Gujarati News: August 2005

An enlightment to anceint manuscripts of our country
Wednesday, August 31, 2005 | AY

The National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) is taking India's priceless manuscripts - age-old data preserved in papers and palm leaves on history, astrology, medicine and religion - to the classroom. With the 'Living World', the school outreach programme aims at inculcating a sense of heritage conservation among youngsters, especially students, as there are almost five million such manuscripts in the country. The programme is to form a link between the past and the present. Along with workshops and lectures by experts, the mission is also taking the help of a theatre group to educate through entertainment. The NMM is a five-year project that not just seeks to locate, catalogue and preserve our manuscripts but also enhances access, spreads awareness and encourages their use for educational purposes. The mission has visited 10 government schools in New Delhi. It is ready to go to Gujarat in October.

Kutch wooing foreign tourists
Wednesday, August 31, 2005 | AY

The Kutch district collectorate - jointly with the state government enterprise, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TCGL) - is adding one more attraction to the desert of Kutch mainly for foreign tourists-'Kutch Sarodutsav’. The three-day long Kutch Sarodutsav will be held from October 16 to 18 this year in a place called Banni in Kutch district. The Central government has decided to support the event by providing Rs 1 crore to organise the programme in the district. The festival will include a three-day tour to Kutch, which will cover adventure sports like para driving and a visit through three hot air balloons. Villages of Kutch are known for their expertise in handicraft. The collectorate is also going to organise a ‘Rann Mela’ during the festival, which will provide the villagers of the region with a platform to interact with tourists and organise a sale exhibition. The Kutch Sarodutsav is an embodiment of Kutch’s beauty, nostalgia, ethos, traditions, culture and spirit.

Corneal blindness more seen in children
Tuesday, August 30, 2005 | AY

A recent study on blindness in the State showed that majority of the approximately 40,000 corneal blind people in Gujarat are children below 12 years. Natural causes for the disease include lack of Vitamin A, but corneal blindness among children is mostly caused due to injury by a pointed object, crackers and at times infections. In several cases, lime used with tobacco also damages the cornea, a common occurrence in our country. After cataract, corneal failure is the major reason for blindness in the country. The State Health Department is organising a number of programmes at government-run hospitals to counsel parents about the disease and to bring awareness about donating eyes. Doctors say that though Gujarat is the top eye donour in the country, it is yet not enough to meet the need of the total number of blind.

Technology seminar held in Gujarat
Tuesday, August 30, 2005 | AY

Esys Information Technology recently organized a technology seminar in Gujarat to bring the educational sector abreast with the latest trends and future technologies in IT. The distributor arranged the event in conjunction with Sardar Patel University, Gujarat while Xerox and Intel were its co-participants. The idea behind organizing the information technology event in Gujarat was to share a platform where the technology providers and its users were in direct interface with each other. The learned audiences present at the occasion gathered information on technology trends in the pipeline and how the transition from present technology to newer ones would affect their work processes. In its presentations, Esys showcased upcoming technologies and the company s role in making it available to the masses, while Xerox dwelt on its latest technology in the office equipments and cost-effective printing options. Intel talked about future products in dual-core technology.

Dreams of a young man shattered
Monday, August 29, 2005 | AY

Hatim Kathiria’s dreams of becoming a software sultan and a U.S citizen brought him from Dahod, Gujarat to Dallas, Texas in 2003. Like some recent immigrants, he took the shortcut to success and citizenship, joining the U.S Army in 2004 in the hope that a stint in the forces would fund a college scholarship and the American dream on his return. 23-year old Hatim’s hopes ended in the battle zone of Baghdad. He was killed in a rocket attack, the U.S Department of Defence announced, making him the second U.S soldier of Indian origin to die in Iraq. In November 2003, Sergeant Uday Singh, 21, became the first such Indian-American victim. The death of Army Specialist Hakim Kathiria and Sergeant Uday Singh, has a remarkable sub-text. One was a Muslim and the other a Sikh, and together with Lt. Neil Prakash, who recently returned from Iraq after winning a Silver Star for courage under fire, they represent the very best of India’s secular traditions.

Pandit Jasraj on Gujarat govt's inaction
Monday, August 29, 2005 | AY

Pandit Jasraj, well known classical vocalist lashed on the Gujarat government's "inaction" during last month's devastating floods. "Our government doesn't do anything during disasters. We have recent examples of floods in Gujarat. What did the government do? Absolutely nothing. Committing huge funds alone doesn't mean it is help," Jasraj told reporters here. "The people's resilience must be appreciated. Look at the celebrations during the festival of Janamasthami. It is people who have supported the affected. I didn't find any government effort to resolve flood victims' problems," he added.

Vadodara gets its first amphitheatre
Sunday, August 28, 2005 | AY

The Vadodara city saw its first amphitheatre in the sylvan surroundings of Sayaji Baugh, thanks to the efforts of Vadodara Initiative, a group of public-spirited Barodians, and Gujarat Industries Power Company Ltd (GIPCL). The various theatre and cultural programmes in the city were so far restricted to only two venues — the M S University’s general auditorium and VMC’s Gandhi Nagargruh. But the addition of an amphitheatre, a dream once shared by reputed dramatists like C C Mehta himself, will finally help Barodians get a new venue. A Rs 10 lakh grant from GIPCL financed the construction of the circular amphitheatre. VMC believes that the concept of an amphitheatre situated in the midst of a public park will definitely click, more so as it will be leased at nominal charges on no-profit-no-loss basis. The amphitheatre can seat around 500 people and is around 100 ft wide.

