QAhmedabad: Amit Shah to Visit; Heavy Rain Likely in North Gujarat

Here is your round-up of the top stories from Ahmedabad.

1. State BJP Gears up for Shah’s Maiden Visit After Abrogation of Article 370

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be arriving in his home state Gujarat on Wednesday, 28 August, for the first time after the union government scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and made the state a union territory.

Bharatiya Janata Party state leaders and supporters are expected to give a grand welcome to Shah, as he is expected to arrive at the Ahmedabad airport after 10 pm on Wednesday.

While Shah will be present in Ahmedabad on Thursday for three programs, his visit will also provide an opportunity to the BJP to gather support in the state, in favour of the abrogation of Article 370.

Incidentally,political pundits credit Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah for policy-making regarding Kashmir. The top brass of BJP will be laying the pitch down on the duo’s home turf, in order to garner maximum support.

(Source: The Indian Express)

2. Heavy Showers Likely in North Gujarat, Says IMD

Days after incessant rain, the weather department in its prediction on Tuesday, 27 August, said the northern districts of the state are likely to receive heavy rains till Thursday. The rainfall bearing system is also likely to bring heavy rains in Kutch on Friday, 30 August. Although the widespread rains are predicted across the state, heavy showers lashed many parts of the state already, including 166 talukas on Tuesday.

"Heavy to very heavy rains very likely at isolated places heavy falls in the districts of North Gujarat districts of Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Aravalli. Heavy rains very likely at isolated places in the districts of Gandhinagar, Kheda, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Panchmahal, Dahod, Mahisagar, Surat, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Amreli and Bhavnagar," said a forecast up to the morning of Thursday of India Meteorological Department (IMD).

(Source: DNA)

3. British High Commissioner Says India’s Perception in UK Is Not One-Dimensional

Stating that United Kingdom’s stand on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has remained unchanged over the years, Sir Dominic Asquith, British High Commissioner to India, while visiting Ahmedabad on Tuesday, 27 August, said that India’s perception in the United Kingdom is not “one dimensional”.

“Our position has not changed one degree. The question of Kashmir has to be sorted out bilaterally between the Indian government and the Pakistani government, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people,” said the diplomat, who on Monday, 26 August met Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani at Gandhinagar.

When asked if the recent protests outside the Indian High Commission in London have changed the perception of India in UK, Asquith said, “The Indian government has made it clear what its objective is and included in that is the economic and human development of Kashmir. We welcome and look forward to it being developed and delivered. The perception of India in the UK is not one dimensional. It is not about Kashmir.” He said that the “texture of relationship” between UK and India “was more thick” and had a “wider spectrum”, despite India having deeper relations with US, Israel, France or Germany, “on specific issues”.

(Source: The Indian Express)

4. Cancel Ultratech Licence, Farmers' Body Urges MoEF

Gujarat Khedut Ekta Samiti, a farmers' organization in the state, has urged Central Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to cancel the license given to Ultratech for mining of limestone in Bhavnagar district.

The organisation argued that the project will result in job-losses; disproportionate to new jobs generated, harm the ecology including Asiatic Lions and will adversely affect dehydration plants for onions and garlic.

It warned, if the department fails to pay heed to the farmers' concern, the organisation will be forced to take a legal course or even start a popular resistance to stop the mining and the government will be responsible for consequences.

Sagar Rabari, founder president of the Samiti In the letter said that the permission to the mining project has been given despite opposition of locals. It questioned the claims, the company had made in the Environment Impact Assessment, whose report it had submitted to the government. An upcoming project to be installed at Talaja in Bhavnagar distrct.

(Source: DNA)

5. SMC Releases Guppy Fish to Control Mosquito Breeding

In an attempt to control the breeding of larvae of mosquitoes that cause dengue and malaria in the city, the Surat Municipal Corporation Tuesday, 27 August, released thousands of guppy fish in ponds, ditches, sewers and areas where rain left water stagnant. The civic body started the drive a week ago.

Surat city has been getting moderate to heavy rainfall for the past few weeks. As a result, many areas are witnessing waterlogging. The SMC has already sprayed insecticides and guppy fish will be another way of dealing with the issue of breeding of mosquitoes, an official said.

Sources said that the SMC has 49 hatchery sites for guppy fish where these are stocked.

Surat Municipal Corporation’s Deputy Health Commissioner Ashish Naik said, “Guppy fish eat larvae. They are released in ponds and ditches and other places where rainwater gets collected. This is an attempt to control the breeding of larvae of dengue and malaria-causing mosquitoes in the city.”

(Source: The Indian Express)