Page 4 - Gujarat Government

PM Modi inaugurates Kochrab Ashram, launches plan of Gandhi Ashram Memorial

The Kochrab Ashram was the first Ashram established by Mahatma Gandhi after coming to India from South Africa in 1915. It is still preserved as a memorial and tourist space by Gujarat Vidyapeeth

PM to unveil masterplan of Rs 1,200 cr Sabarmati Ashram project on Mar 12

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform "Ashram Bhoomi Vandana" and unveil the masterplan of the Sabarmati Ashram Memorial Project during his visit to Ahmedabad in Gujarat on Tuesday. Planned with a budget of Rs 1,200 crore, the project aims to revitalise Mahatma Gandhi's teachings and philosophy for the present and future generations, a government release said on Sunday. The ambitious project aims to revamp the infrastructure surrounding the Sabarmati Ashram, provide state-of-the-art amenities to visitors, and establish a world-class memorial dedicated to the Father of the Nation, it said. Under the masterplan, the existing five-acre area of the ashram, which Mahatma Gandhi founded in 1917 on the banks of Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad, will be expanded to 55 acres and 36 existing buildings will undergo restoration, as per the release. "The project includes conservation of 20 old buildings, precise restoration of 13 buildings, and redevelopment of three buildings keeping in mind t

Cong leader Rahul resumes 'Nyay Yatra', heads towards Gujarat's Panchmahal

On the second day of the Gujarat leg of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday resumed his journey from Dahod town and headed towards Godhra in adjoining Panchmahal district where he will address people. Rahul Gandhi's yatra entered the state from Rajasthan on Thursday. After addressing people at Jhalod town of Dahod District, he stayed overnight at a village in the area. On Friday morning, Gandhi visited Kamboi Dham near Jhalod to pay his respects to tribal icon Govind Guru. Later, when the yatra resumed from Dahod town on Friday morning, Congress workers and locals greeted him on the route. Tribals also gathered at a traffic roundabout and performed their traditional dance to greet the opposition leader, who reciprocated by waving back to them while sitting in an open-roof SUV. He also cut a large cake which was presented to him by women Congress workers on the occasion of International Women's Day, which is celebrated on March 8 every year. Gandhi is

Gujarat allots 188 acres for Tata group, CG Power semiconductor plants

Ground-breaking likely on Mar 13; incentives form 70% of project cost

Day after quitting Cong, ex-MLA Modhwadia and Ambarish Der join BJP

Former Gujarat Congress chief and ex-MLA Arjun Modhwadia along with the party's former working president Ambarish Der joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, a day after they quit the grand old party. The two leaders joined the saffron party at its state headquarters 'Kamalam' here along with several others. State BJP chief C R Paatil inducted them into the party by offering them saffron caps and scarves. The two leaders resigned on Monday expressing anguish over the party's decision to "boycott" Lord Ram temple consecration ceremony held in Ayodhya in January. Interestingly, both leaders announced their decision to quit the Congress just three days ahead of the scheduled entry of Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Gujarat. Days before Der and Modhwadia quit Congress, the party's Rajya Sabha member and former Union minister Naran Rathwa joined the ruling BJP along with his son and a large number of supporters. Modhwadia, who represented the Porbandar ..

Gujarat CM Patel launches host of developmental projects in Vadodara

The Chief Minister also inaugurated three diverse projects worth Rs 158 crore by Vadodara Municipal Corporation and Rs 574 crore by the Urban Development Authority, in Vadodara

CG Power JV to invest Rs 7600 cr in Gujarat semiconductor facility

Facility will be financed through a mix of subsidies, equity and potential bank borrowings

Gujarat hikes DA of govt employees by 4%, also raises its NPS share

Just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Gujarat government on Thursday announced a 4 per cent hike in dearness allowance (DA) for its employees and pensioners. With this hike, the DA of Gujarat government employees, which was 42 per cent earlier, will now be 46 per cent, a state government resolution (GR) said. The DA has been hiked with effect from July 1, 2023, and employees will be given arrears for the last eight months, it said. Around 4.45 lakh state government employees and 4.63 lakh pensioners will benefit from the decision to hike DA, an official release said. The government has also decided to increase its own contribution in the National Pension System (NPS) from 10 per cent to 14 per cent, while state employees will have to pay 10 per cent, the release said. The Gujarat government employees have been demanding restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) instead of NPS. Under the OPS, retired government employees received 50 per cent of their last drawn salary plus DA as

