Six Months After Govt Nod, PSU Looks At Financial Viability

Gandhinagar: Just six months after the Gujarat government reluctantly decided to give a go ahead to Egyptian operations of the PSU, Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) has called for a complete review of whether it is worth continuing. Well-placed Sachivalaya sources informed TOI on Monday that a high-level team, led by a senior financial expert working with the Gujarat government, Manish Verma, and a few technocrats, has been rushed to Egypt to make a spot assessment.

Gandhinagar:In an oblique attempt to keep its vegetarian banner high, the Gujarat government is meandering into a so far unexplored area to fight higher malnutrition levels.

Well-placed Sachivalaya sources said the government is working out a complete plan of seaweed cultivation. Small farmers living next to the sea shore can venture into this cultivation in a big way, not just to earn highvalue-added incomes the produce can give, but also to improve nutrition. A top state official said the move comes close on the heels of a meeting chief minister Narendra Modi took some time back,

Per Capita Daily Consumption In State Is 65.9 Grams Against National Average Of 47.9

Gandhinagar: An authoritative report, prepared by the National Sample Survey (NSS), has revealed that per capita consumption of fat among Gujaratis has been significantly increasing over the years. However, one witnesses a reverse trend in protein intake. Carried out between June 2009 and July 2010, and published this year all over the country, the report says that per capita per day fat intake in rural Gujarat was 47.3 gram in 1993-94, which reached 56.9g in 2009-10.

Officials Blame Centre’s Lopsided Policy

Gandhinagar: After experiencing a sharp rise in cotton production for two years in continuation, top Gujarat government officials estimate the possibility of an abrupt fall in 2012-13. “The fall may be 25 per cent or more”, a senior state government official told TOI. In fiscal 2011-12, cotton production in Gujarat was around 112 lakh bales, up from 98 lakh bales in the previous year. The rise of 14 per cent took place after cotton production experienced a whopping 33 per cent rise in 2010-11.

Gandhinagar:Gujarat’s powerful officialdom is on the run following mounting drinking water problem in Saurashtra and Kutch, especially their major towns and villages. Knowing well that it may become a major poll issue in the forthcoming assembly elections, scheduled late this year, chief minister Narendra Modi ordered senior babus of the state water resources and Narmada departments to immediately rush to the spots where water was being supplied to the two regions, and set things right.

Gandhinagar: Amid loud talk about spread of canal irrigation, especially Narmada-based, leading to asharp fall in the amount of electricity going into the farm sector, a recent Planning Commission document has revealed just the opposite.

Titled “Annual Report 2011-12 on Working of State Power Utilities and Electricity Departments”, the document, prepared by the power and energy division of the Planning Commission, has found no decrease in the share of agriculture in the total sale of power in Gujarat.

Gandhinagar: With summer setting in, the Narendra Modi government does not want to take any chances with rural folk in an election year. In a massive drive to make full use of Narmada waters across Gujarat for drinking purposes, complete plans have been worked out to ensure that not only do they reach in all parts of Gujarat, but also to as many as individual households as possible. Funds have been made available, and administrative sanction obtained, to begin tens of big and small projects.

500 HA Land Earmarked Near Lodhwa Village

Gandhinagar: Government of India conveyed to the Gujarat government on Thursday that it is all set to begin the procedure for setting up the second ultra mega power plant (UMPP) in the state within three months. Central government officials in Gandhinagar on Thursday told state officials that time has come for the latter to be ready with offers on cost of land and infrastructure facilities like water, port and permissions like right of way and right of use, needed to implement the Rs 20,000 crore project.

Gandhinagar: The Reserve Bank of India in its latest report, ‘State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2011-12’, has identified Gujarat as one of the states where power sector reforms, despite being initiated early, have failed to create the “desired impact” on the financial position of the state power utilities (SPUs). The report says, “Subsidies to SPUs/State Electricity Boards (SEBs) have been rising over the years for Gujarat and Karnataka, which had unbundled utilities”, calling it a “growing area of concern.”

Guj To Have Monopoly Over Variety Developed Jointly With A Pvt Co

Gandhinagar: In a major boost to Gujarat’s big farmers, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) of the Government of India has approved commercial distribution of a new variety of Bt Cotton seed, developed jointly by US multinational Monsanto, Gujarat Seed Supply Corporation (GSSC) and Navsari Agricultural University.