New startegies by the state tourism
Sunday, August 28, 2005 | AY

Following specific directions from Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the State Tourism Department and the Education Department have together initiated a special project to ensure that school students across the State get familiar with the tourist destinations and their relevance. Under the project, authorities are now promoting tourism clubs among school students. With already 100 tourism clubs in its city, the state plans to celebrate year 2006 as ‘Year of Tourism’ as part of which 200 more clubs will be formed. These clubs will be managed by senior teachers, who’ll organise field trips apart from organising tourism related quiz programmes, talks and other related activities. The tourism and education department received specific guidelines from the Chief Minister last month, informing the authorities to ensure that the school students visit all the possible tourist places in their districts and also prepare a report. Ahmedabad and Vadodara are among the districts with leading number of tourism clubs.

Space science course to begin in Sept
Saturday, August 27, 2005 | AY

A course in space science is introduced from September 15 by the Gujarat University. The course would spread over two semesters and will include modules on satellite communication, atmospheric physics, micro-processors and computer languages like C++. It will also have a two-month study tour. Students having MSc (Physics) and MSc (Electronics) qualifications with minimum 50 per cent of marks are eligible to apply for the course. The course will have 12 seats, of which two seats would be open for students of universities other than GU. After completion of this course, the students will get a chance to work at PRL and ISRO.

Angry dissidents give an ultimatum on Modi
Saturday, August 27, 2005 | AY

Narendra Modi rebels in Gujarat have now given an ultimatum to the senior party leaders in Delhi that they should be taken seriously. Dissident MLAs in Gujarat are upset about the fact that their party president is not even willing to admit that there could be a problem with Chief Minister Narendra Modi's style of functioning. The rebel camp that claims to have the support of 45 MLAs and 12 MPs could even resign if a decision is not taken soon. The angry MLAs will now return to the Capital for the third time next week and hope that by then some solution would be in sight.

Kidney stones now being frequent among infants
Friday, August 26, 2005 | AY

There has been an alarming rise in cases of kidney stones in infants, mainly attributed to the hard water in Saurashtra and north Gujarat. In fact, leading nephrologists and urologists across the state concede seeing at least 10-15 such patients every week who are between 6 months and 10 years of age. Doctors claim having seen children whose kidneys had choked with stones, disabling their function. The chief factor in Saurashtra is hard water and intense heat. Some children develop fever and pass blood in the urine. This creates risk of delayed diagnosis.

Ambuja closes ING life stake deal
Friday, August 26, 2005 | AY

Gujarat Ambuja Cements (GACL) has won the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority’s (IRDA) approval to hold a 14.87 per cent stake in ING Vysya Life Insurance Company. The life insurance sector, which was opened some years ago, has recently seen the acquisition of AMP Sanmar by Reliance Capital. AXA, the world’s largest insurer, has also tied up with Bharti to enter the segment. In May, ING Vysya Bank decided to sell its entire 14.87 per cent stake in ING Vysya Life Insurance Company to GACL. ING Vysya Bank has, however, said it will continue to distribute ING Vysya Life Insurance products through its network of more than 400 branches across the country.

Star tv remains off air in Surat
Thursday, August 25, 2005 | AY

A dispute over the transmission of Star TV, continuing since last one week, further aggravated on Tuesday with about 11 Multi-Service Operators (MSO) withdrawing transmission of all the Star channels for an indefinite period from Wednesday in Surat. The Star TV channels across the city went off air last Tuesday night with the 11 MSOs deciding to stop transmission of the Star channel package in protest against the action taken by the authorities of Star TV against Devarshi Network Private Ltd. Industry sources said that the dispute began when Devarshi Network Pvt Ltd. owned by Ghanshyam Bhungadia decided to discontinue airing the Star TV package, over non-payment of outstanding dues worth Rs 20 lakh. The MSOs have unanimously decided that if a new control room would come up in the city then all the MSOs would boycott the transmission of the channels who would allow the new entrant.

Viability of a transit system
Thursday, August 25, 2005 | AY

The Centre for Environment Technology and Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board on Wednesday organised a workshop to look into the economic viability of the Ahmedabad Bus Rapid Transit System (ABRTS), and examine how the system could be made affordable to common people. The main questions raised during the discussion were the traffic congestions in the city, whether people used single or multiple mode for transportation, will the ABRTS serve the mobility needs of the city, how to attract the people having individual vehicles to turn towards the ABRTS and what about other mode of transportations. ABRTS can be run successfully only if people commuting on two-wheelers shift to it. The need of space for pedestrians and hawkers in the entire stretch of ABRTS was emphasised.

