Veraval Taluka Junagadh District News Samachar Gujarat India

130 school students suffer food poisoning.

Over 130 students of a primary school in Junagadh district of Gujarat suffered from food poisoning after participating in mid-day meal today, police said.

The incident took place in a government-run primary school of Navadra village, they said.

"Nearly 160 students took the mid-day meal at the school today, out of which 130 complained of feeling sick," Junagadh District Development Officer (DDO), Banchhandi Pani told PTI.

"Nearly 103 students have been referred to Veraval civil hospital, while 16 are getting treatment at Prabhas Patan primary health center (PHC) while some have been sent home after treatment," he said.

According to Bani, the students were served Lapsi (prepared using wheat flour, sugar and ghee) and potato curry.

Police said samples of the cooked food as well as the raw material have been sent to the forensic science laboratory at Junagadh district headquarters for tests.

Junagadh Bhavnagar District New Samachar Saurashtra Gujarat India

Gandhians, others join hands for ‘coastal yatra’ against land acquisition.

Say unmindful industrialization, capitalist-imperialism led to economic disparity, corruption and poverty.

Opposition to land acquisition in the state is getting momentum. The Gujarat Lok Samiti, headed by noted Gandhian, Chunibhai Vaidya, has announced plans to take out a ‘yatra’ along the state’s coastline to mobilize people against such acquisition for industrial houses.

Though the date for the yatra is yet to be finalized, Vaidya, flanked by columnist and thinker Prakashbhai Shah and activist Ilaben Bhatt, said it would start from Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, and terminate at Umargam in south Gujarat. Umargam is the place where retired Army Colonel Pratap Save died in police custody after being arrested for leading a protest against acquisition for setting up of a port by a multinational company in April 2000.

Vaidya, Shah and Bhatt said they were not opposed to development, but extremely concerned about the displacement of the local people. They said the acquisition of agricultural land by the government for industries has resulted in huge unemployment among the villagers.

Unmindful industrialization and capitalist-imperialism has resulted in economic disparity, promoted corruption and poverty as also crime against women, they said.

Vaidya said, farmers at several places like Anwarpura in Patan, Vadodara-Jhala in Junagadh district, Jharpara village in Kutch district and Mahuva in Bhavnagar district are already opposing the land acquisition for industrial purposes. He said the government was even acquiring the common ‘gauchar’ land and handing them over to the industrialists, leaving no land for the cattle in the village. This was weakening the rural economy, he said.

“This is inhuman and undemocratic,” said Shah.

Meanwhile, farmers in Ichchapore village near Surat have moved the court against Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Agriculture Minister and the Union Environment Minister over the allotment of a big piece of land to a private firm, Gujarat Hira Bourse, for setting up a gem and jewellery park.

The land was acquired by the government for setting up an industrial estate but the plan could not materialize. So, they allotted it to the private party.

The farmers are now demanding it back, saying the allotment was against the land acquisition provisions of the state government.

Several farmers from villages around Sanand have also declared to launch a protest movement against the acquisition of more land for the Tata Motors’ Nano car project. Recently, they called on the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation officials in Gandhinagar and demanded a halt to the acquisition, saying a large number of farmers would be rendered jobless.

Farmers in the adjoining Manjusar industrial estate in Vadodara have also opposed the acquisition of land for expanding the industrial estate.

Amreli Junagadh City District News Gujarat India

Amreli farmer develops wilt resistant groundnut variety which matures early.

A bout of stem rot infestation that damaged his standing groundnut cultivation did not deter this 38-year-old farmer from Amreli City.

Progressive and innovative in his thoughts, Dhiraj Thummar used this failure to turnaround and fights back the infestations.

Thummar, thus, developed Dhiraj 101 a groundnut variety selected from the GG 20 variety which is not only resistant to wilt due to stem rot but goes a step further and matures faster.

For his innovation, Thummar also bagged a National Award by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) at 5th national biennial grassroots technological innovation and traditional knowledge awards 2009 at Delhi.

Dhiraj 101', once sown, flowers in 28 to 30 days and matures within 95-105 days. A 30-45 cm high and semi-spreading type of crop, it bears 35-40 pods per plant with a seed rate of 90-100 kg per hectare. "If sown at rate of 3,200-3,500 kg per hectare, the yield is higher than the locally cultivated varieties and so is the oil content once milled. It also performs well in an average monsoon and less irrigation conditions," says Thummar, a resident of Pipalag village in Amreli district, proudly.

Farmers of the region are known to have switched over from groundnut to BT cotton due to the decreasing yield in groundnut. Another major cause of switch is the disease of wilt, locally known as Sukado' which reduces yield substantially.

