1. Post Office, Banks Partially Hit by Strike
PSU banks and post offices were partially hit across Gujarat on Tuesday, 8 January – the first day of the two-day strike – called by Central Trade Unions against the central government’s alleged anti-worker policies. According to a trade union leader over 10 lakh employees across Gujarat joined the strike which was quite unprecedented.
Protest marches were held in major cities across the state. According to the general secretary of Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU), a large number of industrial workers including those working in Anganwadis and community health (ASHA) also joined the strike along with employees from nationalised banks, insurance companies and post offices.
In Ahmedabad around 3,000 protestors marched from Victoria Garden to the office of the Labour Commissioner, where they submitted a memorandum of demands.
(Source: Ahmedabad Mirror)
2. Guj: Lioness Drowns in Open Well in Gir Forest
A lioness drowned in an open well in Gujarat's Gir-Somnath district, Forest department officials said Tuesday.
The incident took place in Pandva village, around 40 kilometres away from the outer limits of the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, in Veraval taluka and the carcass of the lioness was retrieved Tuesday and sent for post mortem, said Deputy Conservator of Forest Junagadh Division Sunil Berwal.
Berwal said the bloated condition of the carcass suggests it may have fallen into the well a day prior. He ruled out foul play and said it was possible that the lioness fell into the open well while chasing prey.
(Source: PTI )
3. Gujarat High Court Grants Temporary Bail to DPIL's Sumit Bhatnagar
The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday granted conditional bail to Sumit Bhatnagar of Diamond Power Infrastructure Limited (DPIL) for the period between 12 and 26 January offering him a temporary relief.
Bhatnagar is behind bars in the Rs 2,654 crore bank fraud case. The temporary bail was granted to Sumit after he approached the court for the same on the ground of providing parental care to his dyslexic daughter, who is supposed to appear for the class 10 board examination.
A single judge bench headed by Justice Sonia Gokani granted the temporary bail on the condition that the movement of Sumit during the above tenure will be limited between his home and his daughter's school, and to a medical practitioner, if required.
The CBI officer in probing the case opposed the temporary bail plea on the ground that it is yet to record the statement of several witnesses in the case and Sumit might tamper with evidence, if released from jail.
(Source: DNA Ahmedabad)
4. IIM-A Calls 1,220 for Test, Interview
Following the footsteps of Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) who recently announced the Common Aptitude Test (CAT) results for 2018, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) issued call letters to short listed candidates for second round of admission.
The candidates have been called for analytical writing test and personal interview. The second round will see 1,220 candidates of which 1,214 candidates were shortlisted based on their CAT scores and six students based on their GMAT scores.
The IIM-A is focused on diversity in campus this year and has invited candidates from varied fields. According to IIM-A officials for the 2019 PGP and FABM Batch, 157 candidates scored 90 percentile or below, and got calls for the second round.
(Source: Ahmedabad Mirror)
5. Gujarat Cong Goes Hyperlocal, to Hold Jan-Sampark Rallies
Keeping the upcoming General Elections in mind, the Gujarat Congress has made plan to woo urban and rural voters by organising separate jan-sampark yatras (public-connect rallies). According to sources in the Congress, these rallies will start from 20 January.
The decision was taken after a report was tabled on the ground reality of Gujarat’s electorate in all 26 Lok Sabha seats and showed that issues faced by urban and rural populations are vastly different. Gujarat Congress President Amit Chavda has left for Delhi to discuss the plans with the top brass.
The rural belt is deeply concerned about stagnating agricultural output and unemployment, while the urban belt is about lack of basic infrastructure, expensive housing and education, and the after effects of GST and demonetisation.
(Source: Ahmedabad Mirror)
6. Malls And Shops to Remain Open 24x7 in City
In a first for Ahmedabad, malls, shops and street bazars in the city will remain open 24 hours a day from 17 January to 28 January, as part of the Vibrant Gujarat Amdavad Shopping Festival.
The state government has issued a directive to the police department permitting shops, malls and bazars to remain open all day and all night during the shopping festival.
According to Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation will permit those vendors who wishes to run their shops till midnight or through the night under the Shops and Establishment Act.
AMC has asked shops and vendors to submit their plans to the AMC so that the civic body can make necessary arrangements.
(Source: Times of India)
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