Reliance needs talents from IIM-A, finally
Wednesday, August 24, 2005 | AY

Reliance Industries Ltd, India's largest private sector company, will visit the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, the country' top business school, for the first time this year to meet its growing requirement of trained manpower. According to a source close to RIL, the company's plans to expand its Jamnagar refinery capacity by 30 million tonnes and also its polymer and hydrocarbon sector capacity will require a large pool of managerial talent. Its focus on retailing through its fuel stations, food joints and super markets, and agriculture produces, has increased. Therefore, it will also require managers who can sustain the viability and profitability of these ventures. This has prompted RIL to look at IIM-A for campus recruitment this year. RIL's entry suggests that the energy sector will turn out to be a big recruiter at IIM-A during the current year compared with the information technology, investment banking and the consulting sectors, which have been dominating the scene for quite some time.

Lack of basic sanitation facilities leading to death
Wednesday, August 24, 2005 | AY

Director of Central Rural Sanitation Programme Kumar Alok, speaking at a two-day state level workshop on Finalisation of Communication Strategy for Total Sanitation Campaign Project in Gujarat said that everyday nearly 2,000 children die of diseases caused by unhygienic behaviour of people because of lack of basic sanitation facilities (BSF) in the country, according to a WHO report. He said it was saddening to accept that like drinking water, the BSF was never considered to be a one of the basic problems being faced by the country since Indepedence to 1980. Mr Kumar said the first nation-wide sanitation program was launched by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 which improved the situation to the extent that by 2003 nearly 34 per cent of the population had in-house BSF. However, if the scenario of only rural India's was taken into consideration then only 20 per cent of the population was covered so far.

Sutlej industries plans new strategy
Tuesday, August 23, 2005 | AY

The Rs 525-crore Sutlej Industries Ltd has decided to transfer all its textile activities into a wholly owned subsidiary, which has been named Sutlej Textiles and Industries Ltd. The board of directors in a meeting decided that one share of Sutlej Textiles and Industries would be given to the shareholders for every one share of Sutlej Industries. At present, Sutlej Industries has three factories located in Rajasthan, Jammu and Gujarat. According to sources Sutlej Industries had planned to enter the readymade garments and home furnishings business by the end of the current calendar year. It is also learnt that the company has appointed Ernst & Young to advise on its organisational and corporate restructuring.

Sports minister quits
Tuesday, August 23, 2005 | AY

A day after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president L K Advani praised Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Bavku Unghad, a Keshubhai Patel loyalist, Minister of State for Sports, submitted his resignation letter today. Unghad arrived at the BJP state headquarters in an ambulance—he said he’s not been keeping good health after Modi’s ‘‘mental torture’’ at a Cabinet meeting—and handed over the letter to state chief Vajubhai Vala. The rebels, meanwhile, are stepping up their anti-Modi campaign,unaffected by the warning sounded by the party high-command through the suspension of Madan Lal Khurana in Delhi.

Rain saves Gujarat power supply
Monday, August 22, 2005 | AY

Four months ago Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL), inspite having an installed capacity of close to 8,000 MW, was finding it difficult to meet the power demands of the summer. Thanks to the monsoon, the demand for power had gone down substantially. From load-shedding during the summer months,it has now reached a stage where they can provide single-phase power for 14 hours and three-phase power for eight hours without interruption. Sources added that the overall demand in the state was about 6,000 MW at present, which eased matters as it was difficult to utilise the full installed capacity. Last summer the demand had gone up to about 8,500 MW as temperatures crossed the 40 degree Celsiusmark on a regular basis.

Medical tourism booming in the state
Monday, August 22, 2005 | AY

The growing Indian healthcare tourism is expected to take a new turn with the understanding made between MedInIndia and Wockhard Hospital & Heart Institute. Wockhard Hospital & Heart Institute enters into an understanding with Medinindia.com and gets added to India’s biggest database of Indian hospitals whose package offers discounted rates to international clients seeking medical tourism services in India. Under this understanding, patients can now book various packages and medical services from any part of the world by just logging into www.medinindia.com. Once placed a booking the patient has nothing to worry off, as MedInIndia takes complete care of the patients. From its headquarters in Ahmedabad - Gujarat, MedinIndia.com facilitates you with continuous live updated Medical Packages.

Tenth planet supposed to be discovered
Sunday, August 21, 2005 | AY

With the discovery of the tenth planet in the solar system, there are varied responses among Indian astrologers as to wondering how to include it in their system for making predictions. As the world of science debates whether the object discovered by NASA and lying farther than Pluto is a planet or not, some astrogers say it will surely have its place in the horoscope, just the way a new family member gets his or her name registered for a ration card. But some astrologers refuse to concede any credit for discovering planet "2003 UB313" to Mike Brown and his team of scientists funded by NASA. Only Western astronomers have come to know about it now. According to our (Hindu) scriptures, there are 12 planets in our solar system and two more remain to be discovered.