44% of seats of engineering courses remained vacant in Guj in 2023: Govt

The Gujarat government on Thursday told the legislative assembly that more than 44 per cent seats in various engineering colleges, including self-financed institutes, in the state, which comes to more than 62,000 seats, remained vacant in 2023. The data tabled in the House also revealed that more than 32 per cent or 7,742 seats of Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Computer Application (MCA) courses remained vacant in the previous year. Responding to a set of questions raised by Congress MLAs during the Question Hour on Thursday about the vacant seats in colleges offering technical and professional courses, state Higher and Technical Education Minister Rushikesh Patel said various government-run, grant-in-aid and self-financed colleges have 1,40,852 seats of engineering degree and diploma courses in Gujarat. Of these 1,40,852 seats, 71,629 are of degree engineering courses, while 69,223 are of diploma engineering courses, he said. The minister informed the House

Juniper Green Energy, Envision tie up to develop 300-MW wind project in Guj

Juniper Green Energy and Envision Energy have collaborated for the development of a 300-MW wind energy project in Gujarat. As per the partnership, Envision will supply 91 units of EN 156-3.3 MW WTGs (wind turbine generators) and oversee the installation, commissioning and maintenance of all WTGs. The project is expected to be commissioned in a phased manner by the end of 2025 and will produce 1,000 GWh units of clean energy annually, according to a statement. Naresh Mansukhani, CEO, Juniper Green Energy, said in the statement, "We are happy to collaborate with Envision Energy for the development of this wind project." RPV Prasad, CEO, Envision Wind Power Technologies India, said, "As part of our commitment to the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision, we would be assembling the nacelle and hubs for the wind turbines at our Pune factory, while towers and blades will be sourced locally." Kane Xu, Global Vice President of Envision Energy and Chairman of Envision Energy India, said, "Together wit

Bilkis Bano case: Guj govt files plea in SC to delete remarks against it

It argued that the State government had only acted as per the mandamus issued by the SC by way of its judgment of May 2022

Gujarat Assembly clears supplementary demands for grants worth Rs 7,500 cr

The Gujarat Assembly on Thursday approved supplementary demands for grants worth over Rs 7,500 crore which were incurred as additional expenditure during the financial year of 2023-24. Tabling the demands, Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai said additional funds were allocated beyond budgetary provisions to carry out pro-people work like building houses for tribals and lay new roads as well repair existing ones under the Mukhya Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana'. The minister said it is the government's resolve to provide houses to everyone. The government had initially allocated Rs 163 crore to build houses for tribals under the 'Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana', he said. But, to cover the maximum number of beneficiaries, we had allocated an additional budget of Rs 821 crore. We have also increased scholarships for tribal students, which led to extra expenditure, said Desai. In all, the finance minister sought permission of the House for an additional expenditure of over Rs 7,500 crore spent by ..

More than half million children in Gujarat malnourished: Govt data

More than 5.70 lakh children in Gujarat are malnourished, the Gujarat assembly was informed on Wednesday with the government listing various steps being taken to improve the situation. Responding to a set of questions raised by Congress MLAs during Question Hour, Women and Child Development Minister Bhanuben Babariya informed that out of 5.70 lakh malnourished children in the state, nearly 4.38 lakh children are underweight, while 1.31 lakh fell in the 'severely underweight' category. Notably, the highly-urbanised district of Ahmedabad accounted for the highest number of malnourished children (56,941), followed by tribal-dominated Dahod (51,321), Banaskantha (48,866), Panchmahal (31,512), Kheda (28,800), Surat (26,682) and Bhavnagar (26,128), Babariya stated in written replies giving the data till end-2023. In one year, as many as 9,634 malnourished children were added in Kheda district, which was the highest in Gujarat. Kheda was followed by Ahmedabad (3,516 children), Bharuch ...

