Junagadh District police stations - CCTV cameras in Saurashtra

Rajkot District police have installed high resolution closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, which also have night vision capability, in all the police stations under their jurisdiction to keep an eye on the officials and also the accused in the lock ups.

As per Latest Interviews who is Superintendent of police Premvir SinghRajkot rural said that, “The CCTV cameras have been installed in all the 21 police stations in the district.

"There are three CCTV cameras in a police station -- at the offices of police inspector (PI) and police station officer (PSO) and the lock-up."

"This will facilitate remote base monitoring system in each police station helping even the PSO and the PI to keep an eye on the accused."

The CCTV cameras at the police stations are connected to the DSP's office.

These will help the SP to monitor the happenings in each police station in the district.

"The basic idea is not distrust of the police officials, but to ensure they behave nicely with complainants and maintain discipline always. Past experiences suggest that this has helped a lot in improving discipline among the officials.''

"There have been many complaints about police officers' reluctance to lodge first information reports (FIRs) and also allegations of misbehavior against them. The CCTV cameras to a great extent will solve this issue and will be helpful to the police officers as well as the common people."

"We will cover all the police stations in Jamnagar and Surendranagar in a phased manner. The project is being implemented on public-private partnership (PPP) model.''

"CCTV cameras will be also installed on main entry points, major traffic junctions, vital installations, markets and crowded places in the towns of Rajkot, Jamnagar and Surendranagar districts.''

As of now, the CCTV cameras are installed at the police stations in Bhavnagar, Junagadh and Porbandar districts in Junagadh Police range.

Girnar Mountain Climbing Competition 2011

At 3rd January 2011, 17th Open Girnar Mountain Climbing Competition 2011 will be held in Junagadh City Saurashtra Gujarat.

Some 1,673 participants have registered for this unforgettable event.

As to win and beat others some have already started practicing before months ago.

Let’s know in detail from Nayan Thorat who is District sports officer, he said that,

"Participants from Junagadh, Rajkot, Amreli, Jamnagar, Surendranagar, Kutch and other districts of the state have sent their entries."

One of the biggest main role in to organize this events like, state sports, cultural and youth affairs department and district administration.

To review competition arrangements, District collector Banchha Nidhiyani, met to district officers of various departments.

One famous place name “Mahant Mangalnathji Ashram Bhavnath” from where this event will start.

Property Cards Gujarat – Junagadh Ahmedabad Surat Rajkot Vadodara News

The Gujarat State Government has started a pilot project in seven municipal corporations of the state under which, from May 2010, all registration of new property will be done only through ‘property cards’. The seven municipal corporations chosen for the project, named Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Surat Municipal Corporation, Rajkot Municipal Corporation, Vadodara Municipal Corporation, Jamnagar Municipal Corporation, Junagadh Municipal Corporation and Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation.

It may be recalled that, in December 2009, the state government had decided to make use of ‘property cards’ mandatory for authenticating the ownership of property in urban areas. It had also announced that all property ownership records in the urban areas would be converted into property cards.

The government was forced to take this decision because of illegal use of the ‘7/12 forms’ - a document used to decide ownership of agricultural land - in authenticating ownership of property in urban areas.

Much of the land and property in today’s urban areas was once rural property for which the ‘7/12 forms’ were sufficient. But use of the ‘7/12 forms’ became illegal once they were declared to be urban property. A senior officer in the state revenue department said the project to convert all ‘7/12 form records’ into ‘property cards’ was nearly over in AMC areas.

Rajkot Junagadh Kutch Porbandar Water Shortage Summer News Gujarat India

Cultivation area for summer crops like sesame and pulses has shrunk by 1 lakh hectares.

The Saurashtra region and Kutch region, which is reeling under a drinking water scarcity, is now facing the problem of unavailability of irrigation water, leaving the farmers high and dry.

The total cultivation area for summer crops like sesame, pulses, millet and groundnut has shrunk by one lakh hectares, implying the yield will go down by at least 50 per cent.

Sowing in — Rajkot District, Jamnagar District, Junagadh District, Amreli District, Surendranagar District, Porbandar District, Bhavnagar District and Kutch District — has been over. The total cultivation area has touched the 1.62 lakh hectare mark, nearly 1 lakh hectare less than the previous year. Last year, the cultivation area for the main summer crops remained around 2.64 lakh hectares.

Bhartiya Kisan Sangh Secretary Laxman Patolia said: “Water is not available to the farmers either through bore wells or the pipeline supply. Farmers cannot even think of sowing and cultivation.”

