In brief

Over Rs 6,000 crore spent on KG basin
GANDHINAGAR: The state has so far invested Rs 6,190.93 crore on the Deendayal block in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin where the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) is engaged in gas and oil exploration works. In a written reply to a question asked by Congress MLA Amit Chavda,the state government said in the Assembly that it has got as many as nine blocks spread over 60,363 square km in the KG basin. At present,exploration is underway in the GSPC-operated block KG-OSN 2001/3 located in Deendayal West field,and so far,16 wells have been drilled in the area. According to the government,commercial production of oil and gas from the field is scheduled to begin from 2012-13. In the four wells in which drilling work is over,around 200 million metric standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) gas will be produced,which is worth Rs 34,539 crore going by the current market price,it said. The exploration works in Dendayal North,North-East and East will be undertaken in phased manner,it added.

—PTI

Land fraud: Chuni Gajera,others sent to police remand
SURAT: Chuni Gajera and five others arrested in connection with a land fraud case were remanded in Crime Branch custody till March 15,on Friday. The Crime Branch had sought their remand for two weeks. Chuni Gajera is the brother of former BJP MLA Dhiru Gajera. The others arrested on Thursday were Veenu Katheria,Ramesh Dhamelia,Ghanshyam lakhani,Harshad Desai (Mamlatar) and Shanker Patel (Talati). They are accused of forging documents for house construction in the Katargam area. They had allegedly constructed 111 bungalows a few years ago.
Crime Branch Inspector J M Patel said,“We suspect many other government officials are also involved in the racket. We are carrying out investigations. If we find involvement of any other person,we will take strict legal action.”

—ENS

Bombay HC rejects Sadhvi’s bail plea
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday rejected the bail application of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. Justice S C Dharmadhikari rejected her lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani’s argument that the Maharashtra ATS had illegally detained her before October 23,the day of her arrest. The court observed that she had gone on her own to the authorities during questioning from morning till evening and also noted that she seemed free to travel,without police surveillance,between October 10 and October 23.

ENS

Congress: CM Modi must resign before he deposes
AHMEDABAD: All India congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Sudhakar Reddy has said that Chief Minister Narendra Modi must resign to ensure free and fair probe into the Gulberg Society massacre case. Speaking to The Indian Express,Reddy said that since Modi has been summoned by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT),it would be in the interest of justice that he steps down from his CM’s post prior to his deposition. “However,it is up to Modi to decide about it,” said Reddy,adding that every one expected Modi to cooperate in the probe. Reddy was in Ahmedabad on Friday to participate in a rally taken out from Sabarmati Ashram to Kochrab Ashram. “We don’t want to take any political mileage from the situation. The fact that Modi has been summoned by the probe agency is itself a very serious thing,” he said. The BJP rejected the demand,with state government spokesman Jaynarayan Vyas saying the Congress was “day-dreaming”. “Congress demands are like building castles in the air. These are mungerilal ke hasin sapne,” he said.

— ENS