Ahmedabad, 4 February, 2012

According to sources in Gandhinagar, the district Collector of Jamnagar has proposed the state government that Jamnagar district’s coastal Rukshmani mandir, Beyt Dwarka mandir and Nageshwar Jyotirlinga mandir should cease to be under the control of various local trusts and should be managed by a new committee headed by the district Collector.

The temples, district collector has proposed to manage and control are Patrani mandir and Dwarkadhish mandir of Beyt Dwarka which is located 2 km from Dwarka, the Nageshwar Jyotirlinga mandir which is situated at a location 15 km away from Dwarka, and Rukshmani mandir which is situated at 2 km distance from the main Dwarkiadheesh mandir.

According to district collector’s proposal submitted to Gandhinagar, individual trusts are not able to provide proper security cover to these important religious places. Even for proper maintenance and management, it is very necessary that a unified body under the leadership of district collector is created to take control of the temples that are now managed by different local trusts.

Ahmedabad, 4 February 2012

If you are planning to visit Saurashtra, you may like to add one more place in your itinerary. That is Chorwad, just 40 km away from Somnath, on way to Madhavpur, Porbandar or Dwarka in north.

A simple, yet very well designed memorial dedicated to India’s entrepreneurship icon and Reliance Group founder late Shri Dhirubhai Ambani was on Friday declared open for common visitors.

A person who conceived the memorial project, and personally took interest in its completion smt Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani unveiled the memorial in presence of her daughters and RIL Group President and Rajya Sabha MP Shri Parimal Nathwani.

The memorial has a museum displaying life and works of late Shri Dhirubhai Ambani, who grew up in Chorwad. The museum has an auditorium that will screen a documentary film on Dhirubhai. The memorial features a pictorial gallery in two sections;One for family pictures, and the other for Shri Dhirubhai’s life time activities and achievements.

On this occasion, smt Kokilaben said, “We are in process to develop this memorial as tourist destination in Gujarat. As Dhirubhai has been an idol for so many young Indians, this memorial will encourage those people to pursue their dreams. We will represent the state tourism department to promote Dhirubhai Memorial as tourist destination in Gujarat.”

Shri Parimal Nathwani, group president corporate affairs, RIL said, “We will send information and details about memorial to tour managers.”

He added that the memorial has a range of merchandise souvenir products like key chains, pens, t-shirts, shoulder bags and caps among others with mark of Shri Dhirubhai Ambani.

Entry fee of Rs 2 has been fixed for each visitor.

Ahmedabad, 3 February 2012

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation today passed its Rs 4181 crore annual budget of year 2012-13.

As per the budget figures, Rs 382 crore will be spent on zonal capital works, Rs 82.50 crore on road project, Rs 64.15 cr on bridge project, Rs 95.50 cr on water project, Rs 88.88 cr on drainage project, Rs 82.36 cr on housing, Rs 54.85 on public places, Rs 31.25 cr on street light, Rs 86.20 cr on medical, fire, solid waste equipments and Rs 11.15 cr on e-governance. Rs 226 crore will be spent on Sabarmati river front development project, Rs 162 will be spent on loan to AMTS, Rs 36.60 cr will be spent for economically backward people.Rs 178.40 cr will be spent on BRTS Janmarg, Rs 80 cr on BRTS buses, Rs 90 cr on EWS housing, Rs 80 cr on drainage projects(JnNURM), Rs 150 cr on Brts Janmarg phase-3(JnNURM). Rs 500 crore works under grant provisions are also part of the budget.

-Hydro power energy(Rs 2.5 cr) project for energy generation from waste at Pirana and Rasa,Suez and Raska water treatment plants on experimental basis.

-Panjarapols(cow shelters) made free from all taxes, also relief to Old age homes from property tax payment.

-Balanced planning of wards(larger wards to get extra push)

-Facilities in housing board and slum clearance board townships with Rs 10 crore extra push.

-Decorative street light and revamped roads on both sides of the existing Kharicut canal.

-Rs 1.25 cr allotted for Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations.

-Foot over bridge(BOT) at Kalupur railway station, Gitamandir etc crowdy places in exchange of advertising rights.

-Rs 25 cr allotment for fly over bridge and railway over bridges. Fly over connecting Judges bungalow-Sindhu bhavan over SG Highway, two level flyover bridge at Helmet circle, railway over bridge on Naroda national highway no 8 crossing.

-Rs 5 crore for roads facility in new areas.

-Rs 5 crore for development of small tanks in new west and new east areas.