A senior agriculture department official said on condition of anonymity that the water crisis has led to a shrinking of the area under cultivation.

“The farmers are going to miss one season. For the past 5-6 years, the rainfall had been good; the farmers could take summer crops also. But this is not the case this time, which means a big revenue loss for the agriculture sector,” Patolia added.

Sesame cultivation has been the worst affected. The sowing area has gone down by 67 per cent — from 63,772 to 21,077 hectares. In the last couple of years, sesame has emerged as one of the best cash crop for farmers in Gujarat. But this time, the water scarcity has changed the scenario a bit.

Junagadh City tops the list of areas under sesame cultivation at 6,785 hectares followed by JamnagarCity and Surendranagar City. These were the districts that received better rainfall.

In other districts, sesame sowing has remained between 500 and 1,500 hectares. Cultivation of black gram (urad dal) has gone down by 66 per cent — the sowing area has shrunk from 1,771 to 598 hectares. In case of groundnut, the sowing area has shrunk by 55 per cent.

The sowing of millet has been reduced by 15 per cent, from 17,592 to 15,094 hectares. In Junagadh and Surendranagar districts, millet has been sowed on 4,750 and 3,975 hectares, which were 6,785 and 5,550 hectares last year.

Solar Industry Ahmedabad Rajkot Junagadh Baroda Surat News Gujarat India

In a bid to boost use of clean energy, the Gujarat government is planning to frame guidelines for introduction of solar power lit billboards in the state, a top official said here today.

"We are thinking to introduce solar power lit billboards in seven big cities of the state to reduce consumption of energy generated from coal-fired power plants," Principal Secretary Forest and Environment S K Nanda said.

"The idea is to give a push to solar industry in the state," Nanda said, on the sidelines of a FICCI seminar.

Major cities like Ahmedabad City, Vadodara City, Surat City, Rajkot City, Jamnagar City, Junagadh City and Bhavnagar City are likely to be covered.

"With big-ticket advertising coming into play, especially after mega events like IPL, introduction of solar power lit billboards will be a feasible option to promote clean energy concepts," Nanda said.

Departments of Forest, Energy and Urban Development would meet soon to take this idea forward, he said adding, "A state-level steering committee could be set up to frame guidelines for this project."

Narendra Modi Bhartiya Janta Party Junagadh Saurashtra News Gujarat India

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi readies young team for civic polls.

In a bid to get a sweeping verdict in the upcoming state civic polls, chief minister Narendra Modi has fielded youngsters in most of the districts. The party declared its organizational commanders of 33 districts on Friday and Saturday.

For the first time BJP has put faith in the young brigade. Most of the district and city heads have been nominated by the state leadership. "We now have a team with an average age of 45 years," said Bharatsinh Parmar, Bhartiya Janta Party general secretary who is looking after the entire election process. "It goes without saying that they have to form a strong team to strengthen the party organization," he added.

The newly appointed presidents of the districts and city units have been ordered to form teams with strong organizational network, and they have also been asked not to look back until the civic polls, which are scheduled to be held at the end of this year. Out of 33 districts, the party has selected eight MLAs to hold responsibilities for key districts.

The responsibility of all major cities has been given to candidates who are at the most 45 years old. Ahmedabad city is in the hands of young MLA Rakesh Shah, who was elected for the first time, from the Ellisbridge constituency. Vadodara and Surat have been handed over to Bharat Dangar and Purnesh Modi respectively.


Rajkot city has been allotted to Dhansukh Bhanderi, former mayor. There is a big responsibility on the shoulders of Jitu Hirpara, who has been nominated for Junagadh city. He has to strengthen the BJP which lost the Junagadh municipal corporation poll last year.

There are eight MLAs nominated as the chiefs of district organizations. Pragji Patel, MLA from Mandal, has been elected as the president of Ahmedabad district, Mohan Kundaria (Tankaria), is the head of Rajkot district. Rushikesh Patel (Visnagar), has to look after Mehsana and Jayanti Bhanushali (Abdasa), is head of Kutch district.

The responsibility of Kheda district is on Bimal Shah, MLA from Kapadvanj, while Mulu Bera, an MLA from Jamnagar, will look after Jamnagar district's party organization. Praful Patel, MLA from Himmatnagar, has been assigned the responsibility of Sabarkantha.

BJP Junagadh City State Saurashtra News Gujarat India

Gujarat BJP appoints 15 districts, city presidents

Gujarat BJP, today, appointed party unit presidents for 15 districts while appointments of presidents for 17 district and city units will be made tomorrow.

