GOA

The forest department will construct and water conservation structures at an estimated cost of Rs 70 lakh, to revive a few hundred hectares of degraded forest patches in the state.

As per the Union Environment ministrys instructions, the degraded forest patches have already been identified for the state by the Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS), India.

The detailed project report for Goa submitted by the WAPCOS has already been forwarded to Goa forest officials for implementation and the centrally-funded project has to be implemented in nine months.

WAPCOS has used the Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology to identify major ridge areas inside forest areas of Goa. LiDAR is an active remote sensing system used to measure vegetation height across wide areas.

To conserve water under the project, ridge-to-valley approach of Watershed Management will be used. The ridge-to-valley approach detains, diverts, stores and uses available rainwater.

The Federation of Film of Goa (FFFG), on Thursday, demanded that the Entertainment Society of Goa clear the files of the film subsidies pending for six years. The delegation was led by Konkani filmmaker Laxmikant Shetgaonkar who said that the delay in subsidy has resulted in an economic crisis in the local film Industry and reduction in the number of films produced locally.

The state, which hosts an international event on cinema (IFFI), has failed miserably to support its local filmmakers, Shetgaonkar added.

Presently more than 45 film producers are awaiting subsidy for the films they have made since the past six years. Uncertainty over the government subsidy has resulted in low response to film production amongst investors and financiers.

FFFG warned that it will involve all artists, technicians, Trade Unions including IMPPA, FFI and launch their agitation beginning November 1.

After large blobs of tar left sand across Goas beach stretches scarred with the black substance, Environment ministerNilesh Cabralsaid that this is one of the worst occurrences of tarball deposits seen on Goas beaches.
Cabral said that the state is going to write to theCentreagain over the issue, as the state has little control over the source of origin of these tarballs.

Cabral said that the tarballs have surfaced not only on Goas beaches this week, but their appearance is being seen all along thewest coastof India.

The movement of oil tankers has reduced a lot due to pandemic-related restrictions. Earlier, the tar was thought to be coming from the oil tankers. But it is surprising that such widespread deposits are seen this year despite reduced movement of tankers. This year, the tarballs on Goas beaches are much more than earlier.

The will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd (MECL) to identify new iron Ore mines in the state.

Chief minister Pramod Sawant said the MoU will be signed in his presence besides the Union minister for mines Pralhad Joshi.

Keeping in mind the delay in resumption of mining activities, Sawant had decided to form a mining corporation and identify new mineral blocks to restart the Industry.

With the signing of the MoU, mining corporation will identify new mineral blocks in the state for e-auctioning. The state government is likely to give cabinet approval for forming of the new Goa mining corporation and the bill will be tabled in the upcoming monsoon session.

As experts warn that a possible third wave of Covid-19 may strike quicker than expected, concern over the states preparedness has risen in the state, as many fear that it may hit a larger portion of the paediatric Population, even though others wont be spared either.

The government is preparing on the assumption that a little more than 12% of the positive cases will be children when the third wave strikes. As it stands, those under 18 are the only category not eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine.

The state has adopted the guidelines of the Indian academy of paediatrics (IPA) for minimum standards of PICUs. Also, the guidelines issued by the Union ministry of Health and family welfare in June for evidence-based management of children have been adopted.

Concerned about the rise of fraudulent practices in the cooperative sector and in a bid to ensure that all urban cooperative credit and multi-purpose societies and VKSS conduct their transactions professionally, thestate governmenthas directed that all these entities must adopt corebanking softwarewithin six months, and appoint amanagement boardto oversee their day-to-day functioning.

Theregistrar of cooperative societieshas also said that these societies have to comply with disclosure norms and release quarterly financial statements, along with information about the board of directors and management.

The government has also directed that within 60 days of a financial quarter ending, the societies will have to disclose their audited financial results, along with other statutory compliances.

Since the introduction of theIntrauterine Insemination(IUI), a procedure for treating infertility, inNorth Goa district hospital, last year, 13 procedures were successfully completed.

The treatment for Goans is free while people from other states need to pay nominal charges fixed by the government three years ago.

The laboratory at the state-run-hospital, the Health minister said, has cutting edge technology.

In a significant move to conserve the declining tisreo (clams) and other Resources,Goa State Board(GSBB) has recommended only traditional hand-picking methods for their extraction, to be undertaken only by locals in a duly specified season.

The board termed as general guidelines to draft rules by biodiversity managers to ensure sustainable and equitable utilisation of resources and their management, these follow a recent large-scale loot and plunder of shellfish resources in Chicalim bay and some other habitats.
Villagers and others in Sancoale and Chicalim part of the bay that is a hotspot of bivalves and other species – are still rueing the loss of tisreo, kalvam (oysters) as also the more endangered menddio (window pane oyster) resources in the recent past.

Goa is ready to host the VishwaKonkaniSammelan or Global Konkani Convention, which aims to bring together all Konkani-speaking people across the globe, under one roof.

He was addressing the gathering, after unveiling the brass statue of founder of World Konkani Centre, late Basti Vaman Shenoy, on Wednesday. He also inaugurated other facilities at the centre atShakthi Nagar, on the occasion.

He said that Konkani-speaking people fled to coastal Karnataka and Kerala, when started conversions

Government College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Khandola, is soon expected to receive agrantof Rs 76 lakh from the Union governmentsdepartment of Biotechnology(DBT).

Thescience departmentsof Microbiology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science at the institute have been found eligible and recommended for the financial support by DBT.

DBT will provide the grant for strengthening of the science departments under the central Star College Scheme.

The proposal was submitted at the 11th task force meeting in December 2021.
DBT launched the scheme in 2008 with the goal of encouraging more students to pursue science-related Education at the undergraduate level.

The department uses the Star College Scheme to identify colleges with high potential for excellence and gives support for development of academic and laboratory .