Aether Industries to commission 15 MW solar power plant in Bharuch, Gujarat

Aether Industries will commission a 15 MW solar power project (Auto-Tracker Modules) under the Captive Power Producer (CPP) segment in the Bharuch district of Gujarat with an aim to become more sustainable. Earlier, in July 2023, Aether Industries had commissioned a 16 MW solar power project (Fixed Modules) under the CPP segment and this new solar power plant under CPP will add to its renewable energy sources and further move towards sustainability, the company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday. The solar power farm will be in Gujarat's Bharuch District and spread across 60 acres. The phase-wise commissioning of the solar power plant is set to begin as early as the next financial year starting April, it stated. However, the company did not mention the capex for the project. "As an enterprise, we are very cognizant of the elements that sustain life. This is why we are also part of UN Global Compact Network India to practice and promote sustainable manufacturing. Therefore, our

India's largest theatre festival 'Bharat Rang Mahotsav' begins in Gujarat

The Bharat Rang Mahotsav is a 21-day cultural event featuring over 150 plays, workshops, and discussions

Gujarat Assembly session: Budget for FY25 to be presented on Feb 2

The budget session of the Gujarat assembly will begin on Thursday and the state budget for FY 2024-25 will be presented on Friday, a state minister said. The budget will reflect the vision of the state government for the next year and a road map for the next 25 years, he said. The opposition Congress has said it will corner the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on a range of issues including inflation, unemployment, and the recent boat capsize tragedy in a lake in Vadodara, resulting in the death of 12 students and two teachers. The budget session will start with the customary address of Governor Acharya Devvrat. "On the first day, the governor will present the previous year's achievements of the state government in his address to the House," Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rushikesh Patel told reporters in Gandhinagar on Wednesday. Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai will present the budget on the next day (February 2). The budget will reflect the vision of the s

Gujarat govt transfers 50 IAS officers ahead of Lok Sabha elections

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls due in a few months, the Gujarat government has transferred 50 IAS officers, including various collectors and district development officers (DDOs). The state General Administration Department issued a notification to this effect on Tuesday night, an official said. As per the notification, Jamnagar district collector B A Shah has been transferred as the new collector of Vadodara district. AB Gor, currently serving as the Vadodara collector, has been appointed in the Chief Minister's Office in Gandhinagar as Officer on Special Duty (OSD). Surat collector Aayush Oak has been transferred as the new collector of Valsad. Sourabh Pardhi, currently serving as the managing director of the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd, has been appointed as the new collector of Surat. Morbi district collector GT Pandya has now been appointed as the collector of Devbhumi Dwarka district. Navsari collector Amit Prakash Yadav has now been made the collector of Kheda distric

Gujarat govt razes houses, 150 huts to free encroached Somnath temple land

A mega anti-encroachment drive was undertaken to clear around 3 hectares of land behind Somnath temple in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district that belonged to the temple trust and state government, officials said on Saturday. As many as 21 houses and 153 huts that had unauthorisedly come up were being demolished to clear the land belonging to Shree Somnath Trust, which manages the activities of the revered Somnath temple, and the state government, said Collector Harji Vadhvaniya. The mega demolition drive began Saturday morning in the presence of five mamlatdars' and around 100 revenue officials, Vadhvaniya said. Heavy police presence was also maintained to ensure that it went off peacefully, he said. The land, which measures 3 hectares (7.4 acres), will be cleared of encroachment and fenced as per a circular issued by the state revenue department, he said. Somnath temple is located in Prabhas Patan near Veraval town along the coast of the Arabian Sea. It is believed to be the first am

Highlights: Prez confers 'bal puraskars', urges kids to play sports

From flight delays at IGI airport Delhi to the preparations for Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, catch all the latest updates from around the world here

Gujarat to showcase its global identity in border tourism on Republic Day

The tableau highlights Dhordo's inclusion in UNWTO's Best Tourism Village list, emphasizing the seamless integration of tradition, tourism, and technology in achieving the vision of a Developed India