THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABADSATURDAY, MAY 2, 20154 TIMES CITY

Ahmedabad: The suspen-sion of police inspectorAshish Pandya, an accusedin the Tulsi Prajapati en-

counter case,has been re-voked after hegot bail.Sources in thehome depart-ment said Pan-dya is now

posted as Circle Police In-spector in Rapar Taluka of

Bhuj district. Ashish Pan-dya was sub-inspector in Ba-naskantha police’s SpecialOperations Group (SOG)when he and his team shotPrajapati in an alleged fakeencounter in December 2006near Chapri check-post inthe district.

However, CID (crime) ar-rested him only in 2010along with IPS officers DGVanzara and the then SP ofBanaskantha, Vipul Agar-wal.

The case was later trans-ferred to the CBI whichclaimed after investigationthat Prajapati was shot deadin a fake encounter as heknew vital facts about theencounter in which Sohra-buddin was killed by theGujarat ATS on 25 Novem-ber 2005. Prajapati waskilled on 28 December 2006.

Ashish Pandyaback in service

after getting bail

Ahmedabad: The state maysoon need a second sanctuaryfor Asiatic lions on the banksof river Shetrunji if the forestdepartment’s initial estimateof the big cat’s population out-side Gir sanctuary turns outto be true. (In fact, the forestdepartment wants a secondsanctuary for the growingpopulation of lions.) Themain lion census in Gir andsurrounding areas that is totake place between May 2 andMay 5 may confirm the forestdepartment’s initial esti-mates.

Sources in the forest de-partment said the lion popula-tion has grown considerablyin Amreli district, includingLiliya, Kakraj, Khambha,Mitiyala and Savarkundla ta-lukas.

In Amreli district and ar-eas adjoining Savarkundlaand Bhavnagar— all of whichare located outside Gir sanc-tuary — officials estimatethat the lion population hasincreased by around 80% incomparison to 2010. In 2010,areas around Savarkundlaand Bhavnagar had reported53 Asiatic lions while therewere 21 lions in the coastal ar-eas.

Sources said that, accord-ing to reports, the populationof the big cats has grown in

Lathi, Liliya, Kakraj, Savar-kundla, Bhavnagar and evenin coastal areas. In the 2010census, there were 297 lions inGir sanctuary and nearby ar-eas while another 114 big catswere found outside the sanc-tuary area, officials said.

They further said that theincrease in lion populationwill be more in areasoutside Gir sanctu-ary while the num-bers are likely to beconstant mainly inJunagadh andGir Sanctuary.Gir sanctuaryand nearby ar-eas have a capac-ity of not morethan 280 lionsand, for this rea-son, the big cats were movingout of the sanctuary becauseof their growing numbers,

said officials.According to a ‘kill and

scat’ analysis, the lion popula-tion in Gujarat is now spreadover an area of 20,000 sq km; in2010, they were spread over anarea of only 10,000 sq km.

The officials said that thestate government had pro-posed a separate lion conser-

vation reserve inBhavnagar dis-trict of Gujarat.After the 2015census, effortsto declare the ar-

ea a reserve willgain momentum.

At present, li-ons are distrib-

uted in Gir Na-tional Park and

Pania sanctuaryand at least 15 different satel-lite locations which lions havemade their permanent home.

‘Amreli lion numbers up,may need another reserve’ Forest Dept Feels Big Cat Population Outside Gir May Have Risen By 80%

Kingdom is expanding

TOIHimanshu.Kaushik@timesgroup.comAhmedabad: After decades of host-

ing protest speeches and civil societymeetings, the management of an im-portant platform for Gujarat activ-ists — the Mehndi Nawaz Jung Hallin Paldi — may change hands. Thehall, which was named after Guja-rat’s first governor, currently hasgovernor O P Kohli as its chairmanand patron, and is funded by a trust.A recent proposal from the gover-nor’s office wants the managementof the hall to be handed over to theAMC.

The hall is managed by the Gov-ernor’s Welfare Fund which was setup way back in 1963 and was sup-posed to be independent of govern-ment control.

