a fast track basis. They included expediting third track between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, Dahej-Bharuch and Hazira-Surat port-link railway connections, and converting Gandhidham-Palanpur and Ahmedabad-Udaipur metre gauge section into broad gauge.

Piped natural gas service launched
Friday, July 22, 2005 | JJ

Piped natural gas (PNG) service has been launched in Maninagar area of Ahmedabad by Gujarat Adani Energy (GAEL). GAEL inaugurated the PNG service with supplies to Swaminarayan Temple at Maninagar. GAEL gas operations president Rajeev Sharma said "Our PNG is priced at Rs 13.75 paise per cubic metre and is over 30 per cent cheaper than LPG." GAEL has already laid approximately 23 kilometer polyethylene pipes to supply in Maninagar area will cover other areas of the city, including Paldi, Satellite, Memnagar, Navrangpura, and Naranpura after monsoon.

Mumbai-Surat Air Deccan Flights Suspended
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 | JJ

Mumbai-Surat Air Deccan Flights has been suspended from July 21 due to poor infrastructure at the Surat airport. Air Deccan chief revenue officer chief revenue officer said “There were many infrastructure-related problems at the Surat airport even when we launched the flights in November. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials had assured us that all the problems would be sorted out at the earliest, but this has not happened.”

Zaheera to be Cross-examined on 25 July
Monday, July 18, 2005 | JJ

Zaheera Sheikh the key witness in the Best Bakery case will be cross-examined on 25 July. Cross-examination was scheduled today before the two-member Nanavati-Shah Commission, has been postponed till July 25. Commission's office stated that cross-examination of Zaheera would be held on July 25 along with other miscellaneous applications. No reason was cited for the postponed.

Child laborers rescued at Surat
Monday, July 18, 2005 | JJ

The labour department officials rescued during raid Child laborers working at Surat markets and firms. Most of the Child laborers were employed at different textile units. Raids were conducted on receiving numerous complaints that children below the age of 14 were being employed by the units and were made to work under unhygienic conditions and congested workshops.

IG Patel passes away in New York Hospital
Monday, July 18, 2005 | JJ

Indravadan Gordhanbhai Patel died in a hospital in New York on Sunday night at the age of 81. Mr. Patel was an Eminent economist, Former Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) 1977-82 and Director of London School of Economics. Patel became the Principal of Baroda College at the age of 25 years, in 1949 and also taught as a Professor of Economics. Later he had joined the research department of IMF. Former vice-chancellor of MS University Bhikhu Parekh said ‘‘He was very generous with his time and energy even at this age. The political life of India and civic life of Vadodara has been left poorer with his demise,’’

Gujarat Times now from Canada
Monday, July 18, 2005 | JJ

Gujarat Times will be published from Canada from 5 August. Gopal Raju, who started the newspaper in 1999, said, "The Canada edition is part of our commitment to serve the Gujarati diaspora in North America. We are taking this step after receiving frequent requests from the community there." Gujarat Times' publisher Prakash Parekh said "This is a big step for us as publishers. We hope the Gujaratis residing in Canada would support us."

Nobel prize nomination for Ahmedabad NGO
Monday, July 18, 2005 | JJ

Runa Banerji, Chairperson and Nasreen a Trainer of Self Employed Women Association (SEWA) are nominated for the Nobel Peace prize. Runa Banerji said “Though my name has been selected for such an important prize , but the actual credit for everything goes to all the sisters who have made SEWA’s initiative a success. And to all those who are a part of SEWA and have contributed their best for its upliftment. I am merely a symbol. They couldn’t give the prize to everybody and that’s why chose just one name.”

Police investigating London bomber Gujarat link
Monday, July 18, 2005 | JJ

Police and anti-terrorist squad are investigating the London Bomber Mohammed Sadique Khan link to Gujarat. Sources said that Khan had married Hasina daughter of a primary school teacher at Tankaria village in Broach district. Khan met Hasina while studying at Leeds University as a learning assistant. . Flouting the cultural conventions of his community, he rejected an arranged marriage. Instead, the 30-year- old learning assistant and mentor married Hasina, the girl he met and fell in love with while studying at Leeds University. Couple already had an eight-month-old daughter and Hasina was pregnant with their second child.

CET for Self Financed Colleges
Monday, July 18, 2005 | JJ

Admission for colleges of Self-Financed Medical, Para Medical Colleges Management, will be through common Entrance Test (CET). Division benches of Gujarat High Court comprising Justice M S Shah, D H Waghela and Justice B M Mehta in response to the petition allowed the association to conduct the CET for admission.

