GOA

The had announced early this year that one four-lane section of the newZuaribridge will be ready for use by commuters by mid-December, in time to mark the 60th year celebrations of Goas Liberation. However, officials said that they are struggling to get a visa for the Chinese consultants to travel to India, even after interventions by Union minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari.

The Chinese consultants are required to oversee the assembly of the cable-stay section of the superstructure of the bridge. Officials said that the contractors for the new Zuari bridge work,DilipBuildcon, are now expected to ready the first section for use only by end of February 2022.

The new eight-lane Zuari bridge has been designed by French bridge specialist Erwan Vicat of Ingerop, Paris, in association with Infinite Civil solutions, India. Dewei Chan of Tongji University, Shanghai, China, is acting as design consultant.

The pandemic brought with it yet more hurdles in 2020, as it hit availability of construction material as well as labour. The government then set an April 2021 deadline for one-lane section of the bridge to be ready, but, having failed to meet that deadline too, had said that the section will be opened for Goas 60th Liberation year celebrations in December 2021.

The three-dayGlobal Expo Indiaconference began with with representatives from across the country coming together to discuss ways to promote exports, foreign direct Investment and the potential for manufacturing units in Goa.

The event, which was supposed to be attended by finance ministerNirmala Sitharaman, also saw the launch of the Goa chapter of the Global Expo. Global Expo India is affiliated with theIndia Trade Promotion Organisation, a unit of the Centre’s commerce department.

Global Expo India claims to focus on export development through events and conferences, and the Goa chapter has been started in order to promote exports from Goa.

The state cabinet approved a bill to establish aGoa state research foundation.
The bill, which will be introduced in the current monsoon session, will have a financial implication of over Rs 25 crore.

The aim of the foundation is to promote a culture of research and innovation in Goa.

In 2020, the Union Education ministry notified theNational Education Policy, (NEP) 2020, which focuses on research, innovation and linkage, along with other aspects.

The National Education Policy, states that research not only provides solutions to societal problems but also contributes to the spiritual, intellectual and creative upliftment of the country, and is therefore extremely important for the progress and enlightenment of any state or nation.

After Arunachal Pradeshs 18.2%, Goa has the second-highest Percentage of single teacher schools in the country, at 16%. As per Unescos State of the Education report for India 2021, Goa has 239 single-teacher schools. The number of such schools in the state are up from 230 last year, which was pointed out by data of the Union education ministry.

To blame for this scenario in Goa is an age-old norm followed by the state directorate of education (DoE), which makes primary schools eligible for a second teacher only if they have an enrolment of 24 or more students.

This has taken a toll on government primary schools in the state, which are grappling with low student numbers. Government primary schools are pushed into a vicious cycle as having a single teacher means fewer children are motivated to join the school, and fewer children means not being eligible for a second teacher, as per state norms.

Of the 1,486 schools in Goa, 239 are single-teacher schools, states the Unesco report. At one point, the number of such schools in Goa stood at nearly 350.

As the NationalEducationPolicy (NEP) 2020 has called for an overhaul of the curriculum and a local context in thesyllabus, the state council for educational research and training (SCERT) has framed committees which will review the school syllabi. Based on a national framework to be provided by the Union Education ministry, HISTORY, Geography and language syllabi for school students may undergo revision soon.

NCERT will be giving states a broad framework to work with. As NEP has said that syllabus can have content specific to a state, we have an opportunity now to revise our syllabus to include state-related content whenever required, if found necessary by the committees.

The NEP states that one of the principles it is based on is to bring in a respect for diversity and respect for the local context in all curriculum, pedagogy, and policy. This NEP aims at building a global-best education system rooted in Indian ethos, states the document.

In theclimate changescenario, Goa will witness erratic rainfall patterns, which means not only long dry spells but also sudden bursts of heavy showers, which are known to triggerlandslides. Currently, the state is severely lacking in historic landslide data, making it difficult to predict vulnerable spots for the future.

To fill this data gap, researchers have decided to create an inventory of landslides with details of the time and rainfall received during the period to enable accurate prediction of landslides.

After the massive landslide in the forests of Satre in Sattari in 2021, the formed a committee to map landslide hotspots in Goa, and a few vulnerable spots were found, including at Satre and Mauxi in Sattari, areas near Sanvordem, and in parts of Canacona.

Mapping landslide vulnerability, identifying hotspots, developing a functional early warning system for the state, and creating a landslide inventory for Goa with time stamps and associated rainfall data are keys to saving lives in the future.

The state governments efforts over the last two years to improve theease of doing business(EODB) appear to have borne some fruit, with Goa making it to the top 20 states in the fifth edition of the assessment exercise.

The assessment report under Business Reforms Action Plan for 2020 released by finance ministerNirmala Sitharamanplaced Goa in the Aspirers category, but did not give a ranking.

BRAP 2020 includes 301 reform points covering 15 business regulatory areas such as access to information, single-window system, labour, Environment, land administration and transfer of land and property, utility permits and others. The sluggish pace in regulatory reforms prevented Goa from breaking into the top Achievers category.

Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Rajasthan and West Bengal joined Goa in the Aspirers category.

DPIIT assesses the states through a competitive system in order to spur reforms and also boost investor confidence, foster business-friendly Climate, and augment across the country by introducing an element of healthy competition.

This time around, Goa has managed to return to sit among the top 20 states.

Chief minister Pramod Sawant said that to keep engineering programme seats from going vacant in Goa, the state will incentivise pursuing technical Education in the state.

We have seen that over the last five years continuously the seats in engineering colleges in the state, even polytechnics, they remain vacant, almost 50%. After clearing Class X and XII, students only think of joining, BA, BSc, BCom, BBA programmes and do not think outside of these courses. Technical education may not be affordable at present to students from economically backward and rural sections. To boost these students, we will provide incentives, said Sawant, speaking at the World Youth Skill Day event in the state.

he world’s first chatbot allowing citizens to report plastic dumps in public places is set to be tested in Goa by theWorld Wildlife Fund(WWF) – India. It will be launched on Thursday and citizens can use WhatsApp to connect with the chatbot. It will ask several questions to understand the type and quantity of plastic dumped. Location and photographs of the dump can also be shared.

Data collected through the chatbot will then be analysed by WWF-India to draw up a strategy to clear the blackspots, with primary focus on dumps located in marine environments.

After its trial period, WWF-India has plans to introduce the chatbot in other parts of the country as well.

Tourism activities in Goa and southern Maharashtra generate large quantities of plastic waste in the marine Environment. These regions, known for their pristine natural beauty, are faced with the challenge of protecting endangered marine species and vital habitats, such as coral reefs, from plastic waste.

Private hospital, Nursing homes will now have to compulsorily register with the following the state cabinet approving the Goa Clinical Establishment Regulation Rule, 2021.

They have to compulsorily register with the directorate of Health Services. Till date, we did not have a clinical establishment act in the state, but now we have one in line with that of the Union Government.

The state cabinet, also granted approval to hand over the Pernem bus stand to the Kadamba Transport Corporation from the transport department.