When the lockdown was lifted last year, Rasikbhai Kotadiya, who runs a powerloom unit in the Kim-Pipodara industrial area on the outskirts of Surat, was left with only four workers out of the 48 that he used to employ to run his 128 looms. Though the economy had been unlocked, his textile unit, and that of thousands of others, struggled to resume operations. By the last week of May, nearly 700,000 of Surat's 1.2-1.5 million migrant workers, left high and dry with no pay during the lockdown, had returned home. In Laskana, another textile weaving hub in Surat, the powerlooms were all but silent, with only 2,000 of the total 55,000 looms churning out grey cloth at a snail's pace.
Comedian Samay Raina has removed all episodes of his YouTube show "India's Got Latent" following a controversy sparked by influencer Ranveer Allahbadia's comments. Raina said he will cooperate with investigating agencies and apologized for the controversy. The show faced widespread criticism after Allahbadia's remarks about parents and sex went viral. The incident has led to police investigations and summons from the National Commission for Women.
The death of a student at the Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru (IIM-B), has sparked an online debate on caste-based discrimination. While the police investigation points to an accidental fall, several posts on 'X' speculate the student's death could have been a suicide due to discrimination. The All India OBC Students Association (AIOBCSA) has demanded clarification from IIM-B and called on the Ministry of Education to take action to prevent student suicides and strengthen support systems for marginalized communities.
Zakia Jafri, the wife of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots, died on Saturday in Ahmedabad at the age of 86. Ehsan Jafri was among 69 persons who were killed inside Gulbarg Society, a Muslim neighbourhood in Ahmedabad, on February 28, 2002, a day after coaches of the Sabarmati Express train were burnt in Godhra, resulting in the deaths of 59 'karsevaks' returning from Ayodhya. The incident triggered horrific rioting across the state. Zakia Jafri hit the national headlines as she waged a legal battle all the way to the Supreme Court in a bid to hold top political leaders accountable for the large conspiracy for the riots post the Godhra train burning episode. Her son Tanveer Jafri said that his mother was visiting his sister's house in Ahmedabad when she complained of feeling uneasy. The doctor who was called in declared her dead at around 11:30 am. Social activist Teesta Setalvad, who was co-complainant in Jafri's protest petition in the Supreme Court, posted on X that Zakia Jafri was a compassionate leader of the human rights community.
'The intensity and frequency of heatwaves will be much higher than in previous years over Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.'
The Congress on Monday claimed that the Tata-Airbus C-295 aircraft facility inaugurated in Vadodara was earlier supposed to be set up in Nagpur and alleged that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's instructions, the Centre and the Mahayuti dispensation have conspired to ensure the 'wholesale surrender' of Maharashtra's interests.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's younger son Jeet will wed next month in a simple and traditional ceremony, without any pomp and show and celebrity stars. Adani, on Mahakumbh pilgrimage with his family, scorched speculations of a star-studded wedding of his son Jeet with Diva Shah, daughter of Surat diamond merchant Jaimin Shah. "It will be a very simple, traditional marriage... just like common people," he told reporters in Prayagraj.
In view of the widespread rains and 'red alert' for extremely heavy showers issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for several districts, control rooms are working round the clock to monitor the situation and help stranded people, he said.
Triptii sees red... Palak in the Maldives... Sophie travels by train...
In a veiled attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Tuesday claimed rebel leader Eknath Shinde was pressured to go against the Uddhav Thackeray-led party and also alleged that at least two MLAs accompanying the minister in Surat were beaten up by the police and goons under the BJP's "Operational Kamal".
NCP chief Sharad Pawar had reportedly expressed his displeasure to state Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil, who is from the NCP, about the escape of Sena MLAs
Billionaire Gautam Adani's younger son Jeet on Friday married fiance Diva Shah at a small and intimate, traditional ceremony with a close group of friends and family in attendance.
'Additionally, the significant employment multiplier will boost direct and indirect jobs of up to 1.1 million.'
There was no confirmation from the district administration of reports that the fire was apparently caused by a rupture in the 36-inch Uran-Mumbai gas pipeline.
Huge television screens, flags, flashy lights and a 10,000-bike cavalcade. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's homecoming was nothing short of being spectacular.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at multiple locations in Maharashtra and Gujarat as part of a money laundering investigation targeting a Malegaon-based trader suspected of misusing bank accounts to carry out transactions exceeding Rs 100 crore. The probe is linked to an FIR filed by Malegaon Police against Siraj Ahmed Harun Meman, who operates a tea and cold drinks agency, for allegedly misusing bank accounts for illegal transactions. The ED suspects the trader may have been using the funds to divert and route money for certain individuals by misusing the banking credentials of ordinary citizens. The possibility of electoral malpractice being involved is also under scrutiny.