HCL Infosystems desktop design by NID
Thursday, July 14, 2005 | JJ

Ahmedabad-based National Institute of Design (NID) will design HCL Infosystems desktop computer systems. Executive director of NID - Darlie O Koshy said: "We have received a project to design desktop computer systems from HCL Infosystems." Co-ordinator for the project from NID Pradyumna Vyas said "We are designing next generation desktop computers for HCL keeping in mind future trends in the computer market." Vyas said, "As far as the design is concerned, we are in final stages and expect that the final product will hit the market in next 10 -12 months".

Herbal garments with medicinal properties
Thursday, July 14, 2005 | JJ

Aura Herbal Wear has launched herbal garments with medicinal properties. Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM-Ahmedabad has extended support to Arun Baid for his “novel method of dyeing textile articles from medicinally rich herbs.” Baid said, “We dye 100 per cent natural fabrics by immersing them in the herbs such as myraballam (harade), catechu (kaththa), pomegranate rind (anar chal), madder (majeeth), castor oil (arandi tel). Even the bleaching done on the fabrics is naturally done with sunlight and laying the fabric on grass.”

Delhi-Ahmedabad Rs 799 on Spice Jet
Thursday, July 14, 2005 | JJ

Spice Jet Limited has announced special fare of Rs. 799 for the Delhi-Ahmedabad route, which will be applicable for next one month. Spice Jet CEO Mark Winders said, "It's not just the price but what we offer at that price and our commitment to high quality service that will create the desired brand preference for us."

Gujarat Refinery to upgrade for Rs 3,940 cr
Thursday, July 14, 2005 | JJ

Gujarat Refinery at Koyali will be upgraded at the cost of Rs 3,940 crore. IOC has approved the upgrading proposal. Motor Spirit (MS) and high-speed diesel (HSD) quality will be improved to Euro-III and Euro-IV equivalent specification in the proposed upgrade, which will cost Rs 1,665. Jaspal Singh Director (Refineries) of IOC said in its first phase of the project, only 60 per cent of the total production capacity has been reached and by the end of this year, production levels are expected to reach its full capacity.

DFF rejects Final Solution for national film festival
Thursday, July 14, 2005 | JJ

Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) rejected the award winning film "Final Solution" on Gujarat riots the national film festival 2005 on the ground that it was not produced in 2004. Renowned documentary filmmaker Rakesh Sharma has send a letter to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister S Jaipal Reddy for rejecting his film.

Vadodara zoo closed to clear carcasses
Wednesday, July 13, 2005 | JJ

Vadodara zoo at Sayajibaug remains closed for 4-days from Monday to clear carcasses. Zoo has lost many animals such as fishes, birds and some deer and the loss estimated of Rs 1.5 crore. Aquarium in-charge Heerasinh Rathod ‘‘the water was flowing over the level of our pond, thereby resulting into the fishes flowing with the water current.’’ Rathod said ‘‘There was no electricity supply for five to six days and so we were not able to supply oxygen. This resulted into the death of all the exotic fishes we had collected.’’ He added ‘‘the fishes were rare... We also lost a lot of infrastructure. This would not have happened if VMC was careful in releasing the water.’’

Ahmedabad - Mumbai rail route operational
Wednesday, July 13, 2005 | JJ

Ahmedabad - Mumbai rail route section of the western railways became completely operational on Tuesday. The traffic on the this section of rail route was stopped due to major damage to the tracks in the recent heavy rainfall and flood.

Duplicate ration cards for flood-affected
Wednesday, July 13, 2005 | JJ

Duplicate ration cards will be issued for flood-affected people who had lost their original cards. Chief Minister Narendra Modi directed the government for duplicate ration cards and repair of hand pumps on a top priority basis. CM was given the latest report on the flood relief operations by 14 senior secretaries who spend their weekend and public holidays for the flood relief and rehabilitation operations.

