Page 22 - Gujarat

CBI takes over five NEET-UG cases from Bihar, Gujarat & Rajasthan

The CBI has taken over the investigation of five new cases of alleged malpractices in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG that were being probed by police in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Bihar, officials said on Monday. They said the central agency has re-registered one case each from Gujarat and Bihar and three cases from Rajasthan as its own FIR, while it is also likely to take up another case from Maharashtra's Latur. Barring the case from Bihar, the other four appear to be isolated incidents of impersonation and cheating by local officials, invigilators and candidates, the officials said. The CBI has already registered its own FIR in connection with the case on a reference from the Union education ministry to conduct a comprehensive probe, they said. After taking over these new cases, the CBI is now probing a total of six cases pertaining to alleged irregularities in NEET-UG, the officials said. NEET-UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYU

Gujarat CM launches anti-polio campaign to vaccinate 837,200 children

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Sunday launched a state-wide anti-polio campaign, which aims to vaccinate 83.72 lakh children below the age of five, an official said. The initiative was launched to mark National Immunisation Day as part of the Children Polio Eradication Campaign 20-24, a CMO release said. "The state health department aims to vaccinate over 83.72 lakh children in the 0-5 age group. To achieve this, 1,33,956 health workers will administer drops at 33,489 polio booths across the state. From June 24 to 25, health workers will conduct door-to-door visits to administer polio drops to children," it said. Patel launched the campaign at the community centre in Mantri Niwas Complex in Gandhinagar by administering polio drops to a few children in the presence of Mayor Miraben Patel and Principal Secretary (Health) Dhananjay Dwivedi.

Gujarat game zone blaze: Rajkot chief fire officer, deputy CFO arrested

The Rajkot Municipal Corporation's chief fire officer and deputy CFO were arrested on Saturday in connection with the massive blaze at a game zone here on May 25, which resulted in the deaths of 27 persons, including children. CFO Ilesh Kher and Deputy CFO Bhikha Theba as well as Mahesh Rathod, who was the supervisor of the fabrication work going on at the ill-fated TRP Game Zone, were arrested, the official said. "Theba is already in jail in connection with a corruption case and his custody was taken through a transfer warrant. With this, we have so far arrested 15 persons in connection with the blaze," he said. Kher was accused of not inquiring about whether the unit possessed a valid fire NOC certificate as well as proper fire fighting equipment after a similar blaze broke out during welding work at TRP game zone on September 4 last year, a statement from the police said. Rathod was held for alleged negligence in his duty and not ensuring proper safety during the welding work, .

Rahul Gandhi interacts with Rajkot fire victims' kin; says Cong with them

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday interacted with the relatives of some of the victims of last month's TRP game zone fire incident in Rajkot city of Gujarat via video conferencing, and said his party was with them, party sources said. Twenty seven persons, including four children, were killed in the massive fire that swept through the game zone in Nana-Mava locality of Rajkot city on May 25. Gandhi interacted with the family members and relatives of some of the victims who were charred to death in the tragedy. "Congress leader Rahul Gandhi interacted with the family members of some of the victims of the game zone fire incident via video conferencing from Pathik Ashram here on Saturday afternoon. The meeting went on for nearly half-an-hour. He expressed condolences and said the party is with them," a party source said. Congress' Gujarat unit president Shaktisinh Gohil was with Gandhi in Delhi, while Gujarat Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani and party leader Lalji Desai, among ...

India has given many gifts to mankind, yoga biggest of them all: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that India has given many things to the entire humankind, but yoga is its biggest gift to the world. He was speaking after performing yoga at a public garden in Ahmedabad this morning on the occasion of the 10th International Day of Yoga. "This Yoga Day holds special significance because it is the 10th edition. After Narendra Modi became the prime minister in 2014, he addressed the UN general assembly and proposed that June 21 should be observed as Yoga Day. His proposal was eventually accepted after over 170 nations agreed to that proposal," Shah said. Today, the entire world has not only accepted yoga, people are learning it and teaching it to others too, he said in his address. "India has given so much to humanity. But I personally feel that India's biggest gift to the world is yoga, which is a medium to connect our inner strength with our soul. Yoga is a remedy to many illnesses prevalent at present. It is the only way to live a ...

Gujarat to set up 51 Yoga Studios' to promote ancient practice: CM Patel

On the occasion of International Day of Yoga, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Friday said his government will establish 51 Yoga Studios' across the state to promote the ancient practice which benefited people immensely during COVID. The CM was at Nadabet in Banaskantha district near the India-Pakistan border to take part in the state-level event to mark the 10th International Day of Yoga. Several state ministers and Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary attended the event at Nadabet. This is the first time Yoga Day is being celebrated at Nadabet, said an official release. In his address to yoga participants at Nadabet, the CM said yoga a system of exercises for the body and for controlling breathing has reached every corner of the world due to the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event at Nadabet has been jointly organized by the State Yog Board and the Border Security Force (BSF) He said efforts are being made to popularise yoga through the State Yog Board.