"In 2004, I had sown GG-20 groundnut variety. The whole crop got infested with stem rot disease resulting in wilting and almost complete crop failure. However, I identified a few plants that were not affected and realized that these may have some inherent property that makes them stem rot resistant, I harvested and kept the seeds of these plants separately and sew them in the following season. I continued this research by continuous screening for three consecutive years and finally got a produce which was stem rot and wilt resistant," explains Thummar.

NIF facilitated field trial of Dhiraj101' at the Oil Seed Research Station in Junagadh. The report from there confirms Thummar's claims.

"Soil conservation and crops that requires less irrigation is an urgent need for farmers to keep agriculture sustainable in changing climate condition,'' says Thummar. "The innovation is an important aspect for sustainable agriculture. Groundnut sowing also helps for better soil conservation. It is also considered good for animals."

Professor at Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad) and executive vice-chairperson of NIF Anil Gupta says, "Many technical innovations have been centered on groundnut crop in Saurashtra region. It's an urgent need to invent and popularize the crop varieties, which requires less water and more productivity in present perspective.''

Thummar has also distributed seeds to some farmers in Amreli District, Rajkot District and Bhavnagar districts and received positive feedback.

Girnar Mountain Parvat Temples Ropeway Project Junagadh News Gujarat India

Politics has taken front seat in the controversial Girnar Ropeway Project which plans constructing a ropeway to the Girnar shrine through the Gir sanctuary.

After much legal debate in Gujarat, the project is now finally awaiting clearance from the National Board for Wildlife in India. Activists in the state have raised a serious alarm over disturbing the vulture nests falling on the way of the proposed ropeway.

The state's ruling party BJP is lobbying for the clearance of the project, citing huge tourism opportunities for the locals of Junagadh.

However, at the Board's latest meeting on Wednesday, the issue "boomeranged" for the party, whose workers in Junagadh have been pushing for the approval of the project since decades.

Union minister of state, forest and environment, Jairam Ramesh said he would visit the site himself for inspection before giving approval. The political implications of this might prove tricky for BJP's MLA Mahendra Mashru, who is championing the cause of the Junagadh residents.

"He will have to host a Congress minister's visit to his constituency to get the permission," an activist close to the developments said, adding that after winning the Junagadh Corporation Elections, the Congress workers are active in the constituency and are expected to take credit of the clearance of the project.

"This will not serve the BJP's political purpose at all, but they are in a spot over this," he said.

Forest officials have admitted that over 12,000 trees are likely to be chopped for the project. After claiming that there are 'no' vulture nests in these trees to be affected by the ropeway project, the company constructing the ropeway has admitted in a written communication to NBWL of vulture nests in the region.

In the last meeting of NBWL in July, it was decided to get an expert report on the site.

The report conceded that several vulture nests will be permanently damaged because of the ropeway. An alternated route has been suggested in the report.

Feasibility of the alternate route is also expected to be examined during the minister's visit.

Sasan Gir National Park Junagadh District News Samachar Gujarat India

Gujarat State govt to oppose proposal to shift lions from Gir at Delhi meet.

The Gujarat government will oppose the long-pending proposal of shifting a few Asiatic lions from Sasan Gir to Kuno Palpur in Madhya Pradesh, when this contentious issue comes up for discussion at a crucial meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife in Delhi on Wednesday.

Gujarat Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Pradeep Khanna told Newsline in the evening: “Gujarat’s stand on the issue of trans-locating Gir lions has been consistent. We will resist any move to shift the big cats from Gir to Kuno Palpur, when it is taken up for discussion at the Board meeting tomorrow.”

Khanna and Principal Secretary (Forest) S K Nanda will attend the Board meeting to be chaired by Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh. He said the Kuno wildlife sanctuary project mooted by Madhya Pradesh lacked scientific backing and security. Besides, there are only 300 of the total 1,000 tigers surviving in MP. “If the neighbouring state cannot protect its tigers, how can it protect lions?” he asked.

The PCCF also contended that tigers and lions cannot survive together in Kuno Palpur.

In response to a petition filed in the Supreme Court by a Delhi-based NGO for the transfer of Gir lions to MP, the apex court had referred the matter to the National Board for Wildlife and asked it to submit a report in the matter. After hearing the representatives from both Gujarat and MP at the Wednesday meeting, the Board will submit its report on the issue to the SC, sources said.

At the meeting, Gujarat will also seek the Board’s permission for implementation on the Girnar Ropeway project in Junagadh. Gujarat proposes to acquire about eight hectares of forest land, where there are about 12,000 trees, for construction of pillars for the ropeway project. “Though there are about 12,000 trees standing on the forest land, the axe will fall only on 200 to 300 trees,” said a senior Forest official.

