In brief

No proposal received for tribal development works: Minister
AHMEDABAD: Even as the state government has charged the Centre of not clearing proposals worth Rs 301 crore for development works in the tribal belt of the state,Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Tushar Chaudhary said his department has not received any proposal for tribal development from the state since he took over as minister a year ago.
Chief Minister Narendra Modi had on February 7 at the Garib Kalyan Mela in Dangs said the UPA government was not clearing the proposals despite Chaudhary,a tribal himself from the state,was the minister.
State Tribal Affairs Minister Mangubhai Patel on Thursday refusing to furnish details about the proposals,said the proposals had been sent to the Centre. Asked about it,Chaudhary said he verified from his department but the proposals were yet not received by his office.
“At the all-party MPs’ meeting with the CM on February 8,I asked him (Modi) about his remarks regarding tribal development projects,but there was no proper response,” said Chaudhary. “Instead of answering my question,the CM asked me to see him privately,” Chaudhary said.
When asked about Central grants for tribal development,Chaudhary said the Centre released Rs 58.37 crore in 2004-05,Rs 133.03 crore in 2005-06,Rs 116.78 crore in 2006-07,Rs 107.67 crore,Rs 120.39 crore in 2008-09 and Rs 138 crore in 2009-10 as per the proposals submitted by the state.

Sex racket busted in Ahmedabad
AHMEDABAD: The Elisbridge Police busted a sex racket near Gujarat College at Ahram Road in Ahmedabad on Thursday. The police said one Prakash Nai had hired four girls to work as sex workers and also run the Western Beauty Parlour.
Inspector J B Gadhvi said: “We sent a bogus customer to the parlour with Rs 1,000 with Swastik marks. He went inside and trapped one of the girls who accepted Rs 500 from him. He signalled us and we nabbed the girls red-handed from the spot.” Two persons Elesh Sanghvi (43) and Shankar Jadhav (18) were also arrested from the parlour. Both reportedly told the police that they are from Mumbai and Bihar.
Gadhvi added: “The owner paid the girls Rs 150 as salary. They earned the rest through prostitution. He took a commission and everyday collected money from the parlour that the girls earned through the sex trade.” The police have booked the owner and the customers under Section 373 of the Indian Penal Code and Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.

Corporation will return plot to trust for school
AHMEDABAD: The standing committee of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Thursday decided to return a reserved plot to a trust from which the civic body had taken it for not meeting the lease deed conditions. The plot,spread over 3,118 square metres in the Paldi area,was given to the Krishna Charitable Trust for a school building in December 2003 through two resolutions on lease. The AMC got the lease deed revoked in March 2008 for failure to build the school premises. The trust pleaded that the construction was stalled owing to a court stay as its original owner had challenged the reservation.

High Court asks govt to file affidavit on Idgah land reservation
AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court has ordered the state government to file an affidavit on whether it wants to alter its plans reserving land belonging to a graveyard and Idgah in Surat district,for public purpose. The court has also directed that if the authorities fail to submit the affidavit by the next date,the concerned officer will have to remain present in the court. According to the details of the case,under a Town Planning Scheme,the state government has reserved certain land belonging to a graveyard and Idgah in Variyav village of Surat district. The graveyard and the Idgah are being run by two private trusts,which have challenged the government’s move to reserve the land for public purpose. The petitioner trusts have contended that religious places can be reserved for public purposes only under extra-ordinary circumstances. But they have contended there is no such situation in this case as alternate land is available for the public purpose for which the government has reserved the petitioners’ land. According to the petitioners’ lawyer,K K Trivedi,a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice S J Mukhopadhaya and Justice A S Dave has asked the state government to file an affidavit by February 19. The court has also directed that in case the affidavit is not filed,the concerned officer will have to remain personally present in the court.