Based on the technical surveillance, they were apprehended on April 16 from a temple premises at Mata No Madh near Bhuj town in Gujarat by joint teams of the Mumbai and Kutch police.
'This might prove to be a temporary gain for the BJP, but at a huge cost to the people of Gujarat and democracy in India.'
A farmer's family in Gujarat's Amreli district has become the talk of the town after they held a grand burial event for their 'lucky' car.
The Surat diamond industry is likely to face a loss of around Rs 8,000 crores in next two months as Hong Kong, which is a major export destination, has declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, say experts. Hong Kong is a major business hub for the Surat diamond industry, but schools and colleges have been closed there till the first week of March and even businesses are seeing a dip in view of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
During Friday's hearing, the Congress leader replied 'I don't know' to most of the questions asked by the court on the basis of recent testimonies of two witnesses -- the then electoral officer of Kolar in Karnataka where Gandhi had made the speech, and a videographer appointed by the Election Commission to shoot that rally.
Despite receiving so much love from Gujarat, Modi didn't bother to visit the bereaved parents of those 22 children who lost their lives in Surat, points out Jyoti Punwani.
Following detailed questioning, journalist Mahesh Langa was arrested by the Crime Branch on Tuesday morning, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ajit Rajian said. "The central GST had found some suspicious transactions in bogus firms floated in the name of Mahesh Langa's wife and father using forged documents. Langa has been arrested for further investigation," he said.
'Paris 2024 was the first time that both the men's and women's team qualified for the team championships.' 'The women's team made it to the quarter-finals, just one short of the medal round, and the men's team also did well.' 'The mixed doubles is another event where India is doing very well.' 'So these three events are events where there is a possibility of us winning medals at the Olympics.'
A passenger train was halted after it hit an old iron piece of rail placed vertically in the middle of a track by someone in a suspected sabotage attempt in Gujarat's Botad early on Wednesday, the police said.
After a resounding victory in Punjab polls, the Aam Aadmi Party will hit the ground in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat which will go to polls in November this year.
The blaze ripped through the interior design coaching centre located in Takshashila Arcade in Surat's Sarthana area, claiming at least 20 lives.
The government has also set targets for the next 25 years. We are working on the target of becoming a $5-10 trillion economy as well as taking exports to a record high, he said.
A cold wave has intensified in most parts of north India, with temperatures in the Kashmir Valley dipping below freezing point. The national capital saw a brief respite from the bitter cold during the day, but cold conditions persisted in parts of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. The weather department has issued a yellow warning for cold wave, ground frost and dense fog for some places in Himachal Pradesh. There is a possibility of rain and snowfall in parts of northwest India later in the week.
Besides Surat, which will also be the world's fastest growing city during 2019-35, the other nine cities are Agra, Bengaluru Hyderabad, Nagpur, Tiruppur, Rajkot, Tiruchirappalli, Chennai and Vijayawada.
After BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal's Surat win, Gujarat will see 25 Lok Sabha seats go to polls on May 7 with 266 candidates in the fray.
Appearing impatient to return to their native places, migrant workers pelted stones at police in Surat district of Gujarat on Monday, leaving nearly a dozen personnel injured, one of them an IPS officer, and also held protests elsewhere during the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, officials said.
Soon after Unlock 1, the industry - which is estimated to polish nine of 10 rough diamonds in the world - resumed operations, but a surge in cases at diamond polishing cluster, especially in Katargam and Varachha, forced units to go into a voluntary lockdown, which continued until recently.
Across the nation, Lord Ganeshas large and small make their way to the sea, to lakes, ponds or man-made water bodies where the Visarjan ceremony takes place.
Low turnout was recorded in the first two hours of voting for the nine Assembly constituencies in Surat and 11 in Rajkot on Tuesday.
One thousand and five hundred diamond polishing units of Surat had got together to challenge the monopoly of multinationals by sourcing rough diamonds straight from miners.
Do we have enough trained oncologists and medical professionals in India to man these over 4,500 beds in the public sector?
What is required is boring leadership that ensures that the basics are right and not genius leadership that dreams of bullet trains, says Aakar Patel.
In an unprecedented verdict, the top court said the criminal jurisprudence required courts to apply judicial mind to the facts of a case before granting police custody if it was "genuinely required".
Surat -- Gujarat's diamond city and the epicentre of the Patidar quota movement -- is set for a tough assembly poll battle as the Congress has added the face of the Patidar agitation Hardik Patel to its arsenal this time.
