13-07-10

Gujarat’s Chiranjeevi Yojana: The Chiranjeevi Yojana project of Gujarat is a novel public-private health sector partnership in which private doctors do deliveries for poor women in private hospitals at a subsidised rate. The project has been so successful that it is sought to be copied in other states. The scheme delivers better reproductive and child healthcare to mothers and also helps control population. Population regulation is directly linked to lowering the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR). Over 800 gynaecologists have joined the Chiranjeevi Scheme and carried out more than 50,000 institutional deliveries. In Uttar Pradesh, of the 5.5 million annual deliveries, only 2.1 million were carried out in institutions, the others being handled by quacks, dais or family members.

09-07-10

Infant Mortality In Gujarat: The Gujarat government plans to do online monitoring of rural families in an effort to control the high infant mortality rates (IMR) and maternal mortality rates (MMR). Gujarat's IMR is 50 per 1,000 infants born, and the MMR is 1.6 per 1,000 pregnant mothers. The online monitoring system, a part of the e-Mamta project, has been developed by the state’s health and family welfare department and India's National Rural Health Mission. The software has been designed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Date pertaining to 7.91 million rural families, covering 40.2 million persons, will be monitored. It is hoped that this effort will be able to identify pregnant women who do not receive prenatal treatment and infants who are not immunised.

Gujarat’s Heritage Trees: The Gujarat Forest Department is preparing a list of ‘heritage trees’. The list will include the tallest, the oldest, the most flowering ones and trees with cultural and historical importance. Among the entries: an 80-year-old banyan tree in Dandi village in south Gujarat beneath which Mahatma Gandhi sat and addressed public meetings; a banyan tree in Vijaynagar in Sabarkantha on whose branches Maharana Pratap’s wife would swing; a 1,300-years-old ‘walking mango tree’ in Sanjan in south Gujarat (it has horizontal roots and keeps expanding its territory as the roots keep growing). The parameters used to identify the heritage trees are: trunk size, height, age, cultural importance and uniqueness. To be published shortly, the book will have details of 50 trees. Incidentally, India’s largest Banyan tree is in Kolkata at the Botanical Garden, but did you know that the oldest banyan tree is at Kabirvad in Gujarat?

08-07-10

Rainwater Harvesting: Gujarat’s Urban Development Department proposes to make rainwater harvesting compulsory for small (100 to 300 square metres) houses too. Consultations are on in this regard with the seven municipal corporations in the state. Presently, rainwater harvesting is compulsory for all buildings covering an area of 1,500 to 4,000 square meters. The new rules will specify roof catchment areas, roof gutters, filter units, storage tanks, etc.

Mothers To Cook School Meals: Primary school children in Uttar Pradesh will soon get their mid-day meals cooked by their mothers and grandmothers. The state government has appointed female relatives of the 150,000 children in the state’s primary schools as cooks in the mid-day meal programme. Paternal aunts and grandmothers have also been inducted in the programme. Each such relative will be paid Rs. 1,000 as an honorarium. It is hoped that the mothers will do a better job of the cooking since their own children will be eating the meals.

13-05-10

Aerospace University: India’s first aerospace university may be located at Valsad in Gujarat. Gujarat Vittal Innovation City (GVIC), a venture of the state government and a private company, has joined hands with Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) for this project. The courses to be offered include pilot training, air traffic control, maintenance, repairing and overhauling of aircraft, customer service, aviation law, etc.

12-05-10

Shortage Of Toilets: A United Nations study reveals that more Indians have access to a mobile telephone than to a toilet. In 2008 India had 545 million cell phones, enough for about 45 % of the population, but only 366 million people (31 % of the population) had access to improved sanitation. According to the UN report, it takes $300 to build a toilet, including labour, materials and advice. As against that the world can expect a return of between $3 and $34 for every dollar spent on sanitation, realised through reduced poverty and health costs and higher productivity.

Museum Of Electricity: The latest addition to the Science City in Ahmedabad is CLP Electrodrome, a museum of electricity. This museum is the first of its kind in India that exclusively concentrates on several aspects of electricity. Besides the discoveries and inventions of the past there is a section devoted to renewable sources of energy like solar, wind, biomass waste and technologies that reduce electricity consumption.

15-04-10

Dust-Free Writing Chalk: The Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) in Bhavnagar has developed dust-free chalk. This will reduce the exposure of teachers and students chalk dust. This superior quality writing chalk is calcium carbonate-based. Presently, gypsum is used as a raw material. The new chalk has minimum dust, better resolution of writing, reduced breakage, better visibility in high humidity conditions and ease of wiping.

14-04-10

Choice-Based Credit System: Universities in Gujarat propose to start a choice-based credit system (CBCS) from the next academic year. This system exists in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. Universities will move from the percentage based system to CBCS. There will be three types of subjects, with credit system as the base. There will be a core course which each student must take, a foundation course and elective courses.

'Palkis' For Medical Emergencies: Palkis ('palanquins' in English) have been used in the state of Uttarakhand not only to ceremonially carry a bride, but also to carry patients to an ambulance or a hospital in places where there are no roads.They have helped to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates. The Gujarat government plans to start a similar system from April 2010. This will be a great help in medical emergencies. Though planned to combat maternal and infant mortality, the service will also be available for other medical emergencies.

Shortage Of Nurses: There is a shortage of 350,000 nurses in India, partly because many qualified nurses leave for better prospects abroad. The country has one nurse per 1,100 persons; the desirable ratio is one per 500 persons. The government has therefore decided to admit married women into the nursing courses run at the country's 2,000 nursing diploma schools, 1,200 nursing degree schools and 281 nursing colleges. These institutions can churn out 80,000 diploma nurses, 41,500 graduate nurses and 1,900 postgraduate nurses per year, but roughly 20 per cent of them move on to greener pastures abroad. The nurse-doctor ratio in India is 1.5:1 compared to 3:1 in developed countries.

Ex-Husband's Name: The Bombay high court has ruled that a divorced woman may not use her former husband's name and surname anywhere, including in her bank account. By using the ex-husband's name or surname, there is always a possibility of people being misled that she is still the wife, when in fact she is not.

18-02-10

Hero Honda In Gujarat: Hero Honda, the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer, may set up its fourth Indian plant in Gujarat. Sanand, the site for the Tata Motors Nano plant, may be a possible location for Hero Honda too. General Motors has a facility at Halol. The GIDC estate in Vadodara district has also been suggested to Hero Honda. The company presently makes about 5 million units at its plants at Dharuhera, Gurgaon and Haridwar.

Easier Liquor Permits: The Gujarat government now issues liquor permits even at the domestic arrival terminal of the Ahmedabad airport. The visitor must present his residence proof to show that he lives outside the state. Information about liquor shop locations is also provided with the permit. This facility will soon be available at the international arrival terminal also.

International Airport At Federa: Airports Authority of India (AAI) has granted technical clearance (for passenger and cargo flights) to the greenfield international airport at Federa, a village 85 km from Ahmedabad. The airport will be spread over 28 sq km. Federa is close to Dholera, an important component of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), and also in the vicinity of the Special Investment Regions proposed at Sanand and Changodar.

08-02-10

Chicken Biryani In Siachen: India's Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) in Mysore has developed a method of preparing and packaging mutton and chicken biryanis and non-vegetarian sandwiches that can be made available to army personnel deployed in the freezing heights of Siachen and Kargil. The food will have a shelf life of one year. The food processing method is based on non-thermal technology. Large-scale production will begin shortly.

05-02-10

Buy GIDC Plots Online: Entrepreneurs from all over the world will soon be able to buy online a plot of land in any of the estates of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC). It is expected that by April 2010 some 50,000 plots in 181 GIDC estates will be available for sale online. Comprehensive date - location map, roads, infrastructure, ownership details, cost - will be readily available online. The GIDC estates which are already online are Jhagadia, Dahej, Panoli, Ankleshwar, Vilayat, Palej, Por Ramangamdi, Savli, Waghodia, Halol, Pandesara, Chitra, Lodhika, Porbandar, Mehsana-II, Chhatral, VU Nagar, Naroda and Gandhinagar.

Gujarati Films: In 2009 the Gujarati film industry - some people refer to it as Gollywood - broke a record of sorts by making 62 films, the most in a single year since the first two Gujarati films were made in 1932.

29-09-09

Real Estate Regulations: Government is considering ways in which real estate developers can be required by law to give all relevant project details on the website of the real estate regulator, so that property buyers are not cheated. The proposed law will require builders to provide details of the number and size of plots, layout plans, carpet areas and plinth areas, etc. Builders will also not be able to change plans. Buyers will not have to make advance payments without written sale agreement containing project schedules, payment details and possession dates. Details of approval and sanctions from civic agencies will also have to be furnished. The developers will have to clearly specify the carpet areas, super areas and common areas. They will have to spell out the common services: electricity, water, sewage and drainage, lift, light in passages and staircases, sanitary services and fire-fighting equipment, etc.

Unique Identity Project: India's unique identity or UID project may draw heavily on the available data on the country's existing 500 million telecom subscribers. It will also rely on data from banks, post offices, power companies, etc. By the end of 2012, there will be 700 million mobile users. It would be ideal if every mobile subscriber can be given a unique identity. India has 97 % mobile subscribers in the pre-paid category who return month-after-month to renew the charge on their SIM cards.

Smart-Card Driving Licences: Since paper-based driving licences can be forged or tampered with, the Indian government has sought the co-operation of states to expedite the introduction of smart card-based licences so as to ensure uniformity and inter-operability across the country. A deadline has been fixed tentatively: December 31, 2009. The objective is to automate all records at regional transport offices and then connect them through a national database. All driving licences and vehicle registration certificates will be smart card-based and information will be stored electronically at all 820 RTOs across the country.

11-09-09

Solar Power Plant: The Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), an initiative by the Clinton Foundation, has signed an MoU with the Gujarat government to set up a solar power plant to generate 3000 MW. The estimated investment will be Rs. 500 billion. The proposed location: on the non-cultivable wastelands in Banaskantha and Kutch districts. Presently, 34 companies are trying to come up solar projects in Gujarat.

Solar Refrigerator: Sardar Patel Renewable Energy Research Institute (SPRERI), Anand, has developed solar powered refrigerator and a dryer, and it is trying to adapt the same technology in industrial air-conditioning units. The refrigerator has a storage capacity of 80 litres and can store items that need refrigeration between -3 degrees Celsius and -6 degrees Celsius. It is ideal for storing vaccines and medicines in rural areas. Charged fully, the battery can power the unit for three days.

26-08-09

Army Studies Effects Of Fasting: A team of scientists from the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS) camped recently in Ahmedabad to study the effects of the rigorous fasting undertaken by some Jains during the period of Paryushan. Wanting to learn whether there were any practical lessons to be picked up to help soldiers - and even astronauts - who sometimes need to survive in harsh natural situations, they monitored over 40 Jains who fasted from three to 16 days.

Compulsory English In College: English and Computer Science are likely to be made compulsory in colleges in Gujarat with effect from the next academic session. Currently, English is like an optional subject and students spend extra time and money on computer education.

Forensic Science University: The Directorate of Forensic Science (DFS), Gujarat, has now started the academic programmes of Gujarat Forensic Science University (GFSU). Forensic investigators are required for crime detection as well as for many other purposes. The university has been set up to provide trained forensic professionals to industry.

21-08-09

Distress Fund For Overseas Citizens: To meet the needs of overseas Indian citizens who may be in distress, the government has proposed an Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) of Rs. 16 million in Indian missions in 17 countries. The possible situations where the fund may be used for overseas Indians:
... For boarding and lodging of workers in domestic sector and unskilled labourers
... Emergency medical care
... Air passage for stranded persons
... Initial legal aid in deserving cases
... Airlifting the mortal remains of persons
... Workers duped by intermediaries
... Housemaids who seek to escape from their employers
... Deserted spouses
... Undocumented workers

19-08-09

Food Prices At Parliament House: Food is nice and cheap at the Parliament House Complex in New Delhi. Some prices: vegetarian thali: Rs. 12.50; non-vegetarian thali: Rs. 22; Sada Dosa: Rs. 2.50; Masala Dosa: Rs. 4; Dal: Rs. 1.50; chapatti: Rs.0.50; boiled rice: Rs. 2. Members of Parliament, the staff, security personnel and media persons accredited to the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are entitled to this facility. The catering units at the complex are run by the Northern Railway. The catering units can obviously not afford to serve the food at such ridiculously low rates. Therefore, the Parliament provides a subsidy to bridge the gap between the cost and the price. The subsidy bill: Rs. 53.4 million in the current financial year.

