1. Naroda Gam Case: Court Allows Kodnani To Go Out of Gujarat for 6 Months
A special SIT court allowed former Gujarat minister Mayaben Kodnani, an accused in the 2002 Naroda Gam riot case, to travel go out of Gujarat for six months. Kodnani had filed an application in the court seeking modification of her bail condition.
SIT officials said that Kodnani had sought relief, saying that she needs to travel out of Gujarat several times, and hence her bail condition should be modified. The SIT, however, opposed the plea arguing that she could go for a particular time only after informing the court.
The court of special judge M K Dave partially allowed the bail modification application and permitted Kodnani to go outside Gujarat for six months. Kodnani was granted bail in the case by a sessions court in May 2009, a few weeks after her arrest in the case. Among the conditions imposed by the court at the time was that she could not go out of Gujarat.
(Source: Indian Express)
2. Modi to Meet Heads of Global Wealth Funds at Vibrant Gujarat
To woo investments for various infrastructure projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks with the heads of over two dozen global wealth funds during the forthcoming Vibrant Gujarat summit, said officials Monday.
Modi will have a roundtable with heads of some global sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and institutional investors on the inaugural day of the three-day summit on January 18, said additional chief secretary at the finance department Arvind Agarwal.
These global funds own and manage assets worth trillions of dollars and these funds invest heavily in large infra projects, he said.
Some of the funds which have confirmed participation include the Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan, International Finance Corporation, Japanese Bank for International Cooperation, Vanguard, and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, among others.
( Source PTI )
3. 50% Judges’ Posts Vacant in Gujarat High Court, More Vacancies Likely Ahead
The Gujarat High Court is grappling with an acute shortage of judges, with the situation going from bad to worse each passing month, at a time when growing pendency of cases has become a major challenge for the judiciary.
The high court has a sanctioned strength of 52 judges, out of that, only 27 judges are present-a judicial vacancy of 48 per cent, with a staggering 1.14 lakh cases pending.
Although the high court got four new judges last year, albeit former chief justice R Subhash Reddy was elevated to the Supreme Court, followed by the transfer of the senior-most judge Akil Kureshi to the Bombay High Court, and the retirement of Justice RH Shukla and Justice Mohinder Pal in December.
(Source: DNA Ahmedabad)
4. Gujarat: Tuition Teacher Molests Girls, Parents Go on Rampage
A sexual harassment case was registered on Monday against a tuition teacher in the Isanpur area of Ahmedabad, after parents of three minor victims vadalised the tuition premises.
According to the police, one of the three minor girls was molested by the tuition teacher, identified as Hitesh Patel (29), around two days ago. When she shared her ordeal with friends, the girl found that two more girls were molested by Patel similarly. Patel is a resident of Vatva GIDC and runs Umiya classes in Isanpur area.
On Monday the girls narrated the incident to their parents. At 4.30 pm parents of the three minors gathered outside the tuition and started protesting the tuition centre. After a while, when the parents realised that Patel was not present at the tuition, they started vandalising the property.
(Source: DNA Ahmedabad)
5. In Dangs School, 3 Students Claim to Be ‘Possessed’, Leaves Many Baffled, Others Believe
Three class VII students of a government primary school at Ambapada village in Dang district created a ruckus on Saturday when they reportedly began to shake and started chanting and crawling on the floor of the prayer hall of the school.
When teachers failed to calm them, the incident was reported to District Primary Education Officer S L Pawar who dispatched District Health Officer Dr Megha Mehta to the school.
Child psychiatrist Dr Ankit Rathod, had accompanied the health officer; the teenagers told him that a local deity ‘Dungar Dev’ — hailed as lord of the hills by the tribals — was ‘upset’. According to the trio, a particular stone was buried on the school premises, and once it was removed, they would be fine.
When questioned jointly and separately, their statements remained same. Moreover, the stone has to removed by an exorcist. The teenagers’ parents were told to bring their children to Ahwa Civil Hospital for further treatment.
(Source: Indian Express)
6. To Meet Rajkot City’s Water Demand, Narmada Water Reaches Aji-I Dam
Rajkot mayor and other local BJP leaders visited Aji dam and formally welcomed the Narmada water to the local reservoir on Monday, a day after Narmada water pumped from Dholidhaja dam through a SAUNI pipeline reached Aji-I dam.
This is the second time in three months that Narmada water is being pumped in the Aji-I dam for meeting drinking water needs of the city. The state irrigation department had started pumping water from Dholidhaja dam in Surendranagar to Aji-I dam via link-III of SAUNI (Saurashtra Narmada Avataran Irrigation) Yojana from the beginning of this month.
The irrigation department had pumped 450 mcft water into the Aji-dam in October and November as the water level was very low following very little rainfall in its catchment area. Aji-I is the single largest local source of water for Rajkot.
(Source: Indian Express)
7. Leopard Captured After Spate of Attacks in Jetpur
Forest Department officials on Monday captured the leopard which is believed to have been involved in separate attacks on four people across Pavi Jetpur range in Chhota Udepur district.
The leopard had attacked a farmer in Bandi village, leaving him severely injured, on Saturday night. Forest officials intensified their search, following this attack on Ramsing Rathwa, who belongs to Zab village of Pavi Jetpur taluka making it the fourth attack in four days.
The Forest Department officials had set up eight cages in the leopard’s territory, but failed to capture the animal. On Monday, the leopard was finally spotted hiding in a farm and then tranquilised. During the operation, a forester, Vishnu Rathwa, was attacked by the leopard, injuring his hand severely, officials said.
(Source: Indian Express)
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