Polk County, Florida, 28 January 2012

Four NRI Gujaratis are now facing charge after Polk County detectives busted two convenient stores owned by them for selling synthetic cannabinoid substances, also known as K-2.

The synthetic drugs, which are banned in Florida, were found at The Beverage Castle on Lake Shore Way in Lake Alfred and The Sunoco Superway #6 Store on Dundee Road in Dundee.

32-year-old Kinjal Patel and 34-year-old Viral Patel, owners of the Sunoco, and 25-year-old Kelvin Patel and 51-year-old Vishnubhai Patel, owners of the Beverage Castle, face several charges.

They include: Possession of a controlled substance, sale of a controlled substance and possession with intent to sell.

Kinjal Patel is also accused of offering the drugs to an undercover female detective in exchange for sexual acts.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the county has been checking convenience stores for the drugs following the death of a teenager weeks ago.

Ahmedabad, 22 January 2011

When you are away from Gujarat, only way to keep in touch is with families back home, media news and direct communication. You rarely get correct picture. Thanks to sustained campaign by government not to mention direct communication from CM, Kutch was on our mind as we were planning winter vacations. Still a last push was required. I have to be candid here that brand Gujarat got huge boost when they roped in Megastar Amitabh Bacchan who has unmatched impact on the psyche of Indians. We were not exception and decided to follow his footsteps at Kutch. However we were still very apprehensive. The Hype was tall as mountain, would ground reality match the substance was the question on our mind.

With quick facilitation from NRG division and even more impressive support from TGCL especially by Mr. Farooq Pathan and his team, we were all ready to embark upon the journey to rediscover New Gujarat.

We landed 5th night at Bhuj excited to participate in RanoUtsav (the desert festival). While interacting with officers there, we realized we can make a trip to Dholaveera on first day and join the group on next day. This added to our excitement as this was a long cherished dream. With family of four which included two kids of 11 and 5 years old it was a challenging task, but comfortable journey on reliable roads from Ahmedabad to Bhuj boosted our confidence. When Gujarat’s administration invites industry, they mention of robust infrastructure, it was for us to see all the way upto desert. One thing that accompanied even in the middle of nowhere place was high tension lines for eternity assuring electricity in the most remote place.

So here we were setting out for Dholavira at 8:30 in the morning from Bhuj. The route was roughly known; we had to go to Bhachau then look for Rapar, and then head towards Khadir Island. The urge to visit was so acute that we ignored all warnings of not so pleasant journey. Upto Bhacahu, we came across few large factories of Euro Ceramics, Panasonic and AMW motors and few lush green orchards. We wondered, If there are so many agro activities prevalent, why Kutch is known as desert area. Later we learned that meaning of Kutch is “Wet and Dry” in Sanskrit. We were to see some more evidence of the same as we move forward. But for a while let me take you back to the road connecting Bhachau to Rapar. This was the most difficult part of the journey. A single lane; dusty road, which led us to labyrinth of Kutch villages wadding our way out, seeking directions as we see any villager. Thanks to Toyota for making something like Innova. Had it been not for that car, the journey would have much tougher.

Suddenly we realised we forgot to buy medicine for my daughter at Bhuj and were just hoping it does not get aggravated on the way. And out of blue, we found we are passing by one large and clean dispensary. Curiosity drew us out and hoping to take break, we got down. To our surprise we found the clinic was running on charity, they did not charge us for the cough medicine and

comforted us for further journey. And I don’t think so this people had anything to do with Gujarat Tourism or Narendra Modi’s plans. This was pure and brute Kutch hospitality for us. Our driver meanwhile found some Kuch Burger (Dabeli) and as we embarked upon the journey offered us too. If I borrow Terrence’s words it was indeed Chummeshwari. Our spirits were lifted and we set out again on labyrinths. After seeking few more directions, we were suddenly on the well layered four lane highway with proper divider. And is if to revitalize us further, we were greeted by the signboard of Dholavira. I was following the map through T and counting every village. When we passed through Lundroni, the last hamlet before the great desert of Kutch begins; my heartbeats were running very fast. The time-sleep was going to be of staggering five millenniums.

