1. World Bank President Visits Statue of Unity in Gujarat
World Bank president David Malpass on Sunday, 27 October visited the Statue of Unity in Narmada district of Gujarat.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani accompanied Malpass to the world's tallest statue, dedicated to the country's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, from Kevadiya after he reached Vadodara.
Malpass is scheduled to address probationers of civil services on October 28 on the topic of "capacity building for civil servants" at the Tent City in Kevadiya near the statue.
Around 450 IAS probationers are participating in the foundation course of the Centre's Department of Personnel and Training at the Tent City. I will encourage probationers and discuss with them additional ways to develop India, an official release quoted Malpass as saying.
(Source: Times of India)
2. Minor Among Three Dead in Kutch Hit-And-Run
Three persons including a minor boy died in a hit-and-run, when a speeding unidentified vehicle mowed down a motorcycle on which the victims were travelling, on Sunday morning (27 October) in Bhachau taluka of Kutch.
According to police, three persons were travelling on a motorcycle on National Highway 41 (NH 41) from Rapar Taluka to Bhachau Taluka in Kutch, around 2:30 am.
“The victims were travelling from Rapar to Bhachau when they reached an overbridge near Ramdev Peer temple on the NH 41 stretch and a speeding vehicle mowed the bike from behind. The victims were thrown in the air from the impact. By the time a police team reached the spot, all three were dead. The number plate or description of the speeding vehicle is unknown and the accused fled from the spot,” said an officer posted at Bhachau police station.
(Source: Indian Express)
3. Pirana Records Poorest Air Quality Index in Ahmedabad
A day after fire broke out on a heap of garbage at the city’s waste dump in Pirana area of Ahmedabad, the air quality monitoring station at Pirana listed it as the most polluted area of the city, on Diwali on Sunday, 27 October.
On Saturday (26 October) around 8 pm, residents of Pirana noticed huge flames at a heap of garbage in the dump yard. Upon receiving the complaint, authorities of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and Fire Brigade rushed to the spot to douse the fire and find out whether the flames were man-made and involved mischievous elements.
“We have stationed a fire tender vehicle since last night which has been continuously pouring water on the heap. While the flames have been controlled, the garbage is still burning from the inside, due to which smoke is still being emitted. It is difficult to make the water reach the fire burning inside the garbage and impossible to physically reach it. We have not found out yet if the fire was man-made,” said an official posted at Aslali Fire Brigade in Ahmedabad.
(Source: Indian Express)
4. Rajkot: 1 November Meet to Discuss Water-Supply Deal
Amid protests by farmers against reserving waters of Bhadar dam for drinking water supply for Rajkot city and a few other villages, Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) wants to renew its contract with irrigation department to draw 40 million litres per day (MLD). Civic officers are set to meet officers of the irrigation department in this regard on 1 November.
Farmers of Jetpur, Dhoraji and Upleta have raised their voice against reserving water for drinking purpose for Rajkot city every year. They sat on a dharna, sang Ram dhun and played garba in an empty stretch of the main irrigation canal of Bhadar dam, near Jetpur town on 11 October. A few of them were detained by police. Later on, the farmers submitted a memorandum to Jaydeep Patel, deputy engineer of Jetpur sub-division of Rajkot irrigation circle.
In the memorandum, the farmers demanded that the agreement the irrigation department signed with RMC in 1989, which expired on 16 June this year, should not be renewed.
(Source: Indian Express)
5. Water-Logging Pushes Rann Utsav by Five Weeks, Will Open on 1 Dec
The annual desert carnival in Kutch district — Rann Utsav — will begin more than a month behind schedule this year due to heavy water-logging in the White Desert after heavy rainfall during monsoon.
Even as giant billboards put up by the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited (TCGL), with Amitabh Bachhan as brand ambassador, continue to advertise the carnival as beginning from 28 October, the company has been forced to postpone it to 1 December.
“We have rescheduled the inauguration to 1 December considering heavy rainfall this year and subsequent water-logging. There is around four feet water in the desert and it will take at least a month to dry. Rann Utsav is basically a desert festival and we have to ensure safety of tourists,” Tushar Gaur, TCGL manager in charge of events, told The Indian Express.
(Source: Indian Express)
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