In brief

Marine Fisheries Act: Boat owners,fishermen observe strike
RAJKOT: OVER 27,000 boat owners,fishermen in the state,which has 1600-km-long coastal line,joined the day-long nationwide strike on Thursday protesting the proposed Marine Fisheries Act (Maintenance and Regulation). A clause in the Act bans fishing beyond 12 nautical miles (20 kilometres) from the port where the boats are registered. According to a statement released by the Saurashtra fishermen community,fisheries units,markets and all units related to fisheries industries observed strike on Thursday.
Jitubhai Kuhada,president of All Veraval fishermen communities,said: “The proposed act will harm fishermen interest at most,instead of combating terrorist threats. The act is aimed to damage entire fisheries industries.”
According to the act,no fisherman can go beyond 12 nautical miles from the port of registration. In case of violation,the boat owner will be subjected to fine to the tune of Rs 9 lakh,crew member will be fined Rs 25,000 or imprisonment of three years. Community leaders said that in Gujarat as many as 25,000 boats came to standstill on Thursday. At port cities like Porbandar,Veraval,Jakhau,Mangrol,Okha and Vanakbara,fishermen and boat owners submitted memorandum to the district authorities to mark the protest.

Gulberg Society riots: Plea to read out witnesses’ deposition
Ahmedabad: S M Vora,the lawyer of some of the witnesses and victims of the 2002 Gulberg Society Massacre case,has moved an application before the Special Trial Court to read out the recorded deposition of each and every witness in the case after their deposition is over. According to Vora,the judge has kept the application for hearing on March 2. Talking to The Indian Express,Vora said,“Under the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure,it is mandatory that the court reads out the entire recorded deposition of the witness to him once the process of recording his evidence is over. Though,here in trial court this procedure is not being followed and it may render the depositions as null and void.” He added,“And so,I have moved the application so that this can be corrected and the court has kept it for hearing on March 2.”

4 killed,2 hurt as trucks collide in Limbdi
RAJKOT: Four people died and two others were injured after three trucks collided on the National Highway 8B near Limbdi in Surendranagar district on Thursday. Surendranagar police said that a truck coming from Rajkot rammed into a stationary truck. When the drivers and cleaners of these two trucks were assessing the damage,a third truck,also coming from Rajkot,bumped into the second truck from the rear,killing four people on the spot. The injured have been shifted to a hospital in Ahmedabad.