GOA

Goa provides aid to only 50% of persons with disabilities: Report

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Nearly 50% of persons with disabilities in Goa have not received any aid or help from the , a report titled, Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) in India – A Statistical Profile: 2021 has revealed.

Among disabled persons Goa has the second highest Literacy rate at 70% the report said. As per the Census Of India 2011, Goas divyangjan Population stands at 33,012 persons making it 2% of the total state population.

As per the report, 49% of persons with disabilities received aid or help from the state government while 0.9 per cent received aid or help from organisations other than the government. From the above 49%, 54% is rural and 46% urban.

The report further stated that the highest Percentage of disabled children (5-19 years) currently in educational institutions has been reported from Goa and Kerala, at 73%, followed by Maharashtra and Lakshadweep at 70%.

Among the state and Union territories, the highest literacy rate among disabled persons is in Kerala 71%, followed by Goa at 70%. The lowest is Arunachal Pradesh at 39%, followed by Rajasthan at 40%, the report stated.

Mando fest puts spotlight on need to protect tradition with state patronage

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Despite being a nearly two-centuries-longtraditionin Goa, Mando a richart formeven older than the more successful tiatr is struggling to survive.

Various speakers at the Mando Utsov 2022, organised recently by St Matevachim Nokhetram at Azossim, bemoaned the lack of government support to this unique cultural legacy, which is a fusion of eastern and western cultural and musical traditions.

Mandos areromantic Konkani songs. Comparing it to a sonnet, associate professor and head of the Konkani department in a Vasco-based college, Cosma Fernandes, said that records of mande written as early as the 1830s and 1840s can be found.

The first tiatr Italiano Bhurgo written by Lucasinho Ribeiro was directed by Joao Agostinho Fernandes in Mumbai on April 17, 1892.

At present, the government does support the annual mando festivals staged by the Goa Social and Cultural Centre. People have kept it alive till date. The government could organise it, as it does other cultural activities, Fernandes said.

21 cane ryots compensated for crop change

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A total of 21sugarcane cultivatorsattached to Sanjivani Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana in Dharbandora who had changed their crops have been sanctioned compensation by the under the special assistance scheme.

Proposals of some farmers who had already changed their crop in 2019-20 before the implementation of the policy have been sent for government approval as special cases.
The 21 farmers have been granted an amount of Rs 11.9 lakh for their crop cultivated in an area of 5.7 hectares (ha).

All Goa Sugarcane Cultivators Association, through its meeting held on August 31 last year, had demanded that the government should consider the highest quantity of cane supplied by them to the factory while calculating the compensation. The farmers had supplied 47,069 tonne during the 2017-18 crushing season, which was the highest quantity.

Goa needs Rs 1.4 lakh crore to meet 100% renewable energy goal by 2050

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Goa will require an of Rs 1.3 lakh crore till 2050 to implement its 100%RENEWABLE ENERGY(RE) plan in Goa and it has the potential to generate 15,000 jobs,Goa State Energy Action Plan(GSEAP) has revealed.

The yearly investment requirement is around Rs 4,400 crore which is around 5.6% of the statesGDPat the current price in 2020-21, GSEAP stated. The State Government has set a target of 100% RE by 2050 for all sectors in Goa.

It is estimated that the implementation of the 100% RE plan will create around 15,000 additional jobs (with a 5-year term) up to 2050. As a matter of fact, annually the state can create 500 jobs exclusively for solar and Wind Energy generation, the plan stated.

GSEAP said Goa is going to be oil dependent until 2050 if no action is taken withelectricitybeing supplied through coal-based power Plants (including central stations). Gas will remain insignificant if no scope of its supply and use are promoted and gas is a good alternative energy source with lower emissions and stable supply.

State govt to woo tourists, industry at intl trade fair

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Goa is participating in the 40th edition of the India InternationalTradeFair (IITF), where it hopes to highlight the touriststateas a promising destination for tourism as well as private investments.

Organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) at Pragati Maidan in the national capital, IITF is one of the most awaited trade fairs in the South-Asian region.
Goa is being represented by the department of information and publicity (DIP), Goa Promotion and Facilitation Board (Goa-IPB), Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) and the department of tourism along with several other departments.

The government said that the Goa pavilion has been aesthetically designed to depict Goan architecture and the achievements of the State Government.

Goa bags fifth place among UTs, city-states in innovation index

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Goa bagged the fifth position among Union territories and city-states in the third edition ofNitiAayogs Indiainnovationindex. With a score of 14.93, Goa beat the national Average, which is about 14.56. For the Union territories and city-states category, Chandigarh is the top performer, followed by Delhi, while among the 17 major states, Karnataka, with a score of 18.01, is the top performer.
The third edition of the index, for 2021, was conducted against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Being one of the countrys coastal regions, the state has shown positive signs in the higher Education domain, said the report. With an impressive pupil-teacher ratio of 15:1, the state also registered an increase in PhD enrolments from about 20 to 30 per lakh residents.

Goa has seen moderate improvement in the pillars of and knowledge workers which are enabling factors for innovation. This improved performance in the enablers was partially visible in its performers, where the trademarks filed per lakh individuals increased from about 320 to 362.

Tourism circuit from Panaji to Bondla on cards, says Goa CM Pramod Sawant

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Chief minister PramodSawantsaid said that an internaltourismcircuit would be developed fromPanajitoBondlawildlife sanctuary via theMayemlake andArvalem. He said that this would be done under the Union governments Swadesh Darshan Scheme.

Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) chairman Dayanand Sopte said that all the formalities related to thecircuithave been completed, and that soon, a tender would be floated to invite bidders to take up the projects.

The chief minister said that the also has plans to restore the Sakhali fort to hold small open-air functions. Sawant said that due to Covid, the state could not get bidders to take up its restoration, but that the government would soon float the tender. He also said that the state will spend around Rs 4 crore to develop the fort.

Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday made a strong pitch for skill-basededucationwhen he pointed out that at least50%of students remain unemployed upon completing their graduation. He also said the new National Education Policy (NEP) would be implemented in the state from the next academic year.

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Citing an example of why skill-based Education is necessary, Sawant said that when the government seeks to fill five vacancies for stenographers, it receives just 25 applications, but if it advertises five vacancies for lower-division clerks, as many as 25,000 applications are received.

Goas female ratio in higher education among best in country

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Goa continues to retain its position for one of the best gross enrolment ratios in the country (GER) for the female Population in institutes of higher Education. Of Goa’s female population in the 18-24 age group, 34.6% girls are enrolled for various higher education programmes in colleges and universities, as per theAll India Survey on Higher Education(AISHE) report of the Union education ministry released.

The state has the third best pupil-teacher ratio in the country and also has better enrolment ratio in higher education across social groups like SC, ST than the national Average.

However, one area of concern that has emerged in the AISHE report is the reduced number of male enrolment for degree programmes. The number of boys enrolled for undergraduate programmes in 2019-20 came down by almost a thousand students to around 15,600. The number of boys registered for diploma programmes was also down to 4,412, lower by another thousand students over the previous years.

This is surprising given that the overall population of males in the 18-23 age group in Goa went from 10.22 lakh in 2018-19 to 10.54 lakh to 2019-20, as per the report.

According to the AISHE report 2019-20, at one teacher for every 13 students, Goa also has among the best pupil-teacher ratio for higher education in the country, after (10) and Lakshadweep (12).

As per the report, Goa also continues to be among the rare states with higher number of female teachers in higher education than male teachers.

New medical college to be set up in South Goa within 4 years: Sawant

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Chief minister PramodSawant assured his governments support to Margao MLA Digambar Kamat in giving a facelift to Margao.

Sawant said that while construction of a modern bus stand at Margao will be taken up soon, the work of upgrading theSouth Goadistrict hospital has already been undertaken.
The chief minister said that anew medical collegeat Margao affiliated to the South Goa district hospital was also in the offing. It will be set up within the next four years, he said.