GOA

Closureof the Goa-Belagavi road via theAnmod Ghathas hamperedexportsand brought containerised exports through Mormugao Port to a standstill, Goa Chamber of Commerce and (GCCI) told Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari.

AGCCIdelegation metGadkariand requested him to open up thisrouteas early as feasible.
GCCI suggested that instead of building a six-lane highway through the Anmod ghat and the protected forest, the Ramnagar-Anmod portion of the highway should be repaired and widened with four lanes. This will increase container volumes and make the movement of containers viable for shipping companies, it said.

It adversely impacts the retail trade by significantly increasing logistic costs. Around 90% of perishable items such as vegetables, fruits, milk, groceries and other food items are brought from Belagavi and surrounding areas to Goa on a daily basis by this road.

The department of information technology, electronics and communications has moved to identify the number of startups and IT firms operating in the state.

Info Tech Corporation of Goa (ITG) has been asked to appoint an agency that will carry out a study of Goas IT ecosystem and also prepare a research report recommending best practices that can benefit startups and IT companies.

The comprehensive report needs to analyse the effectiveness of the departments policies and schemes, and the impact that Goas startups and IT firms have on the local economy.

The year-long study will also identify the competitive advantages of Goa and list out possible focus sectors that can help the Growth of startups and IT companies.

Farmers must blend their traditional knowledge with newer technologies to achieve the dream of atmanirbhar or self-reliant Goa, said Union minister of state for tourism and , shipping and waterwaysShripadNaik, while speaking at the WorldSoilDay event held at Old Goa.
The Old Goa-based ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute (CCARI), Old Goa and the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), North Goa celebrated the event recently wherein the theme for the year 2021 is haltsoilsalinisation, boost Soil productivity.

Emphasising on the theme and the coastal Saline Soils (locally called khazan), he suggested use technological interventions and suitable policies for its sustainable utilisation. Further, he stressed on judicious use of fertilisers based on soil testing and promotion of Organic Farming in the state.

The state has decided to rename government high schools and higher secondary schools with the names of martyrs who struggled for Goa’s Liberation from Portuguese rule.

The directorate ofeducationhas instructed headmasters and principals of all government high schools and higher secondary schools to identify martyrs or freedom fighters in the locality of the school and submit names in less than two weeks. It hopes to complete the exercise before Goa’s Liberation Day next month.

The department has enclosed a blank copy of the resolution that schools can use, as well as a list of martyrs, in the memorandum that it has sent to all schools.

TheCentralGround Water Board (CGWB), South Western Region, Bengaluru is in the process ofmappingGoas aquifers to prepare taluka-wisemanagementplans. Once ready, these will give an accurate idea of thestates water availability and quality at the micro-level.

Regional director of CGWB, V Kunhambu told TOI that the data will help Goabetterplan utilisation of itsgroundwaterfor domestic, industrial and commercial use.

Aquifer planning and management reports for five talukas of North Goa are ready and the same work needs to be carried out for seven talukas in South Goa. The report will provide status of water availability, quality, impact of rain water recharge, etc. The information will be useful to farmers, industries and state departments in planning, he said.

Kunhambu said that the central government has brought in revised rules to be able to better manage groundwater Resources in the country. The data, he said, will help in gradually implementing these new groundwater extraction guidelines.

Once all the 12 taluka-wise reports are ready, an advisory will be issued based on the reports to help judiciously utilise Water Resources as per availability in a particular area.

The State Environment-impact-assessment”>Environment Impact Assessment Committee (SEIAC) has asked for a detailed assessment of the environmental impact of the All IndiaInstituteofAyurvedaproject coming up atDhargaliminPernemtaluka.

The project is coming up on an area of 2 lakh sqm, which is devoid of any tree cover. But as part of the project, 2,600 trees will be planted on the campus, the SEIAC has been told.
The SEIAC, however, has laid down a condition that indigenous species of trees should be planted. The project proponent has been asked to consult the Goa State Board on the choice of trees.

The institute is being setup under the Union Ayush ministry.

The SEIAC has also laid down a condition that solar panels have to be installed at the campus so that at least part of the power requirement can be met through RENEWABLE ENERGY sources. The SEIAC has also sought a contour plan of the project site.

The foundation stone for the All India Institute of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy was laid by then Ayush minister Shripad Naik in November 2018.

The first phase will be built at a cost of almost Rs 300 crore and at full capacity it will have 500 seats on offer covering different programmes.

Goa governor P S Sreedharan Pillai said he would push for development of tourism in the state and would coordinate with Kerala and Mizoram to give a boost to the .

Goa, Kerala and Mizoram, from where I am coming, all three states are topmost in the field of tourism and I can coordinate between them. I have already spoken to Kerala chief minister (Pinarayi Vijayan) about it and Mizoram has a good opinion about me. We will be able to do a lot of developments in Goa, Pillai, who was sworn in as the governor on Thursday, said.

Goa got a full-time governor after nearly a year since Satya Pal Malik was transferred to Meghalaya. Pillai was the Mizoram governor before his transfer to Goa.

Goa is among the finest states in India and a fast-growing one. There is communal harmony in the state and culturally, too, Goa is in the forefront in south India. I will sincerely work for the development of the state, he said.

Even as four permissions for sand mining in theChaporariver have been challenged before the (NGT), the directorate of mines and geology (DMG) has told the Goa State Expert Appraisal Committee (Goa-SEAC) that the state had taken up the process of getting Environment clearances for sand mining in Goa only to help poorGoanvillagers. The state earns no revenue from sand mining, the DMG said.

The government of Goa has not considered sand mining as a means to max-imise revenue (but) has treated it as a livelihood for the poor village people by allowing extraction by manual method only. Further, in order to help the poor village people, the government of Goa decided to take the responsibility of getting all the procedure done, including EC, upon itself, the DMG stated in its submission.

The government, therefore, decided that the respective district collectors will apply for ECs and allow villagers to apply for sand mining permissions not exceeding 1,000 cubic metres per year, by manual method only, said the department. It was for this reason that the Goa Minor Mineral Concession (Amendment) Rules 2022 were notified, the DMG stated.

Online TEACHING during thepandemichas created physical distance between the teacher and the student. In such circumstances, to help teachers better gauge Learning outcomes, a tracking app is being introduced on a pilot basis in 29 government and aided primary schools across three talukas in Goa.

Once the Learning Navigator app is appropriately vetted to adapt it to the needs of local schools through its use during the academic year 2021-22, the state council for educational research and training (SCERT) plans to introduce the Software to teachers in all the 1,000-odd government and aided schools from 2022.

The app is used at the teachers end to review the progress of each child in foundational Literacy and numeracy, and its use will not be affected if the student does not have access to a device.