Ahmedabad, 6 May 2013

-BJP suspends those who voted against the party or remained absent during the election of President and Vice President in Umreth and Borsad Municipalities. Show cause notice served to four members absent in Navsari Municipality’s President/Vice President elections.

-The Ahmedabad division of Western Railway has resumed issuance of platform tickets to visitors with immediate effect.

-Ground breaking of Rs 58 crore underground gutter project was performed today at Dholka town in Ahmedabad district.

-Ahmedabad police’s Crime branch today arrested two persons with fake currency notes of Rs five lakh.

-A group of youths in Surat ransacked the office of Bharat Info(BIS). They alleged that the company has cheated them and other youths.

-Gujarat Congress today accused the state govt of implying price hike in various sectors after coming back to power last year. According to Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi, ST bus fares are 16.25% up, ST bus special trip fares are 30% up, Power tariff 20% up, CNG price 15% up, PNG 20% up, Irrigation rates 150% up, Jantri rates are 700-1000% up after BJP govt was re-elected to power last year.

By our correspondent, Rajkot, 5 May 2013

Speaking at large gathering of villagers from all over Saurashtra region at Bhadar dam in Rajkot district today, Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi said that tender for Rs 4,000 crore works on Bhadbhut barrage which is part of ambitious Kalpsar project will be floated soon.

He said, construction of Bhadbhut barrage in Bharuch district of central Gujarat will prevent surplus Narmada water going to the sea, and conserve it on land. A canal will be constructed to supply water stored in Bhadbhut barrage to Kalpsar. Thus surplus water of Narmada water will go to Kalpsar, and work on this project will start soon.

Modi said that 80 percent feasibility reports for Kalpsar project are over.

Modi said the project has capacity to solve the problem of water in Saurashstra for next 100 years.

Modi attacked centre for not allowing erection of gates over Narmada dam. He said the state government is ready to keep the gates open which would ensure that there’s no further submergence, but central government is not concerned about progress of Narmada project, the centre just is concerned about bhai, bhatijas.

In his speech, Shri Modi profusely congratulated Saurashtra Jaldhara Trust(NGO) that organized the programme and took on the so-called activists over their double standards. “Had this NGO been English speaking, with people who wear torn Kurtas with Jholas, who frequent 5 Star hotels and got money from overseas, it would have been praised all over India and the world. Oppose Narmada and you will shine on TV but support it and it is different,” he stated.

About Bhadbhut Barrage

-11 km long and 100 ft wide Bhadbhut barrage will be constructed near the mouth of Narmada river near Hansot. It will connect Hansot and Hazira through six lane highway.The initial cost of barrage was announced at around Rs 2500 crore by state Finance Minister last year in Gujarat assembly.

-Once constructed, the barrage will store more water than total water storage capacity of Saurashtra’s two biggest dams Shetrunji and Bhadar together.

-Bhadbhut dam will be connected to Kalpasar project through a 32 km long canal which is yet to be constructed.

Ndiad, DeshGujarat, 21 April 2013

Swami Nityanand who had slapped Swami Agnivesh after Anna Hazare’s public rally in Amdavad is no more.

Swami Nityanand was suffering from cancer and he died in Nadiad on last Thursday.

In year 2011, Nityanand had slapped Agnivesh due to Agniversh’s offending remark on Amarnath Shivlinga. He had declared Rs 51,000 reward to anyone who slap Agnivesh or beat him by shoe.

By our correspondent, Rajpipla, 9 April 2013

Vishwa Hindu Parishad has declared bandh in Rajpipla – district headquarter of Narmada on 11 April.

The bandh call has been given against kidnappings of Hindu girls by Muslim youths. According to VHP, in last two years six Hindu girls have been kidnapped by Muslim romeos, and they are converted to Islam.

The latest incident involves Hindu girl Hemlataben Maheshbhai Kanojia from Machhi market area who has been kidnapped by Nava Faliya’s Imtiaz alias Mohammad Sheikh.

A complaint in this regard has been filed in Rajpipla police station on Monday.

Last week a married Hindu woman was kidnapped from Lachhras village. Hindu family was attacked wish sharp weapons while kidnapping the girl according to VHP.

A meeting of Hindu organizations was held in this connection at Karjan guest house.

