1. 13-yr-Old Maid Found Dead in Businessman’s Flat
Stepping in for her unwell mother on Sunday morning, 27 January, to do domestic chores at a businessman’s place in Nilkanth Apartment, Vasna, spelled tragic death for a 13-year-old girl, a Class 8 student. A team of FSL, which examined the body, found prima facie the girl’s death was due to strangulation.
Some time after the girl had gone to his place, the businessman, Chirag Shah, had called up the girl’s mother to inform something has happened to her daughter. When the girl’s family rushed to the place, her maternal uncle found she was lying inert in the place where utensils were washed and a dupatta was tied around her neck stretching to a window grill.
Police registered an accidental death and added rape charges only after family members of the girl alleged she had been raped before death.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. HC Quashes Wife’s Rape Charge Against Man
The Gujarat High Court quashed rape charges levelled by a woman against her husband that he cohabited with her even after the dissolution of their marriage by keeping her in the dark about the divorce.
The HC said that the woman had filed an FIR against her husband with an ulterior motive and to wreak vengeance on him. The case involved Kalpesh Goswami from Rajkot, whose wife, a schoolteacher, filed an FIR against him in 2017, accusing him of rape. She alleged that Goswami had not only committed rape by having sexual relations with her during their separation, but had also married another woman and practised bigamy, which is an offence under section 494 of the IPC.
In her complaint, the woman claimed that after she left her matrimonial home due to harassment. Her husband approached a family court for restitution of conjugal rights and divorce as well.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. Gujarat Finally Gets SOTTO
The three-year wait for State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) for Gujarat came to an end on 26 January as the state health department issued a general resolution (GR) for setting up of the authority. With the move, Gujarat joined the ranks of 10-odd Indian states having active SOTTO — streamlining organ donation and transplant across multiple cities and towns with facilities for the same.
Formation of SOTTO came for the state after much pressure from National and Regional OTTOs to formulate rules and procedures for better regional and national coordination when it comes to getting and transplanting cadaver organs, also opening doors for inter-state organ transfers. While senior officials of the state health department could not be reached on Sunday, sources privy to the development said that multiple stakeholders were consulted while formulating the rules and other SOTTO mandates have also been studied.
(Source: The Times of India)
4. Patthalgarhi-II in Maharashtra District: Signboards in Gujarat Warn Visitors
Just like the Patthalgarhi movement in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh last year, a few tribal-dominated villages in Dahanu taluka of Palghar district, on the Maharashtra-Gujarat border, have put up signboards announcing that laws made by Parliament or the State Assembly are not applicable in these areas.
The red signboards, put up in public spaces, are titled: “Bharatiya Samvidhan – Panchvi Anusuchit Kshetra (Constitution of India – Fifth Schedule Area). Citing Article 244 of the Indian Constitution, related to administration and control of tribal-dominated areas identified in the Fifth Schedule, the signboards warn visitors that they are in a scheduled area.
They claim that, according to Article 19 (5) of the Constitution, “no person, outside scheduled area (except those from Scheduled Tribes) are allowed to move freely, reside or become a permanent resident, or do any business, trade or job (in gram panchayat area)”.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Gujarat: Narmada River Water for Rabi Crops Cut by 30%
Over the last two months, the government has cut the amount of Narmada water being supplied for rabi crops by 30 percent.
At the beginning of the rabi season in November, the government had said that 19,000 cusecs of irrigation water will be released till the harvest of the crops. As per the official figures with The Indian Express, of the total 17,654 cusecs of water being released into the Narmada Main Canal from the Sardar Sarovar dam, 13,500 cusecs has been allotted for irrigation — 28.9 percent less than the promised amount.
In November, The Indian Express had reported that 22,000 cusecs of Narmada water was being released into the main canal, of which 19,000 cusecs was for irrigation. Currently, of the 17,654 cusecs being released into the main canal, 2,500 cusecs is for drinking purposes, 1,600 cusecs for Rajasthan and 107 cusecs for industrial use.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Patidar Leader Hardik Patel Ties the Knot With Childhood Friend
Patidar leader Hardik Patel got married to his childhood friend Kinjal Parikh in a simple ceremony at Surendranagar of Gujarat today.
The 25-year-old Patidar reservation agitation leader tied the knot with Kinjal Parikh at Digsar village of Muli Talika in Surendranagar district of Gujarat.
In the simple wedding ceremony, there were only about a 100 guests - 50 from each side. The wedding took place as per the Patel rituals.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. Five Killed in Road Accident in Gujarat
Five persons were killed and two others injured Sunday when their car lost balance and overturned after hitting a road divider in Rajkot district of Gujarat, police said.
The victims were returning from a marriage ceremony when the mishap took place on the Rajkot-Bhavnagar highway near Jangwad village under Jasdan taluka, around 200 kms from Ahmedabad.
While four persons died on the spot, one succumbed to injuries at the civil hospital in Rajkot, an official of the Atkot police station in Jasdan said.
The two injured were undergoing treatment at the hospital, he said.
(Source: PTI)
8. Two Surat Pilgrims Die in Jammu Bus Accident
Two women died and 23 persons were injured on Sunday when a bus carrying Vaishno Devi pilgrims from Gujarat overturned along the Jammu-Pathankot highway in Kathua district of Jammu & Kashmir. The condition of some of the injured, admitted to a Jammu government hospital in Jammu, is said to be serious.
The pilgrims, all from Surat, were returning from the shrine in Reasi district and heading for Golden Temple in Amritsar when their vehicle hit the divider near Dayala check, police said. Some of the injured persons said that the driver lost control of the bus while trying to save a youth who was crossing the highway.
Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani instructed Chief Secretary JN Singh and Relief Commissioner M R Kothari to ensure expeditious and proper relief for the group of 25 pilgrims who met with the accident.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. Statue of Unity: Crocodiles to be Relocated for Tourist Safety
Crocodiles from two ponds near the Statue of Unity in Gujarat's Narmada district are being relocated for the safety of tourists visiting the Sardar Patel memorial, officials said Sunday while dismissing reports that the move is linked to the seaplane service.
As many 20 cages have been set up along the banks of the two ponds, officially known as Dyke 3 and 4, to trap the crocodiles, an official informed.
These dykes are artificial water bodies created to stabilise the water released from the Sardar Sarovar Dam before it reaches the entry point of the main Narmada canal, the official explained.
(Source: PTI)
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