17-08-09

Quicker Land Deals: The Gujarat government is considering how it can develop a system so that any person can do an online check of the land record of any farmer or non-farmer. All rural land records have been computerised. The authenticity and history of ownership is a crucial factor in any land transaction. The manual system - involving a sub-registrar office, stamp paper formalities, a mamlatdar office and a village talati - involves inaccuracies, delays and corruption. Simultaneous work is going on to introduce e-stamping and e-registration of land records. The final objective is to introduce a system similar to the Australian Torrens system whereby the government will become the chief guarantor for any land transaction.

Fuel From Solid Waste: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and a Japanese integrated waste management company are joining hands in a Rs. 500 million project that will convert solid waste into green fuel pellets which in turn will be the fuel for power plants. Over 800 tonnes of solid waste will be made available daily, and 90 per cent of this will be recycled to produce eco-friendly fuel. Ahmedabad produces about 2,300 metric tonnes of solid waste daily.

Multi-Purpose Stadium: Ahmedabad may get a new multi-purpose stadium at a cost of Rs. 2.5 billion. The 30,000-capacity facility that will come up near Kankaria lake is being planned along the lines of Wembley Stadium. It is due to be completed in 2010-11. The outdoor stadium will be designed such that it can be converted into an indoor arena in six minutes. The main use will be for football and hockey, but 10 other games can be staged too.

24-07-09

Trendsetter In Medical Education: The GK General Hospital in Bhuj was more or less non-functional for seven years. The Gujarat government has now found a private partner in the Adani Education and Research Foundation. This is the first public-private partnership in the field of medical education. The Adani Group is putting in Rs. Rs. 1.5 billion to start the Gujarat Adani Institute of Medical Sciences (GAIMS). The hospital's capacity will be increased from 300 to 750 beds, which is a prerequisite of the Medical Council of India for a medical college. GAIMS director Bakul Dholakia is a former head of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. The first batch of students will be for the 2009-10 academic year.

'School' For Rogue Monkeys: India's Central Zoo Authority has been approached by the Punjab government for permission to start a facility near Patiala to tame, train and rehabilitate rogue monkeys. It has sanctioned Rs. 10 million for the monkey 'resource-cum-rehabilitation centre'. Rogue monkeys are not a rare phenomenon in Punjab. There are about 65,000 monkeys in the state, and a fourth of them live in and around Patiala.

13-04-09

Chinese Mobile Phones: About 30 million unbranded Chinese mobile phones being used in India, 8 % of all the total number of mobile phone in the country, will be disconnected. These phones do not have IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) numbers and are a big serious security risk. India's Department of Telecom (DoT) has asked mobile phone service companies to disconnect these phones April 30, 2009. Without the unique IMEI number the location of a mobile phone user cannot be tracked. Over 800,000 Chinese cell phones enter India every month. Terrorists can use these unbranded Chinese phones to mask their movements.

11-Digit Phone Numbers: Telephone operators in India are running out of 10-digit mobile numbers. India's Department of Telecom (DoT) is therefore thinking in terms of an 11-digit numbering system. DoT had come up with a 30-year numbering plan in 2003 but the growth in the telecom subscriber base has been unexpected. The new system is not expected to cause any major technical problems. The change will only be in the software.

03-04-09

Water-Efficient Toilet Systems: Bindeshwar Pathak, 65, is the doctor who developed cheap toilets to improve sanitation in poor communities. The Stockholm International Water Institute has announced that Dr. Pathak has won the 2009 Stockholm Water Prize and he will receive a US$150,000 cash award The International Water Institute said that his achievements "constitute one of the most amazing examples of how one person can impact the wellbeing of millions." His cost-efficient and water-efficient toilet systems are used in 1.2 million homes. He founded the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation in 1970 and has also started operations in Bhutan and Afghanistan. The Stockholm Water Prize is awarded annually to individuals and institutions for contributions to the preservation, enhancement or availability of the world's water resources.

Pirated CDs: The President of India has approved a proposal that makes not just selling but even buying pirated CDs and DVDs an offence in Maharashtra. The bill will be introduced in the state legislature in the monsoon or winter session. The Hindi film industry can make about Rs. 55 billion a year, but loses 27 % of this to piracy. The underworld controls a large part of the piracy market.

Use Any Bank's ATM: You can now withdraw money from your bank from any bank's ATM, without paying any charge for using another bank's ATM. A circular has been issued to this effect by the Reserve Bank of India. Till now, one had to pay a minimum of Rs. 20 per withdrawal from ATMs of other banks. India has about 35,000 ATMs.

Raksha Shakti University: Gujarat may have a defence university located at Gandhinagar, and it will be called Raksha Shakti University. Similar to such institutions in USA and China, it will give training in subjects related to defence and security. The Central government is setting up the Indian National Defence University (INDU) near Gurgaon. It is hoped that the university in Gujarat will start functioning by 2010. It will offer undergraduate and graduate courses to those who have passed Class 10.

28-03-09

Stiffer Fines For Traffic Violations: A new Bill to amend the Motor Vehicles Act proposes that all traffic violations should invite heavier penalties. If enacted the new law will be applicable all over India. The new Bill proposes to hike the fine for over-speeding from Rs. 400 to Rs. 1,000, for ignoring red lights or not using a seat belt from Rs. 100 to Rs. 500, for parking offences from Rs. 100 to Rs. 1,500, and for using mobile phones while driving from Rs. 400 to Rs. 1000. Higher fines are proposed for commercial vehicles.

100 Per Cent Financial Inclusion: The 2001 census of India showed that 5.34 million of Gujarat?s 9.69 million households were not covered by banking services. It is now predicted that by May 2009 all these households will have a bank account and the state will thereby achieve 100 per cent financial inclusion. The states which have already met this target are Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. Banks in Gujarat have so far covered 97 per cent households with basic banking service. Basic banking services free the poor from the perils of unscrupulous money-lenders. There are 5,672 bank branches in Gujarat, for a population of over 50 million people.


Leave-&-licence Agreement: In a recent judgement, a division bench of the Bombay High Court has held that a leave-and-licence agreement does not confer the licensee any right on the property. It is only a right to enjoy the property for a specified period without creating any interest in the property. It is likely that the order will be challenged in the Supreme Court.

16-03-09

Microsurfacing Of Roads: A Spanish method of repairing roads reduces the repairing cost by half and also increases the road life three times. This technique is being tested in Gujarat by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on an 11-kilometre stretch of the Ahmedabad-Vadodara expressway. Resurfacing by conventional methods costs Rs. 350 per square metre; the new method may cost Rs. 180-200 per square metre. The average road may increase from five 5 years to 15 years. Microsurfacing uses a mixture of three to six millimetre bitumen aggregate which is treated with a special emulsion. The layer is cast of the section of the road that needs repair. The traditional method uses a 30-40 millimetre thick layer of aggregate. The special emulsion on microsurfaced roads prevents water seepage into the road.

Age Bar For Law Courses: The Bar Council of India (BCI) has proposed a rule that no one above the age of 20 can join the integrated five-year LLb course after passing class XII and no one above 30 can join the three-year LLB degree course after obtaining a bachelor's degree. The concession for SC/ST and OBC students is 22 years and 35 years respectively. BCI's advice is binding on all teaching institutions. Tens of thousands of students enrol for law courses every year.

14-03-09

Mobile Maternity Ward: Gita Makwana, 25, recently delivered triplets in a '108' emergency service ambulance which was rushing her to a hospital in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat. All over Gujarat the '108' ambulance is very often a busy labour room. An average five children are delivered in these vehicles daily in Ahmedabad. The service has handled 134,000 pregnancy emergencies handled in 18 months. Pregnancy cases account for 53 per cent of all women related emergencies.

Voter Motivation: The Election Commission in Delhi wants more to vote and is going to run a campaign to motivate people to register themselves as voters. They may use the catchy tune from the movie 'Rock On': 'Socha nahin to Socho abhi' (if you haven't thought about it, then think now).

Buses May House Anganwadis: Faced with an acute shortage of buildings in which to house thousands of anganwadis, the Gujarat government is toying with the idea of converting old buses of the Gujarat State Roads Transport Corporation (GSRTC) into mobile anganwadis. The state has over 41,000 anganwadis and 21,000 of them are being run in rented premises. Roughly 55 per cent of the 7,600 state transport buses have completed their road life and can be scrapped. Old buses can also be modified into mobile restaurants and libraries.

Incentives For Researchers: India's Council of Scientific and Industrial Research has suggested a scheme to allow scientists and researchers to take equity in scientific enterprises or ventures resulting from their research while retaining employment with their research and academic institutions. It will allow researchers to become part of knowledge enterprises while continuing with their research. Such an equity stake can be taken at any stage of the entity through investment of their personal money.

13-03-09

A Symbol For The Rupee: India's Ministry of Finance has organized a public competition to design a new symbol for the India Rupee. The prize: Rs. 250,000. For details refer to the circular (No 10/8/06-Cy.II) issued by deputy secretary, department of economic affairs, ministry of finance. There is no official sign for the Indian rupee (only 'Rs' is used to represent it). The form 'Rs' is also used for the rupee in Pakistan, Nepal, Seychelles and Sri Lanka. The jury of examiners includes persons from J.J. Institute of Applied Art, National Institute of Design, Lalit Kala Akademi, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and officials from the government and Reserve Bank of India. A participant can send two entries. The shortlisted designers will each receive Rs. 25,000 for their efforts. The last date for submission of entries is April 15.

Women Voters: Women are an influential vote bank in India. There are now about 330 million registered women voters, against 360 million male voters. Women voters are in a majority in six states - Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Puducherry. Participation of female voters has generally been 10 per cent lower than male voters. However, the representation of women in Parliament which is only about 8 per cent.

07-03-09

Railway Exam Paper Leaked: A national level test to recruit persons for the posts of assistant station masters in Indian Railways was cancelled at the last minute recently. The reason: police discovered that examination paper had been leaked. The authorities realized that there was an inter-state racket involving the leaking of question papers of the Railway Recruitment Board. Police arrested 94 candidates and 15 gang members and many bundles of original question papers and filled answer-sheets. Authorities said that the paper might have been leaked from a press in Uttar Pradesh where the question paper was printed. Similar rackets have taken place earlier in 2006 and 2008. The accused had collected Rs. 1,000 from each candidate. After the examination candidates had to pay Rs. 50,000, and Rs. 400,000 after the final selection.

Cash Factory: The State Bank of India (SBI) recently started its first Currency Administration Branch (CAB); it is an exclusive branch to handle currency notes. Such cash factories will be set up in each city to distribute notes and rupee coins to local banks and ATMs; they will also identify counterfeit currencies. The CAB will also help in the fight against fake currency. In August 2008 the Reserve Bank of India had detected counterfeit currency of over Rs.5 million from the currency chest of a State Bank of India branch in Domariaganj, Uttar Pradesh.

28-01-09

Staff Shortage In Government Hospitals: The Gujarat government plans to raise the retirement age of teachers and doctors in government medical and dental colleges and hospitals from 58 years to 62 years. There is a shortage of 25 % in the number of teachers in government medical colleges and a 35 % shortage of doctors in hospitals. There are only 1,214 teachers in the six government run medical colleges; the requirement is of 1,400 teachers.

19-12-08

Edible Oil: An urban Gujarati consumes Rs. 60 worth of edible oil in a month, the highest in the country. The Indian average is Rs 34 per month. These statistics are from the 63rd National Sample Survey (NSS) report released in September 2008. Maharashtra ranks next, with Rs. 49 per month. A Gujarati has 25 kg of edible oil in a year (average for India is 11 kg). Gujaratis spend the lowest on cereals, eggs, fish and meat.

Baby Seats In Cars: India's ministry of Road Transport and Highways has made baby seats compulsory for all passenger cars from 2010. The implantation schedule: two years for new cars and three years for existing cars. This rule will be extended to commercial goods vehicles and buses.

18-12-08

NRI Gesture: Thamna Education Institution, near Anand, has been set up by an NRI, and has 430 students from Thamna and surrounding villages. The English medium school provides textbooks, meals and even medical facilities. Thamna Education Institution charges a token fee of Re 1. It admits students from all backgrounds.

Information Highway: In the quarter ended October 2008, 2.6 million new IP addresses were connected to the global network compared to 2.1 million in the quarter ended June. This is a growth of 23 %. India now has more than 41 million internet users, the eighth largest in the world. Still, only 4 % of the population is plugged in. Currently, 74 % of all connections have speeds of over 256 kbps. A vast grid of submarine and fibre-optic networks connects India with the world. India ranks at 153 in terms of the number of IP addresses per capita, with 2.3 unique IPs per thousand people. USA, with 360 unique IPs per thousand people, is ranked at 6.

16-12-08


'Promotion' For Gujarat IPS Officers: The Gujarat government will allow Indian Police Service (IPS) officers to be recruited to head state-run boards and corporations. The posts will now not be restricted only to IAS officers. IPS officers of the rank of deputy inspector general and above will be eligible for such postings. This rule already exists in other states.

