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.

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.

'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