by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Ishrat Jahan (file photo)
Ahmedabad : Karnataka High Court’s most senior judge Jayant Patel, who had ordered a CBI investigation in the controversial fake Ishrat Jahan encounter case in Gujarat, on Monday resigned reportedly for not being elevated as Chief Justice.
Patel, the senior-most puisne judge of the Karnataka High Court after the chief justice, sent his resignation letter to Chief Justice SK Mukherjee.
It is believed Justice Patel, who was Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court before being posted to Bengaluru, resigned in a huff over his transfer to the Allahabad High Court, where he would be the third most senior judge.
In fact, the Gujarat High Court Bar Association had even raised the non-appointment of Justice Patel with the Collegium and called it shocking. This was when he was transferred as a judge in the Karnataka High Court after being an Acting Chief Justice.
Justice Patel had not only ordered a CBI investigation in the controversial fake encounter case of Ishrat Jahan but had also monitored the probe, which included looking into the role of officials of Intelligence Bureau.
He was sworn in as a judge of Karnataka High Court on February 13 last year, while he was appointed the Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court on August 13, 2015.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
Gujarat launches subsidised food scheme for construction workers
By Anand Singh,
Ahmedabad : It’s 6.30 a.m. and construction workers have started assembling near kadiyanakas (hiring points) in search of a job. But one is witness to an unusual scene: Their tiffin boxes are empty.
The reason for this is the Shramik Annapoorna Yojana (Construction Workers’ Meal Scheme), under which each registered worker is provided a plateful of food for a mere Rs 10 with the Gujarat government providing a hefty subsidy of Rs 19 per meal.
The meal includes rotis or theplas, mixed vegetable, cereals, rice, pickle or chutney, and green chilies daily — and a sukhadi (a local sweet) once a week, and the labourers, after filling their tiffin boxes, then hope they will find work for the day.
There are 43 such distribution points in Ahmedabad alone and 44 across the state in 11 cities — Gandhinagar, Kalol, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Valsad, Dharampur, Vapi, Bharuch and Ankleshwar.
“Due to this scheme more than 25,000 construction workers benefit daily and we have served over 14 lakh meals till date (from its launch on July 18),” Anil Patel, Chairman of the Gujarat Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, told IANS.
Construction workers can enroll themselves at the saffron-coloured food outlets — that bear pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel — by filling out a form, following which they get a registeration card.
As for the food, it has been outsourced to NGOs who deliver it to the various outlets in the city, where it is served between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. Each meal provides 1,850 calories and weighs 700 grams.
“We are very happy now as we do not need to get up early in the morning to prepare food for the family,” Champa Ben, who works as a labourer at a nearby construction site, told this visiting IANS correspondent.
Describing the state government’s scheme as a boon for labourers, she said: “Earlier, if we woke up late in the morning, then to buy a single meal would cost around Rs 30. But now we buy it for Rs 10.”
“Even in Rs 30, the food only comprised four rotis and a vegetable. But under this scheme, we get enough food,” she said.
Champa Ben has a family of five and her husband is also a construction worker.
Echoing similar views, Hargobind, also a construction worker, said that the state government’s initiative is very good for them.
“Due to this scheme I save Rs 100 daily on my food,” he said. “Now I don’t need to wake up my sick wife to prepare food for me in the early morning. So I come here and get the food from the counter.”
The scheme draws inspiration from the Amma Canteens which then Chief Minister J. Jayalaithaa launched in 2013. These serve pongal and sambar for Rs 5 and an idli for one rupee. For lunch, lemon rice is served for Rs 5. The canteens also provide chapatis, curd rice and a side dish for Rs 3 and sambar rice for Rs 5.
The recently launched Indira Canteens in Bengaluru serve breakfast for Rs 5 and lunch and dinner for Rs 10 each.
The only difference is that these canteens cater to the general public, unlike the food outlets in Gujarat that cater only to construction workers.
(Anand Singh was in Ahmedabad at the invitation of the BJP Good Governance Cell. He can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi, (SM/IINA) : Two people were killed and about 14 injured when violence erupted following a scuffle between Muslim and Hindu school students in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, a senior administrative official said on Sunday.
A crowd of about 5,000 people attacked Muslim residents and set dozens of homes and vehicles on fire at Vadavali village in Patan district on Saturday after Hindu students complained of misbehavior by Muslim students, said K. K. Nirala, the district’s top administrative official.
Members of the Muslim community retaliated by throwing stones and police used teargas and fired seven rounds to disperse the crowd and control the violence, Nirala said. The situation had been brought under control and three companies of the State Reserve Police have been asked to stay in the village to maintain peace, he added.
Gujarat has a history of severe communal trouble, Arab News reported. Rioters killed about 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, in the state 2002, according to estimates. Modi was the chief minister at the time, and he was accused of turning a blind eye to one of the worst outbreaks of religious violence in independent India. He denied any involvement in the unrest and in 2013 a panel appointed by the Supreme Court said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
Dalit rally in Gujarat
BY ABDULHAFIZ LAKHANI
Ahmedabad: After a brutal assault on Dalits in Una shocked the nation, the community in Gujarat Successfully held for a major show of strength here on Sunday and exhorted for an end to social discrimination, oppression and political apathy. Thousands of Dalits mainly from north Gujarat and Saurashtra participated in the ‘Dalit Mahasammelan’ organized by Una Dalit Atyachar Ladat Samiti (UDALS) at Acher Depot in Sabarmati.