Tulsi For The Taj: To help the Taj Majal regain its original allure, a drive has been launched in Agra to plant tulsi plants in the vicinity of the monument. Tulsi has anti-pollutant, anti-oxidation and air-purifying properties. Nearly 80,000 saplings will be planted.

13-12-08

Maruti 800's Birthday: Sunday (December 14) is the 25th anniversary of Maruti 800. In its 25-year life, Maruti Udyog Ltd. has produced 2,736,046 units of the 800, and exported 192,914 units. The first model ran from 1983 to 1997, and then the current model was introduced. The engine capacity has remained the same (796cc).

Butterfly Park: India's largest butterfly park has been opened in Surat, at the Sarthana Nature Park here. The park will be spread over 70,000 sq metres and have 30 butterfly species and 12,000 host plants of 75 types.

05-12-08

Mobile Number Portability: The government has invited tenders for Mobile Number Portability (MNP). MNP will allow subscribers to retain their existing telephone number when they switch from one service provider to another. The company providing MNP services will not be allowed to hold equity in any service provider. Successful bidders will be announced in February 5, 2009. MNP may be available in India before the end of 2009. By then, the Indian subscriber base would have crossed more than 400 million.

Indian CAs Can Work In UK: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has signed a pact with UK's Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) to provide mutual recognition. This will provide opportunities to Indian professionals to work in the UK, and vice versa.

04-12-08

Clean Water For Schools: The Gujarat government has begun a programme in primary and secondary schools to train students and teachers to detect water contamination and get clean potable water. The state's Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO) has supplied water quality testing kits to 29,000 primary schools and 9,000 secondary schools. The kits contain basic equipment like chloroscopes to check for chlorine in water and literature explaining the various parameters for testing bacteriological and chemical contamination in drinking water. The response to the programme has been encouraging. The kits have proved to be useful also to local community members, particularly in the rural areas.

27-10-08

Ahmedabad-Mumbai Expressway: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has begun work on the preliminary design and feasibility report for the Vadodara-Mumbai stretch of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Expressway. It looks as if the drive should take about five hours, which is less time than the seven hours taken by the Shatabdi Express train. For Barodians, Mumbai will be roughly four hours away. The expressway will be designed for a speed of 120 km per hour.

The Army's Orderlies: Will army officers have to give up their orderlies (sahayaks)? The latest report of the parliamentary standing committee on defence says that the sahayak system is a shameful practice and a relic of the colonial era. "The ... jawans are recruited for serving the nation and not to serve the family members of officers in household work," says the report.

Diwali Break In Schools: The Gujarat State Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) has announced that Diwali vacation in over 50,000 primary, secondary and higher secondary schools in the state will be held from October 27 to November 16, 2008.

20-09-08

Gujarat Government Doctors Banned From Private Practice: All government doctors have been barred from doing private practice by the Gujarat government. They will instead be paid non-practising allowance (NPA). About 8000 doctors working in state-owned hospitals will be affected by this decision. The NPA will amount to 25 per cent of the basic salary.

18-09-08

Fine For Smoking In Public: The Union Health Ministry has issued a directive under the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008, to ban tobacco consumption in all government and private buildings from October 2. People may smoke on the road or in a park, but not in small cafes, restaurants, schools, pubs, discotheques, stadia, airports, hospitals and bus stands. If you are caught smoking in such public places you will be fined Rs. 200. If you allow your employees to smoke within the building premises, you be fined Rs. 5000 per employee caught smoking. Hotels with 30 or more rooms and restaurants seating 30 persons or more must have a separate enclosure for smokers as well as a separate ventilation arrangement. NGOs, train ticket collectors, bus conductors, school headmasters, etc., will be empowered to impose the fines.

17-09-08

Mobile Connectivity To All Villages: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) plans to build 19,000 towers to provide mobile phone connectivity to all villages in India. About 8,000 mobile towers will be erected by the end of 2008, and 11,000 towers will be added in the second phase. The aim is to ensure that all villages with a population of over 1,000 people have mobile phone services. To provide broadband connectivity, the government will initially connect 5,000 blocks (the smallest administrative units in India) by wireless broadband. Villages within a radius of 10 km of a block will be covered by such connectivity.

12-09-08

State Can Acquire Private Land: The Supreme Court has held that the Government as a sovereign power can acquire land for public purpose, such as industrial and other infrastructural developmental needs for the common good of the citizens. A sovereign state can acquire private property for public use without the owner's consent on payment of just compensation.

Study Of Working Parents: A recent ASSOCHAM survey zeroed in on the changing socio-economic equations in urban families. The survey reveals that the role of working women has not changed much on the home front. Household duties remain primarily the woman's responsibility. In 83 % cases, it is the mother and not the father who helps the children with school work; some (only (24 %) fathers said they pitched in to help only when their assistance was sought. It seems children do better in school if their fathers are more involved in their activities.

A Billion More Join Mobile Club: By July 2008, India had 296 million mobile users, up from 192 million in July 2007. TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) figures say that the total teledensity of India is 29.08 per cent, or one in four Indians has a mobile. By 2020, every employed adult may have a mobile.

Woman Priest: Pinniyakkal, a woman priest who is the only legal heir of a village temple priest, has been allowed to perform pooja in the temple after the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court rejected the plea of a male cousin that only he should perform pooja on the grounds that only a male can be a priest. The Judge said, "It is ironical that when the presiding deity of the temple is a Goddess, objections are being raised against a woman in performing poojas in such temples. ... Neither provision of law nor any scheme prohibits a woman from performing poojas in the said temple."

House Full: India's prisons pack in 110,000 more prisoners than their capacity. The country's 1,336 jails can house 263,911 inmates, but they have 373,271. The overcrowding leads to inadequate facilities and services.

Coin Auction: The Gujarat Coin Society (GCS) has organised a three-day coin fair at Rajkot to increase awareness of numismatics - the collection and study of coins - as an investment opportunity. Over 350 collectors and auctioneers from all over India will participate. GCS will also hold an auction at the fair. It is claimed that numismatics can give 18 to 20 per cent annual returns for investors. Indian coins seem to be high demand in the international market because they are better preserved and available in a greater variety.

04-09-08

Garlic & Ginger Pastes: The Panchmahal District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited at Godhra, better known as Panchamrut Dairy, may use the cooperative model to procure and market farm products, mainly cash crops. It plans to procure ginger and garlic from farmers, process it and market it. Cash crops like garlic and ginger are grown in abundance in the Panchmahals. The Gujarat government has allotted 25 acres at Nani Sarsan village in Santrampur taluka for the project and work has started on a dehydration plant for garlic and ginger.

Butterflies Of Gujarat: The Anand Agricultural University (AAU) has recently published a book on the 'Butterflies of Gujarat'. It highlights the ecological importance of butterflies. According to the book, there are over 193 butterfly species in Gujarat, 79 of which are specific to South Gujarat.

03-09-08

AAU's New MBA Course: Anand Agricultural University (AAU) will be the first university in Gujarat to offer Management courses with a focus on expertise in international agricultural business. AAU recently inaugurated the International Agri-business Management Institute at its campus in Anand district. It will offer MBA in international agri-business to 30 students. The agricultural university in Navsari also offers an MBA course in agri-business, but the AAU course will focus on import and export of agricultural produce.

Biometric Identity Cards: Street vendors, household help and others in Gujarat's unorganised labour sectors will soon have biometric identity cards after a survey by the State Rural Development Department. These sectors employ about 20 million persons. About 6.7 million are in the non-agricultural, mainly urban sector, and the rest are in the rural agricultural sector.

16-07-08

Live-in Relationship: India's National Commission for Women (NCW) has recommended that a woman in a live-in relationship should get maintenance if she is deserted by her man. The NCW accordingly wants a change in the definition of 'wife' as described in Section 125 of CrPC. NCW also wanted an amendment to Section 125 so that adultery should no longer be a ground for denying maintenance to a woman.

Expensive School Education: An ASSOCHAM survey show that the cost (excluding tuition fees) of sending a child to school has increased by 160 % in the last 8 years. The annual school expenses for one child have risen from Rs. 25,000 in 2000 to Rs. 65,000 in 2008, while the income of fairly well-off parents has risen by only 30 % in the same period. About 30 million children study in private schools. For the survey 2,000 working parents were surveyed in nine cities. Sixty-five per cent of the parents said that over half the salary was spent on children's education.

Teacher Shortage: India needs another 800,000 teachers in primary and middle schools. By 2011, the number will rise to 2.5 million. The recommended teacher-student ratio at the primary level is one teacher for 40 students. Several state governments have appointed para-teachers or contractual teachers. About 44% of the para-teachers are not specifically qualified to teach children. They are paid between Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 2,500 per month. For regular teachers the average pay is Rs. 4,500 or primary school, Rs. 5,500 for secondary level (graduate teachers) and Rs. 6,500 for senior secondary level (postgraduate teachers).

Spitting Fine: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) will soon levy fines on those who spit in public. Mobile courts will be set up with five health inspectors and a High Court appointed magistrate to catch offenders. The fine (between Rs. 50 and Rs, 2,000) will be collected under the Bombay Provincial Municipal Act.

28-06-08

World Gujarati Meet: The World Gujarati Conference will be held in Raritan Centre in New Jersey from August 29 to 31. It is being organised by the Association of Indian Americans in North America (AIANA). Over 35,000 delegates are expected to attend, including the Ambanis, Gautam Adani and Zubin Mehta.

Branded Trains: Along the lines of Kurkure Express in Chennai and Airtel Rajdhani Express in New Delhi, a marketing company will now rename the Allahabad Railway Divisions Prayagraj Express after some brand. The company has paid up Rs. five million for the three-year contract. All the 54 coaches of the Allahabad-New Delhi train will carry advertisements.

23-06-08

Emergency Response Centre: After the initial success of the 'Emergency Response Services' project (much better known as the 108 Services), the Gujarat government plans to shift its operational base to a permanent Emergency Response Centre (EPC) on 15 acres of land near Kathiwada village, 20 km from Gandhinagar. The new location will also have a training and research institute. Work on the Rs. 150-million project is likely to be completed within one year. Two hundred more ambulances will also be added to the existing fleet in order to cover all the 26 districts of Gujarat.

E-Gram Project: Gujarat's e-Gram project is a satellite based broadband Internet facility for the state's 13,693 village panchayats. The aim is to provide community services to villagers. It is claimed that this is Asia's largest rural connectivity project. In all the 13,693 village panchayats rural persons have been appointed as computer entrepreneurs to provide government-to-community (G2C) services like revenue records, birth and death certificates, ration cards, agro-commodity rates and domicile certificates to the villagers.

Reforms In Local Body Polls: The Gujarat State Election Commission (SEC) wants to introduce reforms in the system of conducting elections to municipal corporations and panchayat bodies. The SEC is surveying a sample of over 10,000 people - elected members of the seven municipal corporations, 159 municipalities, 26 district and 224 taluka panchayats, and 13,706 village panchayats and gram sabhas - all over Gujarat to elicit views and suggestions. MLAs, MPs, representatives of leading NGOs, academics and district officials have also been asked to send their feedback.

Surat May Lose A Landmark: Built in 1877 over the Tapi river, Surat's Hope Bridge was the first structure in the city to be constructed in public-private partnership. The Surat Municipal Corporation plans to now demolish the bridge and sell it for scrap, for about Rs. 40 million. Hope Bridge has been declared unsafe and needs to be replaced by a more modern structure that can take heavier traffic. The bridge is named after the then British collector. T.C. Hope. The residents of Surat, Narmada, Bharuch and Rander towns had contributed money for its construction. It was built at a cost of Rs. 813,000.

31-05-08

Honour For Karamsad Medical College: Karamsad's Pramukhswami Medical College is India's first medical college to have all its laboratories accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Laboratories (NABL). The college also plans to get NABL's accreditation for its hospital. NABL is an autonomous body set up by the Department of Science and Technology to review laboratories based on stringent quality parameters. Out of the 150,000 medical testing laboratories in India, only 105 have been accredited by NABL. Pramukhswami Medical College is managed by Charutar Arogya Mandal.

23-05-08

Ahmedabad's WOW: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is toying with the idea of 'Wealth Out of Waste' (WOW) to clean up the city. Based on a system followed in many places in USA and Germany, AMC is looking for agencies which will pay home owners to collect segregated garbage - in the form of paper, plastic and organic waste. An NGO has been asked to start working on this project on an experimental basis. The collection agency will sell the waste to recycling companies and organic manure manufacturers.

