1. Sabarmati Bullet Train Terminal to be One-Stop Gateway for Railways, Bus Transit, Ahmedabad Metro
The Sabarmati Terminal of the country’s first bullet train corridor will also be a first of its kind multimodal transport hub and a one-stop gateway to not just the bullet train but also the Indian Railways, the Ahmedabad Metro and a bus transit point.
Being built at the cost of around Rs 200 crore, the contract for the project has been awarded recently and will be complete by May-June 2021.
The first-floor concourse will have the interchange points while the skyscrapers will host a hotel, malls and office complexes.
The complex will have space to park 1,000 cars.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. AMC School Board Tables 673-Crore Budget, 14 New Schools Proposed
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) school board chairman on Friday tabled a budget of Rs 673 crore for the financial year 2019-20.
This is Rs 5 crore more than the annual budget proposed by the Administrative Officer of the board.
The budget has been increasing for the last seven years even as the number of student enrolments has decreased.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Police Team on Liquor Raid Attacked, One Held
One person has been arrested and nine others booked for allegedly pelting stones at police personnel during a liquor raid on Thursday night. One of the police officials even sustained injuries during the attack.
According to the police, the night patrolling team of the local crime branch received a tip-off that two bootleggers, Dinesh Mali and Bharat Mali, had received a liquor consignment which they had keptin the car in Ajod village on the outskirts of Chhanni area of Vadodra.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Cricket Bodies in Guj Exempted from Paying I-T
Cricket associations facing tax liability worth hundreds of crores across the country can breathe easy. In a major relief to them, the income tax tribunal has accepted the Baroda Cricket Association’s (BCA) argument that it is not a profit making institution. The tribunal order will help BCA save Rs 62 crore and also get tax exemption on the grant it gets from the BCCI.
The order is also applicable to Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) and Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA), who had along with BCA approached the I-T tribunal in Ahmedabad. “It is a major victory not just for cricket associations in Gujarat but also in the country. Cricketing associations will save crores of rupees every year and that money can be used in cricketing development,” said Amul Jikar, BCA treasurer.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. 36 Surgeries on, Faceless Quake Survivor is Face of Resilience!
Even the most seasoned plastic surgeons — habituated to see disfigured bodies — had shuddered when they removed bandages off Jhakhra Sanchar, a 53-year-old 2001 Gujarat earthquake victim. His face was a debrided flat area with no nose, lips, ears and jaws with just one eye crying to be salvaged.
Dr Ayyapan Thangavel, ex-senior plastic surgeon at Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, reminisces that Jhakhra was given only days to live when he was referred to them with severe blood infection and a thready pulse. On the fateful morning of January 26, 2001, Jhakhra, father of four, was warming himself around a bonfire when the deadly tremblor led to the wall crumbling on him, his face buried to burn in the fire.
When Jakhra stabilized instead, doctors and his family braced for the challenging job of building his face from scratch.
Jhakhar underwent a record 36 surgeries over a period of three years to get just a semblance of his facial features.
(Source: The Times of India)
6. 500-Mtr Area Around Somnath, Ambaji Temples Declared 'Veg Zones'
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday declared as "vegetarian zones" a 500-metre area surrounding the famous pilgrimage sites of Somnath temple in Saurashtra and Ambaji temple in north Gujarat.
The announcement was made by Rupani at a gathering in Palanpur in Banaskantha district.
The move means that non-vegetarian food, such as meat and chicken, cannot be sold near the premises of these two temples.
While the Somnath temple is in Gir-Somnath district, the Ambaji temple is in Banaskantha district.
(Source: PTI)
7. Two Drown in Narmada Canal While Clicking Selfies
Two 20-yearold youths drowned in the Narmada canal near Jaspur village in Gandhinagar district on Thursday afternoon, when they were clicking selfies at the site, said police.
The deceased were identified as Prit Adroja and Dharmin Kasondra. Both were natives of Morbi and BBA students at a private college in Uvarsad village of Gandhinagar.
“We got a call from local residents saying that two youths had slipped into the Narmada canal when they were clicking selfies beside it,” said Inspector R M Parmar of Santej police station.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. Gujarat Man Kills Estranged Wife, Then Commits Suicide
An unemployed man allegedly killed his wife and then committed suicide in Gujarat's Vadodara district, police said Friday.
Manish Patel (49) and Rachna (44) were married for 20 years but their relationship had soured recently and, on 15 January this year, the two had decided to stay separately, an official of Vadodara Tehsil police station said.
While Manish was staying with his parents in Karelibag area here, Rachna was staying with the couple's only daughter on the fourth floor flat of a building in Bhayli village, he said.
(Source: PTI)
9. Four Charred to Death in Factory Blaze
The charred remains of the four workers, who died in a major fire in a yarn factory at Bagumara in Surat district, were found 12 hours later on Friday morning.
The fire had broken out in the Eagle Fibre Pvt Limited’s godown on ground floor and engulfed the whole unit before spreading to neighbouring JPG Fibre unit, turning plastic and yarn material there too into ashes on Thursday night. The two units manufactured yarn from plastic granules. Most of the material in these units were highly inflammable. At least, 100 people used to work in one shift at one unit. Fortunately, all the workers in the two units escaped except for the four, who died in the accident.
The deceased were identified as Amol Chauhan, 18, Rinku Munna Ravat, 23, Ramesh Buddhiman Ravat, 19, and Manoj Hiralal Paswan, 36, son of the unit’s labour contractor Hiralal Paswan.
(Source: The Times of India)
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