GLAM ‘GAM’: ‘Gamadiyo Gam’ recreated in Anand’s Shahpur village will host the seven-day wedding

NRI wedding, rural setting
Village Set Erected On 15-Acre Plot For US Couple’s Nuptials
Prashant Rupera | TNN

Vadodara/Anand: And you thought the big, fat NRI wedding could not get any bigger! How about an entire new village being erected on a 15-acre plot? Shahpur village in Anand district is all decked up to host an NRI wedding, a seven-day ceremony. A special village called ‘Gamadiyo Gam’ has been erected on a sprawling plot. It will have temporary huts and dry grass stacks, decorated with earthen pots and traditional lanterns. An estimated 25,000 guests will be served traditional cuisine here.
The NRI couple — bride Jasmin Patel and groom Ankit Patel — will get married on December 29, but the ceremony will conclude only on January 1, after 10 more weddings of couples from the village are solemnised in a ‘samooh lagna’ at the same venue. This is an initiative of New Jersey-based Vinod Patel who, apart from fulfilling his daughter’s dream, will also bear the expenses of the mass weddings.
“The 10 couples will take their wedding vows at the same venue where my daughter is getting married. They will get blessings from religious leaders of BAPS, Yogi Divine Society and other sects,” says Patel, who has taken care that only ‘gamthi bhojan’ is served on Sunday night during ‘mehendi’ and sangeet ceremony and only folk songs are rendered during ‘garba and raas’ programme on Monday night. While Tuesday is devoted to traditional rituals, the entire village has been invited for the wedding ceremony on Wednesday.
“The wedding will happen in complete vedic style. Those arriving from the US will be given an English translation of the ‘shlokas’ and ‘mantras’,” says Patel. The marriage procession will comprise of palkis, horse buggies, bullock-driven chariots, camel carts and elephants, and the performers will only dance in ‘rajwadi’ style. None of the 14 meals served during the wedding ceremony will contain any refrigerated item, said Patel who is happy that his daughter has chosen the wedding to be performed in a traditional way. At NRI wedding, books become couple’s life-long companion Yagnesh Mehta | TNN
Surat: Chirag Patel, an NRI from the United States married Dimple near here on Sunday. However, the unusual thing was the families of the bride and groom gifting each other books rather than jewellery and clothes, starting a new trend in marriages.
Even the 150 NRI guests at the wedding held in Bardoli were given sets of books as gifts. The guests were requested to gift only books to the newly-married couple. Once the 150 guests return to the US, they will exchange the books gifted to them to a create a group of readers.
Mike, a hotelier from Texas and father of the groom, had put up a stall at the wedding venue to sell books in Gujarati, Hindi and English to around 1,500 guests, who had come to attend the function. He took the idea of ‘Vanche Gujarat’ campaign to give a social message on the occasion of the wedding.
“A friend had suggested to me to give a good social message on my son’s wedding, and what better idea of significance than ‘Vanche Gujarat’,” said Mike. “The family has set up a great example. The message is if marriage is a union of hearts, then books too are no less than a companion for life,” said Harshad Shah, state co vice-president of Vanche Gujarat campaign.

Happy New Year

Now

At 00

Hours

I would

like to put

up a tree in my

heart, and instead

of hanging presents,

I would like to put the

names of all my friends.

Close friends and not so close

friends. The old friends the new

friends. Those that I see every day

and the ones that I rarely see. The ones

that I always remember and the ones that

I sometimes forget. The ones that are always

there and the ones that seldom are. The friends of

difficult times and the ones of happy times. Friends

who, without meaning to, I have hurt, or, without meaning

to have hurt me. Those that I know well and those I only know

by name. Those that owe me little and those that I owe so much.

My humble friends and my important friends. The names of all those

that have passed through my life no matter how fleetingly. A tree with

very deep roots and very long

and strong branches so that

their names may never be

plucked from my heart. So

that new names from all

over may join the existing ones. A tree with a very

pleasant shade so that our friendship may take a

moment of rest from the battles of life. “May the

happy moments of TODAY brighten every day of

“YOUR LIFE”. This is my sincere wishes !

