1. 3 Held for Possessing Drugs Worth Rs 61 Lakh
The Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested three persons, including a catering staff employed with the Indian Railways, for possessing cocaine and Mephedrone drugs worth Rs 61 lakh in Kalupur area of Ahmedabad on Saturday night.
According to police, the accused were nabbed near Moti Mahal hotel in Kalupur area of Ahmedabad on Saturday night, (16 November) when they were smuggling the contraband drugs in exchange of cash. The accused are Ramesh Rathod (49), a native of Mumbai in Maharashtra, Azharuddin Sheikh (32), a resident of Karanj in Ahmedabad and Arbaz Qureshi (20), also a native of Karanj.
Among the three, Rathod has been a waiter on contractual basis with the catering department of Indian Railways for the past 25 years. Recently, Rathod was employed as a waiter in Shatabdi Express and police believe that he procured the drugs from a Mumbai-based dealer and used the Shatabdi train route to bring it to Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. 11 Leopards Trapped in 3 Weeks
Eleven leopards have been captured over three weeks in Gujarat's Junagadh and Amreli districts on suspicion that they are responsible for the deaths of eight people there since April this year, a senior forest department official said on Sunday, 17 November.
The latest among the 11 was a female leopard which was trapped on Saturday night from the farm of one Kurjibhai Kyada in Manekvada village in Amreli, Chief Conservator of Forests, Junagadh Wildlife Circle, Dushyant Vasavada said.
A leopard was held from Lunghiya village in Amreli on 13 November and another in Shivthali village in Junagadh the next day, over 300 kilometres from here, the official said.
"These leopards have been captured in the region around Visavadar taluka of Junagadh, and Dhari and Bagasara talukas of adjourning Amreli, from where eight deaths have been reported due to leopard attacks since April this year," Vasavada said.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. Four-Month-Old Infant Girl Dies On board Surat-Mumbai Flight
A four-month-old infant girl onboard a SpiceJet flight from Surat to Mumbai on Friday morning (15 November) fell unconscious and was later declared dead. The cause of death is not yet known.
Preeti Jindal boarded the flight with her infant daughter Riya Jindal and the child’s grandparents, all residents of Surat, on Friday morning. The flight departed at 7.50 am.
Riya was asleep throughout the flight. When the flight landed in Mumbai at 9.50 am, Preeti tried to wake up her daughter but she did not respond. Flight crew informed Mumbai Airport Traffic Control and Medical assistance Services were called, Sahar Police officials said.
The infant was rushed to a private hospital but she did not respond to cardiopulmonary resuscitation. She was shifted to Dr RN Cooper Municipal General hospital, but was declared dead on arrival.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Residents Revisit Bharuch Through Heritage Walks
Around 15 people across all age group and walks of life took a tour of Bharuch as part of a heritage walk organised by the Heritage Trust of Vadodara on Sunday, 17 November. The walk was part of the 10-day-long People’s Heritage Festival being celebrated by the trust to celebrate the 508th anniversary of Vadodara.
Considered a major port city almost 2,000 years ago, Bharuch boasts of major Parsi, Dutch and Mughal architectural monuments which were revived only a year ago after the district administration formed the District Tourism Development Society in October 2018 that initiated weekly heritage walks thereafter.
“We have been organising such walks and this year we chose Bharuch which has been an important port and has its own historical importance. Besides, it is also close to Vadodara. We are developing these walks to help the residents connect with the history of the cities. If more people were to be exposed to such walks, it will be conservation in itself,” said Jaideep Verma, secretary, Heritage Trust Vadodara, who was also a part of the walk.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Work on Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Metro II to Begin in June 2020
Construction for the phase II of the Metro rail project between Motera in Ahmedabad and Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, covering a distance of 28.2-km, is expected to begin in June 2020 and get over by March 2024, officials said on Sunday.
The Union Cabinet had in February this year approved phase II of the project connecting the twin cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Sunday chaired a meeting to know the progress of the metro rail project.
During the meeting, Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) Managing Director, S S Rathod, informed him that tenders for extending the metro rail from Motera till Mahatma Mandir will be floated soon, a release issued by the state government said.
(Source: PTI)
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