The Board will also hear Gujarat’s plea for laying a high tension electric line, and also the ONGC and IOC oil pipelines across the Wild Ass Sanctuary in Kutch. “We hope the Board will give its nod to both the proposals,” Khanna said.

Una Taluka Junagadh District News Samachar Gujarat India

Una receives 76 mm rainfall in 24 hrs.

Heavy to very heavy rains poured in Una taluka of Junagadh district on Sunday afternoon and resumed early on Monday morning. Though the city and surrounding areas have received a good spell this season, the forest areas did not get any rainfall.

According to sources, it started raining heavily at 4 pm on Sunday and lasted for two hours, within which time Met department officials recorded 31 mm of rainfall. "There was waterlogging throughout the town, especially in Madhavbaug and Police Lines which saw knee-deep water. Basement shops in most complexes had water gushing in," a source said.

On Monday morning too it rained from 7 am to 8 am with 35 mm of rainfall being recorded. The area has had up to 1,076 mm this season.

However, rainfall was in a 5 km radius around the town and forest areas of the taluka did not see rain. Maldharis of the area have not been happy with this year's rain as despite good rains in Saurashtra, most wells and water bodies remained dry in the jungles.

Apart from sporadic rains in Rajula and Visavadar talukas, neither Junagadh district nor any other district of Rajkot received rain.

Kodinar Junagadh District News Samachar Gujarat India

Tight security in place for Kodinar bypoll, marine patrolling intensified.

Tight security arrangements have been made in the Kodinar Assembly segment for the bypoll to take place along with six other constituencies on Thursday.

The Junagadh district administration has identified 21 polling booths as hyper sensitive and 68 as sensitive. The Assembly segment accommodates 129 villages and 200 polling booths.

According to Superintendent of Police Maninder Singh Puwar, apart from Junagadh police personnel, forces from adjoining Porbandar, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts have been pressed into service to maintain law and order.

As many as 10 deputy superintendents of police, 17 inspectors, 49 sub-inspectors, 900 constables, 1,100 home guards and Gram Rakshak Dal jawans have been posted on election duty.

Besides this, three companies of the State Reserve Police and two of the border wing will also maintain vigil.

“With Kodinar being on the coastal belt, marine patrolling has been intensified for which two boats have been pressed into round-the-clock service. Besides, cellphone services providers in the district have been instructed not to circulate group SMS from midnight to 5pm on the polling day (Thursday),” said a senior police officer.

Historical Junagadh City News Samachar Gujarat India

Narendra Modi's message to reach 1 crore students.

This Teacher's Day, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will reach out to one crore students across Gujarat.

That is a whopping 50 lakh more than last year. How? The state education department has added 10,000 television screens in schools in every district to telecast CM's message direct to students.

The state has added over 2,500 ku band sets in primary schools and 3,500 in high schools. In addition, about 4,000 sets have been installed in gram panchayat’s and colleges. Schools and colleges have been asked to make arrangements for Modi's telecast.

The state plans to install 38,000 LCD television screens in government-run schools over the next few years. Sources said the state government has already made allocation of Rs 250 crore towards the project in the budget presented this year.

The idea was put on fast track after Modi was unable to reach out to everyone through video-conferencing because of lack of screens in schools last year.

"It was at this function last year when Modi had triggered a debate on open book exams. We are expecting him to rake up another issue this time," said a senior official in the education department.

Officials said the CM is expecting questions from students on grading system, optional exams and burden-free education this time around. Modi's message will not be telecast in schools and colleges in districts - Junagadh, Rajkot, Banaskantha, Patan, Gandhinagar, Surendranagar and Porbandar - whereby-polls are scheduled next week.

Somnath Temple Veraval Junagadh District News Samachar Gujarat India

Gujarat gets high-tech boat for coastal security.

To boost security along the 1,600-km long Gujarat coastline, the Centre has allotted a state-of-the-art patrol boat, which has been placed under the Somnath marine police station in Junagadh district.

Junagadh Superintendent of Police Maninder Singh Puwar launched the boat on Saturday.

He also took stock of the various aspects of marine security.

“The fully equipped high speed patrol boat will help to take effective steps,” he said.

According to Puwar, with the trial run of the boat, marine patrolling has begun. It will, however, take a couple of more days for the round-the-clock patrolling to begin, as registration of the boat and other legalities are yet to be completed.

Officials said the boat cost Rs 2.5 crore and can run at the maximum speed of 40 nautical miles per hour.

It is equipped with radar, ground positioning system, wireless, sound system and floodlights among others.

Apart from a four-member crew, the boat can accommodate 16 security personnel. A retired Navy Captain has been appointed to look after the maintenance and operation of the boat, said officials.

The boat will patrol the entire coastal belt under the jurisdiction of the Somnath Mandir marine police station.

