1. ‘Gaganyaan Likely to Land Off Gujarat Coast Near Veraval’
The splashdown (planned descent of spacecraft crew capsule) for India’s ambitious Gaganyaan mission will likely be off Gujarat coast near Veraval.
“....We are going to put two or three persons in space before 15 August 2022, our 75th year of Independence. They will be in orbit for five to seven days and will land on Gujarat coast near Veraval,” said Nilesh Desai, deputy director of the Space Applications Centre (SAC) at ISRO in Ahmedabad on Sunday, 20 January.
Desai said two other alternative spots being considered for the splashdown are off Goa coast and in the Bay of Bengal. “...In case of any emergency, we can evacuate them in 90 to 100 minutes in any part of the world. This is how we are showcasing our talent to the world,” he said.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Over 28,300 MOUs Signed, Vibrant Gujarat Ends on a New High
Curtains came down on the ninth edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, with the signing of a record-breaking 28,360 Memorandum of Understandings. However, for the second straight year, the government did not disclose the size of the proposed investments.
Almost 3,000 more MoUs were signed during the three-day summit as compared to the previous year, when 25,578 MoUs were executed.
Vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu, who began his address in Gujarati, lauded the entrepreneurial spirit and trading skills of Gujaratis, and said the state had emerged as a shining example of inclusive progress and prosperity.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2019 has not only resulted in a new branding for Gujarat, but also in the state's bonding with the world.
(Source: DNA)
3. E-Buses With Battery Swap Tech to Run in the City
‘Circuit-S’ – that’s the name of the new electric air-conditioned city bus to be made operational for Ahmedabad BRT and subsequently for AMTS.
It will be the country’s first electric bus with a ‘battery swap’ technology – which means that after a 35km circular route run of ‘RTO to RTO’ on a single charge, the electric bus will make a ‘pit stop’ at Ranip depot where a robotic arm will swap the batteries in 120 seconds and put new batteries in place.
"By April end we plan to put in place 50 electric buses, of which 18 will be enabled with battery swap and rest will be enabled with a fast charging mechanism called ‘circuit-F’. By this yea-rend we plan to put 350 electric buses, both in the ‘S’ and ‘F’ versions in Ahmedabad’s public transportation network,” said municipal commissioner Vijay Nehra.
(Source: The Times of India)
4. Don’t Make Degrees Farcical: Gujarat High Court to Universities
Every university must maintain high educational standards and they must not make their degrees farcical, observed Gujarat high court and refused to direct a university to grant affiliation to a nursing college, which has certain deficiencies in infrastructure and faculty staff.
The High Court upheld Sardar Patel University’s decision to not renew the affiliation of Vinayaka College of Nursing in Nadiad and observed, “No college can claim affiliation as of right. It is only for the university in its discretion to grant affiliation or not. This court cannot arrogate to itself the powers to grant affiliation, nor can it direct the university to grant affiliation.”
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Fake Cops Cheat Man Near Vastrapur Police Station
When the city police were ensuring security and safety to ‘VVIPs’, two fake cops cheated a man just 700-metres away from Vastrapur police station on Sunday morning, 20 January, and decamped with his ornaments worth Rs 38,000 by hoodwinking.
Two persons, impersonating as cops, started stopping vehicles at Surdhara circle and checked commuters in garb of security checking ahead of Republic Day on 26 January. They even showed their identity-card issued by Gujarat police.
(Source: The Times of India)
6. Man Kills Wife, Injures Minor Sons, Then Commits Suicide
A 35-year-old man allegedly killed his wife and injured his two sons with an axe in Vadodara district and then committed suicide by jumping in front of a train, police said on Sunday, 20 January.
The incident happened in the early hours of Saturday on a street in Miyagam village in Karjan tehsil, an official said.
"Balwant Raypalsinh Sindha first attacked his wife Daksha (32) with an axe and then his sons Ajay (12) and Chetan (10), grievously injuring all three. The children had intervened to save their mother. She was declared dead on arrival by medical authorities," Sub Inspector R G Desai of Miyagam police station said.
(Source: PTI)
7. Stay Away From Flower Show, AMC Tweets
The chaos due to overcrowding and traffic congestion during the flower show on Sunday, 20 January, was so much that the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation was forced to issue an advisory to the public to avoid visiting the place.
Alongside the flower show, the riverfront is also hosting the first-ever Ahmedabad Shopping Festival. The combined traffic of both the events left the road chock-a-block on Sunday.
To ease the situations, the AMC tweeted an advisory in the afternoon. It read: "You are advised NOT to visit #FlowerShow today due to overcrowding and traffic congestion on Riverfront. The days will be extended if required so that you don't miss a chance to visit it".
(Source: Ahmedabad Mirror)
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