Gujarati News: July 2006

Heavy rains in Gujarat
Monday, July 31, 2006 | AY

Heavy rains continued to lash most parts of south and central Gujarat on Sunday, resulting in the overflowing of many rivers and irrigation dams. In nearby Padra town, which received more than 450 mm rainfall in the last 48 hours, fire brigade personnel were deputed to evacuate people from housing colonies surrounded by floodwaters. More than 65,000 people in south and central Gujarat have so far been evacuated to safer places, with the number rising as reports of inundation of low-lying areas continue to pour in. Heavy showers also affected rail and road traffic. The State and panchayat highways in many places lie under water. Railway services between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, which was suspended last night due to flooding of tracks between Kim and Kosamba stations near Surat, was resumed on Sunday evening.

Measures to tackle Chikunguniya
Sunday, July 30, 2006 | AY

About 9.6 lakh suspected cases of chikunguniya have been reported from across the country and the Centre would provide all technical and logistic support to tackle the disease. Chikunguniya, a debilitating non-fatal viral illness like dengue is tranmitted by 'Aedes Aegypti' mosquito, which is also the vector of dengue. The affected States - Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Kerala - have been directed to focus on elimination of all potential mosquito breeding places by taking up anti-larval measures. Voluntary organisations and panchayat raj institutions are working together to check the disease.

Heavy rains in S.Gujarat
Saturday, July 29, 2006 | AY

About 2,000 families were evacuated from low-lying areas of Navsari and Bharuch districts in south Gujarat as heavy rains lashed various parts of the state. The river Poorna is flowing about one-and-a-half foot above the danger mark and the water from the river has flooded several low-lying areas of Navsari city forcing the authorities to evacuate about 1,000 families till now. Heavy rains have also been from several other districts, including Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Anand, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Amreli districts.

NLC inks pact for supplying power to Gujarat
Saturday, July 29, 2006 | AY

The Neyveli Lignite Corporation, a 50-year-old Central power utility catering to the southern States, took a step on Friday to supply power to Gujarat by signing a memorandum of understanding with the State Government. An agreement has been signed for implementing an integrated lignite mine-cum-power project in south Gujarat. The Rs. 7,500-crore project envisages production of 8 million tonnes (MT) of lignite per annum and 1,000 megawatt (MW) in the first phase. Four MT and 500 MW will be produced in the second phase. The project will be completed in five years, and is to come up near Surat. A joint venture company will be floated for implementing the project, in which the NLC will have a shareholding in the range of 74 per cent to 89 per cent, with the Gujarat Government taking the balance.

Rs one crore to best IT solution for villages
Saturday, July 29, 2006 | AY

Chief Minister Narendra Modi today announced that Gujarat will give a reward of Rs one crore to the IT company which comes up best solution to make villages knowledge centres. He asked IT companies to take up this challenge and come to Gujarat with the solution. He offered all support to the selected company. Our Mission is to convert every village into knowledge centre and to achieve this; we have to address six lakh villages of the country which suffer from illiteracy, high access costs, lack of information and communication infrastructure creating a digital divide. Modi said that ICT project with the combination of Chatur-bhujas of Progress will be able to break through the shackles. These four arms are Information (Soochna), Technology (Yantra Vigyaan), Knowledge (Gyaan) and Wisdom (Panditya).

Insurance scheme for widows
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 | AY

The Gujarat government has decided to offer all the widows listed in its pension scheme a personal accident policy. Any woman under the Widow Pension Scheme would be eligible for the insurance scheme of Rs.100,000, said the statement. Those who opt for the scheme will have their yearly premium of Rs.15 deducted from their saving accounts in post offices, from where they procure their pension every month. The scheme has been launched in partnership with the Oriental Insurance. State social welfare department runs pension or support schemes for widows belonging to ‘very low-income group’. Women between 18 and 60 years of age with annual income less than Rs.2,400 are eligible for the scheme. Widows get a pension of Rs.500 every month and Rs.80 extra for a child.