The Kutch means something that intermittently becomes Wet and Dry, the amphibian nature of the terrain makes Kutch one of the most remarkable places on earth. The rain water fills the desert and as winter approach they become shallow giving a feeling of light BLUE Ocean. When they dry up, they turn Snow WHITE and as the summer approaches they become RED. Unlike other deserts of sand dunes, Kutch is full of colours depending on the season. As we left Lundroni, the map went blank and we were supposed to be in the middle of the desert. While images of Dholavira were playing in our mind, what greeted us on desert was something unbelievable. Unique and strange place appeared out of nowhere. We were on the road which was surrounded by water. Either side of the horizon, only thing we could see was blue, tranquil and calm waters. As if Ocean was split to make a way. Either side was just breathtaking scene. We were having a sort of “Deja Vu”. Not sure when have we seen this before. Until Eureka stuck my wife and she recalled the last scene of Three Idiots. Only difference was, we were not in movie hall and we had many exciting actors as you will meet them soon.

We were hardly in the car, we saw something spectacular. May be my words are not enough to explain and I would recommend everyone to see them by themselves. The horizon was merging into blue calm water blurring the line as white sky melting into light blue waters. In this backdrop, what we could see was birds, birds and birds. Even as armatures, we could count few types of Flamingos, Pelicans and Seagulls. We got down of the car, without realizing, as if some strong magnetic power was drawing us out.

Just imagine the thrill of seeing hundreds of migratory birds exploding from the shallows of Kutch wetland. One does not have to be a professional bird watcher to be amazed by the colour and magnificence of these harmonious free creatures. Fortunately, even though it was noon, we could see hoards of them. Watching them in Singapore Zoo and in reality was vastly different experience.

Gujarat CM, Narendra Modi always says “Come to Gujarat where life is celebration”. May be he did not count these innocent birds. These beautiful creatures were telling us the same thing, saying don’t crib, enjoy, serve your purpose, relax and don’t complain.

After clicking close to 100 times, trying to drink the atmosphere as much as we can, we hurried into our car. Biding adieu to those creature, we were almost speechless on further journey as Javed Akthar’s Poem of ZNMD (Pighle neelam sa behta ye sama, Neeli neeli si khamoshiyan, na kahin hai zameen na kahin aasmaan,) played in our subliminal mind. This experience in on word was “mesmerizing”.

As an average school student from Ahmedabad, class studies never interested me. However reading about history and especially Indology was my favourite hobby. I used to lap every opportunity to visit places like Lothal not to say Indology museums anywhere. As a self-declared amateur Indologist and an avid follower of Indian archaeology, for me this trip was like highest pilgrimage.

For the starters, the significance of Indus Civilization was its sheer spread not limited to one or two rivers. The excavated evidence range from areas as far as cities in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, in India the traces are found in UP all the way upto Maharashtra with heavy concentration being on the ancient river of Saraswati basin passing through, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and finally to Gujarat. The total area of 800,000 Sq KM was much larger than the Mesopotamia and Egypt put together. Even though they did not build Great Walls, Pyramids, Ziggurats (or maybe we haven’t found them yet), they concentrated in building one of the most urban areas for their citizens. The uniformity in building, measures, architecture, over such a vast area simply amazes. Their town planning and engineering was quite remarkable. While their obsession with water and hygiene for their citizen dazzles us, they also left many puzzles, as the language is still un-deciphered. The discovery of Dholavira was significant as you will read further. All the above thoughts were running through mind when we were rushing to see the site. Next day at Dhordo I came across amazing book written on Dholaveera by Mr. Varun Maira, Gujarat cadre IAS officer. While visiting Dholavira was one of the life time experience; reading that book made it eternal.

