1. Gujarat CM Clears 7 Town Planning Schemes for Rapid Urban Development
After clearing over 100 Town Planning Schemes (TPS) for rapid and vertical development in urban areas of the state in year 2018, in the beginning of new year 2019 Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday, 15 January, sanctioned as many as seven new TPS, including five in Ahmedabad.
The five TPS schemes cleared for Ahmedabad city are: 454 (Hanshpura), 505 (Kathwada), 243 (Ranasan-Muthiya-Chiloda), 416/A Vastral and 117 (Kathwada). These five TPS would make planned developments over 750 hectares of lands. It is estimated that approximately developmental works worth of Rs. 1,000-crore would be made on these five TPS.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Two Dead, 9 Injured in a Road Accident near Bavla
A complaint was lodged with the Changodhar police station on Tuesday morning, 15 January, after two people died in a road accident on the Ahmedabad-Rajkot highway near Bavla.
Nine people were also injured in the pile up that involved three cars. They were rushed to Sola civil hospital for treatment.
The incident took place around 7 am, when one of the car drivers, travelling from Ahmedabad to Bavla side, lost control after a tyre burst.
(Source: DNA)
3. NIA Files Charge Sheet in Fake Currency Case
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday, 15 January, filed a charge sheet before a special court in Ahmedabad in connection with a fake Indian currency notes racket (FICN) being run in Gujarat.
NIA spokesperson said the charge sheet was filed against two accused, Sanjay Kumar Mohanbhai Devadiya alias Devaliya and Sureshbhai Mavajibhai Lathidadiya alias Guruji alias Chakor, who have been booked under various sections of the IPC.
The Gujarat anti-terrorist squad (ATS) had intercepted Devadiya, a resident of Junagadh, with fake Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes. The total face value of the FICN was Rs 1.52 lakh.
(Source: The Times of India)
4. Four Cheated to the Tune of Rs 2 Lakh on OLX
The Vimantal and Sahakar Nagar police stations on Monday, 14 January, recorded separate cases against unidentified touts who swindled over Rs 2 lakh from four people, promising to sell them automobiles and gadgets through advertisements on e-commerce websites.
Interestingly, three of them were duped by a man claiming to be a CISF jawan working at the Pune International Airport. As per a complaint registered by Manas Srivastava, a student in the city, he was scouting OLX to buy a scooter when he saw the ad of a white Honda Activa for sale.
(Source: Ahmedabad Mirror)
5. Gujarat Metro Train Safety Inspection by 18 February
The officials of Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) under the Ministry of Railways of India will be arriving in Gujarat on 18 February and the first trial run of the metro train on the tracks will be carried out in presence of RDSO.
The officials of RDSO will be campaigning in Ahmedabad before they certify that the train is fit for commercial run.
The first train set of Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC), which arrived on 1 January 2019, is undergoing various checks and trials. The second train set is expected to arrive in Ahmedabad by 7 February after which tests and trials will be conducted on that as well.
(Source: The Times of India)
6. Killer Manja Claims 3 Lives
Uttarayan festivities turned into tragedy for the families of an eight-year-old child in Mehsana, a 45-year-old man in Dholka and another in Anand after they were fatally injured by kite thread.
Sources revealed that the child in Mehsana was riding a cycle when his throat got slit by a wayward manja. The same happened to the Dholka man who was riding his motorcycle. He is believed to have died on the spot. Naranpura PI JR Patel said, "An elderly person on his two-wheeler while trying to avoid a kite string, fell, sustained head injuries and died later."
(Source: Ahmedabad Mirror)
7. Modasa Muslims Grounded as Group Says Flying Kites 'Un-Islamic'
Instead of the usual revelry on Uttarayan, a curfew of sorts seemed to have been imposed on terraces in the Muslim areas of Modasa town, 120 km north of Ahmedabad, on Monday, 14 January — when people were made to abstain from flying kites.
Muslims have a strong presence in Modasa town, accounting for nearly 50 percent of its population. On the kite flying day, terraces and rooftops were deserted in areas such as Kasba, Vahorvad, and Ghanichivad.
A religious outfit had been campaigning for a year urging members of the Muslim community to stay away from any kind of revelry.
(Source: The Times of India)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)