The purpose of the hall was toprovide space for civil society and ac-tivists for organizing public meet-ings. A senior AMC estate depart-ment official confirmed thegovernor’s proposal and said that aninspection of the hall would be car-ried out in the coming week.

“An independent affordablespace for civil society meetings willbe gone if this changeover takesplace,” says Janpath activist Hari-nesh Pandya. “The handover to theAMC automatically brings in gov-ernment control, which means wewould have to take permissions fromthe government to hold a meeting.”

The hall makes Rs 5 lakh profit ev-ery year even after paying salariesand maintenance, says ParyavaranMitra activist Mahesh Pandya. “Ifind no point in handing over thespace to the AMC,” he says.

AMC may occupy siteof healthy dissent

Guv Kohli Wants Civic Body To TakeOver Mehndi Nawaz Jung Hall

AFFORDABLE SPACE FOR ACTIVISTS

TOIPaul.John@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad: A city sessions court acquitted ayouth from Vadodara of rape and kidnappingcharges after the victim left for Canada and didnot respond to court queries; and her parentsturned hostile.

Intekaf Pathan was arrested in October 2008when an 18-year-old college student complainedthat he, with the help of his friends, kidnappedher near her hostel, and that the accused rapedher in a hotel in Kalupur. Before this, the accusedhad been booked for kidnapping in Vadodara ayear before. He faced rape charges after he wasreleased on bail in the first offence.

After the complaint was filed, the victimwent to Canada and did not reply to the court’snotices. This caused the delay of six years in thiscase. In March 2014, Pathan sought permissionfrom the court to commit suicide in the cour-troom. He said that though he was on bail, he wasfed up by frequent court visits from Vadodara.After this request, his case came on the fasttrack.

Pathan’s lawyer Anand Brahmbhatt broughtto the court’s notice that the victim herself hadsigned the hotel’s register and never made anycomplaint while she was being abducted or de-tained in hotel. He alleged that there was a loveaffair between the victim and the accused.

When the court questioned the girl’s parents,they refused to identify the accused. For want ofevidence, the youth was set free by the sessionscourt.

Rape complainant, nowabroad, ignores court

notices; accused acquitted

Ahmedabad: They haveproved their mettle in field oftheir choice. However, 32 goldmedallists of the events heldat National Abilympics meetin Chandigarh that was heldlast year will compete to beamong final 15 who wouldrepresent India at Interna-tional Abilympics meet to beheld in France in 2016.

The final trials for selec-ting the best 15 have begun atcity’s Blind People’s Associ-ation (BPA) on May 1 thatwould continue on May 2.The events would include ar-tificial limb making, CAD forarchitecture and machinery,

computer programming,web page designing, desktoppublishing and text process-ing, dress making, electronicassembly and testing, furni-ture making, jewellery mak-ing, wood carving, potteryand waste reuse among oth-

ers. Bhushan Punani, execu-

tive secretary of BPA, saidthat the event is organized byNational Abilympic Associ-ation of India.

“The event has participa-nts from across the countrywho primarily have eitherspeech and hearing impair-ment or lower-limb disabili-ty. From Gujarat, we havethree participants – TrikamParmar in artificial limbmaking, Gaurav Patel indesktop publishing and textprocessing and NarsinhChauhan in photography.Their win at the nationalshave already worked as theirconfidence booster,” he said.

He added that lecturersand educationists of reputedinstitutes in Ahmedabad andaround have been roped in asjudges.

32 gold medallists compete to book berth for France

Final trials for selecting the best15 have begun at city’s Blind People’s Association

TOI

Ahmedabad:The AhmedabadDistrict Education Officer(DEO) has issued notices andstopped payment of the salariesof principals of 14 secondaryand higher secondary schools

as the schools have failed to car-ry out an audit.

Usually every year eachschool has to gets its accountsbooks audited by the Commis-sioner of Schools. However, de-spite the academic term com-ing to an end, these schools had

not got their account books au-dited by the Commissioner ofSchools. Taking a serious noteof the lapse, the DEO has stop-ped the salaries of the princi-pals of these schools which aresituated in Ellisbridge, AshramRoad and Navrangpura.