Adequate staff will be posted soon to do the round-the-clock patrolling in three shifts, the officials added.

Ambuja Cements Limited Kodinar Junagadh District News Samachar Gujarat India

Villagers allege Ambuja Cements mined 145 hectares illegally

Ambuja Cements Limited, which has applied for surrender of limestone mines located in an area of nearly 131 hectares in Rampara village in Junagadh District, is facing the charges of illegal mining on additional 145 hectares by the local gram panchayat.

Karsan Bamaniya, the sarpanch of Rampara village, told the Indian Express that the company had illegally mined the village land worth around Rs 700 crore, over and above what the state government had allocated it for mining.

“An area of 131.6552 hectares was transferred to Ambuja Cements on October 28, 1991 on a mining lease by the state government. But the company went on to illegally mine 145 hectares additionally. Of this illegally mined land, 101 hectares of land was the village’s gauchar land,” said Bamaniya.

Shailendra Singh Rathod, the president of the district panchayat of Junagadh, had also submitted a written objection to this act in one of the ‘district fariyaad samitis’ held on 9 January this year. A copy of this complaint letter is available with this newspaper.

In reply to the panchayat’s complaint, the district administration had said that it had conducted an enquiry and had found many boundary pillars missing on the mining site. V K Mule, a geologist with the Junagadh district administration, had subsequently directed the company to put in place all the missing pillars so that a proper assessment could be done.

However, when contacted, Rathod denied submitting such a letter to the administration. He said, “I don’t remember doing that.” On the other hand, Mule said: “It’s a minor issue. All the boundary pillars at the mining site are in place now.” That apart, Mule also denied the existence of a fact-finding letter submitted to him by the assistant geologist of Junagadh district dated July 7, 2007, a copy of which is available with this newspaper. In this letter, the administration had also contended that Ambuja Cements had “intentionally” discharged the water that had collected in its limestone mines to the neighboring fields, destroying all crops there. The enquiry initiated, on complaints made on May 22, 2007 by some of the affected farmers, reported the total estimate loss of Rs 23, 67,600 to 33 farmers caused by the discharge.

That apart, Ashwini Kumar, District Collector of Junagadh, refused to comment on the issue. “As far as my knowledge goes, Rampara villagers have indeed submitted an application alleging illegal mining by Ambuja Cements Limited. But the status of the enquiry in this issue and the administration’s version will be what V K Mule says,'' he said.

The company, on its part, has denied the charges leveled against it by the gram panchayat. Sriram S Kotiya, General Manager (Commercial), Ambuja Cements Limited, said: “The allegations of illegal mining are false. We have mined only the 131 hectares in Rampara that was leased to us. The notice by the Rampara gram panchayat was received and replied back suitably.”

Bhavnagar Surendranagar Junagadh Districts Saurashtra Gujarat India Monsoon News

Second spell of rain brings cheer to farmers. The second spell of rain in many parts of Saurashtra has brought cheer to farmers. They feel it will help their crops survive and reduce power usage. According to them, the rain will help bajra, cotton, sesame and groundnut crops. Since the last two days, scattered rain has been reported in the region. Due to delayed rain, farmers had to use groundwater which needed more power for pumping. "We were eagerly waiting for rain. Production will be less than usual, but this rain will help save late-sowing crops like BT cotton and sesame," said farmer Valji Patel from Sayla in Surendranagar district. Sayla received 15 mm rain on Friday. Surendranagar district has received less rain as compared to other districts in the region. "This rain will also help the pastoral community in the district. A drinking water crisis was staring us in the face. This rain will avert it, though it's insufficient," said Laxman Patel from the district. "We had lost all hope of saving our crops due to delayed rain as ours is a totally rain-fed area. Now, groundnut and bajra will get a new lease of life.

Also, rain will help harvest crop in rabi season and recharge groundwater,'' said farmer Narayan Shiyal of Dugeri village in Mahuva taluka of Bhavnagar district. However, according to Rajkot flood control room, the district did not receive any rain on Friday.

"In the first spell, we received good rain but we still need to draw water from the ground. If the second spell comes, we will get relief and need not use power to pump groundwater,'' said Mensibhai, a farmer in Maliya Hatina in Junagadh district. On Friday, in Amreli district, Rajula received 17 mm and Savarkundla 52.

In Bhavnagar, Ghogha received 65 mm, Mahuva 23, Sinhor 34 and Bhavnagar 10. In Surendranagar, the rain received was: Lakhtar 57 mm, Limbdi 56, Dasada 34, Chuda 15, Sayla 15 and Wadhvan 7. In Porbandar, Kutiyana received 35 mm and Ranavav 9, while in Junagadh, Una received 18, Keshod 8, Manavadar 5 and Maliya Hatina 20 mm.