Page 28 - Gujarat

BJP chief J P Nadda on 2-day Gujarat visit from today to meet local leaders

Bharatiya Janata Party chief J P Nadda will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat from Tuesday during which he will participate in a host of events and hold meetings with local leaders, a BJP leader said. Nadda's visit holds significance as the state Assembly elections are due in December this year. The BJP president will flag off e-bikes at the BJP's Kisan Morcha event near state capital Gandhinagar on Tuesday morning, Gujarat BJP general secretaty Pradipsinh Vaghela said on Monday. Nadda, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, and Gujarat unit chief C R Paatil will attend the inaugural session of the National Mayors' Conference to be held at a five-star hotel in Gandhinagar on Tuesday and Wednesday. Mayors and deputy mayors of the BJP-ruled urban bodies in Gujarat will take part in the conference, he said. "On Tuesday afternoon, Nadda will be in Rajkot to address a gathering of BJP's elected representatives in urban, panchayat and cooperative bodies. Paatil, Patel and other senior leaders w

PM Modi to virtually inaugurate Gujarat's National Mayors' Conference today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday virtually inaugurate the two-day 'National Mayors' Conference' to be held in Gujarat capital Gandhinagar, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader said. As many as 121 mayors and deputy mayors of BJP-ruled urban local bodies across the country will participate in the two-day event, which is being organised by the party's 'sushasan (good governance) cell, BJP national secretary Rituraj Sinha said. "PM Modi will (virtually) inaugurate the National Mayors' Conference on Tuesday morning by delivering his address. He will guide the invited guests on urban development," Sinha told reporters in Gandhinagar on Monday. BJP national president JP Nadda will also attend the inaugural ceremony, while others who will take part in the conference over two days include Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, he said. "Fadnavis will share his vision for urban development and Puri will

DRI seizes large cache of e-cigarettes worth Rs 48 crore from Gujarat port

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence said that it has seized e-cigarettes estimated to be worth Rs 48 crore from the Mundra Port in Gujarat as part of its operation to combat smuggling

Vedanta-Foxconn issue: Was money demanded from firm, asks Raj Thackeray

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Monday sought an inquiry into the state losing the multi-billion dollar Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor chip manufacturing project to neighbouring Gujarat and asked if any money was demanded from the joint venture firm. He said Maharashtra used to be the leading state in the country when it came to attracting industries but this was changing. "It must be investigated why industries that were supposed to come to Maharashtra have now shifted to other states. Was money demanded from them," he said when queried on the Vedanta-Foxconn political slugfest. Addressing a press conference here, he also rued the political situation in the state over the last few years and said it was tough to understand or guess who would ally with whom to form government. "I have never seen such chaos and cheating in Maharashtra politics. No one knows who is with whom, who is forming government," he said. Attacking former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, the M

Gujarat trial courts sentence 50 people to death in 8 months this year

Gujarat has seen a sharp rise in trial courts giving captial punishment with 50 people being sentenced to death this year till August compared to 46 between 2006 and 2021, as per data available with courts in the state. In February 2022, a special court had sentenced to death 38 convicts in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blast case, sharply pushing up the number of people getting capital punishment by trial courts in the state this year. Fifty six people were killed and more than 200 injured in a series of blasts that ripped Ahmedabad in 2008. Besides this case, the trial courts in different cities also sentenced convicts to death in cases of rape and murder of minors, registered under the Protection of Children for Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Only in one of these cases, at a court in Kheda town, the accused was sentenced to death where a minor a raped and not killed. Besides, in two cases of 'honour killing' also the accused were given capital punishment. Apart from 13 convicts gett

Gujarat gears up for 36th National Games with 36 sporting events

Beginning on Sept 27, the 14-day event will see over 7,000 sportspersons

EC holds meetings in Gujarat to review preparedness for Assembly polls

A team of the Election Commission of India held a series of meetings with Gujarat director general of police, chief secretary and other senior officials during its three-day visit to review the situation in the state for the Assembly polls. Elections in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Gujarat are due later this year. A team of nine senior officials appointed by the ECI visited Ahmedabad between Friday and Sunday and reviewed preparations for the state elections, a government release said. On Saturday and Sunday, the ECI team held a review meeting with Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P Bharathi on poll preparedness in the presence of district election officers, commissioners and superintendents of police. They discussed in detail various topics related to voters' roll and special summary revision, electronic voting machine (EVM/VVPAT), minimum facilities at polling stations, manpower, transportation, law and order, security, training and capacity building, the release .