Khurana’s suspension will not affect Anti Modi campaign
Sunday, August 21, 2005 | AY

The suspension of senior BJP leader Madanlal Khurana by the party high-command is being seen as ‘‘a clear warning’’ to the rebels in Gujarat BJP, but rebels said they will continue their campaign. The rebel camp led by former chief minister Keshubhai Patel asserted that the action against Khurana would have little impact on their campaign in Gujarat. He said not to draw parallels between the Khurana episode and our campaign against Modi’s style of functioning. Another senior dissident MLA and Keshubhai camp follower Dhanraj Kella felt that the action against Khurana would have no impact whatsoever on the current anti-Modi campaign. Modi loyalists said Khurana was one of the aspirants for the party ticket to to contest the recently held Rajya Sabha election from Gujarat. According to a Modi loyalist, Khurana turned against Modi because he had been denied a Rajya Sabha seat from Gujarat and paid the price for his outburst.

Two indoor sports complexes to be set up
Saturday, August 20, 2005 | AY

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has decided to construct two indoor sports complexes one near Kankariya lake and other in Naroda. Volleyball, Table Tennis, Handball, Boxing, Basket Ball and Badminton could be played here and the estimated cost for constructing the complex would be around Rs 33 crore. The indoor stadium of international standards at Kankaria will have the capacity of 4,000 seats and it would cost Rs 23.75 crore. The complex at Kankaria, occupying 9,490 sq metre, will have an air-conditioned area to seat spectators and eight counter outlets for snacks. A crucial aspect of this complex will be that it will integrate with the Kankaria lake via a podium and stairs with fountains and lights. According to initial valuation the civil construction cost around Rs 14 crore, utilities will cost Rs 76 lakh and landscaping Rs 20 lakh.

Scientist unable to generate weather data
Saturday, August 20, 2005 | AY

Cameras aboard two Insat satellites orbiting the earth for several years have never been fully used for weather analysis because of software glitches on the ground, space and weather scientists said. The cameras are on the Insat-2E launched in April 1999 and on the Insat-3A launched over two years ago. Software to analyse the images from the cameras can generate information about cloud, wind and moisture patterns. The satellites have been transmitting images to the ground, but software trouble has frustrated attempts to use these images to extract data, scientists in the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The IMD had tried to develop the software for the camera on the Insat-3A on its own, but had outsourced the task for the Insat-2E to a Canadian company. Accusing the IMD of lack of planning, independent scientists also question the decision to outsource the software rather than to collaborate with Isro which has the expertise. Scientists at the Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, have successfully used the images to study vegetation and other features on the ground. IMD sources said it decided to outsource the software because expertise to develop it did not exist in India. But senior scientists say SAC, Ahmedabad, has developed software for satellite image processing.

A school fools students and parents for 15 years
Saturday, August 20, 2005 | AY

An English-medium school located in Shahpur mill compound in Ahmedabad has been running for the past 15 years without recognition from either the state education board or any all-India board. More than 900 girls study in this Islamic School, are not even aware that the certificates provided by the school are of little worth and are not recognised anywhere. Students are taught subjects like science, mathematics, Gujarati and English, but the emphasis is on Islamic studies, mainly a study of the Koran. The fact that the school wasn’t recognised came to light when a dozen Std X students decided they wanted to study further. On making inquiries, they realised the certificates offered by the school were of no value. Gujarat Secondary & Higher Secondary Education Board chairman H.N. Hingu, too, was unaware of the school.

A new technology increases knee implant longevity
Saturday, August 20, 2005 | AY

For all those suffering from knee related problems, there is a good news, a new technique of computer-assisted knee replacement using satellite navigation technology is introduced. The technique promises to provide 100 per cent precision by eliminating human error thereby increasing implant longevity (20-30 years). Vaidya is the first to introduce this technology in Gujarat at his clinic in Vadodara. Satellite navigation technology is usually used in aircrafts to precisely identify the starting point and destination of journey. Even two degrees of inaccuracy can cause the aircraft to land at Delhi instead of Mumbai. Using this technology, the computer, with the help of infra-red camera and trackers maps out the journey from the arthritic knee to perfect knee. By combining digital images of the femur and tibia with an implant-specific software package, the computer hardware can track the precise position of the patient’s leg, the implant and the surgeon’s instrument at all times during the surgery. The surgeon has chance to verify and rectify the alignment of prosthesis with accuracy of 0.5mm to 0.5 degree.

ISA not accepted by most PSU banks
Saturday, August 20, 2005 | AY

The Reserve Bank of India’s directive for information system audit (ISA) has received a cold response from public sector banks in Gujarat. Although response of PSU banks are poor but private sector and co-operative banks are adopting the modern ISA system rapidly. According to member of Institute of Chartered Accountant of India’s (ICAI) Western Indian Council, Mr Manish Baxi, during the financial year 2004-05, RBI has given directives for the introduction of system audit in PSU banks, but except Punjab National Bank (PNB), no other PSU bank has appointed panel of auditors. He pointed out that it is necessary for any organisation to take service of ICAI member to check the working of system audit under computerization. According to Mr Baxi, the system audit is becoming increasingly popular because of its utility and security.