DEO stops salaries of 14 principals

Ahmedabad:Experts fromAligarh Muslim University and theWildlife Institute of India areconstantly monitoring feedsreceived from cameras set up forthe first time at key points in thesanctuary area. This is in additionto volunteers and forestdepartment staff who will bereporting actual sightings of theanimal when the Asiatic lioncensus-2015 begins on Saturday.

Forest department officialssaid experts from Aligarh MuslimUniversity and a group of youngresearchers are camping in Sasan.

Principal Chief Conservator ofForests (PCCF), Gujarat, CNPandey said the census will beconducted in the habitat circle oflions which covers around 20,000square km in Junagadh,Gir-Somnath,Devbhoomi-Dwarka, Bhavnagarand Amreli districts. This,according to forest officials, willbe the largest census in Gujarat’shistory after its founding as aseparate state. The departmenthas set 80 ‘camera traps’ for thecensus. The massive task ofenumerating the lions in the Girsanctuary will be spread over twophases — the mock round on May2and 3 and the final round whichmay be taken up on May 4 and 5.

Gujarat’s biggestlion census beginstoday

The Bar Council of India (BCI)has sent a long list of queries toGU which has applied for afive-year integrated law course.The university, along with sixother colleges, had applied forthe course. The officials said thatwhen the team of BCI visitedGujarat University, every onewas caught unaware and eventhe VC was not present. TNN

BCI queries to GU

TULSI ENCOUNTERACCUSED

POOR ★ AVERAGE ★★ WATCHABLE ★★★ VERY GOOD ★★★★ OUTSTANDING ★★★★★GOOD ★★★ RATING SCALE VERY GOOD +★★★★

■ ‘Gabbar’ ruthlessly targets corrupt offi-cials—will this bad guy get good results?

Gabbar is back—and so is Akshay Kumar, with a big screen bang. Pro-fessor Aditya (Akshay) has a secret

life as vigilante Gabbar who terrorizes government officials. Gabbar and his gang kidnap tehsildars, collectors and cops, hanging the most corrupt in public. As the police search frantically for this rebel with a cause, Gabbar decides corrupt builder Patil (Suman) ko bhi sazaa milegi, barabar milegi—does Gabbar succeed?

Amjad Khan as Sholay’s iconic villain Gabbar Singh was so hugely explosive, legends say cassettes featuring only Gab-bar’s dialogues sold for years after the blockbuster’s release in 1975. Gabbar Is Back now picks up that high voltage pulse, remixing it cleverly with the biggest con-cern of our contemporary times—corrup-tion. This Gabbar also terrorizes—but only targets the corrupt. For aam citizens, Gabbar’s an inspiring figure—one who makes you cheer for the ‘bad’ guy.

Akshay Kumar has a blast playing Gabbar who, with dark, wavy hair and a bristly beard, has never looked hotter. With twinkling eyes and deadpan face, Akshay delivers dynamite dialogues—

‘Naam se villain, kaam se hero’, flawless bone-breaking action, redefining PWD (‘power-wala danda’), switching from loose-limbed vulnerability to jaw-clenched intensity in a flash.

The story powers him constantly with its novel concept (a moral universe where Gabbar is the hero and Thakur, a smug cop, snapping at bright constable Sadhuram, played by straight-faced Su-nil Grover) and sharp contrasts. Doctors pretending to treat a dead man, nervous officials returning bribes via money orders, tickle you with dark comedy. But you wince as Aditya hears mocking ‘apologies’ by babus, bribed to pass a faulty building that collapses—with many lives.

With gritty reality, Gabbar has glam-our too—Shruti charms with her soft, pretty appeal while a cameo by Kareena adds sheen but doesn’t divert. The sec-ond half ’s blood pressure doesn’t fully

match the first (Patil’s insistent ‘I am a brand!’ gets repetitive while CBI officer Pahwa looks clueless without Sad-huram’s ‘axellent’ work)—but the cli-max pushes up the adrenaline again.

