GOA

Goa tourismhas bagged four national Awards in various categories. Tourism ministerRohan Khaunteand director of tourism Nikhil Desai received the awards from Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar at a ceremony held in the national capital to celebrate World Tourism Day.
Goa tourism won awards for being the best civic management of a tourist destination in India – Calangute village, category C – and national tourism hall of fame, category union territory: comprehensive development of tourism.
The third award is for “the most innovative use of information technology – Social Media/mobile app website award for developing and successfully operating fully indigenous mobile taxi app GoaMiles in the true spirit of Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

From September 1, 60% of the people of the state will not get water bills. Free water means zero water charges, zero meter rent and zero bills. Those covered under this will also not get sewerage bills.

Those living in housing societies would also be benefited as the water consumption of one meter would be divided among the total number of flats in the complex.

The CWCs are appointed to protect the interest of children, and I know, even previous members had the childrens interest at heart but thanks to the inflexibility of one or two members, sometimes the larger objective was derailed.

Given the inevitability of electrification in the transport sector, the Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA) has called for the need for a ‘siting study’ – a research of locations identified to set up EV charging stations.
A recent technical session on this subject organised by GEDA saw the participation of senior officials of Kadamba, various municipal corporations, panchayats, town planning department, oil companies, charge point operators, PWD, and technical experts.

With the objective of boosting adoption of electric vehicles to at least 30% by 2025, the has approved the Goa Electric Mobility Promotion Policy (GEMPP) 2021. The policy aims to create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in the sector by 2025.

The people ofGoahas celebrated theSao Joao festival,the feast ofSt John the Baptistwith traditional enthusiasm after a two-year coronavirus-induced gap. The festival is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, who baptised Lord Jesus on the river of Jordan and is celebrated at the onset of monsoon. Siolim, a village in North Goa, hosts a traditional canoe parade on the occasion of Sao Joao.

A large number of people participated in the boat parade in Siolim village of Goas Bardez taluka, marking the beginnng of revelry in the Sao Joao festival. Traditionally, people jump into the well but since the wells are fast disappearing, people prefer to celebrate it in swimming pools. The festival is marked to herald the monsoon season in the state every year in June. People are often seen having a great time by enjoying and dancing in the artificial rain which adds charm to the celebrations.

Chief ministerPramod Sawant inaugurated a solar power-basedelectrification programmefor rural households in the state. With an eye on 100% electrification, this project will provide power through to areas where grid connectivity isnt feasible.

The project is pursuant to an agreement signed by the Goa energy development agency (GEDA) with Convergence energy Services limited (CESL). Theproject Sawantannounced would be CESLs first off-grid engagement, and will install and maintain photovoltaic (PV) systems for five years under the governments remote village electrification programme. It will be executed through gram panchayats.

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.

Thestategovernment issued orders for takingoverCovid admissions in 21privatehospitals from Monday, for a period one month or until further orders. The said that50%of thebedsin privatehospitalswill be reserved for Covid patients.

The state government said that in order to make for sufficient provision of beds for Covid patients, private hospitals had earlier been directed to reserve a certain Percentage of their total bed capacity.

Payment for the treatment of DDSSY beneficiaries will be made by the government to the hospital based on the treatment provided and upon verification of the bills as per the rates fixed by the public Health department for treatment of Covid.

The state cabinet on Tuesday granted approval to amend theGoa Telecom Policyfor rolling out 5G mobile Services in the state.
This decision is likely to provide relief to consumers who face mobile connectivity issues. Theministry of communications(department of telecommunications), government of India, has notified TheIndian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 for the establishment of an underground/overground telegraph line.
Subsequently, the Union Government amended the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 in the years 2017, 2021 and 2022, intending to incorporate the provisions related to nominal one-time compensation and uniform procedure for establishment of overground telegraph line in the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016.

It is to inform that, under the Scheme for Special Assistance to State for Capital Investment for 2022-23, Part-V (optical fibre cable), an amount of Rs 3,000 crore is earmarked for this part of the scheme. This amount will be available to states for capital projects on OFC Network.

The allowed import of iron Ore extracted in other states or countries for domestic consumption or export fromMormugao PortAuthority (MPA). This will generate additional revenue for the state by way of Rs 50 per tonne as cess, processing fees and other incidental revenue opportunities.
The directorate of mines and geology notified amendments to the Goa (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Storage and Transportation of Minerals) Rules, 2013.

All imports shall be by rail route or road at the cost of importers under the strict supervision of directorate of mines and geology

The state had received representation from stakeholders requesting to allow them import of iron ore from Karnataka specifically for export from Mormugao port. Presently iron ore is being imported from Karnataka for domestic consumption only.