AHMEDABAD: A day after the Gujarat high court held all constructions at the Adani Port & Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) in Kutch illegal in absence of environment clearance, the same bench on Thursday stayed construction activities in 7,000 hectare area. However, this halt order is conditional and temporary.

A PIL was filed by advocate Hashim Qureshi claiming that the Kutch district collector on July 15, 2005, allotted 7,000 hactare land in a single day by passing 26 orders simultaneously for the purpose of development of SEZ.

AHMEDABAD: As many as 41% of the children in the state are underweight and 55% of the women between 15 to 45 years of age in the state are anemic. This was revealed in a Rajya Sabha session on Thursday.

Union minister of state (independent charge) for women and child development, Krishna Tirath in Rajya Sabha gave the details of the number of women and children suffering from malnutrition. Tirath was replying to a question posed by Member of Parliament from Jharkhand, Parimal Nathwani.

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday ordered Alstom Bharat Forge to stop operations within the premises of Adani Port & Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) in Mundra, Gujarat, until the SEZ obtains th

Despite new lakes being announced every year in its budget, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has been found wanting when it comes to their upkeep.

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday stayed construction and further development activities by all units in the Adani Group-owned Mundra Port Special Economic Zone (now Adani Port Special Economic Zone (APSEZ)) in Mundra taluka of Kutch district, till environmental clearance is granted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

The directions were issued on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed last year by villagers of Navinal village in Mundra opposing construction, and other developmental activities that changes the landscape, topography or geography, within land and area of APSEZ.

AHMEDABAD: In what may come as a setback for AMC, the union ministry of urban development has sent a report highlighting shortcomings in the JNNURM projects implemented in Ahmedabad city. Union minister Kamal Nath, in his letter of April 25, 2012, has informed the state government to take "immediate actions" based on the inquiry report.

A team of urban ministry officials was in the city recently to inquire into the allegations fielded by the opposition Congress in the AMC. The union ministry has also asked CAG to inquire into the implementation of JNNURM projects across Gujarat cities.

With the onset of the scorching summer, would-be brides fight shy of getting married into families in two villages in Gujarat because they have to trudge long distances each day to fetch water in intense heat.

The acute water crisis that stares at Jetpur and Devaliya villages in Vadodara district has not only spelt hardships to the people there, but also brought problems of finding girls for youths of marriageable age.

AHMEDABAD: For the first time a new standard for operations for BRTS has been introduced by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP). From the next year onwards, the city's BRTS will be rated against 70 other similar mass transit networks across the globe, said ITDP officials.

The ITDP has released the BRT Standard, Version 1.0 - a new scoring system based on internationally recognized best practice in bus rapid transit (BRT) system design.

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.

‘State does not distribute seeds, it only certifies for distribution'

Despite opposition from various quarters, including the agricultural experts and the farmers' organisations, the Gujarat government has refused to impose a total ban on distribution of the Monsanto hybrid maize seed named “Prabal” to the farmers in the State, particularly the tribal agriculturists.