Leech Therapy: The Indian government's health ministry wants to standardise and market leech therapy. Unani medicine experts recently set up some rules which will need to be followed by leech therapists. Help was taken from specialists from National Institute of Unani Medicine (Bangalore), Research Institute of Unani Medicine (Srinagar) and Aligarh and Kashmir University's department of zoology. Training will be given in leech therapy at the national Unani colleges at Bangalore, Aligarh, Delhi and Hyderabad. It is claimed that leech therapy is effective against arthritis, sinusitis, migraine, hypertension and frostbite. Regulation of this technique is important because a single leech should not be used on multiple patients so as to avoid the risk of transferable diseases.

16-05-08

E-Charkha Produces Electricity: R.S. Hiremath, a Bangalore based engineer active in the field of non-conventional energy resources, has developed an e-charkha. The multi-utility yarn-spinning device has a dynamo connected with the charkha. The gadget generates electricity as one spins the yarn. It can power a light bulb for 12 hours and even charge a mobile phone. The electricity produced can be stored too.

02-05-08

Postal Index Number: India may increase the digits in the postal index number - or PIN - from the present six to eight for easy sorting of mail and to meet international standards. This should make the postman's job easier because the last two digits will identify the postman's beat (specific mohalla). The first six digits identify the broader area (Baroda, for instance), but the last two will pinpoint the location more exactly. The US began with a 5-digit zip code and later added four more digits (Zip + 4). The Indian system will be PIN + 2. PIN was introduced in India in 1972. By 2005, only 117 of the 190 member countries of the Universal Postal Union had post codes.

Higher Education In Gujarat: Thanks to a shortage of higher education facilities, Gujarat annually loses out about Rs. 10 billion by way of admission fees and donations when roughly 8,000 students move to states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for professional studies. Each student who goes outside Gujarat pays an average fee of Rs. 300,000 per year and an average donation of Rs. 1 million. The outflow of resources can finance three IITs or ten private Universities.

Accounting Technician Course: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) plans to offer a two-year 'accounting technician' course to prepare students for mid-tier positions in accounting field. The course may come with placement promises by ICAI and the fees may be as low as Rs. 10,000. Students from all streams can opt for it, including from humanities and science. The duration of the course will be one year, followed by one year of practical training (with a stipend). Students who have finished the accounting technician course will be given exemption in some of the CA papers if they plan to study further. The course will have four papers: accounting; law, general commercial knowledge and business communication; cost accounting and financial management; and taxation (direct and indirect).

Morbi's Clock Workers: Did you know that the Ajanta-ORPAT group in Morbi, Saurashtra, is the world's largest clock manufacturer? Founded in 1971 by Odhavji Raghavji Patel, it has a turnover of Rs. 9 billion. Until 1985 Ajanta employed only male workers, but today 80 % of the 7,000 employees are women. The women are driven in by buses from about 100 villages near Morbi. About 500 women quit each year to get married, and they are replaced by other women.

Maruti Overtakes Parent: Maruti Suzuki's sales in India have now overtaken parent Suzuki's sales in Japan. The Indian company sold 711,000 units in 2007-08, while Suzuki sold 673,000 units in Japan. The company rolls out a new car every 22 seconds. Hero Honda has already performed this feat in the two-wheeler market about a decade back. Around 7 in 1,000 people are estimated to own a car in India, compared with 10 per 1,000 in China, 500 in Western Europe and 450 in the US. Maruti has a sales network of 562 outlets in 372 towns and cities, and provides service support at 2538 workshops in over 1200 towns and cities. Since it began in India it has produced and sold over 6.75 million vehicles.

24-04-08

London To Dhaka By Train: Work is going on for a new railway link to enable a 23-day journey by train from London to Dhaka via New Delhi. The Trans-Asia railway network, 11,265 km long, will follow one of the old Silk Roads through Istanbul, Tehran, Lahore and Delhi. It will be longer than the Trans-Siberian railway, which covers 9,289 km.

22-04-08

Urobotics Facility At Nadiad: Nadiad famous Muljibhai Patel Urological Hospital will soon have the facility to conduct nephro-urological surgeries using robotic technology. Only the All India Institute of Medical Sciences at New Delhi has a similar facility in India. The equipment cost will be Rs. 100 million.

19-04-08

One More Lion Safari Park: Gujarat will get one more Lion Safari Park. The central government has cleared the project with a grant of Rs. 50 million. The park will come up on 400 hectares of reserve forest near Ambardi village in Dhari taluka of Amreli district. It will provide an alternative site to Sasan-Gir.

Public Health Institute: Gujarat's Rs. 1.4-billion Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) at Chiloda near Gandhinagar is not yet ready, but its activities have started from a provisional campus at the Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research (SPIESR) in Ahmedabad. Set up under the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) project, the institute will offer training to professionals in public health. The Gujarat government has given 50 acres of land and Rs. 250 million by way of seed money.

21-03-08

WiMAX In Gujarat: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will unveil WiMAX technology in Gujarat from July 2008 to enable high-speed internet access on laptops and mobile handsets. The soft launch will be at four places, three in Ahmedabad and one in the Vadodara telecom district. WiMAX is a wireless digital communications system that can provide broadband wireless internet access up to 50 km for fixed stations and up to 15 km for mobile stations like laptops and mobile phones. As against this, WiFi is usually limited to between 100 ft and 300 ft.

Breeding Centre For Deer: A breeding centre for spotted deer will be established in Samli village of Panchmahals district under the Vadodara forest range. To be set up at a cost of Rs. 1 million, it is hoped that it will increase the presence of herbivorous animals so as to maintain a favourable predator balance. In the absence of deer leopards tend to attack humans and cattle.

14-03-08

Uniform Academic Calendar: India's University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to introduce a uniform academic calendar in all universities. All colleges and universities, except those offering professional courses, will commence the first-year classes in the first week of August and the second year and third-year classes not later than the third week of July. The results of the semester examinations will be published latest by the end of June every year. In the case of professional courses, the UGC has allowed a flexibility of up to two weeks for commencement of classes for students of second year onwards.

E-Police Stations: The Gujarat police have launched the 'e-police station'. You can file an FIR from your home through the Internet. The system has been started in Gandhinagar, Mehsana and Sabarkantha, and will soon be implemented in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot. Police officials will be trained to handle emails, work on various programs and undertake translation exercise.

08-03-08

Share Of Property For Widows: India's Supreme Court has ruled that a widow is legally entitled to get a share of her first husband's inherited property even after her remarriage.

Anaemic Children: Roughly 70 percent of children aged six to 59 months are anaemic. The reasons: poor intake of cereals, green leafy vegetables and citrus fruits. Under the reproductive and child health programme the government provides iron and folic acid tablets to pregnant and lactating women and preschool children. About 56 percent of children in affluent families are also anaemic.

India's Engineering Colleges: A Duke University study has revealed that the USA churns out 750 technology specialists per one million citizens, compared with 500 by China and 200 by India. In 2004, 70,000 engineers graduated in the US, 600,000 in China and 350,000 in India. The figures for China and India include four-year degrees, three-year degrees and diplomas, as against four-year engineering degrees for USA. The AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) figures for 2003-04: 401,000 engineers, of which 35 percent were computer engineers. In 2004-05, 1,355 engineering colleges admitted 460,000 students, of which 31 percent were computer engineers. In 2006-07, the number of colleges increased to 1,503 and they admitted 583,000 students. Interestingly, five states - Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala - turn out 69 percent of the engineers, while Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Orissa account for 14 percent. This year, 1,120 trusts have applied to AICTE for permission to start new engineering colleges. en percent of the applications are for 'girls only' colleges. India today has 1,668 engineering institutes, and 70 percent of the applicants get in (compared with just one percent 20 years ago.

Israeli Dairy Farms In Gujarat: Gujarat's Animal Husbandry Department and Israel's Elbit Medical Imaging Ltd. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for investing 100 million dollars to set up modern dairy farms in Mehsana and Banaskantha districts of North Gujarat.

One Million Jobs: The hospitality, health and education sectors will have over one million new job openings in 2008. These are the projections of the Ma Foi Employment Survey 2008. The survey covered 2006 companies from 22 sectors of the economy.

EVM Pioneer Passes Away: The major force behind the development of India's Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), S. Rangarajan, passed away recently. An electronics engineer from IIT (Madras), he was the General Manager (Research and Development) at Bharat Electronics Limited. Using the pen name Sujatha, he also wrote short stories, novels and screenplays. He wrote the screenplay and dialogues for the Rajnikanth mega hit movie 'Sivaji The Boss'.

23-02-08

A Facial For The Taj: Agra's Taj Mahal is getting a beauty treatment at a cost of Rs. 1.4 million. The operation will hopefully restore the yellowing monument to its original milky-white 'complexion'. The makeover material is the centuries-old favourite of Indian ladies - 'multani mitti', the lime-rich clay commonly used in face packs. The treatment: apply the mud, leave it on till it dries and flakes off, wash clean with distilled water. The method is non-abrasive and will not damage the structure.

RIBA Fellowship For B.V. Doshi: India's famous Ahmedabad based architect Balkrishna V. Doshi has been awarded the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Fellowship for 2008 for his contribution to world architecture. He is the first Indian to receive this award, which was presented to him six other architects from across the world in a ceremony in London on February 12. He was senior designer on Le Corbusier's Chandigarh and Ahmedabad projects. The RIBA citation also recognises his work in the field low-cost housing projects. He established the Vastu-Shilpa Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design.

07-02-08

Inaccurate Thermometers: The Ahmedabad based Consumer Education and Research Society (CERS) recently conducted tests to find out the accuracy of 16 brands of clinical thermometers. All the brands did not measure up! CERS therefore did not recommend any 'best buy' brand. None of the brands conformed to the standards prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

Rajkot's Civic Call Centre: The Rajkot Municipal Corporation has started a round-the-clock call centre, the first for a civic body in Gujarat and the second in India. It handles all complaints relating to civic activity. The assurance given is that the problem will be addressed within 72 hours. The staff is outsourced. Four telephone lines, four computers and four operators work in each shift and they are supervised by three deputy commissioners. Hyderabad is the other Indian city with a similar facility.

29-01-08

'Factories' At Sabarmati Jail: Ahmedabad's Sabarmati Central Jail keeps the inmates busy with several vocational activities in order to train them to be productively employed when they are released. The various small-scale units inside the prison produce goods worth over Rs. 35 million every year. The products are bought by government departments and are also available to the general public at the jail's sales depot. All of the 500 inmates who volunteer to work are paid for their output and the profits are handed over to the government. The jail has textile, carpentry, tailoring, bakery, laundry and book-binding units.

25-01-08

Pre-Hospitalisation Emergency Care: Pre-hospitalisation emergency care through ambulances is presently available in nine districts of Gujarat through the toll free number 108. From August 2008 this will be extended through a fleet of 400 ambulances in all the 26 districts of the state. Provided by Emergency Management Research Institute (EMRI) the service is free and a patient is admitted to a hospital of his choice. Participating hospitals stabilise the patient brought in, free of charge. EMRI is a non-profit organisation largely funded by the Central and state governments. EMRI plans to cover all of India's 35 states and union territories.

Amul CALCI+: Amul has lunched a high calcium milk 'CALCI+' for pregnant women, children and young adults. It also helps to prevent osteoporosis. With 100 per cent natural milk calcium and no preservatives, it stays fresh for 120 days at room temperature. Nutritionists suggest a daily calcium intake of 400 to 600 mg in general, and 1000 mg during pregnancy and breast feeding. It is claimed that two glasses of Amul CALCI+ will meet the daily requirement of calcium.

Low-Salt Butter: Amul has introduced a butter with reduced salt content to cater to people with hypertension and cardiac ailments. It is claimed to have 50 per cent less salt. It is available in packs of 100 gm (Rs. 20) and 500 gm (Rs. 95).

19-01-08

Eco-Friendly Sketch Pen Inks: Pooja Dholakia and Riddhi, Class IX students from Rajkot's S.G. Dholakia School, have developed a few natural eco-friendly ink colours for sketch pens by crushing beet roots, turmeric and coriander and other vegetables. The idea is to replace the regular petrochemical based inks. They exhibited their work at the recent National Science Fair organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology, CII and Intel at Pune. Their project won the first prize, from among 1,400 entries. The two girls will exhibit their invention, along with students of 40 other countries, at Atlanta, USA in March 2008. Their project has been certified by the MS University bio-science department, Saurashtra University's Chemistry and the Gujarat State Food and Drug Control Unit.

Kiran Bedi's 'Safer India': India's first woman police officer Kiran Bedi has launched an e-portal for complainants who were refused help at police stations. Along with her friends at 'Mission Safer India', a project of her NGO 'India Vision Foundation', she will act as part of a pressure group to serve as a bridge between police and complainant and seek appropriate redressal. You can approach the service through e-mail if you have visited a police station to register your complaint and if it remains unattended or not acknowledged. People can log on to www.saferindia.com and e-mail their complaint to the group, which will be forwarded to the respective state police.