Coming back to journey, we hurriedly crossed the desert and went straight to Toran had humble lunch and headed straight to ASI Museum of Dholavira. And it was beginning of the astounding experience. Truth is stranger than fiction. How in the world’s most remote place you could have something so magnificent with far reaching impact on human evolution story.

Khadir Island is spread across 35 X 40 KM and is surrounded by desert. The excavated area of Dholavira is around 250 Acres on the western border of island. If you consider the largest and well excavated Indus city in Indian site Lothal is only spread accross 20 acres, the size here is stuns. As you wad through your way in these remains and open your mind’s eye may be you can feel the bustling markets, voice of water flow, and many more vibrant activities these natives were involved in. Dholavira in one word was extremely “captivating”.

Even if you are not so keen follower or obsessed like me, I would still recommend visiting this place for two reasons on why Dholavira is one of the most remarkable places on the map of Human ancient history.

While Reading fantastic book JAYA (Retelling of Mahabharata) by Dr. Devdutta Pattanik, I came across one very interesting perspective of Indian Philosophy. When Mahabharat War ends, Krishna advises Yudhistir to seek wisdom from Bhishma who is on the deathbed of Arrows. The idea behind

this gesture is that “Humans have limited life but knowledge is eternal and it outlives death”. He also sites similar example when Ram and Laxman visits deafted Ravan to seek his knowledge as antagonist was considered highly learned of all shastras. Ravan willingly parts his knowledge before leaving this world.

I recited above anecdotes as the tangible and intangible heritage of Dholavira in a way leaves behind ample knowledge and hints for us.

In this sense, people of Dholavira it seems were one of the foremost advanced civilizations with respect to water management. Their know-how on water management and hydraulic engineering developed to manage and redirect the water flow in and around the site, was simply superior. The challenge must have been daunting as the Manhar and Manhas (the rivers flowing around this place), were only seasonal and no match to Tigris, Euphretis or mighty Nile. Not only you can see the way hydrology concepts were followed to store, filter, and keep water cool, but the whole town planning was done as if to secure maximum water. The last bond movie, Quantum of Solace was focused on terrorist organization tries to take world ransom by taking control of water resources. May be in the foreseeable future, Water could be the most precious natural resource. I guess the people of Dholaveera did have trick or two and were much advanced then we are now in conserving, harnessing this resource.

The most curious trait of Indus-Saraswati civilization (also known as Harappa or Meluha civilization) is non-deciphered language. While ample is known about their contemporise from Mesopotamia and Egypt due to their deciphered language, very few intangible aspects are known about this civilization. So far many seals were found with some script inscription on them. But the size of seal was extremely small making the script symbols very small leaving many questions on the existing of language in this civilization. Some people argued that the script used was never a language as there are many languages in the region which are only verbal like kutchi, sindhi etc and do not have script.

Archaeology world and especially the Indian Ancient history specialists were in pleasant surprise when world’s largest and oldest signboard was unearthed from the Northern Gate of Citadel. A three meters large board with 10 large inscriptions of letters with the size of 35 x 25 CM was huge ever for Indus. The letters were made of white Gypsum and it was a signboard which people could see from far. One thing became absolutely evident that if the large signboard was erected here, it was for people to see and read it from far hence the argument that scripted language did not exist died its natural death. To visit the place where sign board was a

We thanked our guide and host Ravjibhai (Native of Dholavira and whose fate is linked with excavation here) without his guidance we would not have understood this place. Only sorry feeling we had was when we learned that the world’s most exciting excavated discovery is still buried at the place of excavation without proper protection and is not moved to safer place. In another country they would consider this as treasure of highest value, may be ASI has their hands tied down. For amateur like me, I thought it would be better to give it to state authorities, may be they will take care of this infrastructure better. Another sad part was that excavation is stopped since 2005. Wish they dig further to unearth more to enlighten humankind.