Gujarat plans to set up 2 LNG terminals
Saturday, August 20, 2005 | AY

The Gujarat government has decided to set up two LNG terminals along the Kutch coastline in the state. On a large front-end investment of Rs 1,600-1,700 crore for setting up the terminals at Kutch, the state government has initiated discussions with petroleum majors British Gas and IndianOil to participate in the project. Sources close to the state energy and petrochemicals department have confirmed that Gujarat government is exploring options for import of natural gas for the proposed LNG terminal. The state government is pursuing discussions with countries like Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Yemen and Turkmenistan, which have substantially large reserves of natural gas. Government is actively pursuing discussions with private investors for investment in this project. The private sector petroleum majors have the financial stability and capability to support the project.

Keshubhai arrives in Delhi
Wednesday, August 17, 2005 | AY

Key Gujarat dissident leader Keshubhai Patel today arrived in Delhi with his supporters to highlight dissident activities in Gujarat before the BJP Central leadership, which, however, ruled out replacement of Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Patel, who had organised a show of strength at his residence in Gandhinagar yesterday, on arrival told reporters that 'all is not well' with the Gujarat BJP.
Meanwhile in a rebuff to the dissidents, party general secretary in charge of Gujurat Om Mathur asserted 'Modi is doing a fantastic job. There is no questuion of replacing him.

Anti - Osteoporosis drug launched
Wednesday, August 17, 2005 | AY

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals today launched Strontium Ranelate - under the brand name Stronat - for osteoporosis management. The drug is a new class of dual action bone agent. It inhibits bone resorption and stimulates bone formation. The active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for the drug would be manufactured at the company's plant at Ankleshwar in Gujarat while the formulations would be manufactured at its Kurkum plant in Maharashtra.

Rebel BJP MLA's meet Keshubhai
Tuesday, August 16, 2005 | AY

Dissident activity within the Gujarat BJP gained momentum today with some of the MLAs from the anti-Narendra Modi camp visiting the house of former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, a known Modi-baiter.A few rebel MLAs and some MP's have visited him and a few more are expected to meet Patel, who recently returned from the US with his ailing wife. Meanwhile, senior VHP leader Pravin Togadia also visited Patel's house early this morning and "inquired" about the health of Patel's wife Leelaben. However, Togadia denied speaking to Patel about the ongoing rebellion within the Gujarat BJP.

No shortage of schools, still low literacy rate
Tuesday, August 16, 2005 | AY

Gujarat is not even among the top ten states when it comes to education indices. Count of the number of primary schools in the 18,000-odd villages of Gujarat was 40,425 in 2003-04, up from 37,551 in the previous year. What acts as a major deterrent here is the sharp social division. While the upper and middle classes send their children to school, those in the lower strata of society prefer to put them to work. Social movements like the Jan Vigyan Jattha in Gujarat have failed to lure more children into schools. This particular movement has not been actively associated with primary schooling. Many initiatives like Kanya Kelavni Rath yatras are undertaken across villages to create social awareness and to ensure enrolment of eligible children, especially girls. Additionally, the government has launched a drive for construction of rooms in schools, under which 28,000 rooms have been constructed over the past three years. The government has also appointed 80,000 new primary teachers.

State tourism sanctions money for a dinosaur park
Tuesday, August 16, 2005 | AY

Rs 3.5 crores has been sanctioned by the state tourism to set up a Dinosaur Fossil Park in Rahioli near Balasinore in Gujarat. This area has a very unique characteristic because most of the dinosaurs that roamed this areas were reptiles and palaeontologists from different parts of the country. Geological Survey of India had sent the proposal to the Centre in 1985 for protecting and developing the dinosaur site in Rahioli in Kheda district of Gujarat as this region occupies a special position in India and the world at large for the study of dinosaurs.

Gujarat celebrates Independence day
Tuesday, August 16, 2005 | AY

Chief Minister Narendra Modi unfurled the tricolour in Himmatnagar away from the state capital of Gandhinagar. After saluting the national flag, Modi felicitated freedom fighters and gave away awards in various categories. On the occasion of the 59th Independence Day, Modi also announced a grant of Rs.20 million for the city. The city played host to a series of programmes for four days ending Monday.

Gujarat to celebrate IDay in Himmatnagar
Sunday, August 14, 2005 | AY

The Gujarat government will hold its official celebrations of the country's 58th Independence Day Monday in Himmatnagar away from this state capital. Himmatnagar in Sabarkantha district, 80 km north of here, is wearing festive colours as various government-sponsored cultural programmes have been organised in the run-up to the celebrations. Chief Minister Narendra Modi launched the trend of holding official events away from Gandhinagar in 2003 when Independence Day celebrations were held in the north Gujarat city of Patan. Modi has described this as a move to bring the government closer to the people.

Gujarat's Godmother handcuffed at last
Sunday, August 14, 2005 | AY

After a hard chase of five months, Santokben Jadeja alias ‘Godmother’ was arrested in Gujarat’s Rajkot District on Friday in connection with the murder of BJP councillor Keshu Odedra in March this year. Santokben, who hails from Kutyana town in Rajkot District, has been on the run since the murder of Odedra. Two of her sons, Karan and Kandal are already in custody in connection with the same case, while a third son, Kanho, is still at large. Santokben, on whose life the film ‘Godmother’ starring Shabana Azmi was based, was arrested by a police team from Porbandar after it had received a tip-off about her whereabouts.