10-01-08

Village Electrification: Did you know that one in every sixth Indian village does not have electricity? This means that 99,287 villages out of 593,723 do not have electricity. In 2004-2005, there were 112,000 villages that still needed to be electrified. By the 2006-07, the government had electrified 29,273 of them. A village is considered electrified if 10 per cent of its houses as well as its public places have electricity. Earlier, a village was considered electrified if electricity was 'used' within 'the revenue boundary of the village' for 'any purpose whatsoever'.

07-01-08

The Marketing Of Zoos: Whatever be the reason, attendance at zoos all over the country is falling. In a bid to bring back the visitors, the Dehradun based Wildlife Institute of India (WII), acting on behalf of the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), has asked the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad to train the staff at zoos across the country in order to make them more 'market oriented'. There are over 380 zoos in India, and all of them seem to be making a loss.

Postgraduate Medical Courses: The Gujarat state education department has decided that admissions for postgraduate medical and paramedical courses will be through a centralised admission process. Till now, all universities offering postgraduate courses had their own admission procedures. Every year, one university will be given the responsibility to conduct examinations and bring out the merit list.

22-12-07

Good News For Landlords: This will please landlords. The Supreme Court has recently made it clear that tenants who misbehave with the owner of the premises or cause damage to property are liable for eviction. In many cities, landlords who rented out their premises have ended up being evicted from their own houses, in some cases forced to hire accommodation at rates several times higher than what they get as rent from their own properties.

Recognition For Tata Group: The Tata Group has been named the world's third most accountable and transparent company by Britain's One World Trust. The report ranked GE and Glaxo Smith Kline number one and two most transparent and accountable companies. Tata Group was considered ahead of Coca-Cola, Petrobras, HSBC Holdings, PriceWaterCooopers International and Google, when measured on the parameters of transparency and accountable leadership among global companies. The annual Global Accountability Report considered Tata Group at number 10, among the world's 30 most powerful organisations from the inter-governmental, non-governmental and corporate sector, to be accountable to civil society, affected communities and wider public.

18-12-07

Look After Your Parents: A bill passed recently by Parliament is designed to ensure that children look after their old parents. It also has a provision for the establishment of old age homes, which should be the last resort for the poor and the childless. People who abandon parents or neglect their basic needs or otherwise maltreat them will face three months of imprisonment and a penalty of up to Rs 5,000. Once convicted, persons cannot go in for appeal against punishment in regular courts. The bill provides for setting up of a tribunal in each district for helping the old in distress. The tribunal may also take suo motu cognizance of the matter if it finds that senior citizens are being neglected by their adult children or legal heirs or whosoever inherits the property. The law also gives power to the tribunals to disinherit the children if the senior citizens desire so. The law - Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Bill, 2007 - also considers setting up an appropriate mechanism to provide maintenance to parents and senior citizens once they attain the age of 60.

India's Film Industry: A recent survey suggests that the Indian film industry may double to Rs. 400 billion in the next three years, thereby creating employment opportunities for six million people. The music industry is likely to increase to Rs. 8.7 billion from Rs. 7.2 billion. The industry is expected to produce 1,200 movies annually in different languages. The current size of the film industry is about Rs. 230 billion, presumed to be the largest in the world. It produces 800 films in different languages, earns nearly US $ 100 million of foreign exchange and provides direct and indirect employment to nearly 2.5 million people.

Ayurveda Online: The National Institute of Ayurveda (NIA) at Jaipur plans to begin online consultancy services. Ayurveda consultants anywhere in the world may also be able to seek advice on treatment of a particular illness. NIA is run by the union ministry of health and family welfare and comes under the department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH).

03-12-07

1268 Candidates For 182 Seats: A total of 1,268 candidates are now in the fray for the elections to Gujarat Assembly's 182 seats. The elections across the state will be held in two-phases, on December 11 and 16: on December 11 (Saurashtra, Kutch, South Gujarat) and on December 16 (North and central Gujarat). The term of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly expires on December 26, 2007. Counting for both the phases will take place on December 23, and the new government will be formed by December 26. The state has 36.6 million voters, out of which 17.7 million are women. There will be 39,620 polling booths.

26-11-07

Solar Power On Mount Abu: The solar steam generating installation at the Brahma Kumaris facility at Mount Abu, Rajasthan, has recently broken even. The money (Rs. 7 million) spent on it in 1998 has been recovered from the savings in electricity. The installation is now a free source of energy. It provides the energy to prepare food for 35,000 persons daily. It also powers 150 computers, 600 audio and video sets and the local telephone exchange (150 connections). In an emergency, it can light up the 72-hectare township.

23-11-07

National Highways May Be Renumbered: India may soon rename and renumber all the national highways, a network which adds up to 66,000 km. The objective will be to make the new system more helpful and logical. Consultancy companies have been asked to suggest ideas. At present the national highways numbered NH1, NH2, and so on, depending upon their perceived importance.

Sabse Bada Loser Jeetega: Wondering how to get his Punjab police personnel at Bathinda to reduce their weight, Senior Superintendent Naunihal Singh prescribed a regular session of Bhangra dancing to their daily drill. The result has been encouraging: over 260 policemen shed 2 kg each. The cops are competing to see who loses the most weight. Sabse Bada Loser Jeetega.

22-11-07

Massive Election Exercise: About 580 companies of Central paramilitary forces will be roped in for security duties during the two phases of the Gujarat Assembly elections in December. This is in addition to the resources of the Gujarat Police. The election exercise will call for the services of 200,000 government employees. Over 3,000 vehicles will be deployed to transport men and materials all over the state.

Study On Asthma And Bronchitis: The Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research at Chandigarh is conducting a field study covering a sample of over 200,000 people to assess the prevalence and risk factors of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The study will cover 12 Indian cities. The first phase was carried out at Chandigarh, Delhi, Kanpur and Bangalore and covered 73,000 persons. The Indian Council of Medical Research has sanctioned Rs. 10 million for the study.

14-11-07

Number Portability In Metros: Over 200 million mobile phone users have some good news in store. The Department of Telecom will introduce number portability for mobile services, starting with Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. You will be able to change your service provider without changing your phone number. This is still not full number portability, which allows users to retain their telephone numbers even when they switch from mobile to fixed line or when they change locations. The present move is only toward wireless number portability. About 375 million users in the metros, which is 18.26 per cent of India's subscriber base - will benefit from this decision. Number portability makes it easier for them to switch to competitors and this pressure may help to lower rates and improve service. The networks will have to invest Rs. 2 billion to implement portability in the four metros and Rs. 8 billion to implement it across India.

Gama Passes Away: Ahmedabad's Kamla Nehru Zoological Garden, more famous as the Kankaria Zoo, has lost one of its star attractions. Gama, the 115- year-old tortoise, 4 feet long and weighing 240 kg, has died. Gama was with the zoo for over 40 years.

Paan-Parlour Chain: Yamu's Panchayat (YP), the paan-parlour chain in Delhi, has opened its first outlet in Gujarat at Ahmedabad. The parlour employs only women to make and serve the paans. Yamu's Panchayat plans to start 100 such outlets in Gujarat with an investment of Rs. 200 million. They will employ 500 women. The company has launched a non-spit paan - the contents can be swallowed, so that spitting is not necessary. The non-spit dry betel leaves have been developed by Delhi's Mahila Krishi Vikas Samiti.

13-11-07

Cycle-Rickshaws Transport Fish: The Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering & Technology (CIPHET) at Ludhiana has fitted a cycle-rickshaw with a cool chamber so that it can transport 150 kg of freshwater iced fish and keep it fresh for a week. The cool chamber is now undergoing trials at seven fishery institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. The method is both hygienic and economical. The rickshaw owner should be able to make a profit of at least Rs. 5,000 per month. India ranks fourth in global fish production, with an annual production of 6 million tonnes. This adds up to 1.4 per cent of the country's GDP. India has over 19,000 fish reservoirs spread across over 3 million hectares.

Students Design All-Terrain Vehicles: Two institutions from Gujarat have qualified for an inter-college design contest for engineering students to be held at Pithampur, near Indore, in December 2007. The two colleges - A.D. Patel Institute of Technology, Vallabh Vidyanagar, and Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute Of Technology (SVNIT), Surat - have designed an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) for the contest. The competition has been organised by the All India Society of Automobile Engineers for the first time in India and is sponsored by Mahindra & Mahindra, TVS, Ford and Automotive Research Association of India.

08-11-07

Plastic-Tar Roads: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) may use domestic plastic waste to line roads. AMC is studying the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation?s experience with such roads. Such roads have been tried in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Salem and Bangalore. In these plastic-tar roads bitumen and gravel are mixed with granules made from domestic plastic waste. Bitumen mixed with plastic flakes has better hardness and better resistance to water penetration.

Raju & The Money Tree: Recently a comic book has been released which covers the basics of banking. 'Raju and the Money Tree' was launched as part of the Reserve Bank of India's strategy to promote financial literacy. This should help to increase the penetration of banks in the rural areas. Also planned are comic books on basic banking and currency, as well as books for women, defence personnel, senior citizens, etc. The book is available in 13 languages.

26-10-07

Octroi On Way Out: The Election Commission has permitted the Gujarat Government to abolish octroi from November 15 (Labh Pancham) from the seven municipal corporations of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Junagadh.

24-10-07

Women Under Mental Stress: A study by Ahmedabad Women's Action Group (AWAG) under a project of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, shows that 58 per cent of women in Ahmedabad suffer significant mental distress. The study on 1,500 women between 18 and 45 years found that 33 per cent women admitted to being victims of domestic violence (slapping, punching, biting, kicking, branding with cigarette butts, etc.). Fifty per cent women admitted that they were subject to marital rape. Though this study primarily studies women from the lower-economic social strata, middle and upper middle class women may be equally stresses, according to a spokesperson of AWAG. "For poor women, employment and poverty are the issue. For the educated and moneyed, lack of identity and aspirations beyond means is the issue," said the spokespersons. An average 65 per cent women conceded to being abused in public and in front of neighbours! The study was supported by the state department of health and family welfare and Royal Netherlands Embassy.

23-10-07

Petroleum University In Gujarat: The Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) was inaugurated recently at Raisan village near Gandhinagar. Reliance Industries Ltd. chairman Mukesh Ambani is PDPU's president. The university has been promoted by Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) to focus on energy education and research. The campus is spread over 50 acres and will cost Rs. 3 billion. The Institute of Petroleum Management (IPM), the first constituent of the PDPU, started functioning in 2006 with a batch of 60 postgraduate students. In August 2007, the Institute of Petroleum Technology started with a batch of 240 undergraduate students in petroleum engineering.

22-10-07

Better Infrastructure At Shridi: The Maharashtra government has approved in principle a Rs. 1.35 billion plan for roads and other basic infrastructure for the temple town of Shirdi in Nasik district. It seems that the project will take some ideas from the planning of the Vatican. Over 70,000 devotees visit the Sai Baba temple in Shridi daily; on about 100 days this number crosses 300,000. The first phase of the project will be paid for by the temple trust, while the second phase will be funded on a build-operate-transfer basis.

Tsunami Warning System Launched: The National Early Warning System for Tsunami and Storm Surges in the Indian Ocean was launched recently at Hyderabad. The system was developed at the Hyderabad based Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS). Incidentally, INCOIS (an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Earth Sciences) is headed by Dr. Shailesh Nayak, a former student of MS University's MS University's geology department. Nayak obtained his PhD degree in Geology from MSU in 1980.

09-10-07

Baksheesh Approved: In an important judgement that should please both the giver as well as the receiver, a division bench of the Bombay High Court held recently that 'baksheesh' can be a valid business expense and can be shown as such in income tax returns.

08-10-07

Telemarketing Restriction: From October 12 Telemarketers will not be allowed to make unsolicited calls to a subscriber who is registered with the National Do Not Call (NDNC) registry. Over 6.5 million cellular subscribers have already registered. In case of non-compliance, a telecom service provider can charge Rs. 500 or disconnect the lines of the telemarketer.

Amul Wins IDF Award: Amul has won the prestigious International Dairy Federation (IDF) Marketing Award 2007 for its probiotic ice-cream launch. The award was announced at Dublin, Ireland, during the World Dairy Summit. The IDF marketing award covers three categories - nutri-marketing, innovation and marketing communication. Amul received the award in the nutri-marketing category.

29-09-07

Revolving Restaurant Revived: One of Ahmedabad's more popularly known landmarks, Patang, the revolving restaurant has been opened again. Re-named the Neelkanth Patang, the new avatar will serve only vegetarian food. India's only revolving restaurant on an independent tower, it was acquired from the previous owner for Rs. 33 million and renovated at a cost of Rs. 20 million. It will be run by the Bhagwati Group of hotels. The 100-seat restaurant was earlier started in 1985 and was closed down in 1991. The 18-storey Patang tower is 221 feet high. The restaurant overlooks the Sabarmati river and revolves 360 degrees in 90 minutes.