We were feeling quite enriched at firsthand experience of awesome hydraulic engineering technologies and design, some of them simply looked futuristic. We surely had time sleep but were unable to make out whether it was to the past of future.

As we embarked on our journey further to Dhordo, I was awestruck by this place called Kutch. It has been there and will be there. But if not for initiative of current CM and his administration, would I have ever bothered to spend time here? How much thankful we were. read next article.

Writer is a current affair analyst who studies Gujarat affairs in international perspective. Next part will continue with our experience at Dhordo

Ahmedabad, 21 January 2012

Ahmedbad’s Sawan Rajnikant Trivedi and Guramrit Pal are among four arrested in human trafficking racket by Delhi police.

This has exposed a big racket of taking the youths of Gujarat illegally to America via Guatemala.

The serious aspect of this expose is that according to Delhi police a number of youths from Gujarat have lost their lives in Guatemala and other places in a bid to illegally sneak into the US.

The racket was unearthed after Delhi police seized 105 passports from a bag at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on January 2 this year.

A number of youths from Gujarat have lost their lives in Guatemala and other places in a bid to illegally sneak into the US, according to Delhi Police, which has been on trail of human traffickers following the seizure of 105 passports from a bag of Ahmedabad’s Ranip based Sawan Rajnikant Trivedi at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on January 2 this year. Of the 105 passports seized, 84 were issued from Regional Passport Office in Ahmedabad while one was issued from Surat. Trivedi was arrested, and after investigation exposed a major human trafficking racket.

Trivedi, who was kidnapped for ransom in 2006 in London, had allegedly sneaked in the baggage from Guatemala to Delhi via Istanbul. An MBA from Thames Velly University, London, he made a fortune despite coming from a lower middle class family. His father is a driver.

Reddy from Hyderabad financed the agents from Gujarat. “Reddy has visited Guatemala and other areas and studied how human trafficking takes place there. He knows five agents in Gujarat, while he was in touch with at least four other agents in Mumbai and even Andhra Pradesh. The accused Gurmeet Pal alias Pali is a farmer’s son and an international Kabbadi player. He was posted at Guatemala for two years and hobnobbed with the local groups to helps his “clients” cross the border,” said DCP (IGI airport) R A Sanjeev.

Trivedi used to charge around `6-12 lakh for facilitating entry into Guatemala and `25-30 lakh for the U.S. The youngsters, mostly from Punjab and Gujarat – between the age group of 18-30 years – were available in hordes to strike deals with the agents.

The police are yet to arrest the 11 others involved from different parts of the country and have issued non-bailable warrants against them. The gang also facilitated entry into Nicaragua, Brazil and other countries, it is claimed.

The young illegal immigrants travelled to New Delhi from their home states and then boarded flights to Guatemala via Istanbul on valid passports and the agents used to get their entry to the country through visa on arrival.

In Guatemala, the Indian agents handed over the passengers to Spanish and Mexican groups who then helped them cross over to the U.S.

However, the agents retained the passports of all their customers and came back to India to extort pending payments from the families. After receiving the payments, they handed over the passports to family members who sent them back to their relative in the U.S.

Once inside the U.S., the illegal immigrants would fan out across the country, often relying on relatives and acquaintances already there to arrange jobs and housing.

‘The agents used to bear the expenses of advocates or attorneys if there was any risk in the U.S.,’deputy commissioner of police R.A. Sanjeev said.

The police managed to identify all the accused after they scanned the 105 passports and found that one of the passport holders, Praveen Bhai Mohandas Patel, had come back to India from Guatemala on a scanned passport in 2011.

He was arrested in 2011 and his statement revealed the gang of agents active in Gujarat, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Punjab. Trivedi’s name also surfaced in the statement and that’s how the police managed to trace the rest of the accused.

According to police, most of the passengers sneaked into the US like this in 2010-11 and the fate of many is unknown to even their parents.

