1. 40 More Held for Rioting at Surat Rally, in Judicial Custody
Surat police arrested 40 people in a rioting case and sent them to judicial custody on Tuesday, 9 July. The arrests pertain to the violence that broke out during a rally held in protest against a lynching in Jharkhand. The total number of people arrested is now 49 people, and includes some Congress party leaders.
The police had originally filed a complaint against 4,000 people, as several people in the rally clashed with police, allegedly injuring some policemen, when their rally was halted midway.
Congress leaders appealed to Surat police Commissioner Satish Sharma to ensure that only those spotted on CCTV footage committing violence should be arrested, and not innocent people.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Defamation Suits: Two Courts in Ahmedabad Serve Summons to Rahul Gandhi in Separate Cases
An Ahmedabad metropolitan court and a Surat district court on Tuesday issued two separate summons to Congress Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi in two defamation suits filed against him.
The Ahmedabad court summons, which was originally for 9 July, was reissued Tuesday as Gandhi was not served the summons. Now, he has been asked to appear before it on 9 August in connection with a suit filed against him for calling BJP chief Amit Shah a “murder accused”.
Meanwhile, the Surat court has asked Gandhi to be present himself on 16 July over a complaint that he defamed the Modi community when he compared Prime Minister Modi to economic offenders Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi, and asked, in a public meeting in Karnataka in April, “Why all chors (thieves) have the surname Modi”.
(Source: Indian Express)
3. Varsity Peon Clears PhD Entrance Test, Aims to Become a Professor
A 35-year-old tribal youth, working as peon in Veer Narmad South Gujarat University (VNSGU) on contractual basis, is all set to join for PhD in the same university and wants to become a professor.
Arun Valvi cleared the entrance test for PhD held in June 2019, scoring 110 marks out of 200, the results of which came out a week ago. A resident of Bhiljamoli village in Nizar taluka of Tapi district, Arun has been working as a peon with the Vice-Chancellor’s office for the past four years.
Son of farm labourers Bhamsinh Valvi and Tarunaben Vasava, both illiterate, Arun completed his BA in Gujarati from Uchhal College of VNSGU with 65 percent marks and later passed MA with 68 percent from Veer Narmad South Gujarat university (VNSGU) in Surat. After completing MA, he joined VNSGU as a peon on contractual basis and has been posted at the Vice-Chancellor’s office.
(Source: Indian Express)
4. Illegal Mining Case: Disqualified Congress MLA Bhaga Barad Moves Gujarat HC Seeking Stay on Conviction
Disqualified Congress MLA Bhaga Barad on Tuesday moved the Gujarat High Court for the second time in a fortnight challenging a Veraval sessions court's repeated refusal to stay his conviction in a mineral theft case.
Barad was convicted by a magisterial court in Sutrapada on 1 March against which he had appealed before the sessions court thrice so far – once successfully and twice unsuccessfully.
The High Court had remanded the matter back to the Veraval court on 26 June for not passing a reasoned order while rejecting Barad's plea on 24 April . However, the Veraval court on 3 July once again rejected Barad's appeal for stay on his conviction while passing a 14-page reasoned order.
(Source: DNA)
5. Why Rs 48,000 Cr Disparity in Gujarat Debt, Asks Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani
Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani questioned the discrepancy in public debt for the state viz-a-viz the same given by the Reserve Bank Of India in its report 'The State Finances, A Study of Budget 2017'.
Dhanani during a discussion in the assembly said that the government during the budget said that the public debt of the state for the year 2016-2017 was Rs 1,99,338 crore while the RBI pegs it at Rs 2,48,000 crore in its report.
"The state needs to explain why is there a difference of close to Rs 48,000 crore in the debt projected by the state and the RBI," said Dhanani.
He further added that the RBI had projected the public debt for the state in 2018 to be around 3,18,000 crore.
(Source: DNA)
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