17-09-07

Hotels On Railway Land: Several hotel chains are keen to construct budget hotels on surplus land owned by Indian Railways. The Indian Railways has identified some sites where the hotels can come up. The hotels will be built in collaboration with the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). IRCTC may earn Rs. 3 billion by collaborating with hospitality companies. The sites, mostly near railway stations, have so far been identified in Agra, Pune, Mumbai, Darjeeling, New Jalpaiguri and Jaipur. Indian Railways owns over 400,000 hectares of surplus land, roughly ten per cent of which is vacant and located along rail tracks.

15-09-07

National Do Not Call Registry: Even before the National Do Not Call (NDNC) Registry officially opened on 5th September, 5 million people had already registered their names to ensure that they do not receive unsolicited commercial calls. This is 2.5 % of India's 190 million mobile telephone subscribers. In June 2007 the Telephone Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had ruled that the NDNC should be set up within three months. About 14,750 telemarketers with roughly 450,000 telephone lines have also applied to the various telecom service providers to register themselves with the Department of Telecom (DoT).

Pharmaceuticals Institute: To keep pace with the rapid growth of the pharmaceutical sector and its rising demand for skilled manpower, the Indian government has decided to set up the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) near Ahmedabad. Western India (Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan) accounts for 70 per cent of the country's drug production and 45 per cent of the pharmaceutical exports. NIPER will be an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilisers. Such institutes will be set up in other cities too. The central government will invest Rs. 2 billion to set up the institute on 70 acres of land given by the Gujarat government. To start with, it will offer courses in Science with specialisation in Biotechnology, Natural Products and Pharmaceutics.

12-09-07

Trust To Run Pavagadh Temple: The Charity Commissioner of Gujarat recently decided to appoint an 11-member trust to manage the Mahakali Mandir in Pavagadh. There was a dispute between the temple priest's family and the Gujarat government. The trust will have two members from the priest's family, and no government officials. In 1994 the Supreme Court had ruled that the temple is a public place. A court receiver was appointed to oversee the running of the temple and its accounts.

04-09-07

First Woman To Head Bureaucracy: Manjula Subramaniam, a 1972 batch IAS officer who was the Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), recently took over as the Chief Secretary of Gujarat. She is the first woman to occupy the top job in the Gujarat bureaucracy. Her wide experience includes a five-year stint with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in Delhi in the 1990's. She played a major role in the unbundling and corporatisation of the erstwhile Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB).

Registration For Doctors: India's Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has proposed mandatory 60 hours of medical education for doctors every five years in order for them to continue practice. The Medical Council of India (MCI) may be asked to enforce the regulation. Presently, after clearing the MBBS examination and registering a state medical council, a doctor can practice forever.

Help For Manual Scavengers: Some students from the Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are trying to help the manual scavengers of Paliyad, a small village in Gujarat, by developing an ecological sanitation toilet. It is hoped that the 'ecosan toilet' will solve a part of the problem of manual scavenging. The project is being funded by the Omidyar Foundation. The toilet converts human waste into fertiliser that is safe to handle. It separates the urine from the faeces, both of which are separately collected and then dehydrated and turned into compost. The basic ecosan unit costs about Rs. 3,000.

09-07-07

Public Health Institute: The Gujarat government plans to set up an Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) under the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) project initiated by the central government. The institute will train healthcare professionals. Gujarat will allot 50 acres of government land for the Rs. 1.4 billion institute at Chiloda near Gandhinagar. With the status of a deemed university, it will offer degree courses, including a two-year master's course in public health, one-year diploma in public health management and a three-year B.Sc course in public health.

Dollar Millionaires: According to the world wealth report, the number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs, or individuals with at least one million dollars in net assets) has increased to 100,015 in India. This puts their collective wealth at a minimum of $100 billion. This figure is nearly three times India's fiscal deficit, which was put at about Rs. 1510 billion ($33 billion) in this fiscal's Union budget. Indian had 83,000 dollar millionaires in 2005. These figures have been released in the latest World Wealth Report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.

Alimony Increases With Pay: In an interesting order, the Bombay High Court has recently ruled that the maintenance that a man pays to his former wife should also be raised every time he gets a salary hike.

Indian Tea Party: Hollywood actor Julie Christie was born at the Chabua tea plantation in eastern Assam n 1941. The Academy Award winning actor of Dr. Zhivago has now been invited to attend the three-day India-International Tea Festival scheduled for November 2007 in Guwahati. The festival, called the 'Great Indian Tea Party', is being organised by the Tea Board of India, Indian Tea Association and Indian Trade Promotion Organisation to attract foreign buyers. About 400 delegates are expected to attend.

22-06-07

National Identity Card: India's proposed multipurpose national identity card (MNIC) authenticates details of birth, address and nationality. The visual elements of the card have been designed by the Ahmedabad based National Institute of Design (NID). The card has been distributed in selected parts of New Delhi and it will be gradually extended to other parts of the country. The card is an all-purpose document for people 18 years and above. It will facilitate a credible individual identification system. It contains 16 details like age, address, place of birth, etc. Its 16 KB can also take in data pertaining to medical history and driving licence details.

Bus Timings On Mobile Phones: The Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) has started an SMS based service which gives the timings of express and luxury buses. Local buses will also be covered soon. The timings are also available on the GSRTC website www.gujaratsrtc.com. Available round the clock, the service will provide the timings of 4,000 trips from 122 places and 12,629 points.

20-06-07

Malnourished Infants: The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) on 'Trends in children's nutritional status in India' reveals that Gujarat has 47 per cent underweight children. This suggests poor nutritional levels. Gujarat's infants (children below the age of three years) are more malnourished than those in most other Indian states. The malnutrition level is higher than the national average of 46 per cent. The state has 17 per cent children who are too thin for their height, and 42 per cent children stunted (that is, too short for their age).

Several Rajkots: Did you know that there are five Rajkots in the subcontinent? One is of course the famous Rajkot of Gujarat. There is one in Rajasthan, too, and yet another in Punjab. There is a Rajkot in Pakistan also, and one in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

07-06-07

Private Goods Train: With some help from the Container Corporation of India (Concor), Hind Terminals Pvt. Limited (HTPL) recently started the first privately owned freight train service from Sabarmati Inland Container Depot (ICD) to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Mumbai. HTPL, a subsidiary of the Samsara group, has thus become the first major to initiate a goods train in India. The freight train will initially operate with four rakes, and it will run every four days.

06-06-07

'Adopt' A Railway Station: The Indian Railways authorities are toying with the idea of allowing companies to use some of Mumbai's suburban railway stations as promotional spaces provided they refurbish the stations. It is proposed to test the concept at the Marine Lines and Charni Road stations. The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), an autonomous body of the railway ministry, has fleshed out the scheme with the help of the National Institute for Design (NID) at Ahmedabad. The scheme will hopefully help the railways upgrade stations free of cost, and the participating companies will get a long-term brand promotion vehicle.

Reva Electric Car: The Reva Electric Car Company has deployed three cars for the use of the Thiruvananthapuram postal service department. During the 11 months of a pilot project, the cars will be used as mail delivery vehicles. The back seats of the cars have been modified to accommodate 70 kg of mail. The Reva electric car can travel 80 km on a full battery charge. Its operational cost is 40 paisa per km. The greater speed and larger carrying capacity of the delivery vehicles has shortened the delivery time.

04-06-07

Railway TTE's 'Computer': Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTEs) of Indian Railways will be equipped with hand-held devices linked to the central computerised reservation system. The device will enable them to instantly allot seats to waitlisted passengers as and when reservations are cancelled. The TTEs will also be able to check vacant seats and berths on the train and accordingly transmit the information to the central reservation system so that the vacancies may be instantly allotted to the next passengers in line. Capable of checking and issuing tickets, the device can also accept cash and credit card payments. The government has sanctioned Rs. 40 million for the pilot project which will soon be launched on some trains.

A Home For The Wealthy: Address: Altamount Road, Mumbai. Land area: 4,532 sq metres. Height: 27 Floors (173.12 meters). Amenities: Six parking floors which can take 168 imported cars; entertainment centre with a minitheatre, terrace gardens, a swimming pool, a health club, two guest floors, three helipads. Over 600 persons are expected to work in the building. Expected completion date: Sometime in 2008. Possible occupants of the house: Mukesh Ambani and his immediate family.

28-05-07

Women At The Workplace: Working women in India now have some help in determining whether they are being discriminated against in comparison with their male colleagues. This assistance is provided by a website www.womenpaycheck.com. WomenPayCheck is an internet based labour market research tool and is part of the international WageIndicator concept. It consists of an online survey and a lot of labour market related content. PayCheck in India is managed by ITPF (IT Professionals' Forum), Bangalore, with research support from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The website gives a woman a chance to judge whether the salary she draws falls short of the salary she should be getting and understand why this gap prevails. The website also mentions the protection offered by Indian laws in cases of sexual harassment at the workplace.

Kits To Check Food Adulteration: The Gujarat government has distributed 100 kits to conduct on-the-spot tests to check for adulteration in food items. Four kits have been supplied to each district, and civil supply and consumer forum officials are being trained to use them. The kit can help to detect adulteration in grains, spices and milk products. The kits will in many cases eliminate the need for time consuming laboratory tests and facilitate quick action against culprits.

07-05-07

Dolls Museum: Rajkot's Rotary Dolls Museum is now listed in the Limca Book of Records for its collection of dolls. The city's citizens have contributed immensely to the museum's success by donating the dolls which they have collected in their travels all over the world. The museum also has a language library.

28-04-07

Gujarati Films: The Gujarati film industry quietly moved into its diamond jubilee year recently. The first Gujarati film was released on April 9, 1932. Against 10,000 films made by Bollywood over the years, the number of Gujarati films produced is 762. Roughly 5,000 to 8,000 shots are taken for an 80 to 100 scene Hindi film; compared to this, for a Gujarati film only 500 to 800 shots are taken, thanks to the prohibitive costs.

26-04-07

Seismology Institute In Gujarat: The Rs. 300 million World Bank aided project to make a building for the Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) will begin soon on a 12-acre site near Koba on the Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad highway. Functioning under Gujarat government's State Science & Technology Department, ISR will be the first of its kind in India and conduct research exclusively in earthquake studies and seismological activity. The National Geological Research Centre (NGRC) in Hyderabad does not carry out research in seismic activity. The government has acquired 40 Strong Motion Accelerographs (SMAs) and 22 seismographs from Switzerland to set up an integrated system to study and analyse seismic activity in India. ISR will also set up 30 geo-positioning satellite (GPS) stations in Gujarat, mainly in Kutch/Saurashtra and near the Narmada dam site and its catchment areas. These stations will be able to record even small seismological movements.

24-04-07

Credit Rating Of Local Bodies: India's four credit rating agencies have begun the task of assessing the creditworthiness of major Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), including the four metros. Their ratings should help them raise funds at competitive rates to finance development projects. The agencies - Crisil, ICRA, Care and Fitch - will rate ULBs in more than 60 cities as part of the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission.

17-04-07

'Branded' Railway Trains: Kurkure Express is the 'brand name' for three summer special trains, named after Frito-Lay's snack brand Kurkure. The three trains will run on the Bangalore-Nagercoil, Yeshwanthpur-Chennai and Bangalore-Hubli routes. India's South Western Railway had invited bids for 'brand trains', which would feature the advertiser's name in a train's announcements, tickets, reservation slips, etc. Airtel, Tata Tele and Sony Ericsson were among the other bidders. The advertiser will have to keep the compartments clean during the journey.

09-04-07

Roasted Peanuts Are Not 'Namkeen': India's Supreme Court has ruled that roasted peanuts cannot be classified as 'namkeen' under the Central Excise Tariff Act. What this means is that excise duty can be levied on all roasted peanut packets. The apex court agreed with the excise department and said that the essential structure of the peanut does not change due to the process of roasting. The manufacturer merely applies salt to the roasted peanuts, and this does not obliterate the original character of the peanuts.

24-03-07

Narmada Water For Saurashtra: Five pumping stations will lift 630,000 litres of water per second from the Narmada canal and release it into the Saurashtra branch canal. The first pumping station is now functional. This pumping station will deliver Narmada water to about 5000 villages of Ahmedabad and the Saurashtra region and irrigate 540,000 hectares of land. Set up by Pune's Kirloskar Brothers Ltd. for the Sardar Sarovar Nigam Ltd., it is claimed that this is the largest pumping station in the world. Pumps have to be used to lift the water because the Narmada canal is at a lower level than the Saurashtra region. The Saurashtra Branch Canal (SBC) has a length of 104.46 kms and is the largest branch of the Sardar Sarovar Project canal system. The SBC, designed to carry 424 cubic meters of water per second, will provide water to 4877 villages and 90 cities and towns in seven districts of Saurashtra.