Modi behind young NRI's
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | AY

Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked a group of 15 Indian youth born in America, currently on a week's visit to the state, to project the unique features of Gujarat to people abroad. In a free-wheeling interview to the students in the age group of 18-23, he also asked them to motivate Non-Indian Americans to visit India and particularly let them see for themselves the all round progress made by Gujarat in the recent past. If one Non-Resident Indian (NRI) could motivate five Non-Indian Americans to visit the country, it could provide a big boost to the Indian tourism industry. Incidentally, 2006 has been declared as the 'Year of Tourism' in Gujarat. Talking about the state's unique features, he said, Gujarat can boast of the world's second longest network of Optical Fibre Cable (OFC), besides the 2,200 km long bulk pipeline Gas-Grid, being linked to home distribution network.

Moderate intensity quake shook Gujarat
Monday, July 24, 2006 | AY

An earthquake of moderate intensity today shook Kutch district of Gujarat. The temblor, measuring 4.6 on the Ritcher Scale was felt at around 11.04 a.m. in the district, they said adding the quake was epicentered at 23.7 latitude and 70.1 longitude. There were no immediate reports of any casualities.

Parzania
Monday, July 24, 2006 | AY

Rahul Dholakia directed ‘Parzania’, stars Naseeruddin Shah, Sarika, Corin Nemec, Parzan Dastur; Music: Zakir Hussain, Taufiq Qureshi. Based on a true-life incident, this tale narrates the plight of a Parsi couple searching for their young son who went missing since the riots broke out in Gujarat in 2002. The film by Rahul Dholakia, a US-based Gujarati filmmaker, takes us beyond the headlines, bang into the heart of darkness. Cyrus Peethawala, a projectionist at an Ahmedabad cinema hall, his wife Shernaz and their children - son Parzan and a daughter Dilshad - live in the walled part of the city. The little joys of the middle-class family evaporate on Feb 28, 2002, when many parts of Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, saw the beginning of yet another round of sectarian strife - triggered this time by the burning of a train coach in Godhra a day earlier.

Australian visa application centre set up
Saturday, July 22, 2006 | AY

The Australian High Commission will open a new visa application centre in Ahmedabad from Monday. Visa applicants in Gujarat will now be able to use this service to lodge applications from Ahmedabad rather than travelling to New Delhi or Mumbai. The Centre will be open from 9 am to 5 pm, from Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays), a release from the High Commission said here.

IIT Powai to set up campus in Ahmedabad
Saturday, July 22, 2006 | AY

Ahmedabad will have world class engineering institute also as IIT Powai has decided to open its campus here. The institute will be given 250 acres of land and the construction of building will be completed within two years. But IIT plans to start its first batch in 2007 at temporary premises. The institute will have courses like marine engineering, aeromechanics and aerospace engineering. The campus is likely to be set up in a plot on Gandhinagar-Sarkhej highway or near airport. The institute plans to start courses from next year in temporary premises either in L D Engineering or R C technical college.

State’s green sea turtles on verge of extinction
Saturday, July 22, 2006 | AY

According to the Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) foundation, the endangered green sea turtle, which is found mainly on the coast of Gujarat, is facing major threat due to different factors and needs immediate conservation step. The threat to green sea turtle population comes from accidental catch by fishermen which result in their death, egg lifting and predation by humans and animals, sand mining at important nesting beaches, developmental activities along the coast and industrial effluents. The coast of Gujarat has been one of the most important nesting grounds for the endangered green sea turtle which is believed to be endemic to the Gulf of Kutch waters. Among the four species of sea turtle found on the coastline of Gujarat only the breeding of two species, including Olive Ridley and green turtle, have been recorded while two other varieties, including leatherback turtle and hawksbill turtle are occasionally sighted by local fishermen.

Aamir Khan could face charges
Wednesday, July 19, 2006 | AY

Bollywood star Aamir Khan could be in trouble as Gujarat's forest department was planning to probe the charge that he violated the Wildlife Protection Act during the filming of his Oscar-nominated 'Lagaan' in 2000. A chinkara (Indian gazelle), protected under the act, was allegedly used for a scene in the film at Jam Kunaria village in the border district of Kutch, 375 km from Ahmedabad. Forest officials were planning to file a case against Aamir, his former wife Reena and his present wife Kiran Rao for violating the law by filming the animal without permission. The act prohibits even teasing or chasing a chinkara is punishable under the law. After the film's release in 2001, the forest department reportedly carried some preliminary investigation but it was soon given up. The issue, however, came to light this month when the Gir Youth Nature Club, an environment group, registered a complaint.

