QAhmedabad: Amit Shah Wants to Cover Somnath Temple in Gold & More

Here are the top news stories from Ahmedabad.

The gold-plated pillars of Somnath temple. 

(Photo: Reuters)

1. Amit Shah Wants to Cover Somnath Temple in Gold

BJP President Amit Shah said on Thursday that people should not harbour anger against those who plundered the historic Somnath temple in Gujarat in the past but resolve to restore its glory by ‘completely covering it in gold’. Shah, who's a trustee of Shree Somnath Trust, made the remarks after laying the foundation stone for a tourist walkway along the nearby coast.

"Around one crore devotees come here every year. The trust has taken many initiatives to handle the rush. However, I feel the development of the temple is incomplete," said Shah. "For people like me who are attached to this temple since childhood, the development is meaningless until it is fully covered in gold," he said.

"Though the temple was destroyed and looted many times in the past, people should not hold any grudge or think about taking revenge," the BJP president said.

(Source: PTI)

2. State Replies to PIL Against Religious Profiling of Students

The state government on Thursday replied to a PIL against discrimination of Muslim students while filling up the board examination forms through the online portal. In its reply the government failed to answer specific questions raised by the petitioner.

The government defended its actions and stated that the ministry of human resource and development had issued instructions to collect data on minorities. The govt said it revised
the form for capturing socio-religious data of students.

The government also defended its actions for mandating linkage of Aadhar number for every student and stated in its affidavits that due to connectivity issues in remote areas, the deadline for filling up the form was delayed.

(Source: The Times of India)

3. Gujarat Class XII Board Exam Schedule Causes Uproar

The parents of Class XII general stream students created an uproar after the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) declared its exam schedule. The board has decided to conduct two exams in one day- History at morning and Philosophy at afternoon.

Fearing that their wards will be overburdened the parents have started registering their protest. The board had fixed the last year’s exam schedule in a similar fashion resulting in backlash from parents and students. The board later promised not to repeat such scheduling errors in future.

Angry parents have now decided to meet the education minister to complaint against the board members for not keeping their word and causing unnecessary stress to more than 10,000 students across the state.

(Source: The Times of India)

4. SGST Collections at 6-Month High of Rs 2,124 Crore

Increased consumer consumption of goods and services has pushed the collection of State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) to a six-month high. According to government data, SGST stood at Rs 2,124.82 crore. The last time SGST collection was this high was in May this year at Rs 2,177.27 crore. The state government’s income thorough Integrated GST (IGST) stood at Rs 586.6 crore in November.

According to the special commissioner at the state commercial tax department, Ajay Kumar, “GST is a consumption-based tax and during Diwali in November, consumer consumption shot up due to the festive season.

However, industry experts claim that higher GST collection doesn’t necessarily mean higher consumption, it instead reflects a sharp rise in prices. Even traders had claimed that the festive season was quite dull.

(Source: The Times of India)

5. Three Cops Held for Robbing Trader of Silver Bricks Worth Rs 15 L

Gomtipur police arrested three cops- police sub-inspector PB Rana posted with SRP Group 13 and two constables of the same SRP Group, Amit Rana and Yogindersinh Zhala- for robbing a trader and Saraspur resident, Santosh Kulal (33) of 15 silver bricks and a cell phone worth 15 lakhs in total at gunpoint.

According to the complaint lodged, Kulal makes silver bricks out of materials provided by jewellers at a factory near Ramkumar Mill Compound. When Kulal was on his motorcycle to deliver the brick two men on a motorcycle intercepted him, kidnapped him at gunpoint and later introduced themselves as crime branch personnel.

Kulal was taken to Sarkhej where he was assaulted. One of the constables, later identified as Amit Rana dragged Kulal to a nearby bush while PSI Rana fled with Kulal’s scooter which had 15 silver bricks in the glove box.

(Source: The Times of India)