-Tree plantation on 76 km belt of Sardar Patel ring road.

-Eye car medical van for eye-camps in slum areas.

-Both TP road on both sides of meter gauge line parallel to Ashram road will be resurfaced and developed with street light facility.

-Community halls at Shahpur, Asarwa, Bapunagar, Gomtipur and Navrangpura will be developed.

-Ahmedabad’s Town hall will be revamped at a cost of Rs 25 lakh.

-New west Ahmedabad area will get a new state-of-the-art auditorium with seating capacity of 1500 people on BOT basis.

-Elevated corridor on Vijalighar to Kalupur railway station over Relief road. Feasibility report will be prepared for this project.

-A river bridge over river Khari connecting Shri Lal gebi ashram road and Vivekanand nagar.
-New cremation facilities.

-Five new mobile toilet van and five new dead body vans.

-Traffic signal on 100 traffic junctions.

-Kranti yatra to restarted between Panchkuva muster station and Aka sheth street.

-Medical stors in Municipal hospitals.

-Oxygen park, thick forest at a cost of Rs 15 lakh.

-AMC will organize a national book fair from 1 May to 7 May at a cost of Rs 30 lakh on the occasion of Gujarat day.

-Rs five crore for new water distribution center.

-A new Urban house will be constructed where city planing department, estate and city development department offices will be working.

-Traffic children park in new west area of the city.

-Shri Shyamaprasad Vasavada municipal hall will be rebuilt at a cost of Rs 4 crore.

Complete budget presentation document can be accessed on this link(Gujarati PDF)

Amabji, 3 February 2012

Inaugurating the annual conference of Gujarat Rajya Acharya Sangh today in Ambaji Chief Minister Narendra Modi exhorted the teaching fraternity to become techno-savvy.

A teacher’s role would be crucial in bringing qualitative changes in education sector through the usage of technology, he said.

Considering the scale, speed and scope of Gujarat’s development, he said, the usage of technology in imparting education would increase greatly in the coming times. And so the teachers would need to be conversant with the latest technology and new methods of education.

Chief Minister said the state has planned to celebrate 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. The teaching fraternity should seize this opportunity for imparting professional skills to the youths of Gujarat. 21st century is the era of knowledge. And in this era, education and the empowerment of our youths are the best ways for India to establish its supremacy over the world.

Talking about the state government’s moves for the encouragement of innovations in the field of education Chief Minister said the government has set up a world-class incubation centre, i-Create, in the headship of Mr. Naranyan Murthy with a view to give shape to the innovative ideas, research and experiments of the youths. The state government has also formed ‘Gujarat Educational Innovation Commission’ to push innovative experiments and research.

Gujarat is the only state which has received a full-fledged 36 MHz satellite communication transponder. This will enable the state government to provide long distance education to even the remotest parts of the state, Chief Minister said.

With a view to create highly trained teachers, Gujarat government has set up Teachers’ University and has also come up with some 976 new syllabuses for giving professional training to the youths, he added.

A cheque of Rs.1,11,111 was donated to the Chief Minister’s Kanya Kelvani Nidhi by the Acharya Sangh. Minister of State for Education Jaysinhji Chauhan and the office bearers of the Principals’ Association were also present on the occasion.

Ahmedabad, 3 February 2012

The Supreme Court today admitted Gujarat government’s petition challenging Gujarat High Court order in Gujarat Lokayukta case. Next hearing will be held on 20-21-22 March. SC didn’t consider Gujarat government’s plea to give stay on Gujarat High Court Judge order that was against the Gujarat govt and in favor of appointment made by the Governor of Gujarat.

A bench of justices B S Chauhan and J S Khehar said it would examine the matter at length as vital question of constitutional law is involved.

The Supreme Court issued notices to Justice (retd) R A Mehta, the Principal Secretary to the State Governor and an NGO on the petition filed by the state government against the State High Court order upholding the appointment of Justice Mehta as state Lokayukta.

The petition was filed by Gujarat government challenging the state High Court order upholding the appointment of Justice RA Mehta as the Lokayukta by the Governor on the ground that it was unconstitutional and done without the consent of the state government. The Gujarat High Court had on January 18 upheld the appointment of Justice (Retd) Mehta as the Lokayukta with two versus one judge split verdict.

In the petition filed on January 19, the state government sought stay of the High Court judgement and also of the August 25, 2011, order of Governor Kamla Beniwal by which the warrant of appointment of Justice Mehta as Lokayukta was passed.

The petition was heard before a bench comprising justices BS Chauhan and JS Khehar.

