GOA

Special loans for MSMEs to mfg O2, oximeters

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In an attempt to encourage Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs) to address the demand for critical goods and Services required to tackle the second wave of Covid-19, Small Industries of India (SIDBI) is offering low-cost funding to units that manufacture Oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, oximeters and essential drugs.
Understanding the urgency of the situation, SIDBI has offered to sanction credit within 48 hours to such firms which can help Goa and the nation augment capabilities to fight the pandemic.

SIDBI is offering 100% funding up to an amount of Rs 2 crore to a MSME unit at attractive interest rate of 4.5-6% per annum if the firms meet all the criteria.

While Goa has four medical and industrial oxygen suppliers, it has to depend on neighbouring states for oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, oximeters and other essential equipment.
SIDBI, the principal financial institution for financing and development of MSMEs, has launched the SHWAS and AROG quick credit schemes and hopes that the term loans and WORKING CAPITAL funds will help MSMEs speed up the production of oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, oximeters and essential drugs.

Goa enrolment in higher edu 33.8%, govt eyes 50% by 2035

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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.

WHO warns Goa on use of Ivermectin

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A day after Health ministerVishwajit Raneannounced that the state will give all those above 18 years of ageivermectintablets as a prophylactic treatment to combat the severity of Covid-19, theWorld Health Organisation(WHO) said that the medication can be prescribed only for clinical trials.

This treatment is much more effective in clearing the Covid virus and people have to take it for five days in a row, the health minister had said. The medication is harmless and even those with comorbid conditions can safely take it, he had said.

Rane said that they have received suggestions that even children above the age of 10 years can be given the preventive treatment.

Raise age of child from 16 to 18 under Goa Childrens Act

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Proposing amendments to theGoa Childrens Act, 2003, thegovernments victim assistance unit(VAU) has recommended the deletion of section 2(d) which states that a child is any person who has not completed 16 years of age and the inclusion of a provision which states that a child should be defined as anyone who is under the age of 18 years.

The propositions, which have been aimed at removing anomalies between state and central legislations, also include increasing the punishment period of perpetrators.
The Goa Childrens Act has not been amended for the last 17 years. The last amendments were carried out in 2004 and 2005 and were minor in nature.

The amendments have been proposed to strengthen the Goa Childrens Act, which was one of the first acts to define all types of child abuse and offer mechanisms to provide support to victims.

Goa can become hub for marine sci-tech activities: Dharmendra Pradhan

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Within a short span of time since its establishment, theIndian Institute of Technology(IIT), Goa, has made considerable strides in the field of research, Union Education ministerDharmendra Pradhansaid on Monday, virtually presiding overIIT Goas first ever convocation ceremony. Altogether, 185 students from the 2020 and the 2021 batches of the institute were conferred with their degrees together at the ceremony.

Being located in Goa and having signed an MoU with a French body for research in marine science, IIT Goa is well-positioned to become a hub for activities in the field of marine Science and Technology.

Within two years of the IITs inception, research programmes in engineering, sciences and humanities leading to the award of PhD degrees were introduced at IIT Goa in 2018.

PM Modi to open Goa’s 2nd airport on December 11: Sawant

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The Mopa International airport, Goa’s second airport afterDabolim, will be inaugurated by Prime MinisterNarendra Moditentatively on December 11, Goa chief ministerPramod Sawantannounced.

Speaking about revolutionising tourism in India, Sawant said the sector can grow through an integrated and focused approach to developing , ensuring safety and security of tourists, and by upskilling and reskilling human Resources. In this context, he said, apart from building airport, roads and bridges, and floating jetties, the Goa government is also working on a plan to onboard taxi vendors on a single mobile app-based platform within the next year, roll out a ‘Har Ghar Fibre’ scheme to pitch the coastal state as a ‘Work-from-Goa’ hub for tourists across the world, and to ensure that the prevailing connectivity and Network issues are settled for good.

Tourism policy shifts focus to Goas culture, heritage

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Goas hospitality though rides on coastal tourism and casinos have hogged the limelight in the last few years, Goa tourism policy 2020 aims to change that perception by promoting eco-tourism, cultural and heritage tourism.

The policy talks about encouraging tourists to visit villages and explore the traditional Goan houses. The yet-to-be-formed Goa tourism board will designate villages conducive for development as tourism villages. The applicable standards for receiving the designation of tourism village will be defined so that villages can compete for the same in a transparent manner.

Moving in that direction, the Goa government recently notified the tourist villages development scheme under which financial support of Rs 50 lakh will be given to villages every year. The scheme aims to promote rural life, Art and Culture and heritage.

The policy also talks about having ecologically sustainable and environmentally Sound practices in the development of nature-based tourism. Developing high-quality facilities in Protected Areas to increase the number and stay-duration of high-end visitors is also something that finds mention in the policy.

The major aspects of the tourism policy will see the Light of day after the tourism board is constituted. The composition of the board was finalised a while ago, but an order appointing the board is awaited.

Of nearly 30,000 MSMEs registered in Goa, 6,000 are owned by women

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Of the 29,769 Goan business enterprises registered with theUnion ministry of micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs), 22% or 6,578 are Women-owned entities, stated the data released by the Centre on Thursday. As expected, a significant number of women-owned MSMEs, 6,467, are in the micro category.

What is intriguing is that just 7% of the 111 medium-category enterprises are owned and managed by women entrepreneurs. Medium-category enterprises are businesses that have an annual turnover of up to Rs 100 crore, and in Goa just eight medium business houses have women at their helm.

The Centre has taken a number of steps to support MSMEs, particularly women-owned enterprises, and has launched special drives for the registration of women-owned MSMEs under theUdyamRegistration portal.

India has 28 lakh women-owned MSMEs registered and classified under Udyam since July 2020, of which 98% fall under the micro category.

The Union ministry implements the Prime Ministers EMPLOYMENT Generation Programme (PMEGP), which is a major credit-linked subsidy initiative aimed at generating self-employment opportunities, and of the total PMEGP beneficiaries, 39% are women.

To widen the scope of MSMEs, retail and wholesale traders have been included in theMSMEcategory.

Goa govt cancels 80,000 ration cards for not availing of food quota

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The has cancelled nearly 80,000 ration cards of beneficiaries across Goa for non-claiming of rations in the past six months.
“These ration card holders have not lifted their quota from August 2022 to January 2023, owing to which they were cancelled,” said director of civil supplies and consumer affairs Gopal Parsekar.

Parsekar said those beneficiaries who have found themselves cancelled from the ration benefits can reverse the cancellation by submitting a letter to the department. The letter can be submitted to civil supplies inspectors at the taluka level, citing the reason for not collecting the ration, along with the KYC form.

Parsekar also said that the former beneficiaries must also give an undertaking stating that they will avail of the quota henceforth.

Goa CM Pramod Sawant seeks 90:10 fund sharing ratio with Centre

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Chief minister Pramod Sawant said that he has requested Prime MinisterNarendra Modito allow fund sharing ratio of 90:10 between Centre and state in the case of implementation of central schemes in Goa. Sawant said that Goa has suffered due to delayed Liberation and stop in mining operations for the last 10 years.

The chief minister said that Goa will now require greater funding to create to support increased tourist numbers due to the opening of the new airport at Mopa.