Page 58 - Gujarat

Gujarat govt signs 18 MoUs worth Rs 9,852 crore to boost investment

The Gujarat government on Monday signed 18 memoranda of understanding (MoU) worth Rs 9,852 crore under the state government's 'Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Schemes for Assistance to Industries', which was announced last year to boost new investment, an official release said. Through these 18 agreements, various firms have pledged to invest Rs 9,852 crore in different parts of the state, which would generate 10,851 employment opportunities. These MoUs were signed in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Monday. Companies engaged in the business of chemicals and agrochemicals production, pharmaceuticals, equipment and electric rickshaws had signed MoUs with the state government, said the release. Some of the major investments which were promised through MoUs today include a yarn and PET chips plant in Palsana taluka of Surat by Garden Silk Mills, said the release, adding that the facility will provide employment to 1,450 persons. Other major investments include a plant b

Vedanta-Foxconn selects Dholera SIR for 1st semiconductor facility in India

A joint venture of Indian conglomerate Vedanta and electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn has finalised the Dholera Special Investment Region near Ahmedabad city of Gujarat for setting up their semiconductor and display manufacturing facility, a senior state government official said on Monday. In the biggest ever corporate investment in the history of independent India, a joint venture of Vedanta and Foxconn in September last year signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government to invest Rs 1,54,000 crore to set up the plant in the state. This will be the first manufacturing facility for semiconductors in India. At that time, the joint venture company had not disclosed the exact location of the facility. "After a detailed site analysis in consultation with Gujarat government authorities, the joint venture entity of Vedanta and Foxconn has selected Dholera SIR for setting up their semiconductor and display manufacturing facility. The project is in the advanced

Godhra train burning case: Gujarat govt seeks death penalty for 11 in SC

The Gujarat government on Monday told the Supreme Court that it will press for the death penalty to 11 convicts in the 2002 Godhra train burning case, as it was a 'rarest of the rare and grave offence

Will seek death penalty for Godhra train burning convicts: Gujarat govt

The Gujarat government on Monday told the Supreme Court that it will press for death penalty to 11 convicts whose sentences in the 2002 Godhra train burning case were commuted to life imprisonment by the state's high court. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala also fixed the bail pleas of several accused in the case for hearing after three weeks. It asked counsel for both sides to file a consolidated chart giving details such as actual sentences awarded to them and the period spent in jail till now. We will be seriously pressing for award of death penalty to the convicts whose death penalties were commuted into life imprisonment (by the Gujarat High Court). This is the rarest of rare cases where 59 people, including women and children, were burnt alive, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Gujarat government, told the bench. It is consistent everywhere that the bogey was locked from outside. Fifty-nine died, ...

22 of 49 cables of collapsed Morbi bridge found corroded: SIT report

The SIT report also states that proper testing of the main cable and vertical suspenders of the bridge was not carried out before commencement of repair work

Corroded wires, welded suspenders behind Morbi bridge tragedy: SIT report

The Gujarat government-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) has found in its preliminary probe that corrosion on nearly half of the wires on a cable and welding of old suspenders with new ones were some of the major faults that led to the collapse of the suspension bridge in Morbi last year in which 135 people were killed. These findings are part of the 'Preliminary Report on Morbi Bridge Incident' submitted by the five-member SIT in December 2022. The report was recently shared with the Morbi Municipality by the state Urban Development Department. Ajanta Manufacturing Limited (Oreva Group) was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the British-era suspension bridge on the Machchu river that collapsed on October 30 last year. The SIT had found several lapses in repairs, maintenance and operation of the bridge. IAS officer Rajkumar Beniwal, IPS officer Subhash Trivedi, a secretary and a chief engineer from the state Roads and Building Department and a professor of ...

Salt pan workers of Little Rann protest eviction bid by Gujarat forest dept

Salt pan workers on Friday protested against notices issued to them by the forest department for eviction from a wildlife sanctuary in Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) in Gujarat and submitted a memorandum to the collector of Surendranagar. A part of the LRK, which is a salt marsh, falls in Surendranagar district and is protected as a wild ass sanctuary. "More than 400 Agariyas, or salt farmers, gathered outside the district collector's office at Patdi here and submitted a memorandum and raised slogans against the move by the state forest department to evict them. They also accused the forest department of damaging and confiscating their solar panels used to make salt," an official said. The salt farmers have sought that the state government protect their traditional livelihood and have alleged only small farmers were being targeted, while bigger units were left untouched, he said. The memorandum of the NGO Agariya Heet Rakshak Manch marked for state forest minister Mulu Bera claimed the