"We have made appointments for party unit presidents of 15 district and city units today while remaining appointments will be made tomorrow," said Bharatsinh Parmar, state BJP general secretary, who is supervising the state unit's organizational election process.

Those who have been appointed district presidents are, Ramesh Chaudhary as president of Dangs, Ashok Dhorajia president of Navsari, Kanti Gamit president of Tapi, Gajendrasinh Jadeja president of Narmada, Dhirubhai Dangar, president of Vadodara city, former minister Bimal Shah, president of Kheda District, Shakuntalaben Patel, president of Gandhinagar City and MLA Praful Patel, president of Sabarkantha party unit.

Dr Kiran Mogra has been appointed as president of Banaskantha, MLA Mulubhai Bera has been made president of Jamnagar district BJP, Jitu Hirpara has been appointed as president of Junagadh city unit while former minister Madhabhai Boricha has been nominated as the president of Junagadh district unit.

Rajkot Junagadh Jamnagar Saurashtra Kutch Districts Winter News Gujarat India

Foggy Thursday morning sets in winter pace.

A fog enveloped several cities in Saurashtra and Kutch in the wee hours of morning and late evening on Wednesday. The lowest temperature was recorded in Deesa in Kutch, which recorded 13.1degrees Celsius, followed by Gandhinagar 13.2, Naliya 14.6.

The minimum temperature recorded in Rajkot city was 17.7, while the maximum was 32.1 degrees Celsius. Bhavnagar recorded maximum temperature at 31.0 and minimum at 14.6 degrees Celsius. Amreli was shivering at minimum of 15.8 while it recorded maximum of 32.6 degrees Celsius.

Cold wave seemed to have skirted Porbandar, which recorded the minimum temperature at 21 and maximum at 32.5 degrees Celsius. Similarly, Junagadh also remained at the minimum temperature of 21.8 degrees Celsius.

However, woolens were out in Jamnagar where the minimum temperature remained at 16.1 while the maximum temperature was recorded at 30 degrees Celsius.

In Bhuj, the minimum temperature was at 19, while the maximum was at 32.0 degrees Celsius.

Junagadh Jamnagar Railway News Samachar Saurashtra Gujarat India

Okha-Howrah rail service flagged off.

Okha Port Gujarat of Jamnagar district was allotted a long distance rail service. It was connected to Howrah via Okha-Howrah Link Express. The service was flagged off with fanfare on Sunday.

The train no 2905A/2906A Okha Hapa Howrah Link Express will be linked to the existing train no 2905/2906 respectively.

The train no 2905A will leave from Okha three days a week Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday at 5.05 am and reach Hapa at 8.52 am and Howrah on the third day at 3.35 pm. Train 2906A will leave Howrah every Friday, Saturday and Tuesday at 10.55 pm and reach Hapa at 3 pm and Okha at 7.50 pm on the third day.

This train will pass by Dwarka, Khambhalia, Jamnagar City and Hapa. It will have one AC coach, two sleeper coaches and one general coach.

In addition to this, after repeated demands for a train connection to Mumbai, people of Veraval town of Junagadh district have finally been provided a direct rail service between Mumbai and Veraval from November 23.

Officials of Western Railway, Mumbai, said a link express had been started from November 21. Two sleeper class coaches will be attached to 9005/9006 Saurashtra Mail and will be taken up to Rajkot where these coaches will be detached and linked to Rajkot Veraval fast passenger (train no 259/260) on November 23. Train 259 will leave Rajkot daily at 11.10 am to reach Veraval at 3.30 pm and train 260 will leave Veraval daily at 1.05 pm to reach Rajkot at 5 pm.

Junagadh Rajkot Porbandar Amreli Kandala Port Kutch Winter News Samachar Saurashtra Gujarat India

Cold wave grips Saurashtra, Kutch Districts.

Cold wave swept Saurashtra and Kutch on Friday, and Naliya in Kutch recorded the lowest temperature of 9 degrees Celsius. Bhuj recorded the minimum temperature at 15.4 degrees Celsius.

According to the state meteorological department, the cold wave precipitated by heavy snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir is affecting several parts of Saurashtra region including Jamnagar City, Junagadh City, Rajkot City and Amreli City.

Jamnagar was the second coldest city with the minimum temperature recorded at 12.6 degrees Celsius. In Junagadh, the maximum temperature was 33.5 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was 13.2 degrees Celsius.

Woolens were taken out in Rajkot City with the mercury dipping at 15.2 degrees Celsius. Also, shivering with cold were people of Bhavnagar City (17.2 degrees Celsius), Kandala Port (17.6 degrees Celsius), Veraval City (18.4 degrees Celsius) and Porbandar City (19 degrees Celsius).