Now, dead frog found in packet of chips in Jamnagar; probe ordered

The civic authority here ordered an inquiry on Wednesday after a dead frog was allegedly found in a packet of potato wafers. The complaint came days after a Mumbai resident claimed to have found a piece of human finger in the ice cream he had ordered online. Samples of the production batch of the wafer packet will be collected as part of the probe, said an official of the Jamnagar Municipal Corporation. "One Jasmin Patel informed us that a dead frog was found in a packet of Crunchex, manufactured by Balaji Wafers. We visited the shop from where it had been purchased last night. Preliminary probe suggested it was indeed a frog in a decomposed state," food safety officer D B Parmar told reporters. "As directed by the municipal commissioner, we will collect samples of this batch of wafer packets to conduct an inquiry," he added. Patel, a resident of Pushkar Dham society, claimed that his four-year-old niece bought the packet from a nearby shop on Tuesday evening. She and his ...

Lawrence Bishnoi's video call from Gujarat jail to Pak gangster goes viral

The clip, showing Shahzad informing Bishnoi about Eid timings across various countries, sparked major security concerns, leading Gujarat authorities to launch a probe

Rahul Gandhi slams PM Modi for 'maintaining silence' on NEET exam issue

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for maintaining "silence" on the NEET exam issue and asserted that his party is committed to strongly raising the voice of the youth from the streets to the Parliament for ensuring strong policies against paper leaks. The former Congress president said the arrests made in Bihar, Gujarat and Haryana clearly show that there has been organised corruption in the examination in a planned manner and added these BJP-ruled states have become the "epicentre" of paper leaks. "Narendra Modi, as usual, is maintaining silence on the tampering with the future of more than 24 lakh students in the NEET examination," Gandhi said in a post on X in Hindi. "The arrests made in Bihar, Gujarat and Haryana clearly show that there has been organised corruption in the examination in a planned manner and these BJP ruled states have become the epicentre of paper leak," he claimed. In the manifesto, the Congress had guaranteed to

Rajkot game zone fire: Two civic staffers held for tampering with documents

Two employees of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) have been arrested for allegedly making certain changes in documents pertaining to a game zone after a fire there last month claimed 27 lives, police said on Sunday. With this, 12 persons, including six government employees, have so been arrested in connection with the May 25 incident at the TRP game zone in Gujarat's Rajkot city, they said The city crime branch on Saturday arrested RMC's assistant town planning officer Rajesh Makwana and assistant engineer Jaideep Chaudhary for their alleged involvement in making changes in an official register after the fire incident, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime, Parthrajsinh Gohil said. "They made certain changes in government documents related to the TRP game zone after the fire incident. They also forged documents," he said. "So far we have arrested six government employees and six other persons in connection with the TRP game zone fire," Gohil said. The four government employee

Essar to invest Rs 30,000 cr in green hydrogen plant in Gujarat over 4 yrs

Essar Group plans to invest Rs 30,000 crore over the next four years in setting up a green hydrogen plant at Jamnagar in Gujarat as the metals-to-infrastructure conglomerate eyes clean energy as a key pillar for its new phase of growth. The conglomerate is looking to decarbonise its oil refinery in the UK, construct a green steel plant in Saudi Arabia, and build an LNG and electric ecosystem to decarbonise long-haul heavy trucks, Prashant Ruia, director of Essar Capital, which manages the group's portfolio of investments, said. It is also considering an entry into mining of critical minerals, mainly used in electric vehicle batteries, solar panels and wind-turbine magnets. Essar Future Energy plans to develop 1 gigawatt of hydrogen capacity along with associated green molecules capacity of 1 million tonne per annum in Jamnagar over the next four years, he said in an interview with PTI. "We are going to invest around Rs 30,000 crore (in the green hydrogen project in Jamnagar)," he .

Gujarat makes draft rules for gaming zones, seeks public suggestions

In the wake of the deadly fire at a game zone in Rajkot which claimed 27 lives last month, the Gujarat government on Wednesday came out with draft rules which seek to ensure safety at such recreation facilities. The objective behind the proposed 'The Gujarat Amusement Rides and Gaming Zone Activities (Safety) Rules-2024' is to ensure that such tragedies do not take place again, said health minister and government spokesperson Rishikesh Patel. The draft rules were uploaded on the state home department's website so that people can submit suggestions or objections, Patel told reporters in Gandhinagar after the first meeting of the state cabinet following the Lok Sabha elections. Suggestions can be submitted by June 25 to the home department's email ID 'home@gujarat.gov.in'. Under section 33 of the Gujarat Police Act, 1951, the Commissioner of Police and District Magistrates have the authority to frame rules in this regard. The final rules will be notified after getting necessary ...

