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WEEKEND UPDATES

Sept 05- Sept 11, 2026, WEEKEND UPDATES September 4, 2026 , by

NEW AADHAAR SEVA KENDRA IN SOUTH GOA

THE Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Regional Office Mumbai, invited media people to cover the inauguration of the new Aadhaar Seva Kendra (ASK) down south Goa on Friday, Sept 4, 2026 at 2.30 pm. The new ASK is located at K Square, near Horizon Hospital, Pajifond, Margao, Goa-403601. Present for the occasion will be Nilesh Cabral, MLA, Curchorem Constituency; Egna Cleetus, Collector & District Magistrate, South Goa District; Capt Lovekesh Thakur, Deputy Director General, UIDAI RO Mumbai and representatives from M/s BLS International. Operating seven days a week, the modern centre provides seamless enrolments, free biometric updates for children aged 5–17, demographic corrections, and full wheelchair accessibility. For more details contact Archana Gangawane, IEC Manager, on mobile no 9527088981.

MATOLI FAIRS FOR CHOVOTH

The Entertainment Society of Goa is holding a Chovoth shopping festival in the old GMC complex on Sept 10 and 11, 2026. On the eve of Chovoth or Ganesh Chaturthi which falls on Sept13 and continues for 11 days. Presumably, this is prompted by the fact that the open air Matoli bazar on the Mandovi promenade may be washed off if the current wet spell continues. The biggest Matoli bazar in Goa has always been in Banastari, this bazar supplies all kinds wild fruit and flora of leaves, flowers, berries, herbs, fruit and veggies which are used to make the canopy or matoli for Lord Ganesh. Meanwhile the prices of genuine eco-friendly clay idols have gone up. Our maid Jenny, a Gaudi woman from Ivao village tells me that her family had to pay an advance of Rs5,000 for the image of the idol of Lord Ganesh, the similar idol cost Rs3,000. The market is flooded with plaster of Paris (PoP) idols and cheap decorative items from China.

BJP VOTE GATHERING MELA 

CHIEF MINISTER Pramod Sawant has announced several pre-election gifts on the eve of Chovoth. The most important is the decision to confer permanent tenure to all the contract workers in government departments who have completed ten years of service. The doubleengined government in Goa has seen the appointment of thousands on a contract basis in various government apartments even when there are no vacancies. The biggest job creator is of course Vishwajit Rane who has hired several hundred nurses and multiple tasking workers including barbers to shave patients at government hospitals before surgery, etc. Goans obsessed with government jobs have taken contract jobs in the hope that they will get regularized. Finally, it has happened with the caveat that contract workers should have completed 10 years in the service. The bad news is that there will be no more contract jobs. This provision should be extended to all teachers in schools and colleges including aided institutes. It is disgraceful that teachers and lecturers are paid on a lecture basis as if they are contract labor. Among the Chovoth gifts is a dole of Rs3,000 to all registered holders of gas cylinders before September 10. If you don’t get them in your account be sure to complain.

KENYA EXPELS TATA CHEMICALS

THE Kenyan government has served a quit notice to Tata Chemicals, one of the biggest companies in the Tata group. A unit of the Tata Chemicals has been manufacturing soda ash in Kenya.The complaint is that the Tata Company has been using minerals from Kenya to make soda ash which is exported to India. Tata sources however claim that the Kenyan President William has set up his own company to replace Tata Chemicals.

SCHOOL THEEK KARO

THE focus on Teachers Day on Sept 5 will be on setting right government schools in the country. It seems to have been forgotten that Teachers Day marks the birth anniversary of Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishna, the first scholar president of India. The NCP campaign to rectify government schools is already showing results. The cattle shed which served as a school in BJP-ruled Rajasthan has been demolished and funds have been released for a new building. States all over the country are filling up vacancies of teachers in government schools. The Supreme Court has struck down BJP-ruled government orders to prevent NCP volunteers from checking and posting Facebook videos on deficiencies in government schools. Meanwhile, teachers in aided schools of the Diocesan societies are still waiting for their long-delayed salaries.  The government grants have been delayed over six months.   

GCCI SEEKS CENTRAL VGF SUPPORT AT MORMUGAO PORT

CONTAINERIZED trade through Mormugao Port has hit an acute crisis, with regular feeder services virtually coming to a halt. To address this impasse, the Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) backed by the government of Goa has submitted a formal representation to the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, government of India, proposing a container linked Viability Gap Funding (VGF Scheme). VGF is a one time or time bound financial grant provided by government to support infrastructure or development projects that are economically necessary but financially unviable due to high upfront costs or long gestation periods. The representation has been made by GCCI President Pratima Dhond and Director General Sanjay Amonkar.

According to a GCCI press note exporters and local industries face severe operational bottlenecks at Mormugao Port. There are infrastructure failures and delays affecting freight operations, breakdowns and low productivity of harbor mobile cranes is paired with procedural delays. The inability of major lines to berth regularly forces regional businesses – particularly pharma, engineering, and manufacturing – to transport cargo by road to Jawaharlal Nehru ort Trust in Navi Mumbai. This shift has sharply increased freight expenses, prolonged transit times, transit risks and added heavy congestion to regional highways.

The GCCI proposal seeks a time-bound per-container VGF mechanism for Mormugao Port which will provide ocean lines with the volume buffer needed to resume scheduled feeder services, shift cargo traffic from expensive road haulage back to maritime routes and lower shipping costs and carbon emissions for regional industries.

ELECTRICITY LIES!

THE Aam Aadmi Party Goa President Valmiki Naik has slammed Pramod Sawant for lying about electricity bills and tariffs.  Reportedly, the CM stated in the assembly that if any state has lower electricity tariffs than Goa he will bring down prices. Valmiki Naik points out that AAP in Punjab has been providing free electricity to 90% of Punjab’s homes. He also shared copies of the zero bills in Punjab with media people and now dares the Goa CMM to fulfil his promise and provide 300 units free to Goans.

In the assembly when being cross examined on the high bills in Goa, instead of discussing a relief package the CM and power minister, Sudhin Dhavlikar, insisted that Goa has the lowest tariffs of any state. However, Valmiki Naik sharing a calculation, using JERC own rates, of how providing 300 units free to Goans would positively affect 76% of Goa’s households, that’s 4 out of every 5 Goan households. He said the cost for this would be Rs345 crore, which is a small amount out of Goa’s 30,195 crore, namely 1.14% of the total budget. All it takes to implement free electricity for Goa is political will which the BJP clearly lacks. The AAP president added that if AAP comes to power in Goa they will implement the promise of free electricity. The ball is now in the court of Goans!  

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