Gujarat leads country in vulture conservation'

A unique concept of a feeding site spread over an area of 300-400 sq meters is being operational in Hazira near Surat, maintained by Surat-based NGO, Surat Nature Club. Here carcasses are brought from a nearby village, where they NGO provides non-Diclofenac medicines for the farmers' livestock. "Around 50-80 birds visit the site everyday. A similar site is being developed in Mahuva, but it is not yet fully operational. Last week, 50 vultures visited the site after a carcass was dumped there," said Snehal Patel, a member of SNC.

In Ahmedabad, efforts are under way to develop a feeding site at Dabasa, but each carcass is first claimed by dogs and pigs, before vultures can swoop on it. Moreover, skinning of the carcass by locals is also a serious concern cited by conservationists. "At least 25 vultures were reported injured or dead in city after Uttarayan this year," says Varun Parikh, a volunteer with BCSG in Ahmedabad.

Alert Gujarat youth averts Air India tragedy

TNN 5 September 2009, 02:04am IST

AHMEDABAD: The first to spot the fire on Air India's Boeing 747 and save the lives of 228 passengers at Mumbai airport on Friday was a youth from Gandhinagar who was posted there.

Anil Yadav, 21, who serves as aviation fire fighter at Mumbai airport, saw the fire 50-feet away from the watch tower he was manning. The timely alert issued by him prompted fire tenders to rush to the aircraft and avert the tragedy.

"It was an unforgettable sight. I spotted the plane catching fire in its rear at 11 am. I sounded alarm before the plane could switch to the runway for takeoff. It was a lifetime opportunity for me to serve my country and save the passengers, which I proudly did," said Anil over the phone from Mumbai.

There were nine other fire fighters from Gujarat who played a pivotal role in this rescue mission. "Fire fighters from Gujarat responded well in time to the crisis, dousing the flames that had almost engulfed the rear portion of the aircraft," said Nirav Joshi, senior executive of emergency fire service.

Anil, who lives in Sector 28 in Gandhinagar, is son of Tarachand Yadav, a police constable. "My son has bagged gold medal in BSc in fire technology. He is a CBSE pass out. Anil got the job at Mumbai airport within eight months of completion of his graduation in fire technology," said a visibly proud Tarachand.

Anil did his BSc from College of Fire Technology in Sanand, the only college in the country teaching fire technology since 2001. "There are 35 fire fighters who are serving at Mumbai airport after graduating from our college," said college trustee Gnanesh Bhagat.

source: ToI

Gujarat based cooperative AMUL now ranks 21st largest dairy in the world ahead of USA and Germany

Amul has been ranked among the top 21 largest dairy businesses in the world according to the findings published by the International Farm Comparison Network (IFCN) at the 10th IFCN Dairy Conference 2009, held at Stockholmduring June 14-17.

The IFCN is a network of dairy researchers responsible for analysing global dairy trends and creating knowledge to guide various stakeholders in the dairy sector covering about 80 countries, over 60 dairy-related companies, a number of dairy-related institutions and dairy farmers.

it publishes “IFCN Dairy Report” every year, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, which owns the Amul brand, said on Wednesday. In its recent report, IFCN has provided ranking of dairy processors by its milk intake, representing milk volumes collected plus commodity purchased in home country and subsidiaries in other countries. Accordingly, Fonterra of New Zealand, Dairy Farmers of America and Nestle of Switzerland secured the first three places with market share of 2.7 per cent, 2.3 per cent and 1.7 per cent globally.

Interestingly, all the 21 top milk processing companies in the organised sector put together, accounted for only 21 per cent of the market share globally, probably meaning that unorganised and semi-organised sectors still accounted for three-fourths of the global milk production.

Amul, with 0.4 per cent market share, stood 21st in the list, thus entering the top league for the first time. This IFCN analysis was based on IFCN Daily Report 2008 with data representing the year 2007. However, with substantial growth having taken place during the last two years at Amul, its ranking would improve to almost at the 16th place in the current year. Thanks to the White Revolution pioneered by Amul, India with its milk production touching 114.4 million tonne during the year under review is the largest milk producer in the world, way ahead of the US and Germany with 79.3 mt and 39.4 mt respectively.

Taken from Business Line

Gujarat potato is McDonald's Indian French fry

Millions of consumers in India munch McDonald's French fry, also called Mac Fry, every day. But many of them might not know that the potato they relish comes from Gujarat, thanks to an initiative by the Indian subsidiary of US multinational McCain Foods.

McCain Foods India (MFI) processes and supplies frozen potato products from its swanky $14.6 million plant on the National Highway number 8 that connects Delhi and Mumbai. The plant is located 60 km away from Ahmedabad, enroute to Mehsana.

The plant, which has a capacity to process 40,000 tonnes of potato a year, went on stream in June 2007.

McCain's journey to success began in 1997 when it made its entry into India with a proposal to invest Rs.1 billion ($25 million) in potato fry business.

"We were determined to stay put in India and make a success of the venture," Dilip Mukherjee, Country Manager of MFI.

He said after a thorough study, the company concluded that Indian potato was not the ideal one for the business. Potatoes, which were larger in size and had less water content, were required, he said.

For the kind of potato needed, Mukherjee said, it was necessary to develop the seed in cold climate. A team of researchers then took up the task of developing the seed at Lahul Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.

After developing the seed the company started a search for the best area for growing the new breeds. That search ended at Mehasana in north Gujarat, as the region was blessed with a stretched wintry condition, which was vital for potato growth.

