Page 61 - Gujarat

Sudden surge in demand for Covid-19 vaccine leads to shortage in Gujarat

Due to sudden surge in demand for vaccines, some health centres ran short of it. The supply of vaccines is said to increase soon

Eight-year-old girl dies in Gujarat's Dahod after iron gate fell on her

An eight-year-old girl died after an iron gate fell on her at a government school in Gujarat's Dahod district, an official said on Monday. While the incident took place at a primary school in Rampura village on December 20, the victim died of head injuries at a hospital in Ahmedabad on Friday, the official said. A heavy iron gate on the school compound came off the hinges and fell on the victim Ashmita Mohaniya when she was playing near it, district primary education officer Mayur Parekh said. The girl sustained serious head injuries and was taken to a private hospital in Dahod city for primary treatment, and was later shifted to Ahmedabad civil hospital, where she died during treatment on Friday, he said. Following the incident, the school's principal was suspended with immediate effect, Parekh said. A case of accidental death was registered at Dahod rural police station and further probe was launched, a police official said.

Two African nationals held for duping Gujarat woman of Rs 34 lakh

Two African nationals were arrested for allegedly duping an elderly woman from Gujarat's Ahmedabad of Rs 34 lakh by befriending her online using fake identities and asking her to pay money to get gifts and foreign currency released from Customs, police said on Monday. Nigerian national Gift Olabisi Okafor (29) and her accomplice, Aka Gerard (32) from Ivory Coast, were apprehended in New Delhi on Sunday and brought here on Monday, an official from Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch said. Some other gang members involved in the crime are yet to be arrested, he said. According to an official release, a 63-year-old woman approached the Cyber Crime Branch on December 23 alleging that some unidentified persons had duped her of Rs 33.92 lakh. As per the FIR, a person with the Facebook ID 'Andres Martinez' had befriended the elderly woman online in September claiming that he was a rich businessman from Scotland and would like to marry her. When she refused, the person won her trust with frequen

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BJP's historic win, Morbi bridge, Bilkis case dominate Gujarat's 2022

The BJP's record 156-seat victory in the Gujarat Assembly polls, the collapse of a suspension bridge in Morbi killing 135 people, and the premature release of 11 convicts undergoing life term in the Bilkis Bano case on remission dominated the year 2022. The BJP's victory- the seventh consecutive term- mainly on the plank of development under a "double engine government", can potentially propel it ahead of opponents when the narratives for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls begin to set in. It was a rout for Congress which won only 17 seats while the new entrant Aam Aadmi Party bagged five seats. However, in at least 35 seats, the combined votes polled by candidates of the Congress and the AAP exceeded the votes polled by BJP nominees. Gujarat was rocked on October 30 when the British-era cable suspension bridge with a crowd of revellers enjoying the Diwali vacation collapsed into the Machchu river, killing 135 people and injuring several others. In July, hooch claimed 50 lives in Botad dist

Gujarat victory will have 'positive impact' on 2024 Lok Sabha polls: Shah

Citing the historic win of the BJP in 2022, Shah said that the results were a testimony of Gujarat being a "stronghold" of the party

After massive mandate, Gujarat's BJP-led govt eyes $1 tn economy by 2030

According to the state budget its Gross State Domestic Product is estimated to be Rs 22,03,062 crore by the end of the current financial year

Wheat acreage up 3.18% at 31.2 million ha so far; crop prospects bright

Area sown to wheat has increased by 3.18 per cent to 312.26 lakh hectares (ha) so far in the ongoing rabi (winter) season with higher acreage reported from Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, according to the agriculture ministry's data released on Friday. Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja on Thursday had said the crop prospects were bright as the current weather conditions are conducive for plant growth and better yields. Sowing of wheat, the main rabi (winter) crop, begins in October while harvesting in April. Mustard seed and gram are other major crops sown in the rabi season of the 2022-23 crop year (July-June). As per the ministry's data, wheat has been sown in 312.26 lakh ha as of December 23 of the ongoing rabi season, as against 302.61 lakh ha in the year-ago period. "Thus 9.65 lakh hectare more area has been covered compared to last year," the ministry said. Higher area is reported from Rajasthan (1.99 lakh ha), followed by Gujarat (1.74 lakh ha), Uttar Pradesh (1.57 la

ISRO's satellite images show how drug trafficker's bungalow came up in Guj

Thanks to satellite images provided by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been able to establish how an alleged drug trafficker built a palatial bungalow in a Gujarat village by using his ill-gotten wealth. Isa Rao, who is absconding, is one of the main accused in the seizure of heroin worth Rs 600 crore by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) in Morbi district of the state in November 2021. The probe was later handed over to the NCB. Satellite images provided by ISRO's Advanced Data Processing Research Institute (ADRIN) showed how he developed his property at Jodia village in Devbhumi-Dwarka district over three years and constructed a bungalow worth more than Rs 50 lakh, said a senior NCB official on Wednesday. The images showed the stages of construction from 2019, he said. "Investigation revealed that the property was developed using the money Rao made from the drug trade. As his family was not cooperating with the ...

