GUJARAT

Apart from footfalls, donations have fallen at the famous Gujarat temples due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The donations received by the four major temples in the state show that the Average drop for the year 2020-21 is about 37% compared to the previous year.

The shrines in question are Somnath temple in Veraval, Dwarkadhish temple in Dwarka town,Ambaji templein Banaskantha, and Ranchhodrai temple in Dakor.

While the slide is in the range of 20% to 55% for these temples on the standalone basis, between them the collections have dropped from Rs 119.35 crore in 2019-2020 to Rs 74.91 crore in 2020-21.

Ambaji temple has seen a modest drop among the four in donations received for 2020-21. As against Rs 51.63 crore in 2019-2020, it drew Rs 41.34 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2021.

Pal-Dadhvav massacre refers to the killing of around 1,200 tribal revolutionaries (Bhils) by the British. It happened on 7^thMarch 1922, in the Pal-Chitariya and Dadhvaav villages of Sabarkantha district, then part of Idar state (present-day Gujarat state).

On Amalki Ekadashi, villagers gathered on the banks of Heir River as part of the Eki movement. The Eki movement was led by Motilal Tejawat and the objective is to protest against the land revenue tax imposed on them by the British and feudal lords.

Earlier, Udaipur state (Rajasthan) had outlawed Motilal Tejawat and announced an Rs-500 reward on his head. The Mewad Bhil Corps (MBC) of British was searching for Motilal Tejawat.

MBC got information about the gathering of tribals and they went to the spot. As the tribals raised slogans against the land revenue tax, British soldiers fired bullets on them.

Number of tribals killed is not accurately known. The British claim that 22 people were killed. But the tribals believe that around 1,200 of them died.

According to the government of Gujarat, the Pal-Dadhvav massacre is bigger than the Jallianwala Bagh incident, 1919. In the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, 500-1,000 people are said to have been killed after General Dyers forces opened fire.

A major bonanza is in store for IT companies here as the announced theGujarat IT/ ITes Policy 2022-27.

Gujarat chief ministerBhupendra Patelunveiled the policy document at a ceremony held at GIFT City Gandhinagar.

As part of the new policy, the state government has announced a Capital Expenditure support of upto Rs 200 crore for upcoming IT companies in the state, which was upto Rs 1 crore in the previous policy. This new policy will be in force for five years i.e. from 2022 to 2027.

The policy introduces a unique concept of Capex-Opex model. As part of this, Capex support of 25% upto Rs 50 crore will be extended for small to medium-sized projects and Rs 200 crore for mega projects will be provided.

The policy envisions Capex support of 25% up to Rs 50 crore for normal projects and Rs 200 crore for Mega Projects. Under the OPEX model, the government will provide support of 15% up to Rs 20 crore per year will be extended to boost IT investments in Gujarat, the state government said in a statement.

In an effort to boost IT EMPLOYMENT in Gujarat, the policy also provides two special employment generation incentives to upcoming IT companies. A one-time Investment upto Rs 60,000 per employee to be provided by the state government to upcoming IT companies and 75-100% of reimbursement of employers contribution to employee provident fund will also be provided for a period of five years.

The state government will also continue providing interest repayment at 7% on term loans upto Rs 5 crore and 100% reimbursement of Electricity Duty to all eligible IT/ITeS units.
Gujarat IT/ ITes policy also proposes to establish aGujaratAI School / AI Center of Excellence with a view to provide Industry-ready skilled talent for the IT Industry.

Setting up of a cable landing station (CLS) will also be facilitated with a 25% Capex support of up to Rs 20 crore in addition to a power tariff subsidy of Rs 1 for a period of five years.

Gujarat’s Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Education Minister Jitu Vaghani announced the launch of the “Student Start-up and Innovation Policy (SSIP) 2.0” on 5 January.

Highlights:

At the International Conference of Academic Institutions, SSIP 2.0 was introduced to help school students pursue innovation (ICAI-2022) financially.

ICAI 2022 is a pre-vibrant summit on 5 January 2022 in Science City.

Any person under the age of 35 who is a school student, a vocational, certificate, undergraduate, postgraduate, or doctorate student, an alumna, alumnus, or any dropout from an institute, university, or school can benefit from the SSIP 2.0 guidelines.

The intends to construct operational innovation and incubating centers at all of its institutions as part of it.

SSIP 2.0 is being developed to achieve Aatmanirbhar Gujarat through Sustainable Development and equitable Growth.

Because school kids do so many inventions, SSIP 2.0 is significant. They do not, however, have a platform to display their talents.

The new program would provide financial support for such ideas and assist in getting them from “mind to market.”

According to RBI, Gujarat grew as Indias Largest Manufacturing Hub

Highlights:

Gujarat has left behind Maharashtra to grow as the countrys leading manufacturing hub.

Data reveals that Gujarat witnessed its Gross Value Addition (GVA) in manufacturing increase by 15.9 percent yearly amidst FY12 and FY20 to reach Rs 5.11 lakh crore.

GVA is a financial metric that covers the supply of goods and Services.

Meanwhile, Maharashtras annual Growth rate persisted at half of Gujarats at 7.5 per cent for the same period, and its GVA for manufacturing reached Rs 4.34 lakh crore in FY20.

Maharashtra is still the foremost provider of services in India, with the states services GVA growing by 12.6 percent yearly, attaining Rs 15.1 lakh crore in FY20.

A new DEFENCE airbase is slated to come up atDeesain Banaskantha district ofGujaratfor the Indian Air Force (IAF). The foundation stone for the airbase will be laid by Prime MinisterNarendra Modiduring the Defence Expo 2022 scheduled to be held in Gandhinagar next week.

The decision to set up the airbase was taken in 2020 by the Centre. This will call for an of at least Rs 1,000 crore, according to sources privy to the development.

The airbase will, therefore, be a strategic location for theSouthwestern Air Commandwhich is tasked to protect Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The airbase will expand the operating range of the Indian fighter jets in war situations, according to experts.

Petitioner, the National Federation of the Blind, had sought HCs directions to the state authorities for calling for the records relating to the maintenance of roster for giving effect to 3% reservation forpersons with disabilitiesin terms of the Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights And Full Participation) Act, 1995 and the Supreme Courts judgment, and about the 2016 amendment that included 1% quota for persons suffering from blindness and low vision. The details have been sought since 1996. The demand has been made to quash recruitments in which the rule of 4% quota has not been followed.

In India,Gujaratand three northeastern states are at the greatest risk of high repeat incidence of dengue. This observation is derived from a mammoth survey that began in January 2014, in which 2.11 lakhdenguecases across India were analyzed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (Icmr)-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai.

By early 2018, the institution had collected details of IgM antibodies or NS1 antigen against thedengue virusfrom 51 Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDLs) spread across India.

ICMR-NIE epidemiologists found that across almost 85% of Gujarats area, the dengue incidence rate was between 29 and 54 cases for the same geographical location between January 2014 and early January 2018. The scientists had used the Kriging technique to draw a heat map for the country, clearly marking out the areas with a high dengue incidence rate.