1. Starbucks Enters State, Set to Open a Lot More Cafes in India This Year
Seattle-based coffee chain Starbucks will open well over 30 outlets in the country in the current financial year, making it the largest number of store additions by the coffee chain in a year since it opened its first outlet in the country in Mumbai in 2012, said a top executive at the company.
On Wednesday the chain also announced its entry in the western state of Gujarat where it simultaneously opened five stores in the cities of Surat and Ahmedabad. Starbucks now has 157 outlets in 10 cities including Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru, among others.
The Starbucks flagship store in Ahmedabad is located in Prahlad Nagar and will offer customers more vegetarian food options. Starbucks that operates in the market through a 50:50 joint venture with Tata Global Beverages opened its first store in India in October of 2012.
(Source: Livemint)
2. Jilted Lover Stabs Girl in Broad Daylight at Chandlodia
On Wednesday evening, (7 August) a 20-year-old girl was stabbed by her ex-boyfriend on a busy road in Chandlodia, after she refused to patch up with him. Regarding the matter a complaint was lodged with the Sola police station and the accused has been arrested.
The incident took place at around 7.30 pm on a road near Chandlodia bridge. The accused identified as Mihir Chaudary, a resident of Kedar Apartment was in a relationship with the victim Nidhi Panchal around a year back. A couple of months back, they got broke-up. Later, Chaudhary started harassing her and tried to force her into the relationship.
On Wednesday evening, when Chaudary approached Nidhi who was alone in her the house. On being rejected, he stabbed her.
(Source: DNA)
3. High Court Quashes FIRs Against Teesta Setalvad Over Twitter Post
In a major relief to social activist Teesta Setalvad, the Gujarat High Court on Wednesday, 7 August, quashed two FIRs registered against her in August 2014 for uploading objectionable images of Hindu deities on Twitter. The relief came from the single-judge bench of Justice AS Supehia.
While the first FIR was registered in Ahmedabad's Ghatlodia police station by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activist Raju Patel, the second FIR was registered by another VHP leader Kirit Mistry at C Division police station in Bhavnagar. In the FIRs, she was charged with offences under the Information Technology Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153(a) for promoting enmity between two religious groups and section 295(a) for outraging religious feelings.
Counsel for the activist advocate MM Tirmizi had argued before the court that the objectionable images uploaded by Setalvad were temporary in nature and were deleted within 15 minutes.
(Source: DNA)
4. Congress Spent Nearly Rs 80 Lakh on MLAs’ Stay at Resorts Ahead of 2017 Rs Polls: HC
Former Gujarat Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki told the high court on Wednesday, 7 August, that the party's state unit had spent nearly Rs 80 lakh on the stay of its MLAs at resorts in Bengaluru and Anand ahead of the 2017 Rajya Sabha polls.
On 29 July 2017, the Gujarat Congress had sent 44 of its MLAs to Bengaluru to fend off "poaching" attempts by the BJP, ahead of the 8 August Rajya Sabha polls.
After staying at the Bengaluru resort, the Congress legislators returned to Ahmedabad, from where they were taken to one Nijanand Resort in Anand, Solanki told the court.
Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel had defeated BJP candidate Balvantsinh Rajput in the Rajya Sabha polls. Rajput challenged Patel's victory in the Gujarat High Court.
(Source: Business Standard)
5. Dholka Polls: High Court Defers Decision to Produce Postal Ballots
The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday, 7 August, has decided not to take a call for the time being on the plea filed by Congress leader Ashwin Rathod seeking the court's direction to authorities to produce certain EVMs and all postal ballots of the controversial Dholka Assembly election.
Rathod has challenged the Assembly poll victory of education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama from the Dholka constituency. Chudasama had won the election by a wafer-thin margin of 327 votes, that too after the returning officer Dhaval Jani mysteriously rejected 429 votes through postal ballots – a number greater than the winning margin.
The single-judge bench of Justice Paresh Upadhyay in an order passed on Wednesday said: "Consideration of the petition needs to be deferred for the time being. This is without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the petitioner (Rathod)".
(Source: DNA)
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