Dentsu Marcom to launch Ahmedabad operations
Tuesday, July 18, 2006 | AY

Dentsu Marcom, a part of Dentsu Inc, will start its Ahmedabad operations in August. Dentsu Inc's global billings this year will cross $ 20 billion. Apart from the Ahmedabad operations, Dentsu will soon be launching its media brand, Media Palette in India. Earlier this month Dentsu Marcom bagged the Rasna account, which is based out of Ahmedabad. The acquisition of this business was the trigger for setting up operations in Gujarat, for Dentsu. The Ahmedabad office is likely to be fully operational by Dussehra. It will be a full-service office and will be hubbed into the Mumbai operations of Dentsu Marcom. Dentsu Communications, which is headquartered in Bangalore was started in October 2003 and today handles the entire advertising for Toyota (Innova, Corolla, Camry and Landcruiser), Yamaha, Biocon, Nissin Foods, i-Mate, Blaupunkt, Acer computers and many more.

BT cotton crop hopes to bring a good yield
Monday, July 17, 2006 | AY

BT Cotton growers in Gujarat are expecting a bumper crop this year as most parts of the state have received copious pre-monsoon showers. Traders are hoping that a good yield would give a boost to exports and are expecting a figure of 90 lakh bales of raw cotton production. Farmers say that while rains are important for all the cotton growing region it is more imperative for a good shower in arid regions like Kutch where the seasonal rainfall is just 10 inches. Gujarat is the first state in the country that began using the BT cotton seeds in 2001. BT cotton seeds are genetically engineered and promise high-yield per acre than conventional seed varieties.

Modi rally on Monday
Sunday, July 16, 2006 | AY

The anti-terrorism rally to be addressed by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi here on Monday will take place as scheduled. Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi had warned that its workers would take to the streets if Modi was allowed to enter Mumbai.

Rs 600 Cr desalination plant
Saturday, July 15, 2006 | AY

A desalination plant, estimated to cost Rs 600 crore, is to be set up in the border-district of Kutch, to get sweet water from saline sea water. This will be the first plant of its kind in Gujarat state. The project to set up this plant would be a joint venture, involving privatepublic partnership. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) would be formed for the project. The proposed plant would have the capacity to convert 150 million litres of sea water into sweet water per day. The water available from this desalination plant would flow through the present Narmada pipeline to industries in Kutch.

Suspected terrorists to undergo tests
Saturday, July 15, 2006 | AY

A court here has permitted the Gujarat police to conduct forensic tests on two suspected terrorists, who were nabbed in connection with a major arms haul in Maharashtra, to obtain any possible information on the Mumbai train bombings. The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) Gujarat police had sought the court's permission to put the two through forensic tests to obtain any information on the Mumbai blasts. The two terrorists will undergo narco analysis, polygraph and the brain-mapping tests at the directorate of Forensic Sciences (DFS) here.

London Walise Neha Lagauli
Saturday, July 15, 2006 | AY

Producer Rajendra Patel and director Devendra Pathik have completed a 8-day shooting schedule for VBS Film Production "London Walise Neha Lagauli" in Gujarat. The shooting commenced at Dream Resort, Timek Film City Studios and Sardar Patel Trust Premises at Anand during which all the artistes participated including lead pair Krishna Abhishek, Rani Chatterjee, along with Kunal Singh. Palash Dutta, JK Singh, Kanu Mukherjee and Manoj Verma. The editor and executive producer is Ram Kishor Prasad.

Nuurrie to launch gujarati news channel
Wednesday, July 12, 2006 | AY

Nuurrie Media is all set to launch the first international round-the-clock news and current affairs channel in three months. Nuurrie will have its head office in Surat, the work of which is underway. Nuurrie Media aims to employ 10,000 youth from Gujarat on a commission, temporary, information or permanent basis. The international satellite is selected in such a manner so as to reach to Gujaratis around the globe. Nuurrie Media has launched 40 web sites covering various sections of the society and currently has over six lakh registered customers of all sites around the globe.