Also read: He dropped 29 U.S. crazy Gujaratis in Guatemala, and returned

Kenya, 19 January 2012

Under the leadership of Shri Swaminarayan Gaadi Aacharya Shri Purushottampriyadasji Swami Maharaj, Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Nairobi donated cheques worth Rs 21 lakh Kenyan shilling. This includes 5.50 lakh Kenyan shilling for the Kenya Society for the deaf children, 5.50 lakh shilling for Therapies for kids among others.

Vice President of Kenya attended the function of cheque distribution and said he was happy to see that handicap children were welcomed by Swamiji and getting his blessings.

The event was organized with help from Sanghani group, D Manji group, PM Khoda among others.

New Delhi, 18 January, 2012

The revised Scheme to provide legal /financial assistance to such Indian women through the Indian Missions/Posts overseas has come into effect from in November, 2011. The details of the scheme are available on MOIA’s website “http://moia.gov.in/”. This was launched in February, 2007 to assist the deserted or divorced overseas Indian women. A recent review of the Scheme undertaken by MOIA and the scope and eligibility criteria of the scheme have been expanded. The salient features of the revised Scheme are the following:-

• The scheme would be available to Indian women who have been deserted by their overseas Indian / foreign husbands or are facing divorce proceedings in a foreign country, subject to the following conditions:-

• The marriage of the woman has been solemnized in India or overseas with an overseas Indian or a foreigner

• The woman is deserted in India or overseas within fifteen years of the marriage; or • Divorce proceedings are initiated within fifteen years of the marriage by her overseas Indian / foreign husband; or

• An ex-parte divorce has been obtained by the overseas Indian / foreign husband within twenty years of marriage and a case for maintenance and alimony is to be filed by her.

• The scheme would not be available to a woman having a criminal case decided against her, provided that a criminal charge of Parental Child Abduction shall not be a bar if the custody of the child has not yet been adjudicated upon. The domicile of the woman seeking relief under the Scheme is not relevant for allowing the benefit. The woman may be domiciled in the country of her overseas Indian / foreigner husband or in India at the time of making the application.

• Assistance will be provided to meet the initial legal and other costs, by the Heads of Indian Missions/Posts overseas directly to the applicant’s legal counsel empaneled with the concerned Indian Mission/Post, or through the Indian Community Associations / Women’s organizations / NGOs* acting on the woman’s behalf in an overseas legal institution.

• The assistance will be limited to US$ 3000 per case in developed countries and US$ 2000 per case in developing countries and will be released to the empaneled legal counsel of the applicant or Indian Community Association / Women’s organization / NGO concerned to enable it to take steps to assist the woman in documentation and preparatory work for filing the case.

Mumbai, 13 January 2012

U.S. Consulate General Mumbai today announced that the American Corner in Ahmedabad now has Gujarati titles in its book collection.

The collection features more than 20 Gujarati translations of American books and offers readers insights into American culture and values. Prominent among the collection are Gujarati versions of poems India, India (Natwar Gandhi) and Videshini (Panna Naik).

U.S. Consulate General’s Public Affairs Officer Anne E. Grimes said “the beginning of a new year is generally marked with new commitments. This initiative reflects our commitment to the growing bilateral, cultural and people-to-people ties between the United States and India. I hope our Gujarati-speaking audiences in Gujarat will enjoy this collection at the American Corner.”

It is worth noting here that Gujarati was the only Indian regional language (Hindi and Urdu are national languages) to feature in the 2010 U.S. census report.

Inaugurated in 2004, the American Corner is a partnership between the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai and the Ahmedabad Management Association. It offers a window to the U.S. for the residents of Ahmedabad by providing accurate and up-to-date information on the United States.

Mukund Patel, Coordinator of American Corner Ahmedabad can be reached at 079-26300452.

Jamestown, Virginia, America, 11 January 2012

Jamestown based NRI Gujarati Ilesh Patel had it again.

For the second time since purchasing Portsmouth Wine and Spirits, the liquor store has been damaged. This time, a vehicle crashed into the front of the store.

