1. Searing Heat Makes Candidates Take Noon Breaks During Campaign
Although campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat is picking up, candidates and their supporters are finding it tough to reach out to their voters in the afternoon hours due to the scorching heat.
As the maxmimum temperature has touched 42 degrees Celsius in many parts of the state, candidates now prefer to take afternoon breaks and campaign till late evening instead.
Dhansukh Bhanderi, a BJP leader from Rajkot, said candidates and party workers now campaign in two shifts- morning and evening- as they prefer taking afternoon breaks due to the rising heat.
Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi also said that heat has affected campaign activities and party leaders are now avoiding meeting voters in the afternoon. "Election material like caps are being distributed to supporters in large numbers to help them avoid the sunlight," he said.
(Source: Business Standard)
2. Congress' Bharuch Nominee Faces Booth Capturing Charge
Sher Khan Pathan, who is the Congress' contestant from Bharuch Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat, is facing charges of booth capturing, arson during local bodies polls and attempt to murder, as per the affidavit filed by him with election authorities.
In the affidavit submitted last Thursday, 37-year-old Pathan mentioned that three FIRs were registered against him between 2010 and 2018. As per the document, Pathan was accused of booth capturing during the taluka and district panchayat elections held in 2010.
The brief description of the crime mentioned in the affidavit states that Pathan was also accused of stone pelting and setting vehicles on fire during that election. An FIR about the said crime was registered against him at Valia police station in Bharuch.
Among other offences, Pathan was booked in an attempt to murder case which is pending before a local court since the high court had stayed the proceedings, as per the affidavit.
(Source: Business Standard)
3. 59 Registered, Unrecognised Parties Vie for Gujarat Lok Sabha Pie
Fifty-nine registered but unrecognised parties have fielded candidates for the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, a state which has traditionally seen direct fights between the BJP and the Congress.
Among them, Hindustan Nirman Dal and Bahujan Mukti Party have fielded eight and six candidates respectively, while the Right to Recall Party and Vyavastha Parivartan Party will fight from four seats each.
The Garvi Gujarat Party, Manvadhikar National Party and the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Party have fielded candidates from three seats each. Other outfits like the Gujarat Janta Panchayat Party, Rashtriya Jankranti Party are also in the fray with their candidates filling nominations for two seats each.
(Source: PTI)
4. Key Conspirator in LRD Paper Leak Case Arrested from Delhi
On Saturday, 6 April, during a joint operation conducted by Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Gujarat, Ahmedabad crime branch and Delhi police arrested the main conspirator and leader in the LRD paper leak case, Virendra Mathur from Rohini area of Delhi.
During the interrogation, the accused revealed that he was provided with a solved paper of the LRD exam two days prior to the examination. In exchange he was to pay Rs 1 crore to Vinay Arora and Vinod Chikkara, both arrested by crime branch.
Further investigation revealed that Virendra contacted Monu from Gujarat, who with the help of his associate made arrangements for the students from Gujarat to travel to Delhi.
(Source: DNA Ahmedabad)
5. Single-Use Plastic Ban Likely from May
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) had earlier announcd the ban on plastic products below 50-micron thickness in the city. A blanket ban was introduced on the usage, manufacturing and selling on water pouches, bags and plastic cups.
Now, as per the resolution of the United Nations, the civic body will ban the single-use plastic items in civic body's jurisdiction from May 2019 onwards.
The civic officials are meeting with people from food business and other eatery operators asking them to stop using the single-use plastic items like spoons, forks, plates etc.
"Other than this, we have asked the food business operators to reduce the usage of plastic for the food parcel. A huge amount of plastic is dumped daily because of lucrative packaging of food parcels. We have asked them to find an alternative," said a senior AMC official.
(Source: DNA Ahmedabad)
6. Gujarat High Court Acquits Rape Convict, Orders Him to Pay Rs 5 Lakh for Child
The Gujarat High Court acquitted a man convicted for rape and sentenced to life by sessions court in Godhra. The division bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice AC Rao stated that the physical intimacy between the accused and victim was with the latter's consent and she was not lured by giving any false promise of marriage.
While ordering the man's release from jail, the division bench, however, made it clear that he should deposit Rs 5 lakh before the trial court which should be kept in a fixed deposit in the name of the child born out of the physical intimacy between the accused and victim.
It ordered that the amount should be paid to him once he attains 18 years of age, while the interest accrued on the principal should be paid to the woman. Notably, the man had moved the high court against his conviction and sentence awarded by the sessions court on 18 July 2016.
(Source: DNA Ahmedabad)
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