SC takes exception to Gujarat govt keeping proposals on court infra pending

The Supreme Court Thursday took exception to the Gujarat government keeping proposals for improving the infrastructure of district courts pending for years. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, which is hearing a matter relating to the improvement of judicial infrastructure across the country including filling up of vacancies, directed that the vacancies in Gujarat state district judiciary, which is around one-third of the sanctioned strength, be filled by March this year. "There is no justification for proposals to be kept pending by Gujarat for eight years. Proper coordination between the High Court and the state would have ensured proposals are cleared. We direct that at least 40 proposals be cleared at the earliest," the bench said. It added that the state law secretary and the registrar general of the high court will monitor the progress with regard to other proposals. It noted that out of the 75 pending proposals regarding ...

G20 delegates to visit 2001 quake victims memorial in Gujarat's Bhuj

A group of G20 delegates, including three from Turkiye, who are currently in Gujarat's Rann of Kutch for the influential bloc's first meeting under the tourism track, is slated to visit on Friday an iconic memorial in Bhuj built after the deadly 2001 earthquake. Their visit will take place days after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake and several powerful aftershocks hit Turkiye and Syria, killing over 17,000 people and flattening thousands of buildings. Turkiye is a member of the G20, or Group of 20, an intergovernmental forum of the world's major developed and developing economies. The death toll in Turkiye since the Monday quake has risen to more than 14,000, with over 63,000 injured, according to international media reports. Over 100 delegates, including both from India and foreign countries have taken part in the G20 event held at the pristine Rann of Kutch being hosted from February 7-9. "The first tourism working group meeting had started from February 7. On that day, one-minute ..

Guj HC reserves order on whether PM Modi's degree certificate can be shared

The Gujarat High Court on Thursday reserved its order on a petition seeking direction to the Gujarat University to share Prime Minister Narendra Modi's degree certificate

G20: Kishan Reddy, Rupala to address Tourism Working Group meet in Gujarat

Union ministers G Kishan Reddy and Parshottam Rupala and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will on Wednesday address the Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting organised in Rann of Kutch as part of India's G20 presidency, officials said. Working sessions will be held on five priority issues, namely green tourism, digitalisation, skills, tourism MSMEs and destination management, as per an official release. Union Culture and Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday addressed a side event at the start of the three-day TWG meeting and said tourism can be a positive force for economic transformation, rural development and community wellbeing, and India plans to use the key segment to achieve sustainable development goals during its G20 Presidency. This is the second G20 event in the state after the 'Business 20 Inception' programme held in Gandhinagar last month. The delegates who arrived from different countries were on Tuesday given a traditional welcome, which included performanc

Fire breaks out at firecracker godown in Gujarat's Amreli district

A fire broke out at a firecracker godown on the outskirts of Savarkundla town in Gujarat's Amreli district on Tuesday night, an official said. The blaze started around 9:00 pm and was brought under control in two hours, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Haresh Vora. While the godown and its inventory were gutted, no one was injured, he said, adding that the cause of the fire was not known. The godown, situated on Mahuva road in Savarkundla, had the necessary permission to store firecrackers, the official said.

From China in 1556 to Turkey in 2023: Most destructive earthquakes ever

The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake in China is considered to be the worst in terms of the number of lives lost, as it killed over 830,000 people

Vedanta picks David Reed as CEO of its Gujarat semiconductor business

Reed began his career at Texas Instruments in 1984, where he served for 26 years

G20 presidency: Rann of Kutch to host first Tourism Working Group meet

As part of India's G20 presidency, Gujarat will host the first Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting at Dhordo Tent City in Rann of Kutch from Tuesday, officials said. The three-day TWG meeting, which will be attended by Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy, will be the second G20 event in the state after the 'Business 20 Inception' programme held in Gandhinagar last month, an official statement said. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will attend the TWG meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, his office said. On the first day, delegates will get a chance to visit the White Rann of Kutch, followed by a cultural programme showcasing the rich heritage of the region, while an event focusing on 'Rural Tourism for Community Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation' will also be held, as per a government release. Union minister Reddy, World Tourism Organization's chief of Tourism Market Intelligence and Competitiveness Sandra Carvao, among others, will share insights at this event. A panel ...