“The cops told me it was due to black ice,” Patel said. “It’s big damage.”

Smashed, glass wine bottles, cardboard boxes and shattered wood could be seen covering the interior of the West Main Road liquor store Tuesday morning. A hole could also be seen in the right section of the store near the front door.

Patel closed the store Tuesday morning until a cleanup crew could finish work. He said he expected to reopen later in the day.

This is the second time the store has been damaged since Patel purchased the former Gleeson’s Package Store in July.

During Hurricane Irene, Patel says someone vandalized the back door. An alarm system scared the intruder away, he said.

Oxford, Mississippi, America, 11 January 2012

Dr. Mukund Patel , an Oxford based NRI Gujarati is arrested and charged with practicing medicine without a license.

Dr. Mukund Patel had once been a full-fledged physician with all the rights and privileges that come with it.

But after reports Patel was using prescription pain killers without a proper prescription, the Mississippi Medical Board eventually revoked his license.

The board reportedly battled with Patel for years about getting treatment for his problem and following the board’s orders.

The group last year reinstated his license but with heavy restrictions, which investigators say he violated.

”We received a complaint from the community who called in and actually received complaints in the past about him and followed up with investigation and uncovered eight counts at this time.” said Keith Davis, Agent in Charge of Lafayette Metro Narcotics.

Investigators say that doesn’t necessarily mean he treated eight patients, but they uncovered eight instances where he prescribed medicines he shouldn’t have.

He reportedly worked out of this apartment just outside Oxford on a rural County Road.

Lafayette Metro Narcotics officers say the charges against Patel are serious, because of the potential dangers. ”In my personal opinion anytime you have someone writing prescriptions to someone without actually being cared for by a licensed physician, it’s extremely dangerous you have possible overdose or allergic reaction because of it.”

Dr. Mook Patel’s next stop will be before a Lafayette Justice Court Judge. Investigators say that Judge will decide what’s next for this doctor accused of practicing medicine without a license.

Sacramento, California, America, 11 January 2012

NRI Gujarati Nitin Patel’s store witnessed a strange incident early on Tuesday morning. Patel had just bought the Maaco on the corner of Arden and Blumenfeld. He took possession of the business on Monday morning where on Tuesday morning a copper wire crook was nearly shocked to death while trying to steal wires from an auto body repair shop on Arden Way.

As Patel pulled into the business, he didn’t realize the guy walking through the parking lot with cables flung over shoulder had just stolen 17 copper wires. Patel’s landlord fixed the problem and business was up and running late in the afternoon.

Late Monday night, though, a copper crook went after Patel’s wiring again.

“The thieves decided to rob not only the cables, but also the circuit breaker. It’s done extensive damage to the panel. It’s going to take six to seven days to fix and until then we’ll be operating on a temporary generator,” Patel said.

After cutting through the chain link fence and chopping a lock, the crook this time tried to pull out the whole circuit breaker, but forgot to flip one vital switch. The resulting electrical current gave the suspect one heck of a shock.

The suspect took himself to the hospital and that’s when Sacramento police stepped in.

“A general household current feed would be about 100 amps and the minimum lethal dose of electricity is one-one-thousandth of an amp,” engineer Robert Canfield says, “In a commercial setting you could have as much as 7200 volts, three to five hundred amps, even 1000 amps depending on what kind of facility it was.”

The suspect is still in a Sacramento hospital. Detectives aren’t releasing his name or the extent of his injuries, though; sources say they are quite severe. Once released from the hospital, the suspect will likely face felony vandalism charges.

Troup County, Georgia, America, 11 January 2012

Omprakash Patel, a 61-year-old Gujarati NRI store clerk wounded in an armed robbery before Christmas in America’s Troup County died Sunday at a Columbus hospital.

“He was speaking before surgery, but he took a turn for the worse after surgery,” said Anil Patel, owner of Ribitz store for the last three years.