Narendra Modi interacting with youths ahead of his one-day fast event in Kutch district’s Mandvi

Mandvi/Bhuj, 2 February 2012

Concluding his one-day Sadbhavana fast in Mandavi in Kutch Chief Minister Narendra Modi said the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has no right to be in power after the clear verdict from the Supreme Court today regarding the telecom scam.

“I am not demanding the Prime Minister’s resignation based on some baseless lies. The Apex Court has made the matter clean. Now the people want the Prime Minister to come out of silence and give answer”, he said.

The people of India have never seen before the scams of such big amounts. The rulers in Centre have ruined the country in a bid to please a handful of vested interests. The Central government is not only trying to save Mr. Chidambaram but it is also trying to guard other looters of Rs.1,65,000 crore telecom scam in a bid to save its regime, said Mr. Modi.

Referring to the opposition party in Gujarat, Mr. Modi said it is indulged in spreading lies to disturb the atmosphere of peace in the State.

It is noteworthy that as many as 20,674 people voluntarily observed fast with the Chief Minister today. A sea of humanity thronged the venue of fast conveying support to the motives behind Sadbhavna Mission. Chief Minister announced development projects worth Rs.2165 crore for Kutch district. At Kranti Tirth, the Chief Minister thrown open a touch-screen kiosk based on the life of Swami Vivekananda.

Talking about the development in Kutch Mr. Modi said once a drought-prone region of Kutch has now become an exporter of bananas and kesar mangos. This year’s Ran Utsav has become instrumental providing income of Rs.25 crore to the people of Kutch, he added.

Ahmedabad, 2 February, 2012

Central Gujarat based popular saint and legendery travel writer Swami Shri Sachchidanand today challenged Anand sessions court order of denying anticipatory bail to him in the Gujarat High Court.

Swami Sachchidananda had allegedly shot at one unidentified person in year 2006 from his weapon in self protection when a group of robbers entered in his ashram in dark hours of night. Swami had fired three rounds from his weapon.The robbers fled away from Dantali ashram after firing.

Later it was claimed by others that one injured robber was Babu Mohania who died ultimately.

In this regard, one advocate Mr. Lakhani filed petition in Petlad court against Swami Sachidananda.

But Petlad court had freed Swami Sachchidanand from all charges against him.

Lakhani challenged local court’s order in Gujarat High Court then after.

On 30th October, 2010, the Gujarat High Court Justice Akil Qureshi directed Petlad court to proceed against Swami under murder and arms act related charges. Swami challenged the High Court order in Supreme Court but failed to get relief.

Soon after this, while speaking in a function held at Mahesana town of north Gujarat last year, Swami Shri Sachchidanandaji had said that nobody was injured by his gun shot in July 2006 night. He said Babu Mohania died of diabetes in Ahmedabad hospital and his death had nothing to do with Dantali Ashram.

“I had kept my gun down while firing rounds that night to avoid injury to any of the outsiders who had attacked my Ashram. This man Babu Mohania died due to diabetes in Ahmedabad’s hospital. His death was deliberately connected to Ashram firing, by specific people targeting me. Actually nobody was injured when I fired from my gun,” Swamiji said.

It should be mentioned that attack by unidentified persons who were conceived as robbers in Swami’s Dantali ashram, had taken place few days after Swami Sachchidananda openly held a public meeting against Swadhyay Parivar’s present leadership. The public meeting was held after Swadhyay Parivar rebellion Pankaj Trivedi was murdered.

Swamiji urged the Supreme Court for relief in Babu Mohania case citing his age and his religious position. In response, the Supreme Court had directed that Swamiji should not be arrested before 1st of February 2012.

Now February 2012 is here, and Anand sessions court order indicates arrest of Swamiji at any time.

While Swamiji is untraceable, the decision of Anand sessions court has been challenged in the Gujarat High Court.

By Tejash Modi, Saputara, 2 February 2012

Shri Bachchan did rod fishing in Saputara’s water body during Gujarat Tourism ad shoot.

Even in remote Dang, police faced tough time to control the crowds wanting to have a glimpse of Big B.

On the wall of tribal house in Chikhli village of Dang, the rural artists are painting the warli painting. This is the way they decorate their houses. The Dangs is almost 100% tribal district of Gujarat.

Shri Amitabh Bachchan’s vanity van that follows him wherever he goes. Shri Bachchan rests in this van while taking break during the shooting.

Shri Bachchan in track suit, in Dang.

Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan is in Saputara at present, shooting for Gujarat Tourism TV advertisement.