Junagadh Jamnagar Saurashtra News Samachar Gujarat India

Groundnut yield plummets, hits 800 oil mills.

India's groundnut bowl is shrinking, both in terms of the area under cultivation and the yield.

On stake is the survival of more than 800 oil mills in the Saurashtra Kutch region, which accounts for 35 per cent of the country’s total production of five million tonnes of groundnut oilseed.

The slide began a couple of years ago, and this season, the plummet was steep and unchecked. The scanty rainfall has accounted for an all-time low yield this season.

The Saurashtra Oil Millers Association (SOMA) estimate the fall at over 45 per cent, which is now likely to hasten the en masse closure of mills, with groundnut oil prices expected to touch Rs 1,500 per 15 kg by Diwali.

“Owing to the shortage of kernels, groundnut is likely to touch Rs 1,500 by Diwali,” said SOMA president Ukabhai Patel. At present, groundnut oil costs Rs 1,100 per 15 kg. SOMA secretary Samir Shah said, “More than three out of four of the 800 mills will remain shut this season.”

With only 25 per cent of mills likely to reopen the coming season, SOMA wants the government to lift the ban on groundnut exports in a bid to encourage the cultivators.

Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are the major producers of groundnut oil in the country. The coastal belt of Saurashtra tops this list. Besides, groundnut is also grown at Vadodara, Bharuch and Surat districts.

At its Annual General Meeting on Sunday, SOMA estimated groundnut yield this season to be between 9.5 to 10 lakh tones, 45 per cent less than the 17 lakh tones yield in the previous year.

The area under groundnut cultivation in Saurashtra-Kutch has also gone down from 26 lakh hectares in 2002 to 19 lakh hectares, reducing production from 26 to 19 lakh tonnes.

According to the government agriculture department figures, the area under groundnut cultivation stood at 17 lakh hectares this season.

This year, barring Jamnagar and Junagadh districts, the yield in the other six districts including Rajkot, Amreli, Surendranagar, Bhavnagar, Porbandar and Kutch is not even 40,000 tonnes on an average. For both Junagadh and Jamnagar, which recorded more than average rainfall, the yield is expected to be around three lakh tonnes.

Incidentally, the politically-powerful SOMA, which once decided the composition and course of the state governments, has now been reduced to pleading with the government to increase the import duties on other oils, for their sheer survival.

Soma had once rocked the Chimanbhai Patel Government, forcing the then minister Ashok Bhatt to resign when the industry was not happy. But, with the License Raj no longer in existence, the industry has lost its clout. The plummeting yield has made matters only worse for it.

“We are going to make a representation to the Centre to allow exports of groundnut and to impose import duty on other edible oils that have flooded the market,” said Ukabhai Patel.

Junagadh, Jamnagar,Bhavnagar District(Saurastra) Development News

Gujarat seeks World Bank aid to develop infrastructure.

The Gujarat government has sought an Rs.705-crore ($146-million) aid package from the World Bank to upgrade urban infrastructure in 10 townships, a senior government official said Monday.

The official at the department of urban development said the amount, if sanctioned, would be used to upgrade infrastructure in the towns like Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh and Veraval so that these areas could attract more industrial investments.

The state government has already told the World Bank that it would invest Rs.30 crore to upgrade infrastructure in these townships.

The government has earmarked Rs.400 crore in the budget for 2009-10 for upgrading civic amenities.

Junagadh District Monsoon Varsad Samachar

Rain hits Saurastra region, road traffic in Junagadh affected.

Rajkot/Ahmadabad (PTI) Road traffic in Junagadh district have been affected following an incessant rain in Saurastra region during the last 24 hours.

The road traffic of Veraval-Talala, Una-Dolasa and Gadu-Chorwad in Junagadh district have been affected and local authorities were busy clearing the road, said Junagadh district collector Ashwini Kumar.

The roads were blocked following rain with heavy wind that uprooted many trees in the district, officials said.

Sutrapada (175 mm), Veraval (149 mm) and Mangrol (145 mm) talukas in Junagadh received highest rainfall in the last 24 hours, officials from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Kodinar also recorded 90 mm rainfall they added. Low lying areas in Junagadh were inundated with water and people have been warned to be careful, Mr. Kumar said adding the situation is under control and there was no need to evacuate the people living in low lying areas.

Jamnagar district also received considerable amount of rain owing to the depression in the Arabian Sea.

Kalyanpur taluka recorded 67 mm rainfall, while Jamnagar and Bhanvad received 48 mm, and Khambhalia got 45 mm rainfall.