Petition challenges wasteland decision
Saturday, August 13, 2005 | AY

The Gujarat high court has issued notice to the state government for allotting wastelands to big industrialists and farmers at nominal charges. As per the resolution passed by the state government the industry and the farmers can use the wastelands for the next 20 years. PIL filed by People for Animal, an organisation run by Menaka Gandhi, challenged the resolution of the state government stating the wastelands are natural habitats of various wild animals and vegetation. They are also homeland for various tribes and the decision of the government is shortsighted. The PIL went on to add the government might have to acquire private land to rehabilitate the animals.

GSPC develops KG basin on its own
Saturday, August 13, 2005 | AY

Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC)has decided to develop the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin block on its own. The corporation will require over Rs 1,500 crore to develop the block and is planning to tap the capital markets by this year end. After the discovery of over 20 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas valued at approximately Rs two lakh crore ($50 billion), GSPC has received queries from various international and domestic companies for picking up stake in the corporation, but they have decided to develop the block on its own.

Gujarat donates blood to Maharashtra
Saturday, August 13, 2005 | AY

A city-based voluntary agency has launched a blood donation campaign to help flood victims in the neighbouring state of Maharashtra. The flood situation due to heavy rains in Maharashtra has now given rise to contagious diseases like dengue, malaria and leptospirosis. The treatment of these diseases requires a component of human blood - platelets, the consumption of which has gone up in the state. Prathma, a leading blood bank in Gujarat, stores 100 percent components (platelets).

China has its eyes on Gujarat economy
Saturday, August 13, 2005 | AY

China's ambassador to India Sun Yuxi Friday met Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and evinced interest in developing economic relations with the state. The diplomat praised the entrepreneurial skills of the Gujarati community and showed a keen interest in developing relations with the western Indian state in trade and economy sectors. Modi appreciated China's achievements in the construction sector and evinced interest in its cooperation for developing the state infrastructure. He invited Chinese investment in building infrastructure facilities for various projects, including Ahmedabad's proposed metro rail project and the Sabarmati riverfront project.

Iffco in pact with GAIL, GSPCL for LNG supply
Thursday, August 11, 2005 | AY

The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (Iffco) has signed an agreement with GAIL and the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd (GSPCL) for the LNG supply. The low-cost feedstock would lead to a cut in input costs for the manufacture of urea and enable the fertiliser major to reduce the government’s subsidy burden by Rs 1130 crore. The agreement with GSPCL for the supply of re-gasified LNG (RLNG) for its Kalol unit had led to a subsidy saving of Rs 84 crore annually. The supply of the RLNG to Phulpur units through a dedicated pipeline from Thulendi near Jagdishpur to Phulpur will begin in April next year. To ensure complete ammonia utilisation for the urea production, the company has decided to set up carbon dioxide recovery plants at Phulpur and Aonla. Both the recovery units will have an installed capacity of 450 metric tonnes a day.

Gujarat based firm gets HLL's biopolymers unit
Thursday, August 11, 2005 | AY

The Ahmedabad-based Riddhi Siddhi Gluco Biols Limited (RSGBL) has acquired the bio-polymers unit of the Hindustan Levers Limited in Pondicherry. RSGBL would use the unit as its research and development hub for all its products in future. The acquisition was part of the company's plans to increase its market share in industrial starch from the present 14 per cent to 25 per cent. Besides its Viragam unit in Gujarat, the company had already acquired from Glaxo Limited a unit in Gokak in Karnataka. The company was one of the largest starch and starch derivatives manufacturing companies in the country with an annual turn over of Rs.200 crore.

Labourers neglected in Gujarat
Wednesday, August 10, 2005 | AY

During the slow but steady decline of textile mills in Ahmedabad, around 1,25,000 workers were rendered jobless. They lost their permanent source of income. In its urge to showcase Gujarat’s big business scenario, the Modi regime has turned a blind eye to the plight of thousands of workers. The main problem of workers in Gujarat is the ‘casualisation of labour’, from permanent jobs or unemployment to temporary jobs. After the once flourishing textile mills were gradually closed, most workers started working as daily wage labourers in the powerlooms and construction industry, even as real estate boomed, often in the same sites as the old mills. Some of them got three-wheelers under government schemes and that is one reason why Ahmedabad has one of the highest number of autos in India (around 65,000).

Laptop business booming in Ahmedabad
Wednesday, August 10, 2005 | AY

The laptop market is zooming in Ahmedabad with the city registering 40 percent more sales as compared to the rest of Gujarat. Compaq and Acer were the more popular brands amongst the consumers. Laptops having Celeron processor costs Rs 30,000 and those with Pentium processors come in the price range of Rs.40,000 to Rs.42,000. The region of Saurashtra, comprising cities like Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar, sells more than 100 laptops every month with a market price of Rs 30,000.