Troup County Crime Stoppers has increased from $1,000 to $2,500 the reward for anyone who provides information leading to an arrest in the case. Troup County sheriff’s officials are still searching for two masked men who barged into the Ribitz Bait & Tackle after 7 p.m. Dec. 22 and shot Omprakash Patel in the abdomen. Store owners said the men made off with about $1,500.

Surveillance footage from the store has been of little help, and investigators have not been able to identify the suspects. Mann said the suspects are both black men of slender build and medium height. They were wearing dark clothing during the robbery.

“It all happened in under 30 seconds,” Mann said.

Patel’s nephew, Anil Patel, said the family also will be offering reward money for information in the case. The store owners have been busy finalizing funeral arrangements and have not yet determined the amount, he said.

The shop is located on West Point Road near Lower Glass Bridge Road, in the Long Cane area between LaGrange and West Point.

“It happened in a very good, quiet neighborhood. We never thought it would happen,” Anil Patel said. “It’s sad that he hit us even after getting the money.”

Anil Patel said the store owners have installed new surveillance cameras since the armed robbery and intend to add more. He said the family is trying to arrange a prayer service for this weekend.

“The community is so upset about this,” Anil Patel said, “and they want to gather and pray for him.”

Jaipur, 9 January 2012

There is no doubt that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi outshined others in Pravasi Bharatiya Sammelan at Jaipur today afternoon.

The joint session was participated by the Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala and Jharkhand. After completion of speeches of three Chief Ministers, when Gujarat Chief Minister stood up to talk, the delegates from 60 countries welcomed him with amazing energy. Modi continued to receive applause throughout his speech. When he completed his speech, there was a spontaneous standing ovation.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Kerala CM Oman Chandi, Jharkhand CM Arjun Munda witnessed this.

Moderator of the session was Vyalar Ravi who avoided most of the question asked to him, saying that ‘don’t give suggestion, ask question’, or ‘you raise this question in separate state-wise session’ etc.

Even in question-answer round, highest questions were asked to Shri Narendra Modi.

And Gehlot left the place

During his speech, while speaking on solar power, Chief Minister Modi said in a lighter tone that as he is the guest of Shri Ashok Gehlot, how he can speak good or bad? In reaction to this, Gehlot, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan stood up and told Modi, “you can speak good and bad both kinds of things, I am going.” Gehlot and Modi shook hands exchanged smiles and Gehlot then left the place and went to receive President Pratibha Patil. It should be mentioned that earlier in his speech Gehlot had told NRI delegates that it is good that the Chief Ministers of Congress and BJP governed states are sitting together here on the issue of development of the nation.

In his speech, Modi said that Gujarat produces so much milk, that there’s perhaps no leader in Delhi who has grown up without drinking Gujarat’s milk.

Modi proposed to host Pravasi Bharatiya Sammelan in Gujarat in year 2015 when Mahatma Gandhi’s India arrival would complete 100 years. Mahatma Gandhi had returned to India from South Africa on 9 January, 2015.

As Modi sought Vyalar Ravi’s consent for selecting Gujarat as a host state, Ravi remained silent. Modi then said, “You had awarded Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to Jaipur last year in New York in a minute, but why not now?” But Ravi remained quiet. A few minutes earlier Rajasthan CM Gehlot had heaped lavish praises on Ravi recalling how the latter asked him to host Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in a get-to-gather of people of Rajasthan origin in New York last year.

Ravi vented his anger at the NRIs who were keen on showering to te Gujarat Chief Minister. Ravi snapped at one of the NRIs not allowing him to speak further when the latter commented about Rajasthan needing a clone of Modi as CM.

Rajasthan Patrika coverage(Page 1)
Rajasthan Patrika coverage (Page 2)
Dainik Bhaskar Jaipur front page top story
Dainik Bhaskar Jaipur page 2

Glimpses of Modi’s main speech

Another speech delivered in state-wise session in Jaipur