While the music’s pleasantly seam-less, the editing is razor-sharp, evoking Manmohan Desai, rushing you from one entertaining scene to the next, without time to figure things out—but just enough to feel.

Now, Gabbar Is Back—and you’ll feel his return rocks.

Just don’t angry him.

— Srijana Mitra Das

CINEMA OF THE WEEK

AVENGERS:AGE OF ULTRON

READERS’ RATING ★★★★1/2CRITIC’S RATING ★★★★

Avengers: Age of Ultron wins with VFX!Truly special effects!

Avengers: Age of Ultron is a complete package with awesome VFX and a great 3D experience plus a fantastic screenplay —it’s definitely a perfect theatre watch! I DINESH VERMA

Spectacular visual effects, a mind-blowing screenplay and superb performances make this an absolute must-watch! I NIKASH

The movie’s direction and screenplay were superb—but the best thing was its visual effects. It truly made this movie worth watching in 3D. I NAVEEN

Beats the first Avengers!

This is the second creation of the Avenger series—and it’s even better

than the first one with great visual effects and a brilliant screenplay. Go and watch it in 3D to really feel the lifelike action! I SANJAY GAUR

Exuberant and eye-popping, Avengers: Age of Ultron is a suitably satisfying sequel, reuniting its predecessor’s special cast with cool new additions and a very worthy foe. I KUNAL JHA

You have to see this one for its amazing action sequences which make it a really engrossing watch—the fight scene between Iron Man and Hulk is

truly an epic one! I SAUMYA KISHAN SINGH

Not fully Avenged!

After the first installation of Avengers,this movie is a huge letdown, its lack of screenplay and a good story being really disappointing. The movie also lacked the spectacular action and

sense of humour seen in the first installation. I SHIVRAM S BHARDWAJ

This movie had lots of stunning visual effects and some witty dialogues—but substance-wise, it had nothing more than that. I DHAVAL CHHEDA

READERS’ VERDICT

Explosive Gabbar will rock the box office—again!Gabbar Is Back (Drama/Action) ★★★1/2Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti Haasan, Suman Talwar, Sunil Grover, Kareena Kapoor KhanDirection: KrishDuration: 2 hours 10 minutes Language: Hindi (U/A)58888 code: gab

Direction: 3.5/5 | Dialogues: 4/5Story: 3.5/5 | Music: 4/5Visual Appeal: 3.5/5Our rating is not the average of the above

SMS YOUR MOVIEREVIEWS/RATINGSType rev <space> short code of movie as given under each movie name <space> your name <space> your rating (choose from 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5 or 5). <space> add your comments and send to 58888 e.g. rev gab neha 3 super movie

To rate the movie, you can also go to review.timesofindia.com

● Gabbar Is Back (gab)

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INTERNATIONALABILYMPICS 2016

Advocate Yatin Oza was elected again president of Gujarat High CourtAdvocates’ Association, and Hasmukh Pandya was elected vice-presi-dent. Bhagyesh Mankad was elected treasurer. The counting processtook place again when the victory margin was only of 2 votes for win-ners of secretary and joint secretary positions. At the metropolitancourt, 55.52% of total 5,704 member-lawyers of the Criminal Courts’ BarAssociation voted in the elections. The counting of votes started imme-diately after the polling was over.

J&K CM to promote tourism: To promote tourism, Jammu andKashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed will interact with touroperators and travel agencies at a city hotel on Saturday.

IIT-Gn to host 'Bada Khana': The permanent campus of Indian In-stitute of Technology, Gandhinagar, in Palaj will host its first occupantson Saturday as over a hundred students from the graduating batch planto spend a night at its newly constructed hostel. A huge feast has beenarranged in the evening for the students and employees of the institute,construction workers, officers and other well-wishers.

Exhibition in Cept:An exhibition organized by Faculty of Architecture,Cept University, to display students' works started on Friday. During theexhibition, student works from all studios, workshops and some theorysubjects will be displayed. The display will include works from both un-dergraduate and postgraduate courses.

CITY DIGEST

Yatin Oza becomes prez of HC bar association

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