Ten Dying Rivers: Twelve million people live on the plains of this mighty river. Its basin makes up a third of India's land area and it is home to more than 140 fish species and 90 amphibian species. Jawaharlal Nehru had said of it, "From her source to the sea, from old times to new, it is the story of India's civilisation." Nehru was referring to the river Ganga. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) now reports that this great river is dying, thanks to pollution, over-extraction of water and climatic changes. WWF lists the Ganga, along with the Indus, the Nile and the Yangtze, among the 10 most endangered rivers of the world.

23-03-07

Training For Domestic Workers: India's Human Resources Development Ministry plans to set up 600 centres to train and certify unskilled persons like maid servants. Roughly 95% of the work force in India is unskilled. Domestic help will be trained on to use home appliance like refrigerators, microwaves, washing machines, hand driers, etc. They will also learn about nutrition, sanitation and hygiene.

20-03-07

Franchise Post Offices: India's first franchise post office has been opened at Ahmedabad in Gujarat. The Department of Posts will open 10 such outlets in the state by the end of March. The franchise post offices will help to service those urban areas where post offices are not available within a short distance. These outlets will offer only booking services; delivery and transmission facilities will remain with the Postal Department. The ten outlets in Gujarat will be located at Gandhinagar, Surat, Vadodara and Ahmedabad.

10-03-07

Sanskrit In Gujarat: Did you know that only 140 persons in Gujarat know the Sanskrit language reasonably well? This statistic has been thrown up by the Socio-Economic Review for 2006-07 (based on census figures of 2001). No one knows Sanskrit in 12 out of Gujarat's 25 districts. Ahmedabad district tops with 40 persons fluent in Sanskrit. Vadodara comes next with 32 persons, Kutch has 16 persons and Banaskantha and Surat each have 10.

28-02-07

How Indians Borrow Money: A recent survey of 63,000 households in India, conducted by Max New York Life Insurance and the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), reveals that urban households borrow money from friends and relatives more than rural households. The survey states that 41% urban Indians borrow from friends and relatives to meet social expenses while 45% borrow to pay for medical treatment. Only 38% rural households depend on friends and relatives as a source of funds for meeting social expenses. Borrowing from unorganised moneylenders is higher in rural India (20.7%) against 7.4% of urban households. The survey also shows that 72.9% of rural India is aware of insurance as a means of investment compared to 90.2% of urban Indian households. Only 38.11% of urban Indian households have some kind of insurance protection while 18.59% of rural households have bought insurance.

Suicide Statistics: According to figures released by the Gujarat government, an average of 14 people killed themselves in the state every day last year; 5,288 people committed suicide between January 1, 2006, and January 31, 2007. In 20 incidents the victims committed suicide after killing other members of their families. Men were more prone to suicide compared to women; of the 5,288 people who committed suicide, only 526 were women. Fifty women killed themselves in Ahmedabad, 19 in Rajkot, 15 in Surat and 12 in Vadodara. It seems that moneylenders were often responsible for pushing people to suicide.

26-02-07

Property Tax On Carpet Area: The Gujarat government proposes to empower the state's 141 municipalities to levy property tax on buildings and lands on the basis of their carpet area instead of their annual letting value. Also, the State Assembly has passed the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations (Gujarat Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2007; this empowers the Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Jamnagar municipal corporations to impose carpet area based property tax on buildings and lands, and also levy water, conservancy and sewerage taxes and betterment charges.

New Petroleum University: The new petroleum university at Gandhinagar will start functioning in July 2007. To be called the Pandit Deen Dayal Petroleum University, it will have B.Tech courses in the oil and gas sector, apart from postgraduate management courses. The new university will be supported by the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) and several Indian and foreign oil companies operating in Gujarat.

19-02-07

Emergency Medical Services: To try and provide emergency medical services in accident cases and serious illnesses, Gujarat proposes to set up an Emergency Medical Services Authority and establish councils in major cities and districts. The necessary legislation will be introduced during the budget session of the Gujarat Assembly that begins on February 22. The city and district councils will register base hospitals and maintain ambulances to provide life-saving medical care to people in the 'golden hour', that is, within the first and very crucial hour of an accident. The proposed body will ensure emergency medical services to all persons (free of cost to Below Poverty Line patients), provide technical assistance to the city and district councils and NGOs, give financial assistance to these councils and accredite trauma centres.

08-02-07

Reduced Incidence Of Leprosy: The Gujarat government has received two awards, from Japan's Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation and from the International Leprosy Union (ILC) for its commendable efforts in eliminating leprosy. Leprosy prevalence has reduced from 21 per 10,000 persons in 1985 to 0.89 per 10,000 in 2006. The state has met the World Health Organisation goal of less than one case of leprosy per 10,000 persons. Thirteen camps in government hospitals in Gujarat since 1999 were conducted, in which India's prominent plastic surgeons performed reconstructive surgery on 6,204 leprosy patients. This is the largest number of leprosy patients treated and cured in any part of the country.

Malaria Prediction: Nirma University in Ahmedabad will soon have an Earth System Science Centre. The centre will develop a Malaria Early Warning System for Gujarat. Experts say that it is possible to predict a malaria outbreak by delineating mosquitogenic conditions with the help of remote sensing. It is hoped that satellite derived data will help to predict the outbreak of dengue and chikungunya some months in advance.

Cow-Dung Battery: Niruttam Kumar Singh and Harvansh Yadav from Gangagarh village in Uttar Pradesh have made a cow-dung operated battery that can power light bulbs, charge mobile phones and also work with radios. The cow dung needs to be replaced after 45 days. Around 250 households in Gangagarh and neighbouring villages successfully use this battery.

Daily Dump: Alumni of Ahmedabad's National Institute of Design (NID) have developed a device to process domestic organic waste. Called the Daily Dump, the gadget is made from a number of vertically stacked terracotta pots of different shapes and sizes. Organic waste put into it is aerated in the processing of traveling through the terracotta pots and thereby turned into compost. The compost can be used as a fertilizer. The Daily Dump needs to be maintained once a week. The price varies between Rs. 100 and Rs. 700.

Cycle Boat: Dwarka Prasad Chaurasia, 75 years old, has developed a bicycle which he can ride on water. A resident of Allahabad, he recently demonstrated his invention in Ahmedabad. He has used his 'cycle boat' on rivers, lakes and sea in Bet Dwarka. He will soon receive an award for this innovation from the president of India. He has also made 'water walking shoes'. He has been encouraged substantially by the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies & Institutions (SRISTI), an Ahmedabad based NGO.

Tobacco Smoke Analysis: Asia's first modern laboratory to test the percentage of nicotine and carbon monoxide in tobacco products is being set up at the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) in Ahmedabad. Technical support is being provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and USA's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP). The laboratory will test cigarettes, beedis and cigars to verify the ingredient information printed on the packs by tobacco companies. A smoke analysis machine will mimic a human smoking a cigarette, collect the smoke and analyse its carcinogenic content. The machine costs Rs. 200,000.

05-02-07

NRI Help For Palej: The UK based Salya family, originally from Bharuch, has donated the funds to set up a center for maternal care and cancer studies in Palej. The centre will cost Rs. 60 million and cater to the South Gujarat region. Usmangani Salya has a real-estate business in Preston, UK. The family has tied up with hospital chains from South India. The centre should be functional within two years.

02-02-07

Outsourcing Municipal Jobs: The Gujarat government is proposing to allow the state's 201 municipalities to outsource a number of jobs to cut down on their administrative costs. An official document concerning this says, "The present financial and administrative condition of the municipalities is very weak. They are not taking enough care of operation and maintenance (O&M). Even the expenditure which is being incurred is not being met with. In the circumstances, where the O&M is not affordable, this should be entrusted to a private agency." A new law may allow municipalities to borrow funds, raise tax-free bonds, impose fresh taxes and user charges, levies and surcharges. Allowing private sector participation for new infrastructure facilities and services within municipal limits is likely in areas such as water supply, drainage, sewerage, solid waste management, parking of vehicles, communication system and use of commercial infrastructure. The law may enable municipalities to mortgage property in banks against which banks can give credit to municipalities. The new proposal is based on the model municipal law put out by India's Ministry of Urban Development in 2003.

Non-Practising Allowance: Gujarat's Health & Family Welfare Department has modified the proposed rules governing non-practising allowance (NPA) for doctors in government service. From March 1, 2007, it will give an option to doctors with 15 years of service as on November 30, 2006, to either earn NPA or have private practice after official working hours. Doctors who joined government service after December 1, 2006 will not get NPA. This proposal will be implemented after permission from the Gujarat High Court.

Care Of Monuments Outsourced: Gujarat's Archaeology Department will outsource the care and maintenance of monuments because it does not have enough trained archaeologists and conservationists. Out of some 331 monuments it has shortlisted 49 to be looked after by private experts. Among the 49 will be the world heritage site at Champaner-Pavagadh. Most of the 49 monuments are in North Gujarat, Kutch and Saurashtra; six are from Vadodara and Panchmahals.

Stressed Paramilitary Forces: India's Central Paramilitary forces will be put through the Art of Living programme conducted by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in order to reduce the stress that is being blamed for the high number of suicides. The Home Ministry has sanctioned Rs. 50,000 for each of the 475 companies from the Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Assam Rifles and the Sashatra Seema Bal (SSB). The programme will be a mix of yoga, meditation and breathing techniques.

24-01-07

New Golf Courses: with five private companies to build golf courses - two each in Gandhinagar and Surat and in Mandvi, Kutch. Besides these, a four-hole golf course will be built in the Ittina Film City at Bavla near Ahmedabad. It is estimated that there will be about 20,000 golf lovers in Gujarat over the next five years. Gujarat presently has five golf courses - one each in Kutch and Baroda and three in Ahmedabad.

ISO Certificate For Temple: A temple in Malaysia has probably become the first in the world to be awarded the international quality service certification for its religious, cultural and social services. The administration of the Sri Sundararaja Perumal temple in Klang near Kuala Lumpur worked on getting the ISO 9001:2000 certification for the past three years by enhancing its administrative needs which include assisting schools, orphanages and charities. The temple's president said that with the ISO award its religious activities will be standardised to set a precedent for other temples.

20-01-07

Surat Airport: India's Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has announced that the Surat airport at Magdalla will be thrown open on Gujarat Day on May 1, 2007. The strengthening work of the 7,500-feet runway of the airport was almost complete and the air traffic control centre will be completed soon. There will be landing facility for Boeing and Airbus flights. He also announced that the existing airports at Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Jamnagar and Bhuj will be modernised by introducing the latest technologies.

18-01-07

Film City In Gujarat: An MoU has been signed between the Gujarat government and Bangalore based Ittina Film City Pvt. Ltd. to build a film city at Bavla, 80 km from Ahmedabad and near the Nalsarovar lake. The Rs. 22.4 billion project, covering 4,500 acres, may be completed by 2009. If it comes up according to plan, it will be bigger than Ramoji Rao's film city near Hyderabad. The ambitious scope includes 30 theme gardens, a golf course, race course, air strip, five-star and three-star hotels, dormitories and a film training institute. It will also feature replicas of the Taj Mahal, Supreme Court, Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Eiffel Tower, etc. The film city will be open for visitors too, at a price; as a matter of fact, it will be able to handle 200,000 visitors a day.

No Freebies For Doctors:The Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) has decided to stop giving gifts in cash or kind to doctors. The drug companies will apply this code voluntarily to themselves. Freebies are often offered to doctors for the promotion of specific medicines and . OPPI represents companies that control two-thirds of the pharmaceuticals market.

New Water Rates: The Gujarat government has announced rationalised water rates for various categories of consumers. Residential consumers will be charged a flat rate of Rs. 1 per thousand litres. In case of agricultural users, no money will be charged for water drawn from check dams constructed through public-private partnership. Also, water rates will be discounted by 35 per cent and 65 per cent for sprinkler and drip irrigation. There will be no changes in the rates for Sardar Sarovar water. For industrial users, the water rates will be Rs. 8 per thousand litres for 2007, and increased to Rs. 10 by 2009.