Gujarat claims Rs 8,000 cr flood loss
Wednesday, July 13, 2005 | JJ

Gujarat government claimed Rs 8,000 crore losses in the recent heavy rainfall and flood. A memorandum to this effect was presented to the 13-member high-power central team led by Rakesh Sharma, joint secretary of the Union Home Ministry. Losses were incurred are Rs 3,000 to industries, Rs 1,500 to roads, bridges and buildings, Rs 1,200 crore to power, Rs 900 crore to dams, reservoirs and canal systems and Rs 800 crore to agriculture. Rajesh Kishore, relief commissioner in his presentation to the central team said "About two crore people in the state have been affected due to incessant rain in the state. 6,717 villages and 57 towns have been affected directly or indirectly. The state government had undertaken massive relief and restoration exercise immediately with the help of army and air force. Roads network, water supply, health, electricity and livestock in the state have been affected severely. So far, the state government has paid cash doles to about seven lakh people in the affected areas and survey and relief work is in progress now."

e-Infochips to work with Texas Instruments
Tuesday, July 12, 2005 | JJ

e-Infochips will work in cooperation with Texas Instruments (TI) in the field of digital signal processing (DSP) expertise. e-Infochips chip design company based in Ahmedabad will train more than 100 dedicated DSP engineers who will exclusively develop reference applications such as IP set-top boxes and digital video recorders on new TI DSP platforms. CEO, eInfochips Mr Pratul Shroff said "TI's leadership in digital signal processor market is a great window of opportunity for e-Infochips to work with TI's OEM customers. We are scaling up to leverage that opportunity in partnership with TI." Texas Instruments' Marketing Manager (DSP platform), Mr Thomas Brooks said, "We are delighted with e-Infochips' decision to further increase its focus on Texas Instruments' DSP products. With presence in Europe and Asia-Pacific, e-Infochips will be able to work closely with OEM customers in these markets."

Damage assessment by Central team
Tuesday, July 12, 2005 | JJ

Damage caused by the recent heavy rainfall and flood will be assessed by central team which is led by joint secretary of the Union Home Ministry which arrived in Gujarat on Monday. The team split into three groups, the first group will survey Kaira and Anand districts in central Gujarat, the second group would study the situation in Vadodara, Broach and Surat districts and the third in Ahmedabad and Surendranagar districts. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had earlier sanctioned Rs. 500 crores towards immediate relief.

Rs. 500 cr. for flood relief
Sunday, July 10, 2005 | JJ

Rs. 500 cr. for flood relief from National Calamity Fund
Central government released Rs. 500 cr. for flood relief from National Calamity Fund. A home ministry press note says an inter-ministerial team will leave for Gujarat Monday for an on-the-spot assessment of the damage caused by floods triggered by heavy rains. As per the state government report over 200 people have died while trade and industry is estimated to have incurred losses of Rs. 50 billion due to rains and floods. Home ministry statement said "The situation in the state has improved considerably. The centre is keeping a close watch on the situation."

DA-IICT to Anil Ambani
Sunday, July 10, 2005 | JJ

As part of the settlement between the Ambani brothers Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DA-IICT) in Gandhinagar will be under Anil Ambani. Mukesh Ambani, resigned as chairman of DA-IICT. DA-IICT is a non-profit educational society, was established in 2001 to promote education, research, and training in information and communication technology.

Modi enquires about London Gujaratis
Sunday, July 10, 2005 | JJ

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi enquired about the Gujaratis of London after the blast which rocked London city. CM wrote to British High Commissioner in New Delhi to know if there appeared any causalities to the Gujaratis. a report said only one Indian-origin Thirty-six-year-old Neetu Jain is among the missing persons who is feared to have been killed in Thursday's bus bomb blasts at Tavistock Square in London. Ajay Devgan, wife Kajol and their daughter Nysa were holidaying in London during the blast.

IOC's Gujarat refinery resumes operations
Saturday, July 9, 2005 | APA

The State-owned Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) on Monday said that it has resumed operations at its Gujarat refinery, which was shut last week due to incessant rains and water logging. The primary processing units were re-commissioned on Saturday and all the crude distillation units the next day. Secondary processing units like Fluidised Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU) and Hydro-cracker was put back to operation today, a company press release said here. India's largest LAB plant at Gujarat refinery was also put back on stream yesterday. IOC had on Thursday shut its 13.7 million tonnes per annum capacity Koyali refinery as a precaution to avoid dama ge from floods. The Koyali refinery near Baroda is IOC's biggest. The release said that Gujarat refinery had also scaled up support to help those affected by the natural calamity. "In addition to 10,000 food packets provided by the refinery to the district authorities to reach the affected people, food packets were als o distributed by the IOC officials among the villagers residing in the refinery's vicinity." It would also contribute in preventing the outbreak of epidemics in the adjoining areas.

