2.5 lakh students benefit from 'Flood IT' initiative of Gujarat Bank

2.5 lakh students have benefited from the 'Flood IT' initiative, launched by Gujarat Urban Bank Co-operative Banks Federation, within six months of its launch on February 10 this year.

Gujarat Urban Bank Co-operative Banks Federation chairman Jyotindra Mehta said ''The ‘Flood IT’ project has achieved remarkable success in a very limited span. Around 145 banks and 100 other organisations have participated in the scheme.'' He said ''More than 600 branches of various banks have extended loans to customers under the scheme and Intel has provided benefit of this ‘knowledge revolution’ to the people in the remote villages by distributing computers through millennium vehicle.'' The success of the scheme can be gauged from the fact that within six months, around 9,000 villages in 24 districts have reaped the benefit of this initiative, which has provided level playing field to the students in these villages and helped in making them competent to compete with their peers in the cities

Modi’s leadership and the challenges for Gujarat

kindly go to the link

some of the points mentioned and discussed in the links are

Consider statistics obtained from the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), state government and other published data, which tell a very different story. According to a December report published by none other than the high priest of individual liberty, free markets and peace, the Cato Institute, the average rate of growth of Gujarat’s gross domestic product (GDP) went from a good 5.8% (1980-90) to 8.15% (1991-99) to 10.14% (2000-06).

CSO estimates that when one looks at industrial development, the output value went up from Rs7,160 crore (1980-81) to Rs27,593 crore (1990-91) to Rs307,955 crore (2005-06) in the state, and the corresponding value for net value added by industry went up from Rs1,139 crore to Rs4,468 crore to Rs47,953 crore during the same period. Likewise, the Union ministry of industry, through its department of industrial policy and promotion, maintains a record of what it calls the Industrial Entrepreneurial Memorandum, under the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951, based on the actual permissions taken to set up industry in a state; this registered spectacular growth from Rs8,224 crore (1991) to Rs10,561 crore (2001) to Rs1.1 trillion in 2008. More recent studies by the International Food Policy Research Institute show the ongoing dramatic transformation in agrarian growth rates in Gujarat over the past decade, which has been lauded by it as not just record-breaking in the country but globally as well.

for more of this go to the link ; http://www.livemint.com/2009/08/23221159/Modi8217s-leadership-and-th.html?h=B

Gujarat can be 'Pharma Hub of World

Quality assurance and brand building image has helped the Pharmaceutical Industry of the state and has the potential to become the 'Pharma Hub of World', Gujarat Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas said today.

Gujarat Government has already intiated its supportive actions with decreasing excise duty from 16 per cent to 4 per cent .''

The health ministry is going to set up two more National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) laboratories, one each, at Rajkot and Bhuj.

At present, Gujarat has one NABL accredited lab at Vadodara.

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.