Southwest monsoon arrives in Gujarat four days early this year: IMD

The southwest monsoon had an early onset in Gujarat on Tuesday with its northern limit passing through Navsari district in southern part of the state, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said. The monsoon usually arrives in Gujarat by June 15, said Ramashray Yadav, scientist at IMD Ahmedabad. "All the districts are expected to experience light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorms in the next two days," he added. Several districts received rainfall ranging from 1-40 mm in isolated areas in 24 hours ending 6 am on Tuesday, the Gandhinagar-based State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said. Santrampur in Mahisagar district and Morva Hadaf in Panchmahal received the highest 40 and 27 mm rainfall during this period, the SEOC said. Light thunderstorm with lightning and surface wind of 30- 40 kmph (in gust) accompanied by light rain was very likely at isolated places in all the districts, the IMD said in its forecast. The IMD has already said that India is likely to ...

State-owned BPCL planning to set up new refinery worth Rs 50,000 crore

The state-run oil marketing company will invest around Rs 50,000 crore in the project and is currently assessing locations in three states - Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat

After stint as health minister, Mandaviya gets labour, sports ministry

Born in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat to a middle class farmer and youngest among four brothers, Mandaviya completed his primary education from the government school in Hanol (Gujarat)

Gujarat's representation in new Modi govt drops to 6 from 7 earlier

The number of Gujarat MPs inducted into the third government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come down to six compared to seven in the second term. Amit Shah, Mansukh Mandaviya and S Jaishankar were sworn in as cabinet ministers for the second consecutive time on Sunday. The new entrants in the list from Gujarat are state BJP chief and Navsari MP CR Paatil, party president and Rajya Sabha member JP Nadda and Bhavnagar MP Nimuben Bambhaniya. Shah and Mandaviya are Lok Sabha members, while Jaishankar is the Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat. Rajkot MP Parshottam Rupala, who was a minister in the previous government, has been dropped this time. He was at the centre of a controversy over a remark which enraged the Khastriya/Rajput community during the Lok Sabha poll campaign. A three-term Rajya Sabha member, Rupala had served as minister in both the previous Modi governments. He was the Union Minister of State for agriculture, farmers welfare and panchayati raj between 2016 and

Ahmedabad's average housing prices surge 45% in last 5 years: PropTiger

Housing prices in Ahmedabad have appreciated by an average 45 per cent in the last five years because of rise in demand of residential properties especially after the COVID pandemic, according to PropTiger. The average housing prices stood at Rs 4,150 per square feet in January-March this year, as compared to Rs 2,867 per square feet in the January-March period of 2019, as per the data compiled by real estate consultant PropTiger. The average growth in housing price during January-March 2024 was 10 per cent from the year-ago period. PropTiger.com is part of real estate technology firm REA India, which also owns real estate listing platforms Housing.com and Makaan.com. Vikas Wadhawan, Group Chief Financial Officer of REA India and Business Head of PropTiger.com, noted that Ahmedabad has become one of the major real estate markets in India. "As the nerve centre of economic activity, Ahmedabad attracts numerous buyers and investors from neighbouring states such as Madhya Pradesh and

Gandhi, Ambedkar, Shivaji statues shifted within Parliament; Cong unhappy

Statues of Mahatma Gandhi, B R Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji, among others, have been relocated within the Parliament premises as part of a landscaping exercise, a move that drew sharp criticism from the Congress on Thursday. The statues of tribal leader Birsa Munda and Maharana Pratap have also been shifted to a lawn between old Parliament building and the Parliament library. All statues are now in the same place. Reacting to the development, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X, "Statues of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Gandhi, and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar have just been removed from their places of prominence in front of the Parliament House. This is atrocious." Attacking the BJP, Congress's media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said when Maharashtra voters did not vote for BJP, the statues of Shivaji and Ambedkar were removed from their original place in Parliament. When they did not get clean sweep in Gujarat, they removed the statue of Mahatma

LS polls: Education of 105 winning candidates ranges from class 5 to 12

About 105, or 19 per cent, winning candidates declared their educational qualification to be between class 5 pass and 12, while 420, or 77 per cent, such candidates declared having a graduate degree or above, according to poll rights body ADR Seventeen winning candidates were diploma holders and one winner was "just literate," the Association of Democratic Reforms said. All 121 candidates, who declared themselves illiterate, lost the polls. There were two winning candidates who are studied up to class 5, while four said they did up to class 8. Thirty-four candidates declared they studied up to class 10, and 65 up to class 12. According to another analysis by think-tank PRS Legislative Research, agriculture and social work emerged as the most common professions among the 543 MPs. Notably, 91 per cent of MPs from Chhattisgarh, 72 per cent from Madhya Pradesh, and 65 per cent from Gujarat indicated agriculture as one of their professions. About 7 per cent of MPs elected to the 18th

Corrupt but 'kind' Gujarat officials allow victims to pay bribes via EMI

In 2023, the Gujarat Police had the highest reported instances of bribery for the fifth consecutive year since 2019