Home / July 08- July 14 2023 / WEEKEND UPDATES
WEEKEND UPDATES
Comments Off on WEEKEND UPDATES

WEEKEND UPDATES

July 08- July 14 2023 July 7, 2023 , by

CM INAUGURATES FLOOD WATER PUMPING STATION 

 PANAJI’S Mala residents need not now worry about floods this rainy season or in future, says Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. He was speaking after inaugurating a Flood Water Pumping Station  organized by Water Resources Department under the initiative of Smart City Mission at Mala on July 5, 2023 in the presence of Union MoS for Tourism Shripad Naik, WRD Minister Subhash Shirodkar, Revenue Minister Atanasio Monserrate, Mayor CCP Rohit Monserrate. Explaining the salient features of the pumping system (at a cost of Rs15.90 crore) the CM said the pumping station has drainage connectivity which will improve drainage in the Mala area and surrounding areas by reconnecting drains to get storm water into Mala lake…including from the areas of Altinho Hill and upper catchment areas.

From the sound of lake storage capacity has been increased and entry of water from the creek will be controlled, there are two electrically operated activator gates installed and these will close during high tide and open during low tide. This is the second project in Goa after the Sankhalim Pumping Stattion.

Also, this year people have faced water shortage due to delayed monsoon rain and there’s a need to  increase storage capacity, CM added. Bandhara need to be constructed in new places but a proposed bandhara Curti is being opposed by people, people need to be informed and they should support and co-operate instead of oppose so that water scarcity is avoided in future. Also present were  chief engineer Pramod Badami, deputy mayor Sanjeev Naik, CCP corporators  Shubham Chodankar and  Nilesh Morajakar.

DR RAJESH PATIL, PLEASE!

AT the outset we  congratulate Dr Rajesh Patil, the best surgeon at the Goa Medical College & Hospital, for his new assignment as medical superintendent. We have an urgent appeal to make to him. The GMC’s private rooms are as good as private hospital rooms but  unfortunately, hospital accounts office does not accept cashless insurance. What is worse is patients have to pay huge cash deposit in advance. One is not allowed to pay with credit card either. One patient, namely Rajan Narayan, has been diagnosed with critical pinal problems by Dr Sanat Bhatkar and seeks treatment in a private room…unfortunately, he cannot afford to pay with ready cash. Perhaps Dr Rajesh Patil as hospital administrator could kindly coordinate with at least public sector insurance companies to permit cashless insurance? It is not too much to ask at all for just better payment facilitation on patients’ behalf!

COMPUTER ENGINEERING SEATS

THERE will be 90 more computer engineering seats from this year. The number of degree seats in engineering is now 1,650 — gone up by 90 in the academic year 2023-24. Some private colleges have also ask permission to increase their intake in computer courses including Don Bosco College of Engineering. Meanwhile, electronics and communication engineering have degree programme at Don Bosco have upgraded in electronics and computer engineering programme.

5 LAKH/JOB FOR MEDAL WINNERS!

ALL the Para-Olympic medal winning champions from Goa will be given a cash prize of Rs5 lakh. Even more importantly they been promised government jobs. No amount of cash prize money can be  equivalent to a government job which ensures the champion gets life time support for his sporting activities.  

RAINY DAY SCHOOL HOLIDAY!

ON Thursday, July 6 with the whole of the state and particularly capital smart city going under water down 18 June Road and several other vulnerable places, it was clear schoolchildren would have a hard time getting to school. The government of Goa quickly announced a holiday for   schools and higher secondary colleges. It is unfortunate that the government does not provide holidays for government servants. Now Panaji MLA Babush Monseratte is talking about appointing a consultant to find out why Panaji got flooded! Like he is new to Panaji while living next door in Taleigao.

TOMATOES KEEP ZOOMING

WE are told that the price of tomatoes  has crossed the century mark now and priced at Rs120-Rs150 kg. The price has gone up across the country. The price of a range of agricultural produce has been going up more frequently. First, it was onions, which stopped restaurants from doing onion pakoda and even removed them from the menu. Now the rising price of tomatoes will give an excuse to hotels to increase prices of dishes using tomatoes and which dish does not. We may have cheaper smartphones but not cheaper vegetables. Reliance has come out with a Rs10,000 smartphone which will have 5G capability but how cheap will it be at least in the beginning?

 NEP TO BE POSTPONED

THE New Education Policy will start functioning only from next year. This is because of the wide range of protests against changes in the textbook syllabus.  The syllabus for the BA, BSE and Bcom courses is yet to be framed by the NEP. In view of the confusion, students may skip engineering if they get medical and dental seats.