Jagannath Yatra begins in Ahmedabad amidst tight security
Friday, July 8, 2005 | APA

Ahmedabad, Jul 8 (PTI) The 128th annual Jagannath yatra -- comprising beautifully decorated chariots of Lord Jagannath, Balbhadra and Subhadra pulled by over 1,000 devotees -- began at the break of the dawn today wading its way through a sea of humanity, amidst tight security. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders of the state including state Home Minister Amit Shah and Law Minister Ashok Bhatt visited the temple premises in Jamalpur area and offered prayers before the yatra began. The flower-decked chariots of the yatra, which is second only to the `Jagannath Yatra at Puri (Orissa) in fame and granduer, are being accompanied by decorated trucks carrying devotees. In all 30 `akhadas', 18 `bhajan mandalis' and three `Ras Garba' teams also form part of the yatra processsion. Security has been stepped up for the yatra in wake of the terrorist attack at Ayodhya with about 15,000 personnel from city police and para-military forces, including the BSF and CRPF, posted along the 15 kms traditional route of the yatra, which includes some communally sensitive areas. PTI

Reliance to expand Jamnagar Refinery
Friday, July 8, 2005 | JJ

Reliance Industries (RIL) is planning to double the capacity of Jamnagar refinery with investing between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 crore expected to be completed by August 2006. Jamnagar refinery will become the world’s largest single location refinery after the expansion with the capacity increasing from 30 million tonne per annum to 60 million tonne per annum. A top official of the company said “The company will invest between Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore as part of the expansion plan, which is likely to be completed in just over a year from now.”

Gujarat Science City
Friday, July 8, 2005 | JJ

Gujarat Science City is a bold initiative of the Government of Gujarat to realize this priority, which aims to provide a perfect blend of education and entertainment. It will showcase contemporary and imaginative exhibits, minds on experiences, working models, virtual reality, activity corners, labs and live demonstrations to provide an understanding of science and technology to the common man. The Government of Gujarat has established the Gujarat Council of Science City, a registered society, to achieve the Gujarat Science City mandate.

Tight security for Jagannath Yatra
Friday, July 8, 2005 | JJ

Tight security arrangements have been made for the 128th annual Jagannath yatra. BSF and CRPF, posted along the 15 kms traditional route of the yatra passes through the most sensitive part, the minority dominated Jordan Road locality of the Dariapur area, will be closely monitored by the officials through a special network of CCTVs (close circuit televisions). Joint Commissioner of police C P Thakur said "About 67 companies of the State Reserve Police, nine companies of the Border Security Force (BSF), five of CRPF, and other companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF), Border Wing Jawans and 6,000 police personnel of the city police are ensuring a fool-proof security for the yatra."

Flood situation improving as water receding
Wednesday, July 6, 2005 | JJ

Flood situation was improving in the state as water stared receding and life is slowly getting back to normal. Home Secretary V K Duggal said that flood situation in Gujarat, in which 132 people have lost their lives was improving and water was receding and now none of the rivers in the state were flowing above the danger mark. He said "Apart from some disruption of water supply, the situation is more or less under control." In the recent heavy rain and flood related incident 132 persons have been reported dead either due to drowning, collapse of building walls. 13 persons have been reported missing. 500,000 affected persons to Safe locations including primary and secondary schools, community halls, ‘Dharmasalas’ and temples in Village Panchayat are being used as temporary shelters.

Ayodhya attack places Gujarat on high alert
Wednesday, July 6, 2005 | JJ

Following the terrorist attack on the makeshift Ram temple on the disputed Babri mosque-Ramjanmabhoomi complex in Ayodhya high alert was sounded across Gujarat and security tightened at religious places including the Somnath temple in Saurashtra and the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar. Minister of State for Home Amit Shah said: "The situation in Gujarat is under control. We are on high alert but the law and order situation is under the complete control of the administration." He added "We have never lowered our guard. The situation in the state is peaceful." Home Secretary V K Duggal "The security of the Rath Yatra will be managed by CRPF this year and is held as per schedule," which is scheduled on Friday 8 July.

Ayodhya attack places Gujarat on high alert
Wednesday, July 6, 2005 | JJ

Following the terrorist attack on the makeshift Ram temple on the disputed Babri mosque-Ramjanmabhoomi complex in Ayodhya high alert was sounded across Gujarat and security tightened at religious places including the Somnath temple in Saurashtra and the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar. Minister of State for Home Amit Shah said: "The situation in Gujarat is under control. We are on high alert but the law and order situation is under the complete control of the administration." He added "We have never lowered our guard. The situation in the state is peaceful." Home Secretary V K Duggal "The security of the Rath Yatra will be managed by CRPF this year and is held as per schedule," which is scheduled on Friday 8 July.