Now VHP has put a sign board in tower chowk announcing that against the kidnappings of Hindu girls by anti-social Muslim elements and religious conversion of these girls, bandh will be observed on 11th if Hindu girls are not searched and handed over to their families.

By our correspondent, Vaodara, 6 April 2013

Western Railway will introduce new 79456/79455 Chota Udepur – Vadodara DEMU train from 8th April, 2013 Ex Chota Udepur and from 9th April, 2013 Ex Vadodara.

The inaugural service will be run as Train No.79456 Ex Chota Udepur at 15.30 hrs on 8th April, 2013. It will reach Vadodara at 18.45 hrs the same day.

In its regular run, Train No. 79456 Chota Udepur – Vadodara DEMU will depart from Chota Udepur at 15.30 hrs every day from 8th April, 2013 to reach Vadodara at 18.45 hrs the same day.

In its return direction, Train No. 79455 Vadodara – Chota Udepur DEMU will depart from Vadodara at 11.45 hrs every day from 9th April, 2013 to reach Chota Udepur at 14.55 hrs the same day.

The train will halt at Pratapnagar, Kelanpur, Khundela, Bhilupur, Thuwavi, Dabhoi Jn, Vadhvana, Amalpur, Sankheda Bahadurpur, Chuchapura, Jojwa, Bodeli, Jabugam, Suskal, Pavi, Tejgadh and Puniyavat stations in both the directions.

It will consist of II class general coaches.

By our correspondent, Ahmedabad, 2 April 2013

BJP has declared the names of national council representatives for each of 26 Lok Sabha seat. The name that attracts high attention in the list is Babu Katara of Dahod.

Babu Katara was member of parliament elected from Dahod on BJP ticket and was arrested in 2007 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport while trying to take 30-year-old Paramjeet and 14-year-old Amarjeet Singh to Canada on the passport of his wife Sharda Ben and son Rakesh. The Crime Branch of the Delhi police had later recovered a dozen passports from the residence of Katara in raids conducted in Gujarat. Katara stayed in jail for a year, and got bail to vote in favour of Congress-led UPA government during no-confidence motion. He exercised his vote in favor of ruling UPA govt. The BJP expelled him for defying party whip for voting in favor of UPA government. Katara was eventually expelled from Lok Sabha for his involvement in human trafficking in 2008.

Sources in Dahod told DeshGujarat, that after Katara’s expulsion, BJP didn’t win Lok Sabha polls in Dahod for two terms. Katara slowly again became active in BJP, and presently enjoying the post of Marketing Yard Chairman of Jhalod town.

Full list of BJP national council representatives for Lok Sabha seat from Gujarat:

Kutch – Pushpadan Gadhvi
Banaskantha – Naukaben Prajapati
Patan – Magansinh Vaghela
Mehsana – Jayantibhai Barot
Sabarkantha – Ramilaben Bara
Gandhinagar – LK Advani
Ahmedabad East – Arun Jaitley
Ahmedabad West – Zaverbhai Chavda
Surendranagar – Dashrathsinh Rana
Rajkot – Mohinikunvarba Jadeja
Porbandar – Gordhanbhai Javia
Jamnagar – Chandreshbhai Patel
Junagadh – Madhabhai Boricha
Amreli – Dilip Sanghani
Bhavnagar – Mahendra Trivedi
Anand – Shirishbhai Shukla
Kheda – Sundarsinh Chauhan
Panchmahal – Minakshiben Pandya
Dahod – Babu Katara
Vadodara – Jayaben Thakkar
Chhota Udepur – Abhesinh Tadvi
Bharuch – Devendrasinh Solanki
Bardoli – Mansingbhai Patel
Surat – Pravinbhai Nayak
Navsari – Kanjibhai Patel
Valsad – Madhubhai B Raut

By our correspondent, New Delhi, 27 March 2013

The Minister of state in the Ministry of Urban Development Smt. Deepa Dasmunshi in her reply to a question regarding inclusion of more cities including Gujarat capital Gandhinagar to Union government’s JnNURM scheme said that as per guideline of UIG, the number of cities under the Mission shall remain around 60. At present there are 65 cities under UIG of JnNURM and no more cities have been added.