GOA LOSES MINING

THE historical mining leases in Goa have been cancelled. Under the new law of the Central government all mining leases have to be auctioned. Even existing mine owners are not exempt and have to surrender their leases. In the auction held for mining leases the original Goan companies have not been able to win  new leases. Senior mining industrialists claim that the bid price by outsider companies is much higher than Goan mine owners can afford. The Jindals from Karnataka and Vedanta have bagged most of the mining leases put up for auction.

74TH VAN MAHAOTSAV

THE 74th Van Mahotsav was celebrated with great enthusiasm at the Navy-based campus of INS Mandovi in Betim, Verem. The event was organized jointly by the Indian Navy and Goa Forest Department and present for the occasion was Forest Minister Vishwajeet Rane as chief guest. He commenced the function by a tree plantation drive and flagging off the Goa Forest Department’s nature awareness van.

    The minister emphasized the importance of maintaining environmental balance to preserve wild flora and fauna. He also stressed upon the significance of tree plantation in combating global warming. Students, he said, should be encouraged to plant trees for they are the key to a better future. Rajiv Kumar Gupta (IFS, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests)  and Rear Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar (NM, Commandant of Naval War College, Goa) emphasized the preservation of our motherland, nature, and forests. They urged all attendees to contribute to the cause by planting more trees. Umakant (IFS, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests gave the welcome address while Cdr B Suresh compered the function,  Commodore  Prashant Chowdhari (VSM) delivered vote of thanks to INS Mandovi officials, cadets and distinguished guests.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS CHAMPS FELICATED

A HAPPY Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant announced cash awards of Rs5 lakh for gold, Rs3 lakh for silver and Rs1 lakh for bronze for the  2023 Special Olympics champions being felicitated after their return with a glorious medal haul. He was speaking at the felicitation function held on July 5, 2023 where he honoured the extraordinary achievements of the Goan champions. Congratulating the 15 athletes and 8 coaches he said, “Our special athletes have made us all proud with their medals. They have shown great courage, determination and skill in the Olympic Games. I am delighted to announce that we will reward each of them with a cash prize of 5 lakh for gold, 3 lakh for silver and 1 lakh for bronze. The prize money will be given to them within two months. Moreover, we will offer them a chance to work in the government sector in the future. They deserve this recognition and support.”

He added  Social Welfare Minister Subhash Phal Desai and Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities Guruprasad Pawaskar stayed with the athletes throughout the games, motivating, caring and ensuring that were looked after in Berlin, Germany where the games took place. The medal winners felicitated  Venson Paes, Joel Rodrigues, Francis Parisapogu and Aman Nadaf (Gold, 7-a-side football),Manfil Ferrao (Gold, Basketball), Veena Naik (Gold, Volleyball unified), Geetanjali Nagvenkar (Gold, 800 mts, Silver, 400 mts),Aslam Ganjanawar (Silver, Judo), Aayush Gadekar (Silver, Volleyball unified) Taniya Usgaonkar (Silver and Bronze, Skating), and Siya Sarode (Gold, Deadlift & Squat, Silver, Combine Lift, Bronze, Bench press), Gayban Mulla (Bronze, Mini Javelin), Gayatri Fatarpekar and Kajal Jadhav (Bronze, 7-a-side football) and Asif Malani (4th place 4×400 mts relay). The eight coaches from Goa Varsha Naik, Prakash Velip, Gautami Dessai, Samantha D’Costa, Saffira D’Costa, Kazmiro Fernandes, Sr. Monica Coelho and Prashant Tari.

Over 7,000 athletes representing 190 delegations participated in the Special Olympics World Games 2023.

JANTA DARBAR IN MARGAO

THE first ever Janta Darbar was held on July 3, 2023 at the Mathany Saldanha Complex, Margao, wherein Revenue Minister Atanasio Monserrate heard the grievances of the people.  Addressing the gathering he announced that every month one MLA will be listening and redressing the grievances of the public in Janta Darbar, “This is a  unique initiative taken by our Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant to resolve the issues of people in front of  concerned department authorities. It is the need of the hour that the Mamlatdar, Deputy Collector and Collector give a human touch as far as the grievances of the public are concerned. The public should be provided hassle free services and should not be made to run around the departments.” Dignitaries present included Margao MLA Digambar Kamat, Cutorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, Velim MLA Cruz Silva,  Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas; South Goa Collector Asvin Chandru (IAS) and other government officials.

No related posts.

Search

Back to Top