PM cancels Gujarat visit
Wednesday, July 6, 2005 | JJ

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was to assess the damage caused by the floods in the state on Tuesday, has put off his visit. Dr Sanjay Baru, Prime minister's media advisor Dr Sanjay Baru said Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been intimated of the cancellation of Dr Singh's visit. PM’s visit was cancelled following the terrorist attack on the disputed Ramjanmabhoomi site at Ayodhya and PM has condemned such acts of terrorism.

Oil spills in ONGC and IOC
Wednesday, July 6, 2005 | JJ

Oil spills have been noticed in the units of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Indian Oil Company (IOC). Oil spill occurred due to the damage caused to structures in the recent heavy rainfall and floods. ONGC and IOC have started cleaning the oil spills as per the notice of Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB). Oil spill has polluted neighboring water bodies also.

Flood costs Gujarat economy Rs 2,000 crore
Monday, July 4, 2005 | JJ

Recent heavy rainfall six consecutive days and floods has cost Gujarat economy Rs 2,000 crore. Gujarat Chambers of Commerce and Industries (GCCI) general secretary Bipin Patel said "According to preliminary estimates, industries in the state stand to lose over Rs 2,000 crore as most of the units have been completely shut down." He added "Surat, which is the hub of diamond and textile industry, is the most affected with both the industries losing an estimated Rs 1,000 crore during the last three days." "With no delivery of goods taking place due to submerged roads, business in Surat has come to a virtual standstill," Patel said.

Flood Water started receding
Monday, July 4, 2005 | JJ

Flood Water started receding in the most of the flooded area. As per the latest report death toll in the recent heavy rainfall related incidents and floods has risen to 135. Vadodara airport, which had been cut off due to incessant rains became operational. Delhi- Mumbai rail route was opened for traffic and railway staff are working to restore the damaged tracks and regular traffic. National Highway No. 6 and 8 had become operational and work is in progress to make National Highway 59 would be made operational.

Medical teams ready to counter epidemic threat
Monday, July 4, 2005 | JJ

Medical teams are ready to counter any epidemic threat arising out of the flood areas in South and Central Gujarat as soon as the water begins to recede. State government has also requested to Centre for medical package. Health Commissioner of Gujarat Amarjeet Singh said "To counter an outbreak of an epidemic after the water recedes in Anand, Kheda, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat and Valsad districts we have kept about 500 medical teams on alert." He said "We have asked (from the Centre) for 120 metric tonnes of an effective anti-bacterial insecticide TCL (Tri-chloro Ethylene), 200 lakh chlorine tablets, anti-malarial insecticides and standard medical kits containing ORS packets, skin oniments, eye drops and others."

Edu. centres in rain affected areas closed
Monday, July 4, 2005 | JJ

All Educational institutions of rain affected districts Kheda, Anand, Vadodara, Surat, Navsari and Valsad will remain closed till July fifth. Gujarat Education Minister Anandiben Patel announced the same and said the decision to close the educational institutes in the other districts will depend upon the flood situation in the district and the officials of the respective universities, colleges and district collectors to take the final decision.

Torrential rains claim 123 lives in Gujarat
Sunday, July 3, 2005 | APA

Ahmedabad, July. 2 (PTI): With torrential rains continuing unabated in Gujarat for the seventh day today, the death toll has risen to 123 even as the Army, Navy and Air Force personnel, that were carrying out rescue operations, have evacuated more than 2.5 lakh people. Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, conducted an aerial survey of some parts of Ahmedabad district this morning but he had to cut short his survey of the worst affected areas of Vadodara and other districts due to bad weather. "The death toll due to rains has reached 123 and more then 2.5 lakh people have been evacuated. The State Government has appealed to the Centre to send more army personnel," the Government spokesperson Kaushik Patel, said. The situation is likely to worsen as the Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rains today and tomorrow. Another spell of heavy showers across the State can aggravate the matter as most of the rivers and dams are overflowing. The Army, Navy, Air Force and Rapid Action force are working round-the-clock to provide help to the flood-affected people.

