Indian Coast Guard arrested eleven Pakistani fishermen in Indian waters near Jakhau, in Kutch, on December 10. Photo: Defence PRO Gujarat via ANI

File image.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Mohammed Azharudeen’s dogged 149 not out, his second hundred in red ball cricket.© X (Twitter)

Dang, Gujarat:

Five persons were killed and 17 others suffered grievous injuries after a private bus carrying pilgrims fell into a deep gorge in Gujarat’s Dang district early Sunday morning, police said.

The accident occurred at around 4.15 am when the driver of the bus lost control over the wheels near the Saputara hill station, in-charge Superintendent of Police SG Patil said.

The bus, carrying 48 pilgrims, broke the crash barrier and fell at a depth of about 35 feet into the gorge, he said.

Five persons — two women and three men — died on the spot, the official said.

“Five pilgrims died and 17 others suffered serious injuries and have been rushed to a civil hospital at Ahwa. Some others have sustained minor injuries. The rescue operation is nearly over,” the official said.

The bus was carrying 48 pilgrims from Trimbakeshwar in Maharashtra to Dwarka in Gujarat when the accident took place, he said.

The pilgrims were from Guna, Shivpuri and Ashok Nagar districts of Madhya Pradesh, the official said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Two brothers allegedly stabbed their mother’s lover to death, sliced his intestines and tossed them in the air in a grisly crime in Gujarat earlier this week. The two siblings had a resentment towards the victim, Ratanji Thakor (53), as they believed that the victim’s relationship with their mother “insulted” and “dishonoured” their dead father, officials said.

The incident took place in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar district on January 26 when the victim, a mason by profession, was building a house with his fellow workers.

According to the police, the accused – Sanjay Thakor (27) and Jayesh Thakor (23) – attacked Ratanji with an iron rod in broad daylight. They then stabbed him in his stomach multiple times. During this time, the victim’s intestines came out. But shockingly, the two men did not stop.

The accused took out the victim’s intestines, tossed them into the air, and sliced it.

Many people who witnessed the incident expressed massive disgust and shock. According to a senior official, some labourers tried to save the victim during the horrifying incident, but failed to do so.

The victim, a mason by profession, had an affair with the accused’s mother since many years.

The two brothers disapproved of the relationship, saying that they were facing embarrassment in the family, officials said.

According to the victim’s son, Ajay, who filed an FIR against the accused, told the police that the two brothers had warned his father to stay away from their mother earlier. They even fought with the victim many times, he said. Following a dispute, the villagers also held a panchayat on the issue but did not find any solution.

The accused fled the scene on a bike after the incident.

The police traced them down through a mobile location within a few hours after the crime and arrested them. The weapons used in the murder have also been seized, officials said.

A case has been registered against the accused for murder and inciting murder.

(With inputs from Mahendra Prasad)

Ahmedabad:

A sessions court on Monday sentenced former IAS officer Pradeep Sharma to five years in jail and fined him Rs 75,000 in a corruption case dating back to 2004 when he was the collector of Kutch district in Gujarat.

The court of principal district and sessions judge KM Sojitra convicted him in a case registered by Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) pertaining to the allotment of a piece of land to Welspun Group at a price that allegedly caused a loss of Rs 1.2 crore to the government exchequer.

The court found Mr Sharma guilty section 13 (2) (criminal misconduct by a public servant) and section 11 (public servants obtaining an undue advantage without consideration) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

He was sentenced to five years in jail and fined Rs 50,000 fine under section 13(2), and given a three year sentence and fine of Rs 25,000 under section 11, public prosecutor Kalpesh Goswami said, adding both the sentences will run concurrently.

Mr Sharma is currently lodged in a jail in Bhuj in another corruption case.

The court conducted a joint trial for three corruption cases related to the allotment of land to the Welspun Group, Goswami said.

As per the case detail, Mr Sharma had allotted land to the company at a price which was 25 percent of the prevailing rate, causing a loss to the government exchequer.

In return, the Welspun Group allegedly made Mr Sharma’s wife a 30 per cent partner in Value Packaging, one of its subsidiaries, and extended her a benefit of Rs 29.5 lakh.

Mr Sharma was arrested by ACB on September 30, 2014 for allegedly accepting Rs 29 lakh bribe from the private company when he was the collector of Kutch in 2004.

Mr Sharma, who is facing several corruption cases, had been at loggerheads with the state government when it was headed by Narendra Modi.

He had sought a CBI probe into alleged snooping on a woman architect after two news portals released CDs of purported telephonic conversations between Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was then Gujarat’s minister of state for home, and two top state police officials.

The conversations, purportedly between August and September 2009, referred to a ‘saheb’, which portals alleged was the then Gujarat CM at whose instance snooping was done, a charge denied by Shah.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The incident occurred on January 6 at around 3 pm at Lilya station.

