Gujarat assembly passes bill to tackle organised crime

September 14th, 2009 GANDHINAGAR - Coming out of its poor show in the recent Lok Sabha and local body elections in Gujarat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won five assembly seats out of seven constituencies. The by election to the seven assembly seats was held on September 10nd the counting was held on Monday.

July 29th, 2009 GANDHINAGAR - Mock assembly sessions by the Congress legislators to protest illicit liquor deaths in Gujarat have angered Speaker Ashok Bhatt who said the opposition move was an "insult to the house" and "against democratic traditions". Opposition members have alleged that they were not being allowed by the speaker to raise the issue in the house.

July 28th, 2009 GANDHINAGAR - The Gujarat assembly Tuesday unanimously passed the Bombay Prohibition (Gujarat Amendment Act) 2009 bill that proposes death sentence or life imprisonment for those found guilty of manufacturing and selling illicit liquor in case of death of those who consume the brew in the state. The new bill follows the death of 136 people after consuming illicit brew in Ahmedabad since July 5.

July 16th, 2009 GANDHINAGAR - The Gujarat government was compelled to introduce amendments in the prohibition law, providing for death penalty to bootleggers, as the the president's assent to the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime (GUJCOC) bill has been delayed, a senior official said here Thursday. The state cabinet Wednesday approved amendments in the Bombay Prohibition (Gujarat Amendment) Act, proposing death sentence or life term for those who manufacture and sell the killer brew - which claimed 136 lives in Ahmedabad last week.

July 7th, 2009 Bill would let IOUs pay for Calif. taxes, feesSACRAMENTO, Calif.

June 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A day after the central government decided to return Gujarat's controversial anti-terror act - the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Act (GUJCOCA) - for certain amendments, Chief Minister Narendra Modi Saturday criticised the decision, saying it is only a "xerox copy" of similar act in Maharashtra. "GUJCOCA is the Xerox copy of the MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act)," Modi told reporters here on the sidelines of the BJP national executive meeting here.

June 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Legislators from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday staged a demonstration outside the Delhi assembly to protest power and water shortage in the national capital. The legislators and other Delhi BJP members gathered outside the assembly demanding that the Delhi government take immediate measures to provide relief to people reeling under power and water shortage in various parts of the capital.

April 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - They garner public opinion in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but when it comes to the Gujarat riots, these friends of the party have put their foot down. The Goa Friends of BJP, a national initiative floated by youngsters, professionals, entrepreneurs and concerned citizens, has publicly said it is not comfortable with the Gujarat government's role in the post Godhra riots of 2002.

March 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The law would take its own course in the case of Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani, who quit Friday after her bail plea was rejected for her role in the 2002 sectarian violence, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said. 'Once the decision has come from the Gujarat High Court, the party asked her to resign.

March 27th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - Gujarat's riot tainted minister Maya Kodnani resigned Friday after the Gujarat High Court rejected her anticipatory bail plea stating that her role in leading mobs during 2002 sectarian violence was 'nothing less than organised crime'. Kodnani, who is accused of leading mobs in Ahmedabad's Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaam areas in which 106 people were killed during the 2002 sectarian violence, submitted her resignation soon after the court verdict came in.

March 27th, 2009 AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI - Maya Kodnani, who resigned Friday as Gujarat's minister for higher education, surrendered later in the day before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that has named her as among those who led mobs in the Naroda Gaam and Naroda Patiya localities here in which 106 people were killed during the 2002 communal riots in the state. Kodnani quit from her post Friday morning after the Gujarat High Court rejected her anticipatory bail plea.

March 26th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - The second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) might have moved out of the country, but punters have just moved into the towns of Gujarat. They are here to 'fix' another game just as exciting and unpredictable as cricket - politics.

March 5th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) wants to field candidates from seven significant Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat even as negotiations are on with the Congress, which wants to fight on all the 26 seats in the state. The key Lok Sabha seats being demanded by Sharad Pawar's NCP are Rajkot, Dahod, Anand, Godhra, Bharuch, Ahmedabad (East) and Kutch.

March 4th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Tuesday said it will field candidates in all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat. 'Gujarat is an important state for the BSP high command.

March 4th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has decided to field candidates from all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, it said Tuesday. 'Gujarat is an important state for the BSP high command.