EC team visits Gujarat ahead of polls, reviews election preparedness

The Election Commission of India informed that a team of officers visited Ahmedabad from September 16-18 to take stock of election preparedness in the state ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

Vedanta-Foxconn plant site in Gujarat to be finalised in 2 weeks: Official

Vedanta and Foxconn have hired experts who are evaluating possible locations for their upcoming semiconductor plant in Gujarat and a site may be finalised in the next couple of weeks, Gujarat Science and Technology Department Secretary Vijay Nehra said. So far, the joint venture company has not finalised the location as they are evaluating various sites in Gujarat based on technical aspects, commercial viability and connectivity to set up the semiconductor and a display fabrication unit in the state, Nehra told PTI. In the biggest ever corporate investment in the history of independent India, a joint venture of the Vedanta and Foxconn had on September 14 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government to invest Rs 1,54,000 crore to set up the plant in the state. Nehra had signed the MoU on behalf of the state government. "Vedanta and Foxconn have hired sector experts who are evaluating possible sites for the upcoming plant in Gujarat. Earlier they were ...

MP Raghav Chadha appointed AAP's Gujarat co-incharge for state polls

The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday appointed its Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha as the AAP's Gujarat co-incharge for the state Assembly elections due later this year. The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP had earlier appointed Rajya Sabha member Sandeep Pathak at its Gujarat in-charge. Chadha had also held the responsibility of the party as Punjab affairs co-incharge, ahead of the Assembly elections in that state held earlier this year. The AAP had won the Punjab polls. It has now positioned itself as the main rival of the BJP which has governed Gujarat for 27 years. "Congratulations and best wishes to Rajya Sabha member and youth leader Raghav Chanda on being appointed as the "AAP' Gujarat sah-prabhari (co-incharge)," AAP Gujarat said in a tweet. In a response to his appointment, Chadha said, "I thank @ArvindKejriwal ji for entrusting me with this big responsibility. I will put in my blood, sweat, tears and toil to meet the expectations of my party. Gujarat wants change, Gujarat wants good .

Gujarat govt transfers 20 IPS officers, including ADGP Brahmbhatt

The Gujarat government on Saturday transferred 20 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers including Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Enquires, R B Brahmbhatt. The 1995-batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer has been appointed as the new ADGP of state CID (Crime and Railways), relieving state DGP Ashish Bhatia of the additional charge of the CID, said a notification issued by the state home department. R T Susara, a 2011-batch IPS officer, has been appointed as Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 1, Surat city. Usha Rada, a 2013-batch IPS officer, was appointed as DCP, Zone-3, Surat city. Anand district Superintendent of Police Ajit Rajian has been now appointed as DCP, Cyber Crime, Ahmedabad city. Rajian has been replaced by 2016-batch officer Praveen Kumar, currently serving as DCP, Zone-1, Rajkot.

Gujarat court sentences MLA Jignesh Mevani to 6 months jail in 2016 case

Ahmedabad Metro Police Court on Friday sentenced Gujarat Congress working president and MLA Jignesh Mevani and 18 others to 6-month imprisonment following a 2016 case.

2016 Riots case: Gujarat Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani gets 6 months in jail

A court in Ahmedabad on Friday sentenced Gujarat Congress's working president and MLA Jignesh Mevani and 18 others to six months' simple imprisonment in a 2016 case of rioting. The case was related to a road blockade agitation staged by Mevani and his associates. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate P N Goswami, who also imposed a fine on Mevani and others, suspended their sentence till October 17 to enable them file appeals. The case was registered against Mevani and 19 others at the University police station here in 2016 for staging road blockade to press their demand that an under-construction building of the law department of Gujarat University be named for Dr B R Ambedkar. The First Information Report was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 143 (unlawful assembly) and 147 (rioting) as well as sections of the Gujarat Police Act. One of the accused died during the pendency of the case. Mevani, a prominent Dalit leader, won the 2017 Assembly election as an independ