MGNREGA fraud worth Rs 3 cr unearthed in Gujarat's Amreli; 4 booked

The accused have been booked for cheating, criminal breach, forgery and hatching conspiracy with common intent

Gujarat's Barda Wildlife Sanctuary new translocation site for Asiatic lions

Gujarat's Barda Wildlife Sanctuary, located near the coastal city of Porbandar and 100 kilometres from the Gir National Park, has been identified as a potential second home for Asiatic lions, according to the government. Efforts were being made since the 1990s to find a relocation site for the Asiatic lions within Gujarat and outside the state, considering that the species is vulnerable to extinction threats from epidemics because of low genetic diversity. In 2013, the Supreme Court ordered the government to translocate Asiatic lions from Gujarat to the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh within six months. It had also rejected a proposal to introduce the African cheetah in Kuno. After the apex court allowed the introduction of African cheetah in India on an experimental basis in January 2020, eight cheetahs from Namibia have been reintroduced in Kuno, but the translocation of lions is still pending. Union Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey told the Lok Sabha

Minor quakes in Gujarat village create panic, experts say nothing to worry

Villagers of Mityala experienced minor tremors four times in less than 24 hours on Monday

IDBI Trusteeship Services Ltd commences operation from GIFT City in Gujarat

IDBI Trusteeship Services Ltd (ITSL) on Tuesday said it has commenced operations at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). In a statement, Padma Betai, MD and CEO of IDBI Trusteeship Services Ltd, said operating business from GIFT City tends to be cost-efficient as against high costs attached to maintaining overseas offices and will be a game changer in terms of revenues for the trusteeship business. Going forward, the entity will also offer facility agent services to IFSC banking units for their External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) transactions, trusteeship services to Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) and Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), and escrow agency services for cross border Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) transactions. "We are witnessing significant interest from distinctive business verticals to set up their operations in GIFT City and creating benchmarks in providing a conducive business ecosystem to financial institutions at par with global ...

Shankar Chaudhary elected unopposed as Speaker of Gujarat Assembly

Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Shankar Chaudhary was on Tuesday elected unopposed as the Speaker of the newly-formed Gujarat Legislative Assembly. Besides, senior BJP MLA Jetha Bharwad was elected unopposed as the Deputy Speaker during the first session of the 15th state Assembly in Gandhinagar. The opposition Congress as well as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supported the nominations of ruling party legislators Chaudhary and Bharwad. While Chaudhary's name was proposed by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Bharwad's name was proposed by state Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai. Chaudhary, who represents the Tharad seat in Banaskantha district, had served as a minister in the Gujarat governments led by Anandiben Patel and Vijay Rupani between 2014 and 2017. He had lost the 2017 Assembly election from Vav seat. Bharwad, a six-time MLA from Shehra Assembly seat of Panchmahal district, had served as the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly for a year between 2021 and 2022 in the 14th ...

55 villages in Nashik district of Maharashtra wish to be merged with Guj

Fifty-five villages under Surgana taluka wish to be merged with Gujarat to 'taste development'

2-day session of Gujarat Assembly to begin; newly-elected MLAs to take oath

The newly-elected MLAs of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly will take oath on the first day of the two-day session of the House on Monday, an official has said. Elections for the post of Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be held on Tuesday. Protem speaker and senior-most Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Yogesh Patel will administer the oath to the 182 MLAs in the first session of the 15th Legislative Assembly in the state capital Gandhinagar on Monday, Gujarat Assembly secretary D M Patel told PTI on Sunday. On the second day of the two-day session on Tuesday, the new members will meet to elect the Speaker, he said. As per an official notification issued by the Assembly Secretariat, elections for the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be held in the first half on Tuesday and other businesses will be taken up in the second half. The BJP, which won the seventh consecutive term in the state with a record mandate in recent elections, has declared Shankar Chaudhary and Jethabhai Bha

91 suspected measles cases detected in parts of Gujarat's Mehsana

A total of 91 suspected cases of measles were detected in parts of Mehsana district in Gujarat during a surveillance carried out in the last one month, a health department official said on Sunday. Samples of the suspected cases from Molipur village in Vadnagar taluka and part of Kadi town in the district have been sent to a laboratory in Ahmedabad for further testing and a report of the same is awaited, Epidemic Medical Officer of Mehsana district Vinod Patel said. Attributing resistance to vaccination in the region as a reason behind the likely upsurge in suspected measles cases in the region, Patel said that treatment and preventive measures were being taken. "Between November and December, 91 suspected cases of measles were found in Molipur and Kadi. We have carried out a vaccination exercise and distributed vitamin A tablets as treatment and preventive measures," Patel told PTI. He said that additional surveillance was carried out after some suspected cases emerged during the .

Gujarat BJP's Mehsana Corporator booked for giving 'triple talaq' to wife

The coporator has been booked under various sections of The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights in Marriage) Act 2019, Dowry Prohibition Act and other sections of Indian Penal Code

ACME Group forays into wind power sector with 50 MW project in Gujarat

ACME Group on Friday announced its foray into the wind power sector with a 50 MW project in Gujarat. The group has forayed into the wind power business and signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL), a company statement said. At present, ACME operates solar power plants in 12 states and supplies electricity to 13 state discoms. "ACME Group wins its first 50 MW grid-connected wind power project. This is a significant milestone as the company gears up to provide solar-wind Hybrid and RE RTC power. This is in line with ACME Group's vision to become a prominent RE RTC player," ACME Group Chief Operating Officer Sandeep Kashyap said. The company was awarded the project through a tariff-based competitive bidding process for electricity procurement from grid-connected wind power projects. The project should be commissioned within 24 months from the signing of the PPA. The electricity from this project will help to light up nearly 6 million home

Morbi councillors oppose Gujarat govt's move to supersede civic body

Morbi councillors have written to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel against the Gujarat government's move