GUJARAT

Gujarat govt drafting a stringent bill to curb cattle menace

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The urban development department is formulating a bill to effectively curb thecattle menacein urban areas of the state. Although the does not intend to bancattlealtogether in cities, it is expected to make punishment more stringent for cattle roaming on the streets.

The highlight of the new law will be that every cattle head in urban areas will have to be accounted for and owners will have to get a license for every cattle that they own.

The minister said that the new law will not entirely ban cattle in urban areas, but the punishment for leaving cattle on the roads will be made more stringent.

Two crucial studies on the increasing soil salinity inGujarathave raised concerns. Of the 6.73 million hectares of land affected by salinity in India, Gujarat constitutes 2.23 million hectares, followed by UP 1.37 million hectares, whileMaharashtrahas 0.61 million hectares affected by soil salinity. In fact Gujarat, UP, Maharashtra, W Bengal andRajasthanconstitute 75% of saline soils of the country. This has been claimed by the department of botany of Banaras Hindu University in September this year.

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salinity also leads to large agricultural production loses. Another study by department of soil science of Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar (CSK),Himachal Pradesh, Krishi Vishvavidyalaya (HPKV), Palampur, India and Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu has claimed that Gujarat state suffers 4.83 million tonnes of production loss because of soil salinity. In terms of monetary loss, Gujarat tops the list with Rs 100.63 billion, followed by Uttar Pradesh with Rs 81.29 billion.

The study further adds, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh have the largest salt-affected area which is more than 50% of cultivated area in the country. The two states alone share around 79% monetary losses in the country. All these states deserve policy attention for management of salt-affected areas to reduce the crop production and monetary loss, the study states.
One of the major reasons for rising soil salinity is the use of brackish groundwater Irrigation waters that is causing secondary Salinization in about 17% of irrigated lands in the country. Good quality irrigation water is scarce in the country. Increasing pressure of producing more food per unit available arable land forces for extensive use of brackish groundwater for irrigation claims the study.

Gujarat third worst with 1 lakh kids out of school at primary level

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Data tabled by the Union Government in the Lok Sabha on Monday shows thatGujarathas the third highest number of ‘out of school children’ (OoSC) at the elementary level. The only two states that have higherOoSCnumbers areUttar PradeshandBihar.

In reply to a written question, the Union minister of state for Education said that according to thePrabandhonline portal maintained by the Union government, there are 9,30,531 children in the country who are out of school at the primary level.

While UP has the highest number of OoSC at 3,96,665, Bihar is second with 1,34,252. Gujarat ranks third with 1,06,885 children not admitted in any primary class.Under the Samagra Shiksha scheme of the Union government, all states and union territories (UTs) need to conduct household surveys for identification of OoSC. The department of school education and Literacy has developed an online module for compiling data on OoSCs identified by each state and UT on the PRABANDH portal.

Gujarat engineering exports grew by 7% in April to December period

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The engineering sector inGujaratsaw exports grow despite negative global factors such as high and the Ukraine-Russia war.

The Indian engineering Industry registered exports worth $69 billion in April to December 2022, about 7% higher than the same period of the previous year.
Experts say machinery demand has risen and has driven this Growth. Gujarat accounts for around 36% of India’s engineering exports, according to data from theEngineering Exports Promotion Council(EEPC).

According to EEPC, from April to December 2021, Indian engineering exports were worth $64 billion, and grew by 7.8% to $69 billion in April-December 2022. However, December exports registered a decrease of about 3%.

Gujarat is a leading state in the engineering sector and companies serve demand for machinery from industries like automobiles, textiles and chemicals as well as supplying CNC machines, boilers and brass parts to many countries.

Gujarat mulls new law for CCTV installation and data sharing

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If all goes to plan for the , the installation of at least oneCCTVcamera facing the street and providing its feed to local Police for use in crime prevention and detection will be required by law by early next year.

Highly placed sources said several senior Ias and Ips officers are being consulted to bring a draft to life to regulate and integrate the use of CCTVs across private and public buildings in the state. The draft is likely to be tabled in the budget session of the assembly.
Sources close to the development said that so far, commercial establishments are covered in the police notification for installation of standard CCTVs. The proposed law will also cover residential societies and colonies.

Along with involving departments such as urban development, roads and buildings and the like, the government has also sought legal advice to ensure that provisions of the proposed law are not challenged in court.

Sagar Shakti Exercise conducted in Kutch Peninsula

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The Sagar Shakti Exercise was held from November 19 to 22, 2021 in creek sector of the Kutch peninsula.

The exercise witnessed participation of the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, INDIAN NAVY, INDIAN COAST GUARD, Gujarat Police, Border Security Force, and the Marine Police.

Southern Command of Indian Army organised high-intensity exercise with the aim of testing combat readiness of the agencies in real-time.

Exercise also involved the insertion of troops and complex manoeuvres by forces to deal with any possible security challenges simultaneously in land, water and air domain, in an integrated manner.

This exercise was held at the time when India has bolstered its maritime combat capability in Light of evolving security scenarios in Indian Ocean Region.

TheBSE sensexmade history by crossing 60,000 points mark on Friday. Rallying with the benchmark equity index, 14 Gujarat-based companies share prices have also risen by over 100% this calendar year.

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As many as seven Gujarati companies have seen their share prices rise by more than 200% from January to September. It was during this period that the sensex made its journey from 50,000 to its record closing of 60,048.47 points.

10,000 jobs to flood Gujarats IT sector in next six months

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Buoyed by the increasing demand for digitisation and automation in the states Information Technology (IT) and IT-Enabled Services (ITES) sector, companies in Gujarat are looking to hire more people in the days to come. estimates by IT giants and other firms suggest that at least10,000 more people are expected to be hired in the IT sector of Gujarat in the coming two quarters.
For instance, Ahmedabad-based Outsourcing firm Analytix Business solutions (India), which provides technology solutions to US-based businesses, is looking to recruit more than 100-150 people in the coming months.

Gujarat is Home to at least 2,000 IT and ITES firms in addition to a slew of tech startups. With growing number of companies opting for automation, the demand for IT services has grown. Several businesses are undergoing cloud transition involving automation of basic business processes ranging from accounting to attendance and concierge management at break-neck speed.

Only 62% of export credit target met in pandemic year

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As export volumes across varioussectorsdeclined in the pandemic year, only 62.11% of the export credit targets were met in the pandemic year. The export credit in 2020-21 stood at Rs 1,036 crore against a target of Rs 1,668 crore laid out in the service area credit plan (SACP) according to the latest report by state level bankers committee (SLBC).

Interestingly, barely 5% of the targeted accounts under SACP 2020-21 have sought credit, according to the SLBC report. Bankers said that export credit has gone down as exports across major sectors took long to recover in the subsequent quarters.

Crocodile population across wetlands of Charotar region triples in a decade

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Wetlands inCharotar regionof Central Gujarat are Home to over 300 crocodiles. The latestcrocodilecount carried out by Vallabh Vidyanagar-based Voluntary Nature Conservancy (VNC) has revealed that wetlands in the lush green twin districts ofAnandand Kheda has as many as 303 crocodiles.

This is the highest number of crocodiles among all the counts carried out in these rural heartland so far. The previous count carried out in winter has recorded presence of 248 crocodiles in Charotar wetlands.
VNC (formerly known as the Vidyanagar Nature Club) carries out crocodile counts twice a year during winters and summers to know about the reptile Population in the wetlands.