GOA

Norway, which has made tremendous strides in greenenergy, ship building and urban wastemanagement, is keen to increase its strategic PARTNERSHIP with Goa, said Norwegian consul general Arne Jan Flolo, who was on his first official visit to the state.Norwayis exploring ties and opportunities in Goa as part of the larger India-Norway bilateral roadmap.

Norway has offered to facilitate partnerships between local shipyards and Norwegianshipbuildingfirms, and also collaborate on student exchange programmes with Goa-based maritime institutes

Chief minister Pramod Sawant said that as the decided not to increase the tariff, it will have an additional burden of Rs 120 crore on the state government.

Last year, due to thepandemic, the state government had kept the tariff order in abeyance up to March 31 this year. Considering the prevalence of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it was also proposed to keep the tariff order for financial year 2021-22 in abeyance, a cabinet note said.

The cabinet note also stated that since the general public is facing difficulties on account of the ongoing pandemic, implementation of the tariff order issued in the financial year 2021-22 at this juncture would further increase the burden on consumers.

The cabinet accordingly resolved to keep the tariff order for financial year 2021-22 in abeyance from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, except for the levy of tariff of Rs 3.5 per unit as per the tariff order for financial year 2021-22 to the electric vehicle charging station category, and the implementation of kVAh-based tariff for high tension (HT) or EHT categories. For all other categories, the subsidy will apply to nullify the tariff order for 2021-22, issued by the joint electricity regulatory commission.

In a bid to kickstart privateinvestmentin Goa and create job opportunities for locals, the intends to organise an investmentsummitin September, chief minister Pramod Sawant said on Saturday. Sawant said that the Investment meet Invest Goa will be organised in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce &Industry(FICCI) and Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI).

Industries minister Mauvin Godinho said that many industry organisations are keen on collaborating with the state government to bring in investments to Goa.

A similar event, Vibrant Goa global expo and summit, was held in October 2019, but was organised in PARTNERSHIP with the Vibrant Goa Foundation.

Farmersin Goa have been showing interest in growingturmericgiven its viability as a commercial spice crop. In a bid to boost turmericcultivationin Goa the directorate of Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture is taking up the initiative of urging farmers to grow turmeric as an intercrop along with cashew. Besides being used as a common kitchen ingredient, turmeric also has a demand for its medicinal properties as well as pharmaceutical value.

Other than arecanut and black pepper, farmers in Goa do not usually opt for other spice crops. Most farmers in the state grow turmeric only in a few pockets with the total area cultivated not exceeding two to three hectares. This is usually organic turmeric that is grown without using Fertilizers. It is planted in the hilly areas of Goa but can be grown in any type of as long as there is no waterlogging in the area.

The , which is trying to curb the disturbance caused by noisy open-air parties and events along Goa’s coast, has finalised a Pune-based firm offering ‘Polish technology’ to help monitor Noise Pollution on 12 beaches, for now.

Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) chairman Mahesh Patil said that it has entered a five-year contract with Velan Technologies, which will install equipment made to meet the norms of the EU and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

The 12 spots include party hotspots like Baga, Calangute, Candolim, Vagator, Colva, and Morjim, among others.

In an attempt to encourage Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs) to address the demand for critical goods and Services required to tackle the second wave of Covid-19, Small Industries of India (SIDBI) is offering low-cost funding to units that manufacture Oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, oximeters and essential drugs.
Understanding the urgency of the situation, SIDBI has offered to sanction credit within 48 hours to such firms which can help Goa and the nation augment capabilities to fight the pandemic.

SIDBI is offering 100% funding up to an amount of Rs 2 crore to a MSME unit at attractive interest rate of 4.5-6% per annum if the firms meet all the criteria.

While Goa has four medical and industrial oxygen suppliers, it has to depend on neighbouring states for oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, oximeters and other essential equipment.
SIDBI, the principal financial institution for financing and development of MSMEs, has launched the SHWAS and AROG quick credit schemes and hopes that the term loans and WORKING CAPITAL funds will help MSMEs speed up the production of oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, oximeters and essential drugs.

Even as the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in institutes of higher Education has touched 33.8%, the has set out to take it to 50% by 2035.

From 2016 to 2021, the male student’s Average GER was around 28.8, while for girls, it was 34.2.

Education secretary Prasad Lolayekar told TOI that the state’s target is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP), which mandates that enrolment in higher education should touch 50% by 2035.

Unesco defines GER as the “total enrolment in a specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a Percentage of the eligible official school-age Population corresponding to the same level of education in a given school year”.

He said that BITS-Pilani’s Goa campus in Zuarinagar has 4,200 students, and if these are added to Goa’s GER, it would be 36.2%. “As of date, BITS-Pilani shows their enrolment in Rajasthan, which is not correct. As per the rules, it should be shown in the state (Goa) number,” he said. The education secretary said that the directorate of higher education has written to the all-India higher education survey authority to include BITS-Pilani’s enrolment in the state GER.

Meanwhile, the gender parity index for Goa stands at 1.2% in higher educational institutes. Explaining this, Lolayekar said 1.2% means that for every 100 males enrolled in higher education institutes, there are 120 females.

A day after Health ministerVishwajit Raneannounced that the state will give all those above 18 years of ageivermectintablets as a prophylactic treatment to combat the severity of Covid-19, theWorld Health Organisation(WHO) said that the medication can be prescribed only for clinical trials.

This treatment is much more effective in clearing the Covid virus and people have to take it for five days in a row, the health minister had said. The medication is harmless and even those with comorbid conditions can safely take it, he had said.

Rane said that they have received suggestions that even children above the age of 10 years can be given the preventive treatment.

Proposing amendments to theGoa Childrens Act, 2003, thegovernments victim assistance unit(VAU) has recommended the deletion of section 2(d) which states that a child is any person who has not completed 16 years of age and the inclusion of a provision which states that a child should be defined as anyone who is under the age of 18 years.

The propositions, which have been aimed at removing anomalies between state and central legislations, also include increasing the punishment period of perpetrators.
The Goa Childrens Act has not been amended for the last 17 years. The last amendments were carried out in 2004 and 2005 and were minor in nature.

The amendments have been proposed to strengthen the Goa Childrens Act, which was one of the first acts to define all types of child abuse and offer mechanisms to provide support to victims.