'Gujarat not Pakistan': Fadnavis on Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project

Amid mounting criticism over Gujarat bagging a multi-billion Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the neighbouring state was not a part of Pakistan and alleged a "10 per cent commission" had to be paid for availing any subsidy during the previous Maha Vikas Agahdi (MVA) government. Without naming the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Fadnavis targeted the party for opposing big-ticket projects like a refinery in Maharashtra which had the potential of taking the state ahead of others for the next ten years, as he slammed his former ally for stalling the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train and Mumbai Metro 3 infrastructure ventures. Fadnavis said after taking over as the deputy chief minister in June-end, he personally met Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal and Maharashtra even offered a tailor-made package to the company to match up the Gujarat offer, but he was told a decision to move the semiconductor unit to Gujarat was in

Bilkis Bano case: Activists will march 180 kms to protest convicts release

A group of social activists will take out a 'padyatra' (foot march) from Randhikpur in Dahod district of Gujarat to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to protest the release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. The 11 were released from a jail in Godhra on August 15 after they were granted remission by the Gujarat government. The activists will march under the banner of 'Hindu Muslim Ekta Samiti' and cover the 180-kilometre distance between September 26 and October 4, with social activist Sandeep Pandey and MLA Jignesh Mevani set to participate along with 25 others, organising committee member Kalim Siddique said. The release of the convicts is a matter of shame in a country that is identified the world over for its spirituality and the values and virtues of Mahatma Gandhi, the group said in a release. "It is a shame that Gujarat, which produced a global stalwart like Mahatma Gandhi, is silent today on people who have committed heinous crimes," it added. There was need to speak out

Cong promises Rs 50 lakh package to fishing community in poll-bound Gujarat

In the run-up to the Assembly elections, Gujarat Congress made a host of promises to the fishing community which has dominance on 32 seats in the state

After row, Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal assures projects for Maharashtra

The Vedanta-Foxconn's announcement to implement its Rs 2.06 lakh-crore mega-project in Gujarat sparked a political furore in Maharashtra

Gujarat chosen for Rs 1.5-trn project based on professional advice: Vedanta

As a political storm brewed over his group shifting a multi-billion dollar semiconductor factory from Maharashtra to Gujarat, mining baron Anil Agarwal said the site was chosen based on professional and independent advice. Seeking to soothe flared political nerves, he said his mining group Vedanta is committed to investing in Maharashtra as well. Originally, Vedanta and its partner Foxconn were looking at Maharashtra for setting up the chip factory but on September 13 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government for investing Rs 1.52 lakh crore in the unit. "Vedanta-Foxconn has been professionally assessing the site for a multi-billion dollar investment. This is a scientific and financial process which takes several years. We started this about two years ago," Agarwal said in a series of tweets. A third party was engaged to assist in selecting the site for the project. "Our team of internal & external professional agencies shortlisted few states viz., ...

Vedanta-Foxconn plant in Gujarat 'attack on Maharashtra's prestige': Sena

The Shiv Sena on Thursday said the mega semiconductor project of Vedanta-Foxconn going to Gujarat was an attack on Maharashtra's "prestige". This was just the beginning and one day the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government might even "trade Mumbai," said the editorial in the Sena mouthpiece "Saamana". Before this, an international finance centre (which eventually took shape as Gujarat International Finance Tech- GIFT City) was shifted to Gujarat from Mumbai, the editorial alleged. A blame-game has begun in Maharashtra following the announcement two days ago that the joint venture semiconductor project of the Indian conglomerate Vedanta and Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn, proposed to be set up near Pune earlier, will come up in Gujarat. Without naming the BJP, the Sena mouthpiece alleged that like this project, some people also harbour the desire to "conquer" Mumbai-Thane and undermine Maharashtra's prosperity. This was the reason a puppet chief minister was installed in ..

Former Minister of State Vipul Chaudhary arrested on corruption charges

His personal secretary, Chartered Shailesh Parikh, has been detained in the case