Trains to Mumbai restored
Wednesday, July 12, 2006 | AY

Rail traffic between Ahmedabad to Mumbai has been restored, a day after Mumbai trains were hit by serial bomb blasts. While Shatabdi Express and three other trains to Mumbai, which were scheduled to depart early morning, were cancelled. However, two Mumbai-bound trains from Kutch was on time. Gujarat Express too departed at its scheduled time of 7.00 a.m. Trains to Mumbai were stopped Tuesday evening, and those on the way were terminated, following the deadly blasts that killed over 180 people and injured over 400.

Gujarat signs MoU with Gazprom
Monday, July 10, 2006 | AY

Russia's natural gas monopoly Gazprom signed an agreement with the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) for joint exploration and development of onshore and offshore hydrocarbons in Gujarat. The MoU identifies hydrocarbons, North-South Transport Corridor, shipbuilding, university education and tourism as main areas for bilateral cooperation between Gujarat and Astrakhan through 2011. The agreement, signed during a visit to Russia by Chief Minister Narendra Modi this week, calls for establishing a joint working group to study opportunities for Gazprom's involvement in the growing oil and gas industry in Gujarat.

Bacteria becomes a saviour for Malaria
Sunday, July 9, 2006 | AY

With the onset of the rains, malaria control is on the priority list of State health officials. For the first time in the State, larvae-killing bacteria will be used to check mosquito proliferation in stagnant water. The technology is part of the Health Department’s drive to decrease the use of chemicals, and promote biological means to control pests. It is an ecologically safe technique and the bacterium used is called Bacillus Thoringiensis Israelensis, or Bti. The method will be used in all urban and semi-urban areas in Gujarat including Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat, and Gandhinagar. Mosquitoes deposit eggs in stagnant water. The larva gets nourishment by eating microscopic organisms, till it grows to be an adult. According to experts, the easiest way to control mosquito population is to kill the larvae. Once Bti has been introduced into the water body, the larvae feed on the organism. Ingestion of the bacteria produces a toxin which leads to partial paralysis and stoppage of feeding activity of the larva. Within three hours, the larva dies. The bacteria, however, do not work on the adult mosquito. For this purpose, chemicals and biological extracts and oils are used.

Gujarati SMS - Soon to be a reality
Saturday, July 8, 2006 | AY

Tegic, a part of America Online (AOL), has announced availability of version 7.4 of T9, a dictionary-based software programme commonly used in mobile phones. This adds Gujarati to the list of Indian languages available on this programme, like Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali and Tamil. This version promises to be more user-friendly than its precursors with functions including a customised word choice list which can be altered by the user, and a bilingual messaging facility for those who wish to add a dash of novelty by incorporating words from other languages. Unfortunately, this technology cannot be introduced into existing handsets, so don’t plan to do away with your current phone for one with Gujarati text facilities anytime soon.

Rains subside in Gujarat
Saturday, July 8, 2006 | AY

Rains subsided in Gujarat on Thursday, even as water levels receded in low-lying areas, prompting people who were evacuated to return to their homes. Three persons were killed in rain-related incidents in south Gujarat on Wednesday night, even as water levels in rivers in Navsari district receded. The situation was returning to normal in Navsari as waters have receded in Poorna and Kaveri rivers, which were flowing above the danger mark on Wednesday. More than 5,600 people evacuated on Wednesday night from low lying areas of navsari, are now returning to their homes.

Alcock ashdown for sale
Saturday, July 8, 2006 | AY

Alcock Ashdown Gujarat (AAGL), a shipyard which is wholly owned subsidiary of the Government of Gujarat (GoG), is up for sale. The Gujarat government has appointed rating agency Crisil to carry out the valuation of AAGL. AAGL was earlier owned by the Turner Morision Mundra group of companies which went into liquidation and divested its stake in favour of GoJ. ABG Shipyard, Chennai-based Tebma Shipyard, and Dolphin Offshore Enterprises are the three potential buyers for the state-run company. The appointment of Crisil as the valuing company comes at a point in time after AAGL recently bagged a Rs 800-crore order from the Indian Navy.

Ayurveda is getting popular in Israel
Wednesday, July 5, 2006 | AY

With ayurveda gaining prominence in Israel, various institutions providing related courses are establishing their presence in the country. The International Academy of Ayurveda (IAA), an organisation which propagates the holistic treatment system in foreign countries is likely to open a branch in Israel soon. The Reidman International College for Complementary Medicine here has also started a four-year comprehensive Ayurvedic programme. The college has signed an agreement with the Gujarat Ayurveda University (GAU) whose faculty would be coming and teaching in Israel and will award a certificate to the Israeli students after conducting practical training for them in India.