And since the plant was also coming up in Mehsana, logistics demanded that the potato be grown in nearby areas.

Mukherjee said MFI worked closely with farmers and encouraged them to share the new agronomy practices like relying on quality seed, drip and sprinkler irrigation systems, new planting techniques and adopting contemporary methods of potato storing.

The joint endeavour bore fruit and Shepody, the new jumbo variety of potato, was born in India. Oblong in shape and huge in size Shepody was all weight. And now Santana, another new breed is on the anvil.

Today, Deesa, Vijapur, Palanpur, Himmatnagar in north Gujarat and Anand in central Gujarat have emerged as India's hubs of new breeds of potato.

Mukherjee claimed that farmers in north Gujarat were now convinced about the profitability of growing new breeds of potato without forsaking the cultivation of traditional varieties, consumed in millions of homes.

The MFI initiative with farmers has resulted in Gujarat growing 2,000 tonnes of new breed of potatoes, which is almost entirely consumed by McDonald India for making French Fries.

By 2010, the potato consumption of McDonald India is expected to reach 12,000 tonnes, almost entire quantity of which will be supplied by MIF, Mukherjee said.

Abhijit Upadhya, Director of national supply chain of McDonald's India, said a thorough logistics supply chain arrangement has been constructed to receive McCain products in frozen form at the national distribution centres for West and South and North and East.

McCain-McDonald's India's initiative with Gujarat farmers has grown into a unique technology driven enterprise, he added.

source:Indo Asian News Service

1.06 lakh seats in professional courses in Gujarat

The Gujarat government has decided to add more than 50,000 seats in 326 professional colleges all over the state. With this a total of 1,06,108 seats are available in various colleges across the state. The largest increase would be in engineering courses with 35,700 being added.

At present there are 65,886 seats in 326 institutes all over the state. With 36 percent increase now 1.06 lakh seats would be available for the students.

Director Technical Education Manish Bhardwaj siad that seat capacity of degree and diploma courses in Engineering, Pharmacy has been increased remarkably. Seat capacity in MBA/MCA faculty has also been increased significantly.

Compared to last year- 2008- where degree engineering course had 19000 seats, this year it has been increased up to 36023 seats. Accordingly diploma courses have witnessed a remarkable rise during one year, from 32000 seats to 54000 seats. Similarly the intake capacity for pharmacy, MBA and MCA courses will be increased by 480, 730 and 300 seats respectively.

On Line Admission systems for Engineering, Pharmacy, MBA and MCA courses have been started from this year. As many as 62 ‘Admission Help Centers’ are functional.

Procedures have been initiated to start 12 Degree, 7 Diploma colleges on semi finance and PPP model from next year, he added.

Three Gujarat students among top ten in Chartered Accountant exams

Rahul Maliwal of Ahmedabad has topped in the country in Chartered Accountancy’s Inter-Professional Competence Examination (PCC-Inter). A third-year student of HL College of Commerce Rahul has scored 466 marks out of 600.

The second position has also gone to Gujarat with Vadodara’s Kunal Suraiya securing 464 marks.

The third student among top ten in the CA examinations is Nisha Khanchandani, who stood 6th in the country with 450 marks. As many as 10 Ahmedabad students figure in the list of top 50 in the examination.

South Gujarat-based Gadhia Solar Energy Systems Pvt Ltd has developed world's first and largest solar air conditioning (AC) system

After installing world's largest solar steam cooking systems at Shri Saibaba Sansthan at Shirdi and creating solar crematorium, South Gujarat-based Gadhia Solar Energy Systems Pvt Ltd has developed world's first and largest solar air conditioning (AC) system. The 100 tonne AC has already been installed and soon it will be made operational.

"The solar AC developed by the company has been installed at Muni Ashram in Goraj area of Vadodara district. Soon, it will be inaugurated", Dharmendra Gor, associate director, Gadhia Solar Energy said on the sidelines of a seminar on "Emerging Green Business Opportunities-Need for Sustainable Growth" organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) today in Ahmedabad.

The company has also firmed up its plans to develop solar ACs bigger than 100 tonnes. After this, 800 tonne solar AC is on the offing. Gadhia Solar is also developing a 1,800 tonnes solar AC for IBM's premise in Chennai.

"The cost of 100 tonne solar AC is Rs. 2.5 crore, while in case of 800 tonne it is Rs. 20 crore. However, the pay-back period is maximum three years", he added.

Apart from solar steam cooking system at Shirdi and solar crematorium, some of the interesting solar energy project of the company include installation of the highest solar system for Indian Army in Leh, Ladakh, solar steam system system at Brahma Kumari in Mount Abu, Rajasthan and creation of smokefree village by using solar cooking system. "These projects were first of their kinds in the world", he claimed.

Gadhia Solar's clients include names such as IBM, Reliance Industries, Defence-DRDO, Delhi, Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Ltd (GACL), Gujarat State Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd, Jain Irrigation Systems and Tapi Food Products Ltd.

Gujarat based company earns Carbon Credits worth 241 crores

Gujarat Fluoro Chemicals gets 23 lakh carbon credits. The carbon credits are worth Rs 241 crore. Gujarat Fluoro Chemicals is a part of $ 2 billion INOX Group It is one of the largest manufacturers of refrigerant gasses. Its 90% of the production is exported.The company exports to more than 65 countries