Learn more about America through a centre in Gujarat
Tuesday, August 9, 2005 | AY

The American Corner, a reference centre launched here a year ago, has been providing Gujarat a window to life and culture in the US. The American Information Resource Center (AIRC), Mumbai, inaugurated the center in September last year in collaboration with the AMA. The American Corner serves as the perfect place for accurate and up-to-date information about political, economic, cultural, educational and social trends of the country. The most frequent visitors are teenagers who wish to go to the US for higher education. Business people are also regular visitors. The American Corner offers reading material in all subjects except science and technology. It also has an extensive collection of resources on American literature and language. The membership fee is kept low at Rs.200, compared to high charges in private libraries.

SC gives ultimatum to the Gujarat cops
Tuesday, August 9, 2005 | AY

Annoyed with the Gujarat police for having failed to arrest the main accused in a post-Godhra riot case, the Supreme Court today said either they were conniving with the accused or were ‘‘worthless’’. Taking serious note of the non-compliance of its order, the court issued an ultimatum to the DGP. It warned him that if suitable steps were not taken by August 22, when the matter comes up for hearing next, he would have to present himself before the court to explain the position. The SC had in 2004 rejected the bail plea of Shashikant and asked the police to take him into custody. The accused, who was out on bail, had approached the apex court after his bail was cancelled by the Gujarat HC. He was among the 46 accused whose names figured in FIRs lodged with the Naroda-Patiya police after the riots.

Jains decides to approach supreme court
Monday, August 8, 2005 | AY

The Jain community in the state on Sunday decided to challenge the decision of the Gujarat high court, to allow functioning of slaughterhouses in the state during the festival of paryusan, in the Supreme Court. The decision was taken at a public meeting after the meat association of the state failed to give an official assurance that slaughterhouses will remain closed during paryusan. The tradition of not slaughtering animals during paryusan is being practiced in the country for the last 400 years and it cannot be overturned by a high court decision. Jain monks informed that they also had the support of Hindu saints in their fight.

Village in a tough situation
Monday, August 8, 2005 | AY

Villagers in a drought-prone region of Gujarat find themselves in a peculiar situation, they have a reservoir full of water, but cannot use it. In a pre-independence arrangement in Sakarda, a tribal village near here and 190 km from the principal Gujarat city of Ahmedabad, railway authorities have been denying the villagers access to the only water source for the last seven decades. The railways had acquired the river belt near the village to construct a dam in 1930 on the river Paat. The "Kaali Dam" was meant to meet water requirements of the railway colony in the town of Dahod. Chausala, Kaaligam, Sarda and Gultora have implemented local irrigation schemes as the river belt in that region was not under the railway's jurisdiction.

Amul in a deal with local milk suppliers
Monday, August 8, 2005 | AY

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) has decided to source most of its milk from local federations across the country instead of supplying from Amul its flagship dairy at Anand in Gujarat. All these years Amul has been supplying milk and milk powder to places as far as Calcutta and Delhi from Anand in Gujarat. B M Vyas, managing director of GCMMF says that this would offer local producers an opportunity to market their milk and powder through the Amul brand. Amul is providing marketing network and marketing skills to locals and putting Amul brand, which is an equity, at their disposal. Amul is aiming at building a national network where local cooperatives will be strengthened with the help of Amul.

Gas worth $50 bn discovered
Monday, August 8, 2005 | AY

As a huge discovery, Chief Minister Narendra Modi announced in Ahmedabad on Saturday that an an estimated reserves of 20 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) gas worth $50 billion was found from a drilling block in Krishna-Godavari basin by Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC). Dedicating the project, now named 'Deen Dayal' to the nation, Modi told reporters that this natural gas find made 10 days ago, was worth Rs two lakh crores after an investment of Rs 250 crores was made. He said the money generated from this project would be put into education of children living Below the Poverty Line (BPL). The GSPC discovered the gas in the KG#8 block, located six kms away from the shore of the Yanam-Kakinada coast of Andhra Pradesh after drilling upto 5061 mts at a temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit, a feat that Modi said was the first ever in the country.

Canadian company opens potato processing unit
Saturday, August 6, 2005 | AY

The world's largest frozen French fries producer, McCain Foods, is building an $18 million potato processing plant in India's Gujarat state. The frozen French fries and potato specialty plant with a capacity to process 30,000 tonnes of potatoes annually will come up in Gujarat's Mehsana district and is scheduled to be completed by July 2006. It is expected to employ between 100 and 125 employees at full capacity. the northern region of Gujarat comprising Deesa, Vijapur, Ladol, Degam, Kheda and Anand was chosen because the soil in the region was suitable for commercial cultivation of "process quality potatoes."

GMDC to invest 2000 crore
Saturday, August 6, 2005 | AY

Gujarat Minerals Development Corporation Ltd (GMDC) plans to invest Rs 2,000 crore in the next couple of years. The first unit of the 250 MW pithead lignite power plant in Kutch district will go on stream in the next couple of days while the entire plant will be fully operational in a couple of months. GMDC is also set to begin work on the expansion project at the Akrimota Power Station in Kutch. The company has identified new projects, including an 80,000-tonne refractory manufacturing unit in Kutch and a multi-metal project at Ambaji in North Gujarat in collaboration with Binani Zinc Ltd.

