Ahmedabad, March 30 : Handspun cotton popularly known as 'Khadi' is becoming less popular among political parities in Gujarat.

Khadi had emblematic status during India's freedom struggle. Gujarat is one of the hubs of Khadi outlets in the country.

With the coming of the elections, the shopkeepers believe that that election would make up for their declining trade which has been already affected by the economic slowdown.

The shop owners are claim that as compared to previous years this time the business has gone down by 10 to 15 percent.

For its two-year postgraduate programme (PGP) in management, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has raised its fees by Rs. 1 lakh, which means a rise of Rs. 50,000 in each of the two years.

The new fee structure will affect the students securing admission in the academic year 2010. They will have to pay Rs. 12.5 lakh for the PGPM - which means a break-up of Rs. 6 lakh instead of the earlier Rs. 5.5 lakh for the first year; and Rs. 6.5 lakh in place of Rs. 6 lakh for the subsequent year.

Ahmedabad, Mar 29 : India''s premier management institute, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) plans a hike in fees for its Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGPM) by Rs 50,000 from 2010-11.

Talking to reporters after a meeting of IIM-A Board of Governors headed by Vijaypath Singhania in Ahmedabad on Sunday, institute Director Samir Baura said, "Last year we had decided that the fee for PGPM for 2008-09 would be Rs 5.5 lakh and for 2009-10 it would be Rs 6 lakh. The board today decided that the fee for year 2009-10 for the incoming batch will remain the same."

Ahmedabad/New Delhi, Mar 27 : Gujarat Women Development and Child Welfare Minister Mayaben Kodnani, who was forced to resign from the State Ministry as the High Court cancelled the anticipatory bail granted to her, on Friday surrendered.

Kodnani surrendered at the Supreme Court constituted Special Investigation Team''s office (SIT).

Kodnani, a three-time MLA from the Naroda constituency, is an accused in the Naroda Gam and Naroda Patiya massacre cases in which around 95 people were killed in the communal violence of 2002.

Ahmedabad, Mar 27

Ahmedabad, Mar 21 : The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Gujarat unit president, Jayant Patel, on Saturday said the party has decided to field Bollywood actress Amisha Patel from the Rajkot parliamentary constituency in the general elections.

"I called up Amishaji yesterday and sought her consent. She agreed immediately," Patel said.

The NCP leader said the actress has her roots in Gujarat, which would help to secure victory for the party.