Gujarat government has started focusing on Gujarat’s this only hill-station for last two years. Last year, the monsoon package was launched and it was marketed across the country. Recently Gujarat Tourism also launched paragliding festival in Saputara.

Brand ambassador of Gujarat Tourism Shri Bachchan is in Saputara for two days.

On first day Dang district’s tribal Chikhli village witnessed Big B’s shooting.

A small tribal house made from local material and decorated with Warli painging art was the venue of the shooting.

(C)DeshGujarat.Com 2012

Ahmedabad, 2 February 2012

Ahmedabad based National Institute of Design(NID) is hosting a exhibition by the Institute for foreign cultural relations, Stuttgart, Germany which features various innovative designs of furniture.

The blue sofa chair is balloon like seat that has a pump working inside.

In the photograph of another furniture, you can see that books are defined as component of furniture. This piece of Werner Aisslinger has shelving system, with books working as joints, brackets, and Ts. So if you have a problem of where to put large coffe table books, this could be an answer.

One interesting product is a tape that can be used as frame. Innovator Marti Guize has replaced the frame by a tape designed with graphic element.

Enjoy the photographs:

Ahmedabad, 2 February 2012

Gujarat High Court today rejected a petition of former Congress Councillor Ratna Vora challenging Gujarat government’s spending on Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s Sadbhavana fasts.

The High Court today said that it has no power to control the expenses of the elected government.

In her petition, Ratna Vora had alleged misuse of government treasury challenging the expenses in Sadbhavana fasts. Vora was earlier asked by the court to produce evidences to prove her point, but she couldn’t produce any proof today.

The court had earlier disposed of two petitions questioning the huge expenditure incurred on chief minister Narendra Modi’s three-day Sadbhavna Mission with severe criticism. The court held that the petitions were without any foundation and based only on newspaper reports.

Ahmedabad, 2 February 2012

Two good news in last two days for Gujarat, and especially for Ahmedabad.

First one published in DNA yesterday saying that PSA Peugeot Citroen is shifting its India headquarter from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The headquarter office will be in newly developed Prahladnagar area next to SG Highway. The office will have 150 staff members. Peugeot has already announced to set up its car manufacturing plant at Sanand.

And read on the second headline on second day. The Times of India report says that Swiss compnay Nstle SA’s Indian subsidiary Nestle India has finalized to invest Rs 100 crore in two phases to set up a snacks and confectionery plant in Bol village, next to Sanand in Gujarat.

Last year you read that Colgate Palmolive has decided to set up a greenfield facility at an upcoming industrial estate in Sanand near here with an estimated investment of Rs 200 crore. Colgate’s this plant will also come up in Bol village at the upcoming GIDC industrial estate. Colgate has been allotted 1,00,000 sq meters of land.

The government has also given nod to the projects of Hitachi, Tbea, Corning, Allied Minerals and Bosch in Sanand belt. Tbea is Chinese company which will set up a transformer manufacturing unit with an investment of Rs 2,000 crore, while Japanese consumer electronics company Hitachi Limited and Gandhinagar based Hi-Rel will set up variable frequency drive medium voltage application plant for power sector. American firm Allied Mineral Product Incorporation is coming up with monolithic refractory plant with an estimated investment of Rs 100c rore. Here mineral product useful for cement, steel and foundry industry will be manufactured. Bosch has planned to invest Rs 275 crore for its plant.

Why this rush at Sanand

-This rush is thanks to assured availability of land. It is the government that is buying land from the farmers in villages around Sanand. So the industry has to contact only the government for requirement of land to set up its plant. The government has already acquired huge land in this area to set up GIDC(Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation) industrial township. So the easy land availability is one reason for this rush.

-The other reason is proximity to Ahmedabad. Sanand’s industrial belt is less than half an hour distance from the boundary of Ahmedabad.

-Infrastructure wise Gujarat is is best position. The state is power surplus unlike many other states where power shortage is big issue for existing industries. The road connecting Sanand to Ahmedabad on southern direction and Kandla port in north is excellent. The widening work of this highway is going on speedily.

-The government is solidly backing the industry. For any industry wanting to set up a new plant in Gujarat, the entry gate is in Gandhinagar. There’s a top-down approach. And once you are through in Gandhinagar, the hierarchy at bottom level would not dare to disturb you, or delay you. The state is very sure about the types of industries it wants. If you fit in that criteria, the state provides excellent facilitation.

-Law and order situation is fantastic. Thanks to proximity to Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, the industries feel safer here.

Sanand’s proximity to Ahmedabad.