Tax rates for NRIs are no different from those for residents

Tax rates for NRIs are no different from those for residents

Sandeep Shanbhag
I have been informed that recently, there has been a change regarding the procedure and documents required to be submitted by an NRI for effecting a remittance out of India. What is the exact nature of this change? — Saurabh Gupta
Yes, the remittance procedure has been modified from July 1, 2009. Earlier, for effecting the remittance, the NRI needed to submit a certificate from a chartered accountant (CA) and an undertaking detailing the transaction and the bank account to which the remittance is to be credited. Now too, the same details are required albeit in a modified format.
The CA certificate is to be provided in prescribed Form 15CB. Also, now the undertaking needs to be submitted in Form 15CA. The information to be furnished in Form 15CA is to be filled using the information contained in Form 15CB (certificate). Form 15CA has to be then uploaded on www.tin-nsdl.com. The remitter will then take a print out of this filled up Form 15CA (which will bear an acknowledgement number generated by the system) and sign it.
The duly signed Form 15CA (undertaking) and Form 15CB (certificate), has to be submitted to the bank who will in turn forward a copy the certificate and undertaking to the assessing officer concerned. Once this is done, the funds may be remitted abroad.
Please note that though the procedure seems complicated at first glance, it basically amounts to filling out of two forms, one of which will be done by the chartered accountant concerned. The other one has to be filled online and then printed out with the system generated acknowledgement number. Submission of both these documents is all that is needed to effect the remittance.
I have a small apartment on the outskirts of Mumbai which I have let out for a rent of `11,000 per month. I have no other income in India. Would I have to pay any tax on this income in India? Would the tax be payable if I were to gift the rental income to my retired parents who live in India? Would they have to pay tax on this gifted amount? — Nalanda
The tax rates for NRIs are not different from those applicable to resident Indians.
Income up to `1.6 lakh is not taxable. Since your income from rent would amount to `1.32 lakh only, there would be no tax payable on rent in India. Any monetary or non-monetary gifts made to parents are not taxable. There is no limit on the amount that can be gifted as well as the number of times it can be gifted.
The writer is director, Wonderland Consultants a tax and financial planning firm. He may be contacted at sandeep.shanbhag@gmail.com

Source:http://epaper.dnaindia.com/dnaahmedabad/epapermain.aspx?queryed=5&username=&useremailid=&parenteditioncode=5&eddate=12%2f10%2f2010

Gujarat - The land of the Legends

Tourism promotion now on mobile eatery's menu

Hijackk, a restaurant on wheels, will soon serve diners information about various tourist attractions in Gujarat. Not only this, it will also offer booking facilities to people keen to explore such places. This initiative to promote tourism is the result of a strategic tie-up between the restaurant and state-owned Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited (TCGL).

Hijackk is basically an eatery on a double-decker bus. In a short period, it has become quite popular. An official of TCGL said that the restaurant had been appointed as an official partner for providing tourism-related information and booking services.

Interestingly, as part of the agreement, the mobile eatery will organise trips for sightseers. It will halt near heritage places such as Sabarmati Ashram and Adalaj ni Vav; shrines like Akshardham Temple in Gandhinagar and Modera Sun Temple in Motera and institutes like MICA and IIMA. A visit to Tata Motors’ Nano plant in Sanand is also under consideration.

“It (Hijackk) is doing good business. It attracts people who don’t mind spending lavishly. This is one of the reasons why we have entered into a tie-up with the restaurant,” a senior tourist officer of TCGL, H D Pradhan, said. “We are confident that the move will help promote tourism in Gujarat.”

Pradhan said that participants of the forthcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit could board the restaurant on wheels for sightseeing. Anirvan Dam, the director of Moistclay Entertainment & Media that owns Hijackk brand, said that the company was planning to start more such eateries.

“We see 1,500 to 1,800 visitors every month. We now plan to introduce seven Hijackk buses. Of these, one will be started in Surat and one in Rajkot,” he said. “By the end of this financial year, our monthly footfall should go up to 7,000.” Hijacck is also working out packages for local, national and international clients.
We see 1,500 to 1,800 visitors every month. We now plan to introduce seven Hijackk buses

— Anirvan Dam, director of Moistclay
Entertainment & Media that owns Hijackk
Source: Ahmedabad Mirror 30th November, 2010

NRG secures plot near SG Highway for Rs 34 cr

The land, which belonged to Heart Foundation and Research Institute, was sold for Rs 92,000 per sq yard as against the current price of Rs 70,000 to Rs 75,000 per sq yard

A plot of 3600 sq yard near S G Highway gone for Rs 34 crore in an auction held on Monday. The land, which belonged to Heart Foundation and Research Institute, was sold for Rs 92,000 per sq yard as against the market rate of Rs 70,000 to Rs 75,000 per sq yard.

According to sources in charity commissioner office, Bharti Dhanak, a Dubai-based Gujarati, has bought the land. Dhanak owns jewellery business in Dubai. The auction was carried out at the charity commissioners office where some local developers also took part.
Source: Ahmedabad Mirror 30th November, 2010

asiatic lion sasan gir gujarat-APAL WEBSOLUTION-RAJKOT