The Railways Ministry often uses its social media handles to share fascinating pictures of railway stations across India and keeps followers up to date with the developments happening in the railways. This time, the official X account of the Ministry of Railways shared a video of a Bullet train station being constructed in Gujarat’s Anand. The video provided a small tour of the station, showcasing both its interior and exterior features.

“Marching ahead with unwavering progress, the modern symphony of speed and advanced Rail infra takes shape at Anand #BulletTrain Station, Gujarat,” the tweet was captioned by Ministry of Railways.

Watch the video here:

Marching ahead with unwavering progress, the modern symphony of speed and advanced Rail infra takes shape at Anand #BulletTrain Station, Gujarat pic.twitter.com/HVcKJOx0XS

— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) January 5, 2025

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor has been making steady progress since work began in November 2021. In 2023, the Railway minister announced that the first bullet train section in India – a 50km stretch between Bilimora and Surat in Gujarat – will be completed in August 2026.

Covering a distance of 508 km between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, the bullet train is expected to achieve a maximum speed of 320 km per hour, reducing travel time to just 2 hours. It will start from Mumbai and terminate at Sabarmati after covering ten stations namely Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand and Ahmedabad.

The Railways will run 35 bullet trains when it starts operations, with about 70 trips per day. It plans to increase the number to 105 trains by 2050. Around 1.6 crore people are expected to travel by train every year when operations begin.

The projected cost is an estimated ₹ 1.08 lakh crore, of which the Centre is committed to providing ₹ 10,000 crore, while Gujarat and Maharashtra will contribute ₹ 5,000 crore each. The remaining funding will be secured through a loan from Japan – at a minimal 0.1 per cent interest rate. 

Ahmedabad:

The Gujarat government on Wednesday approved the bifurcation of Banaskantha district to create a new district.

The new Vav-Tharad district will have its headquarters in Tharad town, state Health Minister and government spokesperson Rushikesh Patel said.

With the formation of this new district, the number of districts in Gujarat will reach 34.

The decision to carve out a new district was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in Gandhinagar.

“The state cabinet has given its nod to divide Banaskantha into two districts in the larger interest of people and the old public demand. Currently, people have to travel 35 to 85 km to reach the Banaskantha district headquarters in Palanpur for various works,” Patel told reporters.

At 14, Banaskantha district includes the highest number of talukas in Gujarat and is the second largest district area-wise, said Patel.

The Vav-Tharad district will be created from eight out of these 14 talukas, namely Vav, Tharad, Bhabhar, Dhanera Suigam, Lakhni, Deodar and Kankrej. It will also include Bhabhar, Tharad, Dhanera and Thara municipalities.

“This decision to split Banaskantha into two districts has been taken to reduce the burden on the administration and to cater to the people effectively,” said Patel.

Banaskanth district will be left with six taluks- Palanpur, Danta, Amirgadh, Dantiwada, Vadgam and Deesa, along with Palanpur and Deesa municipalities.

While Tharad town will be the district headquarters of Vav-Tharad, Palanpur will remain the headquarters of Banaskantha district.

“The chief minister has divided villages into both districts (Banaskanth and proposed Vav Tharad) equally so that each district will comprise around 600 villages. After the split, Vav-Tharad district will be spread across 6,257 square km while Banaskantha’s area will be 4,486 square km,” said Patel.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The birds are singing. The vibrant coloured peacocks are dancing. The monkeys are jumping out of joy. The usually lazy-looking crocodiles are awake. Pandas are out of their caves. The animals at Sakkarbaug Zoo in Gujarat’s Junagadh are thrilled to welcome two new zoo-mates – a pair of white tigers (male and female).

Covering over 100 kms, two white tigers have come to Sakkarbaug Zoo from Pradhyuman Zoological Park in Rajkot.

However, Sakkarbaug Zoo had to let go of a pair of lions in exchange for the tigers. A male and female lion have been sent to the Pradhyuman Park.

The white tiger couple was kept in a quarantine facility for 21 days as per the guidelines of the Central Zoo Authority (CZA). The two tigers have been put on the jungle safari route.

After two and a half years, tourists will see the beauty at the Sakkarbaug Zoo. Tourists will have to shell out Rs. 50 extra to see the white tiger.

The give and take of lions and tigers took place under the Animal Exchange Program. The Central Zoo Authority (CZA), a statutory body of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change believes that the role of Zoo has changed from “mere exhibition centres to centres of conservation”.

CZA opines that Zoos have a responsibility to provide the animals in their stock better housing and upkeep which can ensure that there are no premature deaths and that the animals live a quality life of adequate longevity.

“This objective can be achieved only through expeditious transfer/exchange of animals from one Zoo to another. Keeping single animals or unpaired animals merely for the sake of increasing the number of species on display is counter productive,” it says.

(With inputs from Mahendra Prasad)