Hillary Clinton to meet salt pan workers on 2nd day of Gujarat visit

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton will meet salt pan workers in Gujarat's Surendranagar district on Monday, the second day of her visit to the state. During the programme, she will also announce a 'Climate Resilience Fund', the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) said in a statement. Clinton will visit the shelter and salt pan of a woman farmer in Kuda desert of Surendranagar district. Some farmers will also explain to her the process of salt farming and share their experiences, it said. She will also visit a community learning centre and attend a round table with SEWA leaders on the next 50 years of the organisation, the statement said. On Sunday, Clinton attended a programme in Ahmedabad to mark 50 years of SEWA as a trade union and paid homage to its founder and renowned social activist Ela Bhatt. During the event, she said heat caused by climate change poses an additional challenge to women workers in informal sectors and a global Climate Resilience Fund will h

Tata Motors to operationalise Ford's Sanand unit in Gujarat in 12-18 months

Tata Motors is looking to commence operations at the Gujarat-based manufacturing plant it acquired from Ford, over the next 12-18 months to scale up its production capacity, according to its head of passenger vehicle business. The automaker earlier this month completed the acquisition of Ford India's manufacturing plant at Sanand through a subsidiary. In August last year, the company had announced that its arm Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd (TPEML) would acquire Ford India Pvt Ltd's (FIPL) Sanand plant, Gujarat for Rs 726 crore. Tata Motors had earlier noted that with its manufacturing capacity nearing saturation, the acquisition is timely and a win-win for all stakeholders. The Sanand plant has a manufacturing capacity of 3 lakh units per annum, which is scalable to 4.2 lakh units per annum. TPEML is in the process of making necessary investments to reconfigure the plant to adapt to the Mumbai-based automaker's existing and future vehicle platforms. The unit is adjacent to th

Railways set to introduce Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train to showcase Gujarat

The railways is set to introduce a Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train to showcase Gujarat under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat programme, according to an official statement on Sunday. The train on "Garvi Gujarat" tour will depart from Delhi's Safdarjung station on February 28. "This train tour has been designed on the lines of the 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' scheme to showcase the heritage of vibrant Gujarat," according to the statement from the Ministry of Railways. The state-of-the-art Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train with 1st AC and 2nd AC classes will be operated for the eight-day all-inclusive tour. The train will consist of four first AC coaches, two second AC Coaches, one well-equipped pantry car and two rail restaurants. It can accommodate 156 tourists. The tour will include visit to prominent pilgrimage and heritage sites of Gujarat such as the Statue of Unity, Champaner, Somnath, Dwarka, Nageshwar, Beyt Dwarka, Ahmedabad, Modhera and Patan. Tourists can board

Hillary Clinton to pay tribute to SEWA founder Ela Bhatt on 2-day Guj visit

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be on a two-day visit of Gujarat from Sunday and will participate in programmes of the Self-Empowered Women's Association (SEWA) founded by social worker and Gandhian Ela Bhatt who passed away in November last year. She will pay tribute to Bhatt in Ahmedabad and interact with SEWA members at its office in the city on Sunday, while on Monday Clinton will visit Dhrangadhra in Surendranagar district to interact with salt pan workers as part of SEWA's rural initiative, its programme coordinator Rashmi Bedi said. "Hillary Clinton will visit the SEWA reception centre in Ahmedabad between 2:45-4:00 pm and interact with its members. She will also deliver a speech at the reception centre. Before that, she will unveil a plaque near a banyan tree planted by Ela Bhatt at Victoria Garden on the 50th year celebration of SEWA foundation in 2022," Bedi said on Saturday. Clinton and Bhatt, who died on November 2 last year due to age-related ailments,

Gujarat court rejects bail pleas of 7 accused in Morbi bridge collapse case

A court here on Saturday rejected the bail applications of seven people arrested in connection with the collapse of a suspension bridge in Morbi town of Gujarat, in which 135 people were killed. The court of principal sessions judge P C Joshi refused to grant bail to the seven accused, including two managers of Oreva Group, the company which was given the contract for operation and maintenance of the bridge. The British-era bridge on Machchhu river collapsed on October 30, 2022, days after it was reopened following repairs. Jaysukh Patel, the managing director of Oreva Group, had surrendered before a court here on February 1 before his arrest. The Morbi police had last week filed a chargesheet in the case, in which 10 persons have been arrested so far, including Patel. The other nine arrested persons include two managers of the firm, two ticket-booking clerks, three security guards and two sub-contractors who were engaged for the repair works by Oreva Group. The bail pleas of the