The administration is taking the help of helicopters to drop food packets and waters pouches in the flood-affected regions of the State which is being battered with heavy rains for the last one week. The "aerial tsunami" has led to overflowing of 54 dams in the State, while eight have been damaged, the worst being 30 feet breach in the 230-feet tall Pratapura Dam on the outskirts of Vadodara leading to waterlogging, they said. If the breach does not spread it would take three days to drain out the excess water in the reservoir and flooding of Vadodara city cannot be ruled out. Parts of Vadodara city and most areas of Anand and Kheda district of South Gujarat are under 10-12 feet of water. Most villages and smaller cities too are inundated. Rivers Mahisagar, Shedhi, Vatrak and Vishwamitri are in spate. The incessant rains have damaged roads, including State and national highways, at 3,700 locations and have not spared modern expressways built using state-of-the-art technology. The downpour has snapped rail connectivity, specially on the crucial Ahmedabad-Mumbai sector, leaving passengers stranded at several places. As many as 40 army boats had been air-lifted and 28 more were likely to be in position by tomorrow morning to rescue people affected due to the flood. Chlorine tablets and bleaching powder for providing safe drinking water were being airlifted in large quantities to the State. As many as 12 helicopters of the Indian Air Force were kept in readiness at the Ahmedabad Airport, which was the only airport operational. Vadodra Airport was non-functional for any landing or take-off of planes.

Pakistani bridge squad leaves for India
Saturday, July 2, 2005 | JJ

Three Pakistan teams including a women’s and a combined team of Karachi Bridge have left for India have left for India on Thursday to feature in the July 2-4 Samachar Gujarat bridge tournament having prize money of appro.4.5 lacs. More than 300 participants from over 80 teams will be competing in the event. On 2nd & 3rd there will be a team event -swiss league - 11 rounds of 10 boards each Four teams for knock out. Nn 4th -- Semi final of 24 boards each & final of 36 boards and parallel pair event of 56 boards.

Rain forces shut down of major industries
Saturday, July 2, 2005 | JJ

Rain forces shut down of industries located in central and south Gujarat. Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd, Gujarat Refinery, General Motors India, Gujarat State Fertilisers and Chemicals Corporation (GSFC), Apollo Tyres and Amul Dairy are affected with torrential rains lashing several parts for last one week. Unit head of the Limda plant of Apollo Tyres Limited Satish Agarwal said, “Due to heavy rains, production at the Apollo Tyres Limda plant near Vadodara has been affected. The power supply to the plant has been disrupted. It is too early to assess the loss to property, if any. Once the water clears away and electricity is restored, we will be able to gauge the extent of the damage better.”

Flood-affected areas surveyed by Patil
Saturday, July 2, 2005 | JJ

Flood-affected of Ahemdabad and Chheda districts were aerial surveyed by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil. Patil told reporters at the airport "The situation is serious. There is water everywhere. Villages, roads and railway lines are all submerged." Patil added "Since I could not complete the survey, Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the officials would do the survey and make a detailed assesment of the damages." Patil said, "Once the rain fury subsides, we have to help the kin’s of the dead and carry on the relief work for the affected. The state government will have to begin rehabilitation of the affected people in a day or two".

Van Mahotsav campaign to plant saplings
Friday, July 1, 2005 | JJ

Department of Forests in Gujarat has launched “Van Mahotsav” a campaign to plant medicinal and religious value saplings. Regional Forest Officer, Gandhinagar A C Trivedi said “ In Panchvati 39 plants are there including Amla, Ashok, Banyan, and Pippal. There are five different types of plants also. In 27 Nakshtra, there are seven types of plant each from different religious and astrological traits. There are various trees with different zodiac qualities also. Each zodiac sign has five trees each. There are trees of the navgrahas also. This is a unique thing that we are doing here.” Chief Conservator of forest H S Singh said “There are several trees according to the Rashis and Nakshatras of every person. The trees are according to the various zodiac traits of people. We are making an effort so that people will understand the trees and their functions. The relation between humans and the trees are well depicted.” “Punit Van” in Gandhinagar has over 4,000 saplings dedicated to zodiac and star signs.

Army and Air Force have been put in service
Friday, July 1, 2005 | JJ

Union Home Secretary V K Duggal said Army and Air Force have been put in service for relief and rescue operations. Till now 70 people have lost their lives in the Gujarat floods deaths occurred due to electrocution and washing away by the swirling flood water. Five rivers are flowing above the danger mark for the last four days and more than 15,000 people have been evacuated from coastal areas. Chief Minister Modi urged Prime Minister and Union Home Minister to provide rush power boats to assist the authorities in relief and rescue operations.