“Requests for inclusion under Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) have been received from States during the Mission period in respect of Amravati, Aurangabad, Ayodhaya, Belgaum, Bellary, Biharshariff, Calicut, Darjeeling, Deoghar, Dhule, Faizabad, Gandhinagar, Gaya, Gorakhpur, Gulbarga, Guntur, Gurgaon, Gwalior, Haldia, Hubli-Dharward, Jhansi, Jodhpur, Kaithal, Kalimpong & Kurseong, Karamsad, Kolhapur, Kurnool, Kurukshetra-Pehowa, Malegaon, Nalanda, Panipat, Pawapuri, Port Blair, Rajgir, Sambalpur, Siliguri, Solapur, Sultanpur-Lodhi , Vrindavan, Warangal etc,” the minister said.

“As per guidelines of UIG, the number of cities under the Mission shall remain around 60. At present there are 65 cities covered under UIG of JnNURM and no more cities have been added. However, cities that are not covered under UIG are eligible for assistance under Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small & Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) subject to conformity with the guidelines and availability of funds,” she added.

Vadodara, 23 March 2013

Thanks to the efforts of Water and Sanitation Management Organization(WASMO), some 50 houses in small tribal villages of remote Chhota Udepur in central/east Gujarat now own several ‘Water saving banks’, that provide water for home usage round the year.

Water and Senitation Management Organization(WASMO) has constructed underground water storage tanks to conserve rain water in 50 houses of Chhota Udepur taluka’s Mota Sadhli, Bhordali, Bilwant and Kakadapa villages. Each tank has capacity to store 10,000 liter water and it has been constructed at cost of Rs 27,457. While WASMO’s share is 70%, other fund is collected locally.

The design of this water storage/usage system is simple. Rain water flows to underground tanks through pipeline connection. A hand pump connected to underground water tank is used as outlet whenever water is needed. Every season, the first lot of rain water is allowed to flow outside the tank. Later clean rain water is stored in the tank. According to WASMO’s local organizer Jayanti Rathwa, people didn’t take much interest initially in this offer, but once they saw good results, now more people are seeking to have this facility.

Shroffs Foundation Trust(SFT) and WASMO are actively doing water related works in Chhota Udepur belt. SFT has developed Water distribution system in 127 villages of Vadodara district, to provide safe drinking water to 25,000 households at their door step with support of WASMO. In Chhota Udepur block, Pani Samiti members are trained through refreshers course to test the water. They were also sensitized on the need and importance of rain water harvesting.

Gandhinagar, 21 March 2013

Gujarat government will open a medical college in Sabarkantha district. Health minister Nitin Patel shared this detail in the assembly house today adding that 10-70-19 acre land has been acquired for this purpose at Hadiyol-Himmatnagar.

He said a master plan has been prepared for construction of medical college, boys, girls hostels, residential structures and hospital. Tenders for construction are approved. Rs 1,06,68,469 are spent so far. After construction is over and needed things purchased, the Medical Council of India will grant permission.

Anand to get Civil hospital

Anand will get a Civil Hospital. Health Minister Shri Nitin Patel shared this detail in the Gujarat assembly today. He said that land for this purpose has been acquired in Bakrol in Anand taluka.

Total number of 108 ambulances in Ahmedabad is 47

By the end of December last year, the district of Ahmedabad has been allotted 47 number of 108 ambulances. In last two years, 1,87,480 people have used these ambulances, Health Minister Nitin Patel told the assembly house today.

Wankaner to get 100-bef hospital

A Public Health Center and referral hospital at Wankaner will be converted from 56-bed facility to 100-bed facility, Health minister Nitin Patel told assembly today. Work is on, he added.

Mumbai, 20 March 2013

Indo-German joint venture Schott Kaisha said it was looking at additional investment of around Rs 100 crore towards expanding pharma packaging products capacity at its Jambusar unit in Gujarat where it has already invested Rs 136 crore (€ 20 million) in first module that produces about two billion ampules and vials per year.The company will finalise details of expansion and investment plans after the completion of its first module by end of this year according to Kairus Dadachanji, Managing Director, Schott Kaisha.

Schott AG and an Indian company Kaisha Manufacturers had formed a joint venture for pharmaceutical glass packaging in 2008.The Jambusar plant has 20 production lines for ampules and 16 for vials, with scope for further expansion.Schott Kaisha achieved a turnover of Rs 160 crore in FY-12 and targeted turnover of Rs 240 crore in FY-13 and Rs 300 crore in FY-14, Dadachanji said.