Meanwhle, Youth named Yogesh Sarikhada who was from Dhangradra, dies in civil hospital after consuming poison on larger quantity.
Yogesh has consumed poison during protests against dalit atrocity of Una incident after consuming poison he was been taken to Rajkot Civil Hospital few days later shifted to Ahmedabad Civil Hospita.lMahendra Solanki, a member of Dalit community from Rajkot, said that Yogesh belonged to Moti Parabadi village of Rajkot district.
“Another Rohit Vemula has died protesting against atrocities on Dalits,” Mr. Solanki said comparing his death with suicide of Hyderabad University student Rohith Vemula.
Determined to ensure that no breach of peace occurs, the city police had planned heavy deployment of personnel at the meeting organized near GSRTC depot. Activists and members of dalit communities from across the state are expected to participate at the event to protest against the flogging of dalits in Una.
Sammelan of Dalits has concluded peacefully today afternoon in Acher area of Sabarmati in Ahmedabad. The sammelan was described as “non-political” by organizers, however it was full of anti-BJP govt speeches in parts. The sammelan was organized by various NGOs that are into Dalit activism. The organizers wanted to hold this sammelan near Collector office, but the administration allocated them Acher ground in Sabarmati. Due to rainfall, the ground had suffered water logging following which sammelan was shifted to a road located next to the ground. There was a presence of over 10,000 persons in this sammelan. Former IPS Rahul Sharma addressed the sammelan and said he would lead a yatra from Ahmedabad to Una during 5-15 August.
National tricolor will be hoisted in Una on 15 August, he further said. One of key organizers Jignesh Mevani said culprits in Una atrocity case must not be free in future or they would harass the victim family. They should be sent back to prison under PASA. He said Dalits don’t want to do the job of dealing with bodies of dead animals. They want land so that they can cultivate and get better life. He said all sweepers working in local bodies should get benefits of 6th wage commission.
He demanded special courts to deal with atrocity cases. Mevani, a young boy who was the face of sammelan has been associated with Aam Aadmi Party(AAP). When asked about his association with AAP by a media person, Jignesh didn’t reply it properly and skipped AAP reference. Mevani who is lawyer was lastly in news when he defended an advertisement by Human Development and Research Center (HDRC), an NGO run by St Xavier’s Non-Formal Education Society, seeking toilet cleaners from general category castes.
He convener of the joint front Jignesh Mevani says at least 10,000 people from across Gujarat are likely to be present at the rally.Mevani told IANS, “You might feel the number of people is much less, but this should be understood from the point of view that it is for the first time there has been such a Dalit uprising in Gujarat, and that too without support of any political party.”Even the support from the Muslims has been on their own volition. “They came and expressed their solidarity,” he said.Mevani added that Dalits and Muslims are “travelling in the same boat” in Gujarat
After the Una incident in which some goons who have criminal record in the past, shamefully and brutally thrashed rural leather workers, many Dalit organizations including Church-funded NGO Navsarjan have come into action. Police has added conspiracy section in Una case. Why leather workers who fall under Dalit class were thrashed, why video of this incident was captured by culprits themselves and why it was circulated by them – are some of the key questions under probe. After some violent incidents peace has prevailed in the state. Gujarat has around 6-7% dalit population.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Entrepreneurship, Events, Startup Basics
Ahmadabad: (Press Release) Association of Muslim Entrepreneur had organized its 8th monthly seminar on “Connecting with Customer and Creating Customer Value” on 27th March 2016, Sunday at Cresent High School, Sarkhej in Gujarat. Prof. Piyush Kumar Sinha (a retail management guru and professor of marketing at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad) delivered a lecture and interacted with around 50 participants including ten women.
In his one and half hour lecture and interaction, he taught and communicated following points
- Being a small producer or seller might not be constraint for you.
- Small producers and sellers might not leverage their strengths and focus on their core strengths because they are busy following what others are doing and trying to follow big players blindly.
- Being a small producer or seller, it is easy for you to bring innovation quickly on the market. You can bring innovative products in small batches, so this gives you more flexibility compared to other big players.
- We also need to ask, why customers are coming to us, what value we are giving? (This question should be asked when our business is doing good rather asking when we lose our customer)
- Being a small producer and seller our competition is with our neighbors and shops. Sellers and producers nearby our shops or factories not with someone in other geographies (it doesn’t mean we don’t observe what others are doing in other markets or regions or city).
- Try to give nonmonetary benefits to your clients and customers rather only focusing on discounts and low priced products/ services, so your competition can’t beat you in competition quickly.
- Hear your customers, what they want and what they need, and based on their requirements, you can customize products and services for different segment of customers (this is possible for you because your small size might give you flexibility).
8 With changing environment (which is dynamic in nature), you need to redefine your core strengths and differentiated offerings (products/services) with changing environment.
- In service sector, innovation can be in process of delivering service compared to product innovation.
