News in brief from across Gujarat (further updated)

Ahmedabad, 16 December 2013

-Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s Gujarat chapter has organized two days long Abhyas varg for 1867 party men. Zone wise abhyas vargs will be held during 17-24 December in Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Surat and Junagadh.

-Western Railway chief Hemantkumar was today at Ahmedabad railway station for surprise check.

-High Commissioner of New Zealand in India Jen Handerson visited Sardar Patel National Memorial in Ahmedabad on Sunday to pay tribute to Sardar Patel on his death anniversary.

-Gujarat High Court has asked state Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary to appear before court in connection with a case against illegal sand mining in state.

-After failure of one more meeting with the state government, the owners of ceramic units in Morbi have decided to sit on fast from this week.

-Thangadh observes bandh in support of ceramic industry agitation against the state and central govt. Ceramic industry of Morbi is on strike for over two weeks now. The strike has affected thousands of people of Morbi and elsewhere. Production is on halt. Transporters and sellers are also facing domino effect. Prices of tiles have gone up significantly. Chinese manufacturers and others are enjoying the time.

-GCMMF has filed plea in Gujarat High Court for node to removal of Vipul Chaudhary from the post of Chairman. GCMMF board has passed no confidence motion against Chairman Chaudhary. However as per the earlier court order, the decision can not be implemented without court’s permission. The board members have therefore sought permission of high court. As Chaudhary has sought more time to file reply, hearing will be held now on 23 December.

-Fog situation in Delhi affects Ahmedabad-Delhi air traffic. This is routine affair in every winter. Ahmedabad-Delhi Air India flight (8 am) and Indigo flight (9 am) were delayed as per the airport manager Mukeshkumar. 300 passengers stuck at the airport due to this delay.

-Counting for Baroda Cricket Association election begins. The results of the post of president are likely to arrive tomorrow. Other results could take more time. All results will be out in the span of three days. The results will be officially declared in next general meeting.

-Rajkot marketing yard controversy: BJP holds a meeting of district cooperative leaders of party, but Vitthal Radadia and Govindbhai remained absent. Due to infighting, allegations and counter allegations and petitions in court between two groups of BJP – one led by Radadia and other led by Hardevsinh, BJP had called meeting of district cooperative leaders. The motive was to achieve some compromise between Radadia and Hardevsinh. However Radadia and Govindbhai skipped the meeting. Thus the compromise has not been possible at this point. District BJP wants to arrive at some compromise before the inauguration of newly built market yard for which Chief Minister was invited. Both Radadia and Hardevsinh were earlier in Congress party, and origin of their rivalry lies there.

-BMW hit and run case accused Vismay Shah has filed bail plea in Mirzapur court in Ahmedabad. Shah has sought interim bail for 30 days due to medical reasons associated with spinal cord and kidney problems. Shah’s different bail pleas have been earlier rejected by various courts including the Supreme Court. Shah’s speeding BMW had killed hit a bike and killed two boys in Ahmedabad’s Vastrapur area. He left the accident spot and appear before police after two days reportedly to evade alcohol test.

-A day long workshop covering district and taluka level BJP office bearers and morcha leaders will be held at Gandhinagar Mahatma Mandir on Tuesday, December 17th on the subject of iron collection drive. Around 1200 party men are expected to attend the event.

-After its two days long state executive meeting, the Gujarat unit of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) decided to launch a “broom yatra” in Gujarat to “expose state government’s corruption” on January 26.