Rail freight corridor- Gujarat asks for a dfferent route
Saturday, August 6, 2005 | AY

Instead of considering the route between Delhi and Mumbai through Mathura, Kota, Ratlam and Vadodara, the Gujarat Government has asked the Railway Ministry to consider a different route of the proposed Delhi-Mumbai dedicated rail freight corridor. Gujarat, which is closer to the Northern hinterland by about 300 km compared with the JNPT and NSICT terminals in Mumbai, has several minor ports that handle 20-30 per cent of cargo throughput of the country's various ports. Thus, if the dedicated rail freight corridor is built in a manner that the Gujarat ports such as Mundra, Kandla, Pipavav, Bedi, Porbandar, Dholera, among others are connected through short feeder routes then the economic viability of the rail freight corridor would also increase. While the route via Kota and Ratlam passes through urban centres, the suggested route through Palanpur, Ahmedabad covers relatively rural areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat. As a result, land acquisition would be much cheaper, easier and result in quicker construction of the rail route

8 MLA's support Zadafiya
Saturday, August 6, 2005 | AY

Rift in Gujarat's ruling BJP widened today with eight more MLA's requesting state party president Vaju Vala demanding withdrawal of the show cause notice issued to their colleague Gordhan Zadafiya who refused to join Narendra Modi ministry even as the rebel leader replied to the notice. Zadafiya told that he had sent his reply to the state party chief but refused to divulge the contents stating that it was "party matter". Sources said that apart from support from MLA's at least 10 MP's have also expressed their support for Zadafiya and have intimated senior party leaders in Delhi about the situation here. Modi, however, has not commented anything on the issue as yet.

Gujarat proud to be a state which gets the max investments
Thursday, August 4, 2005 | AY

Over the last five years, Gujarat has attracted maximum investment in the country and maintained its position as the most attractive destination for investments. Urban Development Minister I K Jadeja and Minister of State for Planning Saurabh Dalal, briefing reporters after the State Cabinet meeting, said that this fact was emphasised in the Lok Sabha that a total of Rs 94,357 crore investments were attracted by the state during the last five years. During the current year, from January to May, Gujarat has attracted investments of Rs 43,000 crore, the two claimed.

Gujarat Ambuja cements declines by 8%.
Thursday, August 4, 2005 | AY

The cement dispatches of Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd. stood at 9.47 lakh tons in July as against 10.28 lakh tons in the same month last year, registering a decline of 8%. The cement production during the month was 9.49 lakh tons in comparison to 10.32 lakh tons in July 2004, reflecting a drop of 8.04%. The cement shipments for Ambuja Cement Eastern Ltd. grew by 7.82% to 1.24 lakh tons from 1.15 lakh tons in the same month last year. The cement output of Ambuja Cement Eastern jumped by nearly 8% last month to 1.22 lakh tons from 1.13 lakh tons in the same month last year. The Company said that cement sales for the month were lower due to excessive rains in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Closure notice against drug units
Wednesday, August 3, 2005 | AY

Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) has served closure notices to three hundred pharmaceutical manufacturing units in Gujarat, owing to non-compliance of quality manufacturing norms, current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP), announced by the Union Health ministry. Subodh P Adeshara, commissioner, FDCA, Gujarat, said that notices have been issued to 225 units to stop manufacturing immediately. Massive industry closure would make about 1,50,000 people jobless and the pharma production will lose around Rs 1500 crore.

Alert warning on heavy rainfall by CM
Wednesday, August 3, 2005 | AY

Minister Narendra Modi has alerted the state machinery to be ready to meet any eventuality as the state met bureau has issued a warning of very heavy rainfall across the state in the next 48 hours. He had also instructed the health department to be prepared to meet the medical facilities and prevention of epidemics, if in case the state gets heavy flood in the second spell of the monsoon. In the first spell of monsoon, almost entire Gujarat was heavily flooded resulting into killing of over 200 people and property and business loss worth over Rs 10,000 crores. A report from Rajkot said drought-prone Saurashtra and Kutch regions had received a good amount of rainfall in the last 12 hours, as a result all the dams and water reservoirs were either filled to their full capacities or over-flowing at many places.

Heavy rains in Gujarat
Tuesday, August 2, 2005 | AY

Heavy rains have been lashing Gujarat since Sunday night, resulting in waterlogging in many low-lying areas and affecting vehicular traffic on several routes. The Meteorological Department has predicted that heavy rains were likely at most places in the state in the next 24 hours. Heavy showers were reported from across Gujarat in the last 24 hours with Palanpur in Banaskantha receiving the maximum of 255 mm rainfall. Twenty four districts were reported to have received over 100 mm rains.

Zadafiya receives show-cause notice
Tuesday, August 2, 2005 | AY

'Rebel' MLA Gordhan Zadafiya, has been issued show cause notice by the Gujarat BJP for his "indiscipline" act, after he refused to take the oath during Chief Minister Narendra Modi's maiden cabinet expansion function held in the morning. Zadafiya, who is a staunch Keshubhai Patel supporter, had refused to go on to the dias to take the oath as a cabinet minister during an expansion of Narendra Modi cabinet. He later told media that he did not want to be part of the cabinet as the problems of his supporters/workers would not be heard.