Winners At The Box Office: Amitabh Bachchan delivered the maximum box office collections for films between 1940 and 2006, followed by Dilip Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan. Dharmendra and Salman Khan are next, while there is a tie for sixth place between Ashok Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Rajesh Khanna, Sunny Deol and Aamir Khan. Of course, SRK has the highest average turnover per film - Rs. 600 million. The study sampled the top 300 films during this period and considered the combined box office sales delivered by each actor (with inflation adjustments done for earlier years). Overseas collections were also included, and for multi-starrers, the entire box office collection was attributed to all the actors involved. Bachchan leads with 40 hits, delivering a combined turnover of Rs 13 billion (from Zanjeer in 1973 to Sarkar in 2005). His biggest hit Sholay is at the top, along with Mughal-e-Azam, with a turnover of Rs. 1.5 billion. His other big hits were Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Muqaddar ka Sikandar and Amar Akbar Anthony. Mughal-e-Azam was Dilip Kumar's most successful film, followed by Ganga Jamuna, Naya Daur and Madhumati. SRK had three superhits - Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, to his name. Besides Sholay, Dharmendra's hits include Ankhen, Dharam Veer and Seeta Aur Geeta. Salman Khan is best known for Hum Apke Hain Kaun and Maine Pyar Kiya. Ashok Kumar figured in Kismet and Mahal, Sunil Dutt in Mother India, Waqt and Mera Saya, and Rajesh Khanna in Aradhana, Do Raaste and Haathi Mere Saathi. Sunny Deol is best known for Gadar and Aamir Khan for Lagaan, Rang De Basanti and Raja Hindustani. The other leading men - Raj Kapoor, Jeetendra, Manoj Kumar and Dev Anand - follow after this lot of box office stalwarts.

16-01-07

Tourist Expenditure In India: According to World Tourism Organisation data for 2005, India earned around $1,500 from every foreign tourist who came here in 2005, three times the $556 that the tourist spends in France (the world's top tourist destination) and twice the global average of $844. China had 47 million tourists against a mere 4 million for India, but China earned only $626 per tourist. Sri Lanka earns $1,000 per tourist, Spain $862 and Italy $970. Australia, New Zealand and Sweden earn $2,000 per tourist. USA earns $1,653 per tourist. The high earning per tourist is because of the higher number of days spent by him in the country and also because many tourists are high-end travellers. A tourist from the top 15 international markets for India spends an average of 16 days in India. The longer time spent in India is due to the vastness of the country and the fact that most tourists come from a very long distance. One-fourth of them are from Europe, 20% from the US and Canada and 10% from the Far East and Australia.

Ministers' Bungalows: Lutyens' Delhi, the 'green belt' of India's capital, is where most of government ministers and bigwigs live. Considering acreage of the bungalows, their permitted built-up area and after factors, it appears that the market value of a Union cabinet minister's house ranges from Rs. 950 million to Rs 1,300 million. Besides the ministers, others who occupy such houses include Sonia Gandhi, Ram Vilas Paswan, George Fernandes, L.K. Advani and Somnath.

Writing On Currency Notes: Did you know that writing on currency notes is a punishable offence according to the rules of the Reserve Bank (RBI)? Writing on the watermark window of bank notes is punishable under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act 1949. The RBI does not also permit stapling fresh, reissuable or non-issuable note packets.

13-01-07

Ten Million Mobiles In Gujarat: Effective the first week of January 2007, the cell phone statistics for Gujarat indicate that one out of every five persons in the state has a cell phone. The total cell phone subscriber base for the six cellular operators, four GSM and two CDMA has now crossed 10 million. Five million subscribers were added in just one year. It took operators nine years to cross the 5 million mark in the state and just one year to double the figure to 10 million. The mobile phone is no longer a luxury item, even in rural Gujarat which has the highest number of rural self-employed in India.

09-01-07

New Medical Courses: Gujarat University has received tentative approval from the Medical Council of India (MCI) and Indian Nursing Council to launch several new professional courses in medical and nursing colleges. Students will be admitted on the basis of tests by the Centralised Admission Committee of the Gujarat government. Bachelor of Orthotics and Prosthetics will be a 4-year programme after class 12 (Science); it will focus on making artificial limbs, appliances and calipers. Bachelors in Optometry Technology will train students in the making of spectacles. The Blood Transfusion and Immunology course will be for MD students who want to start a blood bank. There will also be postgraduate courses in Physiotherapy and Nursing. The MCH course in Paediatric Surgery will train those who are meant to treat children with extra care and advanced technology. Also on offer will be a diploma course in Clinical Applied Psychology.

Grassroots Innovations: A garlic peeling machine, a grape grading machine, an areca nut peeling machine and a pomegranate deseeding machine are just a few examples of grassroots Indian innovations that are becoming popular abroad. The products and the innovators have surfaced through the efforts of the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) and Gujarat Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network (GIAN). For further details, please refer to the website indiainnovates.com.

Electric 3-Wheeler: Yobyke, the battery-fuelled scooter, has been so successful that the manufacturer, Electrotherm India, now plans to launch a high-end scooter and an electric three-wheeler. The company presently markets seven models of the yobyke in a price range of Rs. 14,000 to Rs. 23,000. Its manufacturing unit in Kutch can turn out 288,000 vehicles per year and this capacity will be stepped up to 500,000 in three years.

06-01-07

'Vibrant Gujarat' Summit: At the Vibrant Gujarat, Global Investors' Summit 2007, in Ahmedabad on January 12 and 13, the 33 special economic zones (SEZs) approved for Gujarat will come up for special discussion. Among the participants will be 45 international organisations, along with 82 delegates from 12 countries. Indian business tycoons will also attend. The summit will have three seminars covering power, oil and gas, chemicals and petrochemicals, Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and port-led development, agro and food processing, engineering, automobiles, ceramics, biotechnology, textiles and apparels, gems and jewellery and pharmaceuticals.

Some Features Of Gujarat's SEZs:
... Three SEZs have started functioning - 600- hectare SEZ at Kandla (run by India's Commerce & Industries Ministry), 80-hectare SEZ at Sachin (run by the Diamond & Gem Development Corporation), 50-hectare SEZ at Vanj for apparel manufacturing (run by the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation).
... The biggest SEZs will be run by the Adanis at Mundra and Dholera, by Reliance at Jamnagar and by Essar at Jamnagar.
... Gujarat's SEZs are manufacturing driven and port-centered. Due to the port-centric nature of the SEZs, most of them are closer to their raw materials and markets. In other states, the SEZs are mostly Information Technology (IT) related.
... Eight SEZs are along the state's coastline (Hazira, Dahej, Jamnagar, Kutch).
... Of the 33 SEZs, 9 are multi-product, 5 pharmaceuticals, 3 IT, 3 Engineering, 2 apparels, 2 chemicals, 2 power, and 1 each gems & jewellery, petroleum, ceramics, industrial machinery, electronics, textiles, and flat steel.
... 8 SEZs are coming up in Ahmedabad, 7 in Kutch, 7 in Bharuch, 5 in Surat (2 already functional), 3 in Gandhinagar, 2 in Jamnagar, 1 in Vadodara.
... The Adani group has 4 SEZs (3 in Kutch, 1 in Dholera), Essar has 3, Jubilant Infrastructure has 2, Dishman Pharma has 2, GIDC has 5, and Reliance, Zydus, NG Realty, CPL Infrastructure, Kandla Port Trust, Jayant Oil, JB Chemicals, Calica Constructions, Mugdha Complex, Rahejas and Indian Steel Corporation Ltd. have 1 each.
... Though Gujarat's 33 SEZs are less than Andhra Pradesh's 45 and Maharashtra's 48, the total area occupied by these 33 SEZs will be the largest in India.

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas: The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 7. Over 1500 NRIs are expected to attend the three-day annual meet where Singapore Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar will be the Chief Guest. The conference is co-sponsored by the Indian government and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).

Indian Startups In USA: According to a new US study, of an estimated 7,300 US tech startups founded by immigrants, 26 per cent have Indian founders, CEOs, presidents or head researchers. The study, 'Silicon Valley's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs', was done by researchers in the master of engineering management programme at the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University. It covered 28,766 firms with annual sales of more than $1 million and 20 or more employees. Indians constitute less than one per cent of the US population. Immigrants founded about 25 per cent of Silicon Valley tech companies in 1999. The Duke study found the percentage had more than doubled, to 52 per cent in 2005. Immigrant entrepreneurs' companies employed 450,000 workers and generated $52 billion in sales in 2005. The number of Indian scientists and engineers in Silicon Valley has grown by 646 per cent between 1990 and 2000. In New Jersey, the share of Indian start-ups was 47 per cent, in Texas it stood at 25 per cent. This was followed by California with 20 per cent, Florida with 18 per cent, New York with 14 per cent and Massachusetts with 10 per cent. California, which houses the Silicon Valley, is the favourite destination for immigrant Indian entrepreneurs. Around 26 per cent Indian startups were set up there. Around 36 per cent companies in the software sector were Indian, while in the innovation and manufacturing-related services, the figure was 24 per cent. In semiconductors, Indian start-ups shared the top place with the Chinese with a share of 15 per cent each. In sectors like computers and communications, their share stood at 15 per cent, lower than the Chinese (19 per cent) and Taiwanese (17 per cent). The study shows that the largest number of companies started by Indians are in the software sector (46 per cent), followed by start-ups in the innovation and manufacturing- related services (44 per cent). The Duke study found that 52 per cent of Silicon Valley companies - and 39 per cent of California startups - were founded by foreign-born entrepreneurs.

Cyber Crime Lab: India's third cyber crime laboratory has been launched in Bangalore. It will train police officers in the use of computers and mobile phones in crimes and criminal investigations. Set up with help from NASSCOM and Canara Bank, the lab will conduct 10-day programmes for 1,000 police personnel from all over Karnataka. The existing two labs are in Mumbai and Thane in Maharashtra.

04-01-07

India Post Modernises: India Post, the world's largest postal network, will spend Rs. 60 billion over the next five years to introduce technological improvements in its operations. It will rope in one of the big IT firms - TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Microsoft - to outsource Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) to integrate 8,000 computerised post offices across India. The focus will be on low-cost wireless based connectivity for the country's 155,566 post offices.

Liquor For 'Outsiders': The Gujarat government is moving to partially relax the prohibition policy, so as to allow the consumption of liquor by outsiders (invitees from outside the state) in special economic zones (SEZs) and during national and international conventions and business and academic meets. The state has two SEZs, and another 33 are planned. The new proposal: anyone over 21 living in an SEZ will be entitled to get a 'liquor card' for three years for Rs. 500; a group permit costing Rs. 5000 will be granted to organisers of events for those coming from outside the state; the liquor cards will not allow drinking at ceremonial and other functions. The government may also lower the age from 65 to 60 for granting liquor permits on health grounds.

02-01-07

Culture Packaged For NRIs: Gujarat University is starting several new courses specially designed for the convenience of NRIs. The planned offerings: Indian philosophy and culture, religions of India, Indian mythology, Gandhi, Indian literature, folk art and festivals, Indian films and film music, Indian cuisine, art of rangoli and mehndi, yoga and meditation, etc. The course duration is three weeks, beginning on June 28. Applications will be accepted till March 15. The fees - $1,500 - cover lodging, boarding and course material.

Railway Train In Kashmir: The railway train will soon come for the first time to the interiors of Kashmir. Work on 40 km of the 120-km stretch of the Qaziguand-Baramulla railway line has been completed and from March 2007, the first train will start plying for 20 km on either side of Srinagar - from Pulwama to Budgam. This will be a 30 minute journey, at 100 km per hour, and it will cut the road travel time by a third. The second stretch, the 45-km line from Anantnag to Pulwama, will be operational by August 2007, and the entire 120 km will be ready by the end of 2007. Roughly Rs. 30 billion has been budgeted for this stretch, of which Rs. 6 billion is for land compensation. Goods and passengers from outside the Kashmir valley can be ferried only after a 340-km railway line joins the Kashmir valley to the rest of the Indian Railways network - a Rs. 100 billion project which is likely to be completed by 2008.

New Device For IV Infusion: Sanjiv Gokhale of Kolhapur in Maharashtra has invented a device which administers intra-venous (IV) fluids more efficiently. The device, Accuflow, allows nurses to pre-set the inflow rate and volume of fluid infusions. When the fluid bottle is empty, an alarm is set off. Marketed by Ahmedabad based Troikaa Pharmaceuticals, it has won an award for the inventor from the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) of the India Institute of Management. Troikaa's role was to improve the product and conduct clinical trials in four hospitals. The device costs Rs. 2,880.

Main Tulsi Tere Raaste Ki: When the traffic police handed out roses to offenders, in the filmi style of 'Munnabhai', the offenders merely smiled and threw the roses away, and merrily continued to ignore the traffic rules. Recently, the cops in Surat hit upon a new idea: they have been handing out tulsi plants to those caught driving without helmets. The hope is that the lawbreakers will generally be reluctant to throw away a plant considered to have a significance that is more substantial than a rose. They may even plant the sapling at home, and always remember how it was acquired. Whether the scheme works or not, it is heartening to see the emergence of the gentler avatar of the policeman.