Amul has some new plans
Tuesday, July 4, 2006 | AY

Amul will be doubling its distributor base for ice creams from the existing 200 to 400 by the end of this year. The expansion of distributor base was a step towards the company making Amul Ice-creams a Rs 1,000 crore brand by 2010. Its ice cream sales for 2006-07 are projected to be around Rs 300 crore. Amul, a relatively new entrant in the Rs 2,000 crore ice cream market is at present the market leader with a share of 34 per cent. The branded market for ice cream is about Rs 700 crore growing at about 20 per cent annually. Elaborating on how the company intended to reach the Rs 1,000 crore-mark, officials said that this would be done through a combination of two factors. One would be to increase the penetration by increasing the number of outlets, and the other by growing the market by continuously introducing new flavours and products. Amul has over the last few months been bringing in new products, both to counter offerings brought by competition as well as innovative products such as spanish saffron and cream balls ice cream.

Gujarat govt allocates 500 million for tourism
Monday, July 3, 2006 | AY

The Gujarat government has allocated Rs.500 million for tourism development - just a month after saying it would sell off 26 properties belonging to the tourism department. The new allocation will be used to create and improve infrastructure and tourism facilities in the state. The state will allocate Rs.100 million for developing eco-tourism, with each district getting Rs.15 to Rs.30 million to create facilities like electricity, roads, drinking water and drainage at important tourist spots. Citing losses, the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd May 17 announced it would sell off its 26 properties across the state at market rates.

Naidu plans on producing films in four more languages
Sunday, July 2, 2006 | AY

Renowned film producer Dr D Rama Naidu, who has produced a record 127 films, today said his ambition was to produce films in Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Bhojpuri languages and also to start a film studio in Visakhapatnam. Hailing from an agriculturists family, Naidu, who entered the film field in 1963 as a producer, has to his credit several superhit films. Among these are 'Vasantha Maligai' in Tamil, with the late Sivaji Ganesan in the lead role, 'Prem Nagar' in Telugu and Hindi, with Nageswara Rao and Rajesh Khanna in the lead cast, 'Enga Veetu Pillai' in Tamil in which late M G Ramachandran was the hero. Naidu has produced 77 Telugu films, 18 in Hindi, two in Bengali, 10 in Tamil, two in Kannada, one in Oriya and one English film.

Norwegian cruise liner to be dismantled at Alang
Sunday, July 2, 2006 | AY

The Norwegian cruise liner Blue Lady has finally docked at the Pipavav port in Gujarat after much controversy and receiving environmental clearances from many agencies. The locals see the ship as the harbinger of the ship-breaking business that Alang has been deprived of for several years. Local experts say dismantling the Blue Lady will ensure employment for almost two years. Alang was once one of Asia's biggest ship breaking yards. However, in the past few years, it seems to have broken down itself. Environmentalists objected that the work done in Alang was ecologically damaging, and thereafter, business petered out.

Mother daughter in new Gujarati play
Saturday, July 1, 2006 | AY

Ketki Dave is back in action in a new Gujarati play Mummy Vees Ni, Dikri Chalees Ni. Ketki's excited because her daughter Riddhi will star in it along with her for the first time. The two are playing mother and daughter in this comedy, focussing on the generation gap between parents and children.

IIT-Powai to set up campus in Gujarat
Saturday, July 1, 2006 | AY

IIT-Bombay (Powai) campus is likely to set foot in Gujarat next year.Seen as an extension of the Powai campus, this proposal could be a fallout of the decision to increase in student intake once the 27 per cent OBC reservation is implemented. A meeting of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and state education department officials with Dr Ashok Misra, director of IIT Bombay, is scheduled to be held in Gandhinagar on July 21. Every year about 1,100 students obtain their degrees from IIT-Mumbai whereas there are 5,000 students on campus, at any time. Compared to this, the number of seats in IITs is quite less. Their objective is to therefore set up a second campus to accommodat e more students". Currently, the number of students who would find space on the Gujarat campus is uncertain.