GUJARAT

Riding on fresh inflows to -linked Mutual Funds and increasing net asset value, overall assets under management (AUM) for mutual funds (MFs) in Gujarat increased by Rs 55,201 crore in just eleven months. With this, total AUM for MFs in Gujarat breached the Rs 2.5 lakh crore-mark to touch Rs 2.57 lakh crore in September 2021, according to data by Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

In Gujarat, overall AUM breached the Rs 2 lakh crore mark in November 2020. Since then, AUM for equity MFs alone increased by Rs 44,440.65 crore, driven by sustained SIP inflows, and fresh inflows by investors drawn lured by attractive returns.

The states maximum power demand stood at 19,431MW on Tuesday, which is the highest so far, shows the daily data compiled by the Western Region Load Dispatch Centre (WRLDC), which is a central government entity. Previously, the power demand had touched a high of 19,360MW in April this year.

The surge in demand is primarily attributed to the growing usage of electricity by farmers for Irrigation purposes. The consumption in Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture has spiralled as farmers are drawing more ground water to save their crops in the wake of the stalled monsoon, said people closely monitoring power demand-supply in the state.
The also raised the time for supply of power to farmers to 10 hours a day, which has also contributed to the higher consumption.

According to sources, around 110 million units (MUs) or Average 4,583MW of power consumed in the agriculture sector on Tuesday, a tad lower than the all-time high of consumption of 111MUs (about 4,625MW) in agriculture in the state.

The upcomingGujarat universitysports city construction that was stalled during the pandemic is now all set to start churn concrete.

Recently the university has called for Rs 50.2 crore worth of construction work at the Sports city which is spread over 34.8 acres.

The plan for the sports city was first floated in 2018, but work was delayed till early 2017, when construction had picked up momentum. But by 2019 December there has been a lull in the construction activity.

TheGujaratgovernment is expected to respond affirmatively to the Law Commission of India’s notice, which seeks input from various stakeholders on theUniform Civil Code(UCC).

The Law Commission has recently initiated fresh discussions on the topic of the UCC.

Prior to the 2022 Gujarat assembly , the BJP-led State Government had declared its intention to implement the UCC in the state. Consequently, UCC implementation was also one of the prominent pledges made by the ruling party in its election manifesto. However, the state government is yet to establish a committee to assess various aspects of its implementation.

Earlier this year, the state government began the process of fulfilling its much-publicized election pledge to implement the UCC. The Home and legal departments of the state government began efforts to seek legal opinions on whether to introduce the UCC as legislation or through a government resolution.

The , on May 15, introduced theGujaratState Pre-Primary Education Policy, 2023, to regulate the unorganized preschool sector. The policy, along the lines of the National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy and the National Education Policy, stipulates that the children in such facilities should be at least three years old as of June 1 of that academic year.

Majority of these schools function from residential premises, have no overarching regulatory framework related to the course, fees charged, and quality of education. There are no definite numbers, too, of such facilities operating. The policy will help address several such issues.

More than 100 vessels left the main of Gujarat, sailing into the high seas, ahead of the looming Tauktae threat.

Fourteen ports were asked to stop their operations by the Gujarat Maritime Board as it was reported that Tauktae was likely to make landfall in Saurashtra region.

All mother vessels, each having the capacity to carry thousands of containers, were asked to leave the main ports, the states maritime regulator.

All units in theKandla Special Economic Zone(KASEZ) on Monday were directed to remain closed from 6pm till 6pm on May 18. The directive came from the Kandla SEZ Authority (KASEZA).

As many as 3,002 students killed themselves between 2017 and 2021 inGujarat, revealed data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and the Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) report. The highest number of deaths, 638, was reported in 2017, followed by 622 in 2021, the data showed.

The data compiled by theGujarat Pradesh Congress Committee(GPCC) showed that 56,013 students, including 30,488 boys and 25,525 girls, committed suicide during this period in India.
In a statement, GPCC said seven medical students killed themselves in Gujarat in 2022. The party claimed the deaths resulted from the bad educational policy in the state and country, as well as increasing levels of anxiety and depression among students due to decreasing EMPLOYMENT opportunities. The party said three students from premier institutes ended their lives in 2020, 2021, and 2023.

Public Health activists and a group of NGOs from Gujarat have appealed to the chief of Gujarat High Court to direct the State Government to ensure that relevant protocols for Maa Yojana or Ayushman Bharat Card holders are in place for Covid treatment following its April 15 directive.

In an affidavit filed on April 15, the Gujarat government had claimed that the two health schemes have been merged to provide medical treatment covering a wide spectrum of ailments including Covid-19 disease also. Apart from cities, a majority of the card beneficiaries are in rural areas and far-flung tribal talukas.

Air Pollutionis rapidly becoming a matter of concern in Gujarat and Maharashtra despite their geographical advantages and favorable meteorology, according to a new analysis of regional air pollution levels by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Gujarat’s cities are more polluted than those in Maharashtra, the study says.

Vatva and Ankleshwar have the most polluted air in the region with the 2021 Average of PM2.5 at 67 microgram per cubic metre. This is followed by Vapi and Ahmedabad with 2021 annual Averages at 54 microgram per cubic metre and 53 microgram per cubic metre, respectively.

With 102 days of poor and very poor AQI, Ankleshwar in Gujarat has the unhealthiest days in the region, followed by Kalyan with 84 days, Vatva (75 days), and Navi Mumbai (54 days).
Vapi has 48 days of poor and very poor AQI — but its data is missing for 138 days (mainly for the winter months). Bad-air days begin to build up in the cities of the western states during the end of December and persist till the end of January.

The analysis covered 56 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) spread across 15 cities in two states: Maharashtra – one station each in Aurangabad, Kalyan, Nagpur, Nashik and Solapur, two in Chandrapur, four in Navi Mumbai, eight in Pune, and 21 stations in Mumbai; and Gujarat – one station each in Ankleshwar, Nandesari, Vapi and Vatva, four in Gandhinagar, and eight stations in Ahmedabad.